1,721,347 research outputs found
Introduction
No full textThis updated special edition brings together new sociological work exploring the nexus between technology, human sexuality and health. In recent decades, rapid advances in biomedical, biomechanical and biodigital technologies have inspired scholarship that seeks to understand the ways in which practices of sex and intimacy are being transformed by such technologies and the implications this has for health. For example, scholars have tracked the biomedicalisation of sexuality, charting the rising prominence of pharmaceuticals such as Viagra and Flibanserin (‘female Viagra’) that have redefined cultural perceptions of ‘normal’ sexual desire and function (Flore, 2018). Meanwhile, new biomechanical products for sex have filtered into public imagination via sensationalised media reports of lifelike sex robots (Sparrow, 2017), sex via virtual reality, or haptic technologies to communicate using simulated touch (Elsey, van Andel, Kater, Reints, & Spiering, 2019). These technologies produce unprecedented possibilities for imagining the augmentation of human sexual bodies. This is occurring in the context of advances in biodigitally enabled apps and global communication networks that facilitate intimate human connection over vast distances (Attwood, Hakim, & Winch, 2017; Renold & Ringrose, 2017). The papers in this collection explore themes of sex, health, bodies and risk in relation to new technologies. They reveal the complex ways in which these themes are intertwined, focusing on how new technologies and human action collaboratively produce or transform sexual and intimate cultures and sexual subjectivities
Conceptualising the continuum of female genital fashioning practices
No full textGenital fashioning practices, such as Brazilian waxing and female genital cosmetic surgery, have become increasingly prevalent within contemporary western societies. This paper explores the role of genital fashioning in the construction of contemporary femininity. It uses in-depth interviews and focus groups with Australian women aged 18–30 to investigate female genitalia as a site of alteration. Drawing on broader understandings of the body as socially mediated, this paper contends that multiple modification practices are employed to produce genital appearance. It departs from previous investigations which consider genital fashioning practices in isolation. In identifying the scope of genital fashioning, this research reveals a continuum of genital fashioning practices, both physically and discursively mobilised by women to negotiate their identity, sexuality, and femininity
‘I don't think my torso is anything to write home about’: men's reflexive production of ‘authentic’ photos for online dating platforms
No full textThis paper explores men’s use of dating apps with an emergent body image focus, addressing cisgender, heterosexual men’s feelings about dating app profile pictures. Drawing from interviews with 15 cisgender, heterosexual men residing in Australia about their use of dating applications including Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble, this paper examines how cisgender, heterosexual men construct their dating app profile pictures, and the decisions they make about the content of images they use for dating profile pictures. Utilizing concepts of self-presentation, authenticity, and bodily reflexive practices, this paper argues that the men in the study are attempting to present authentic and real selves in a dating world, while being confronted by concerns regarding body image and perceptions of ideal bodies. They also demonstrate conflicting desires to appear more muscular, fit, and athletic while not presenting as vain or narcissistic. In the process of creating profiles, these men develop a sense of self drawing on understandings of masculinity and specifically notions of idealized male bodies, which simultaneously run counter to the very authentic images of the self they seek to present
Rethinking risk in adults' engagement with sexual digital imagery
No full textIntroduction Camera-equipped smartphones and other devices allow people to capture and share images directly with others in ways that are spontaneous, instant and relatively inexpensive. Such sharing is a common part of modern sexual intimacies, despite media and educational discourses warning of potential risks. Methods This paper reports on a qualitative study in which we interviewed 23 Australian adults about the ways in which they used with digital sexual imagery in their sex lives. The study aimed to explore participants’ experiences of digital sexual self-image creation and sharing and the ways discourses of risk and safety shape these experiences. Results Findings showed that participants tended to view the creation and exchange of sexual images as a form of sexual play that built intimacy, sexual tension and eroticism into their relationships and expanded their sexual and relationship experiences in positive ways. Participants were aware that sending sexual or nude images left them vulnerable to po
Traversing TechSex: benefits and risks in digitally mediated sex and relationships
No full textBackground. Digital technologies play a significant role in people’s sexual and intimate lives via smart phones, cameras, dating apps and social media. Although there is a large body of research on the potential risks posed by these technologies, research on benefits and pleasures is limited. Methods. This study explored digital sexual practices, including perceptions of risks and benefits among a sample of Australian adults (n = 445). Data were collected in 2020 via an online survey. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were undertaken to identify significant relationships between demographic variables and the use of technologies in relation to perceived risks and benefits. The mean age of participants was 42 years, over half were women (58.5%) and identified as heterosexual (61.1%). Results. Findings reveal that use of digital media was common in participants’ sex lives and relationships; 60.3% of participants had viewed pornography online, 34.9% had used dating apps, and 33.9% had sent sexual or naked self-images to another person. Over one in three reported positive outcomes from this: 38.2% felt emotionally connected to their partners due to online communication; 38.0% agreed that digital technologies facilitated closer connections; however, the majority of participants were aware of potential risks associated with online sexual engagement, particularly non-consensual exposure of their sexual or naked images, with women expressing greater concern. Conclusions. Policy, legal and educational responses should be based on holistic understanding of digital sexual engagement, acknowledging the ways in which technologies can support sexual relationships while also building people’s knowledge and capacity to manage risks
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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