1,720,998 research outputs found
Women's rationales and perspectives on "mostly" as a non-exclusive sexual identity label
Get PDFThe sexuality labels of “mostly straight” and “mostly gay” are used by men to understand their non-exclusive sexualities, yet the value of these labels in understanding women’s sexuality has not been investigated. The current qualitative study addresses this issue by examining how women with non-exclusive sexualities view the term "mostly" to understand their sexual desires and identities and explores their experiences as women with non-exclusive sexualities. Participants were 30 cis-gendered women who indicated having gender non-exclusive desires, yet did not identify as bisexual. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. Participants reported mostly lesbian and mostly straight identities as meaningfully different to bisexual identities, citing sexual, romantic and intellectual reasons as rationales for their non-exclusive orientations. Participants viewed “mostly” as more indicative of sexuality as a fluid construct, serving to de-emphasize sexual identity labels. Participants’ narratives support the notion that sexual identity labels "mostly lesbian" and "mostly straight" are useful to understand non-exclusive sexual desires and provides support for sexuality understood as a continuum interpreted through multiple overlapping categories. Implications for the understanding of women’s sexuality as fluid and flexible and how this relates more broadly to their identity are considered
The Role of the Internet in Research on BDSM
No full textThe internet has had a transformational impact on social and sexual aspects of life. However, research in BDSM studies has not fully engaged with this social trend. In this short critical review of the existing literature, how BDSM studies has engaged with this trend is discussed, alongside the limitations of this research. A summary of the literature on the internet and sexuality more broadly is provided, before turning to how BDSM studies has focused primarily on FetLife as a way of reaching community participants. The chapter concludes by highlighting four distinct areas that future BDSM studies should develop and expand to enhance the understanding of the effect of the internet on BDSM broadly conceived and advance the field of critical BDSM studies
Kinky Sexual Subcultures and Virtual Leisure Spaces
Get PDFThis study seeks to understand what kink is, exploring this question using narratives and experiences of gay and bisexual men who engage in kink in the UK. In doing so, contemporary understandings of the gay kinky subcultures in the UK are provided. It discusses the role of the internet for these subcultures, highlighting the use of socio-sexual networking sites. It also recognises the existence of kink dabblers who engage in kink activities, but do not immerse themselves in kink communities.
A qualitative analysis is used consisting of semi-structured in-depth interviews with 15 individuals who identify as part of a kink subculture and 15 individuals who do not. Participants were recruited through a mixture of kinky and non-kinky socio-sexual networking sites across the UK. Complimenting this, the author attended kink events throughout the UK and conducted participant observations.
The study draws on subcultural theory, the leisure perspective and social constructionism to conceptualise how kink is practiced and understood by the participants. It is one of the first to address the gap in the knowledge of individuals who practice kink activities but who do so as a form of casual leisure, akin to other hobbies, as well as giving due attention to the increasing presence and importance of socio-sexual networking sites and the Internet more broadly for kink subcultures. Community and non-community members were shown to possess similarities as well as distinct differences. The Internet was shown to play a significant role in all participants’ kink narratives.
The research calls for further explorations of different aspects of the UK kink subculture which recognises the important role of the Internet for kink practitioners in shaping both the offline and online kink communities. The study also calls for research related to kink practitioners who are not embedded within subcultural kink communities
Beyond safe, sane, and consensual: Navigating risk and consent online for kinky gay and bisexual men
Get PDFKink practitioners have adopted phrases, like “safe, sane and consensual”, to describe a non-pathological approach in considering risk and harm in kink practices. However, little is known about how risk and consent are negotiated online, particularly when the kink activities occur in private rather than public or semi-public spaces of kink community venues or events. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews with self-identified kinky gay and bisexual men, this article examines how kinky risk and consent are discussed when organising kink sessions through online platforms. Most participants were unaware of SSC or alternatives. Instead, participants employed diverse methods of negotiating consent and risk which predominantly involved in-depth communication online. Interestingly, participants were more concerned with the risks associated with meeting others online, such as catfishing, than the risks involved with kink. Finally, some participants described a laissez-faire approach to their kink sessions through not planning or discussing risk and consent beforehan
Playing on the Edge: Sadomasochism, Risk, and Intimacy [Book Review].
Get PDFAn important and recent social trend in the study of sexualities has been the shift in how sadomasochism (SM) is perceived, both in popular culture and in academic research. This includes greater integration in mainstream movies, moving from incidental story lines to the central tenet of the primary Valentine’s Day a movie release of 2015–Fifty Shades of Grey. Indeed, the sex industry has radically shifted and begun mainstreaming soft kink, such as Ann Summers stocking handcuffs and suit ties inspired by the movie (Evans & Riley, 2014). Academic research has charted this transition. While research from a medical and legal perspective traditionally viewed SM as an unsafe sexual practice, current research from other disciplines, such as sociological and cultural, is seeking to move beyond this, examining SM using non-pathological frameworks with a focus on the benefits of engaging in SM (eg see Langdridge & Barker, 2013)
Pornography Use by Kinky Gay Men – A Qualitative Approach
Get PDFThis study examines how kinky gay men consume and engage with pornography. Drawing on
28 in-depth interviews with self-identified kinky gay men, this study examines how
pornography was discussed as a useful tool for exploring sexuality. Pornography
consumption was complex and played an important role in the development of kink desires
for almost all participants, being used to: explore sexual kinks; learn how to perform
activities safely; and help consolidate sexual desires. Limitations and implications of this
study are considered, particularly regarding the conceptual framing of pornography
consumption and considerations for future with kinky individuals
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
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