Mediatizing sex: Sexting and/as digital discourse

Thurlow, Crispin (2019). Mediatizing sex: Sexting and/as digital discourse. In: Hall, Kira; Barrett, Rusty (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Language and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University Press 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190212926.013.41

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This chapter focuses on sex/uality in the context of so-called new media and, specifically, digital discourse: technologically mediated linguistic or communicative practices, and mediatized representations of these practices. To help think through the relationship among sex, discourse, and (new) media, the discussion focuses on sexting and two instances of sexting “scandals” in the news. Against this backdrop, the chapter sets out four persistent binaries that typically shape public and academic writing about sex/uality and especially digital sex/uality: new-old, mediation-mediatization, private/real-public/fake, and personal-political. These either-or approaches are problematic, because they no longer account for the practical realities and lived experiences of both sex and media. Scholars interested in digital sex/uality are advised to adopt a “both-and” approach in which media (i.e., digital technologies and The Media) both create pleasurable, potentially liberating opportunities to use our bodies (sexually or otherwise) and simultaneously thwart us, shame us, or shut us down. In this sense, there is nothing that is really “new” after all.

Item Type:	Book Section (Book Chapter)
Division/Institute:	06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies > Institute of English Languages and Literatures 06 Faculty of Humanities > Other Institutions > Walter Benjamin Kolleg (WBKolleg) > Center for the Study of Language and Society (CSLS) 06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies > Institute of English Languages and Literatures > Modern English Linguistics
UniBE Contributor:	Thurlow, Crispin
Subjects:	400 Language 400 Language > 410 Linguistics 400 Language > 420 English & Old English languages
ISBN:	9780190212926
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Language:	English
Submitter:	Federico Erba
Date Deposited:	08 May 2017 09:31
Last Modified:	14 Mar 2024 12:31
Publisher DOI:	10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190212926.013.41
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/93694