Digital Prostheses: Understanding the Problem of Non-Consensual Pornography скачать в хорошем качестве

Digital Prostheses: Understanding the Problem of Non-Consensual Pornography

Presentation for Duquesne University Women and Gender Studies Speaker Series Speaker: PJ Rey Title: Digital Prostheses: A Phenomenological Approach to Understanding the Problem of Non-Consensual Pornography Abstract: With the vast majority of young people carrying smartphones, posing for and exchanging sexually explicit images has become increasingly commonplace between intimate partners. Too often, these same technologies are used to share such images far beyond their intended recipients. In addition to psychological harm, victims of non-consensual distribution of sexually explicit images may suffer social stigma resulting in consequences such as loss of employment or difficulty getting hired. Historically, victims had little recourse, because the legal system treated non-consensual pornography as a civil dispute over ownership of content (in which the photographer was assumed to have exclusive rights) as opposed to a criminal violation. Recently many state and local governments have begun debating—and, in some cases, enacting—new legislation to criminalize non-consensual distribution of sexually explicit images. However, the sense of violation experienced by victims has not been sufficiently explored and appreciated, making it difficult to fully articulate why such laws are necessary. In this presentation, I will try to understand this experience of violation from a phenomenological perspective, suggesting that digital devices, in general—and the images we share of our bodies, in particular—act as prostheses that we have incorporated into our “augmented selves.” We do not experience such images as content separate from us, but as avatars through which we express sexual agency. As such, non-consensual use of such images should be understood as a violation of bodily integrity similar to other sex crimes.