example of Guidelines for Thesis Intention

Humanities: Thesis Intention: “Sex and Sexuality on the Internet”

Division of Humanities: Thesis Intention Title Sex and Sexuality on the Internet Researc h Topic and Q uestio n The central topic of my thesis is sex and sexuality on the Internet. I intend to explore the issue of sexuality, and potentially, because of the nature of the topic, gender. When sex/sexuality is experienced online a number of areas of study related to the field combine to offer a new perspective on central themes such as trust, community, corporeality, identity and representation. Everyday aspects related to our sexual lifestyle take on new understanding; how we relate to those we love, how we experience sexual fulfillment, how we display our sexual identity and define ourselves. My research will undoubtedly include a closer look at the different types of sexual experience, and cross boundaries into sexualities that have predominantly been forgotten in recent research. Work already done in this area has investigated the formation of relationships between individuals using various Internet applications including chat rooms, MUDs, virtual worlds and online dating sites. Much of this work can now be found online, however, Sherry Turkle, exploring the new opportunities for identity, did notable study on its disguise in the digital world and alternative experiences.1 Continuing the various themes of human interaction and culture on the internet, a number of academics such as David Porter 2, Lisa Nakamura,3 Steven Jones, 4 Monica Whitty and Adrian Carr have contributed to what has become an expanding field of study. 5 However, there has been no substantial, in-depth treatment of the whole field of sexualities and the Internet. Further, much of the work has been descriptive in its approach – particularly that dating from the 1990s – or is couched in terms of empirical discovery of specific activities rather than analyzing the fundamental questions relating to sexuality, gender and e mbodiment. The central focus of my thesis, considering previous study, will be to understand how the Internet has come to play a central role in our understanding of, and practices within, the field of sexuality. I will consider questions such as: how has the meaning and function of sex been transformed through digital communication? how have sexual experiences changed to include more or less elements based in the online world? how do we experience our sexual lifestyle, and represent a ‘sexual self identity’ in the digital world? Ultimately this thesis will ask: what are the discursive formations that give rise to the practices 1

Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen (Simon&Schuster: New York, 1995) David Porter (ed.), Internet Culture (New York: Routledge, 1997) 3 Lisa Nakamura, Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity and Identity on the Internet (New York: Routledge, 2002) 4 Steven G. Jones (ed.), Virtual Culture: Identity and Communication in Cybersociety (London, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishing, 1997) 5 Monica Whitty and Adrian Carr, Cyberspace Romance: The Psychology of Online Relationships (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2006) 2

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and possibilities of sex in a world of networked digital technologies and how do proximity and embodiment feature in those formations?

Broad Researc h Objecti ves The thesis has the following objectives: I.

Examine the way in which forms of sexual activity and expression involving the Internet have developed over the past decade

II.

Show how the internet is deeply implicated in current social practices concerning sex

III. Explore how sexualities that are usually considered alternative or marginal are enabled by, or otherwise influenced by, online interaction, with particular reference to the duality of lifestyles and life-living that the Internet might permit IV. Analyse the apparent contradictions that arise when sexuality, a set of practices grounded in proximate, physical intimacy, is mediated by the Internet, whose technologies are largely understood to be distancing and disembodying

Researc h Me t hods The methods used to complete this thesis are, largely, theoretical. I will draw on diverse publicly available texts concerning sex and sexualities on the Internet, including previously published empirical studies, popular commentary and debate, news reporting, and the public presentation of sexualities material online (i.e. material not considered private). Depending on the specific direction which my research takes, there may also be the need for limited and carefully designed empirical research to investigate specific issues which this textual reading does not cover. From these sources, I will be able to discern the ways in which discourses about sexualities and the Internet are formed and the kinds of practices and meanings which are represented within them. These sources will be investigated using theoretical material drawn from three broad fields of research –the Internet and its effects on society; sexualities and gender; embodiment and identity.

Significance of t he Researc h This research into sex and sexuality on the internet will contribute to our understanding of how everyday human practices are experienced in an onli ne environment. My aim is to contribute to both disciplines of internet studies and sexuality - bringing previous disparate study into relative focus. By interweaving common themes popular in both fields my aim is chiefly to broaden study perspectives, where previously the discipline had narrowed research initiatives. Popular interest has carried analysis away from sexualities that have not been considered mainstream, however it is these specific areas of human interaction that offer the greatest potential for insight into online relations. The internet, as an arena of study, offers opportunities for researches to not only analyse online interaction, but as a consequence, may offer a new perspective on existing attempts to understand human sexual drives and desires. 2

Humanities: Thesis Intention: “Sex and Sexuality on the Internet” Refere nces

• Texts Bataille Georges. Erotism: death and sensuality. San Francisco: First City Lights, 1986. Butler Judith. Gender Trouble. New York and London: Routledge 1990. Feuerstein Georg. Sacred Sexuality. Rochester Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2003. Wiseman Jay. SM 101: A Realistic Introduction. Greenery Press 2 nd Edition, 1996. Grosz Elizabeth. Volatile Bodies. NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1994. Hawkes, Gail and Scott, John (Ed). Perspectives in Human Sexuality. Victoria Australia: Oxford University Press, 2005. Jones G. Steven (Ed). Virtual Culture: Identity and Communication in Cybersociety. London; Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishers, 1997. Levy Pierre; translated by Robert Bononno. Cyberculture. Minneapolis, Minn; London: University of Minnesota Press, 2001. Lorenz Konrad. On Agression. New York and London: Routledge, 2002. Nakamura Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity and Identity on the Internet. New York: Routledge, 2002 O’Toole Laurence. Pornocopia. London: Serpent’s Tail, 1999. Paglia Camille. Sexual Personae. New York: Vintage Books: Random House, 1991. Porter David (Ed). Internet Culture. New York: Routledge, 1997. Storr Anthony. Sexual Deviation. London: Cox and Wyman: Fakenham and Reading, 1965. Turkle Sherry. Life on the Screen. Simon and Schuster; NY, 1995. Weinberg, Thomas and Kamel, Levi (Ed). Studies in Sadomasochism. New York: Prometheus Books, 1983. Whitty, Monica and Carr, Adrian. Cyberspace Romance. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2006. • Audiovisual Pornography: the secret history of civilization. Producers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. Channel Four Television MCMXCVIX 2006 World of Wonder, Koch Vision USA, 2006.

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