This book explores the dick pic in popular culture. Drawing from a range of disciplines, cultural analyses, lived experiences and theoretical approaches, this book explores the polysemous nature of dick pics.
It looks at historical and contemporary theorisations of the penis/phallus, sexualisation and sexual objectification of the male body arguments, contemporary public discourses concerning the dick pic, and men’s lived experiences of sexting and dick pic sending. Made possible by advances in mobile and digital technologies, the dick pic is often regarded as a harmful endemic, particularly in the wake of increased recognitions of sexual violence against women. However, very little has been done to explore dick pics outside of violence, pathological, and moral panic framings, such as the erotic possibilities and understandings of the dick pic, and the way certain discourses continue to work to shape and frame how we engage and understand the dick pic in contemporary culture.
This will be key reading for scholars and students in Women’s and Gender Studies, Sexuality Studies, Masculinity and Sociology.
Preface
Introduction
1: Locating the Erotic (Heterosexual) Man: Sexualisation and Objectification Debates
2: "A Disturbing and Perplexing Phenomenon": Popular Discourses of Dick Pics
3: "Critiquing Your Dick Pics with Love": Reading Dick Pics Reparatively
4: "That Feeling of to Be Wanted": Process, Relationality, and Desire
5: "You Get What You Deserve:" Managing Risk and Backlash When Sending Dick Pics
Conclusion
Biography
Andrea Waling is a Senior ARC DECRA Research Fellow at the Australian Research in Sex, Health, and Society at La Trobe University, Australia. She undertakes several qualitative and mixed-methods research projects focused on explorations of men, sexuality, and bodies; young people and sexual literacy, technologies, sex, and sexual intimacy, and LGBTIQ+ health and well-being. Many of these projects engage in community consultations and co-production of knowledge, and are centred around social justice issues to ensure better health and wellbeing outcomes for marginalised communities. Dr Waling is co-leading a program of research at ARCSHS focusing on the intersections of technology, sex education and digital literacies, gender, sexuality, and sexual intimacies. Her DECRA (2020−2023) research project Men, Sex and Intimacy explores how young, heterosexual men in Australia are navigating and negotiating intimacy, sex, and consent in the wake of #MeToo politics and awareness around sexual violence against women. To date she has attracted over $2.8 million AUD in competitive funding, and has over 70 publications. She has earned several awards for her research, most recently the La Trobe University Excellence in Research Impact (2021) for the Understanding LGBTI+ Lives in Crisis project.
