1st Edition
Tech, Sex and Health The Place of New Technologies in Sex, Sexual Health, and Human Intimacy
This book presents recent sociological research investigating the intersection of technology, human sexuality, and health.
Rapid advances within biomedical, biomechanical, and biodigital domains have prompted scholarly exploration into the ways these technologies are being integrated into, or are reshaping, human sexual and intimate practices and the resulting health implications. Scholarship has also focused on the potential for new technologies to extend the imagined, and real, possibilities for enhancing human sexual experiences. The chapters in this book delve into the interconnected themes of sex, health, bodies, and risk in relation to emerging technologies. They illuminate the intricate interplay between human bodies, sexual practices and technologies, spotlight how novel technologies and human practices collaboratively shape or remodel cultures of sex and intimacy, and critically interrogate the discourses of risk and pleasure that frame our understanding of technology and sex.
Researchers within the fields of sociology, technology studies, human sexuality, and health, as well as educators and professionals seeking a comprehensive understanding of how people engage with technologies in their intimate relationships and sex lives, will find this collection engaging and informative. Additionally, individuals interested in the cultural, societal, and ethical implications of emerging technologies in relation to sexual experiences and health will also benefit from the insights presented in this volume. The chapters in this book were originally published in several journals, including Health Sociology Review, Journal of Gender Studies, and Information & Communications Technology Law.
Introduction—Tech, Sex and Health: The Place of New Technologies in Sex, Sexual Health, and Human Intimacy
Jennifer Power and Andrea Waling
1. Traversing TechSex: benefits and risks in digitally mediated sex and relationships
Jennifer Power, Lily Moor, Joel Anderson, Andrea Waling , Alexandra James, Nicole Shackleton, Anne-Maree Farrell, Elizabeth Agnew and Gary W. Dowsett
2. Regulating tech-sex and managing image-based sexual abuse: an Australian perspective
Anne-Maree Farrell, Nicole Shackleton, Elizabeth Agnew, Samantha Hopkins and Jennifer Power
3. Rethinking Risk in Adults’ Engagement with Sexual Digital Imagery
Jennifer Power, Gary W. Dowsett, Andrea Waling, Alexandra James, Lily Moor, Nicole Shackleton and Anne Maree Farrell
4. Dating apps as public health ‘problems’: cautionary tales and vernacular pedagogies in news media
Kath Albury, Anthony McCosker, Tinonee Pym and Paul Byron
5. ‘I don’t think my torso is anything to write home about’: men’s reflexive production of ‘authentic’ photos for online dating platforms
Andrea Waling, Michael Kehler, Jennifer Power, Lucille Kerr and Adam Bourne
6. Building community, one swipe at a time: hook-up apps and the production of intimate publics between women
Jonathan Petrychyn, Diana C. Parry and Corey W. Johnson
7. ‘It's like getting an Uber for sex’: social networking apps as spaces of risk and opportunity in the Philippines among men who have sex with men
Brooke Maria Hollingshead, Gary W. Dowsett and Adam Bourne
8. Data-driven intimacy: emerging technologies in the (re)making of sexual subjects and ‘healthy’ sexuality
Jacinthe Flore and Kiran Pienaar
9. Conceptualising the continuum of female genital fashioning practices
Alexandra James, Jennifer Power and Andrea Waling
10. The age of LARC: making sexual citizens on the frontiers of technoscientific healthism
Jenny Dyck Brian, Patrick R. Grzanka and Emily S. Mann
11. Producing bodies at risk in sexual health – an ethnographic comparative analysis between the combined oral contraceptive pill and pre-exposure prophylaxis in Switzerland
Marlyse Debergh
Biography
Jennifer Power is a Principal Research Fellow based at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Her work focuses on sexuality and sexual health, including sexual health among young people, LGBTQA+ health and wellbeing and quality of life among people living with HIV.
Andrea Waling is Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology and Public Health, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Her research examines men, bodies, technologies, sex, and sexuality, and LGBTIQ+ health and well-being. Her most recent book is Exploring the Cultural Phenomenon of the Dick Pic (2023).
