Public Sex

This article reports the findings of an online survey (N = 707) that assessed the predictive power of media use on sexual excitation and inhibition, as conceived by the dual control model (Janssen, Vorst, Finn, & Bancroft, 2002).
Media use explained more variance in sexual excitation than inhibition. Moreover, excitation was statistically associated with several media variables (music, network programming, films, Web sites) while inhibition had a statistically robust relationship with music consumption only. In fact, exposure to religious/devotional music was positively and rap/hip-hop was negatively related
to sexual inhibition. Advantages of employing the dual control model to media sex research are discussed.

This paper reads viewer discourse on a popular series of gay public-sex videos shared online, known as ‘Deerborn’. Deerborn presented itself as occupying a place ‘in-between’ commercial and amateur pornography: both free of the ‘fantasy constraints’ of commercial pornography, yet also mobilising an audience following that allowed it to compete with more commercial offerings. Discourse on these videos offers insight into audi- ence interest in and personal experiences of public-sex. Nominated are three key themes: space, participation and anxiety. The space theme is used as a structuring device in the second half of this paper, allowing for consideration of the settings in which the scenes take place. Yet, the focus of this paper remains on the commentary of viewers. Evidenced through this discourse is a continued interest among gay men in public- sex, with these videos serving as both vicarious viewing, and as catalyst for participants to share their own experiences of public-sex.

O presente trabalho se insere na interseção entre os estudos de gênero e a antropologia
urbana. A pesquisa etnográfica foi desenvolvida entre os anos de 2012 e 2014 na cidade de
João Pessoa. No presente artigo buscamos apresentar agentes e espaços que compõem um circuito
caracterizado pela busca de trocas eróticas e sexuais sem vínculos afetivos ou interesses
financeiros entre homens que não necessariamente identificam a si mesmos como homossexuais:
a pegação. A pesquisa aponta para relações de permeabilidade entre pessoas e lugares, bem
como para processos de tensionamento de modelos identitários através de uma experiência
marcada pela fluidez e a eventualidade, engendrando um contínuo processo de reinvenção do
espaço e dos próprios envolvidos, ainda que submetida a mecanismos de controle social.

O presente trabalho se insere na interseção entre os estudos de gênero e a antropologia urbana. A pesquisa etnográfica foi desenvolvida entre os anos de 2012 e 2014 na cidade de João Pessoa. No presente artigo buscamos apresentar agentes e espaços que compõem um circuito caracterizado pela busca de trocas eróticas e sexuais sem vínculos afetivos ou interesses financeiros entre homens que não necessariamente identificam a si mesmos como homossexuais: a pegação. A pesquisa aponta para relações de permeabilidade entre pessoas e lugares, bem como para processos de tensionamento de modelos identitários através de uma experiência marcada pela fluidez e a eventualidade, engendrando um contínuo processo de reinvenção do espaço e dos próprios envolvidos, ainda que submetida a mecanismos de controle social.

RESUMO: Graças aos avanços e a popularização dos meios de captação audiovisual que aconteceram nas últimas décadas, a produção de documentários em primeira pessoa apresentou lato crescimento nos últimos anos. Por seu caráter egocêntrico centrado na vida pessoal de seus realizadores, esse tipo de filme é constantemente alvo de acusações e deslegitimação. Mas não pode o relato em primeira pessoa transcender a experiência individual? Seriam esses filmes necessariamente narcisistas e supérfluos? Falar de si mesmo é político? Partindo de algumas reflexões sobre o filme-ensaio e o documentário em primeira pessoa, esse artigo se propõe a fazer uma análise do curta-metragem brasileiro Virgindade (Chico Lacerda, 2015). Pretende-se assim apontar como o uso estrutural da obra fílmica produz um discurso que constrói uma certa memória utópica queer, como proposta por José Esteban Muñoz. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: cinema queer; filme-ensaio; memória; política. Abstract: Thanks to the improvements and popularization of the new medias of audiovisual recording that happened in the last few decades, the production of first-person documentaries displayed a great boost over the last years. By virtue of it self-centered nature, focusing in the private life of the filmmakers, this kind of film is an unswerving target of accusations and devaluation. But cannot the first-person narration to surpass the individual experience? Are these films necessarily narcissistics and superfluous? Talk about oneself is political? Based on some theories about the essay film and the first-person documentary, this essay proposes to make an analysis of the Brazilian short film Virgindade (Chico Lacerda, 2015). The aim is to point out how the structural use of the filmic work creates a discourse that builds a certain queer utopian memory, as proposed by José Esteban Muñoz. Resumen: Debido a los avanzos y a la popularización de los medios de captación audiovisual que ocurrieron en las últimas décadas, la producción de documentales en primera persona presentó un amplio crecimiento en los últimos años. Por su carácter egocéntrico centrado en la vida personal de sus realizadores, este tipo de película es constantemente objetivo de acusación y deslegitimación. ¿Pero no puede el relato en primera persona trascender la experiencia individual? ¿Serían estas películas necesariamente narcisistas y superfluas? ¿Hablar de si mismo no es político? Partiendo de algunas reflexiones sobre la película-ensayo y el documental en primera persona, este artículo se propone a analizar el corto metraje brasilero Virgindade (Chico Lacerda, 2015). Así se pretende apontar como el uso estructural de la obra fílmica produce un discurso que construye una cierta memoria utópica queer, como propuesto por José Esteban Muñoz.

For many men anonymous same sex acts in public places are an important social institution, well organized to find a sexual partner. Explicit and easily understandable codes of communication are shared by the participants in these places. In this work the results of an ethnographic research conducted in the public park of a city located in northern Italy, which hosts anonymous sex acts between men, are presented. The search for impersonal sex, or sex without emotional involvement between two sexual partners, defines a major component of male homosexual culture. For many men the first sex act with another man is defined, in addition to the recognition of one's desires, by learning the ways to meet partners in public places, and the debut in the places where they can be found. Some places are outdoors: parks, gardens and beaches. The location of these places is strictly related to the characteristics of the territory. Areas and places for occasional sexual encounters require at least two features: they have to be public and safe at the same time. These " erotic oasis " , as they have been defined already a quarter of a century ago, should be freely accessible to all members of the community, but must also ensure the highest protection and anonymity for the participants. The city park under consideration satisfies these two imperatives. In this paper it will be also shown that " sex without love " is appreciated by itself. Outdoors sexual encounters are appealing not only because they are available, secure and anonymous, but also because they are considered very pleasant and especially "exotic". It will be shown that only anonymous sex can provide peculiar feelings, emotions, anxieties, and excitements. In these places specific forms of expression of desire, specifically researched and carefully constructed, are found.

« Banalisation de la pornographie », « hypersexualisation », « porno-chic », autant de termes couramment mobilisés pour décrire une visibilité croissante de la sexualité dans la sphère publique. S’il est dès la fin du 19e siècle question de « marée pornographique » et de « masses gangrénées », il semble bien y avoir une spécificité du moment contemporain, avec l’avènement de pratiques numériques d’auto-représentation de l’intimité, les nouvelles possibilités de sociabilité sexuelle sur des sites de réseaux sociaux, l’utilisation de la sexualité à des fins marketing ou l’accessibilité accrue des images pornographiques.

Au travers de contributions portant sur la médiation technique et la représentation médiatique de sexualités historiquement marginalisées, ce numéro de Poli – Politique de l’image interroge la conflictualité politique qui traverse les processus de privatisation et de publicisation de la sexualité. Les contributions mobilisent les outils des théories queer et des Porn Studies pour étudier des objets aussi différents que les porn tubes, les séries télévisées, la drague gay en ligne ou les manuels féministes d’éducation sexuelle. Ce numéro est une invitation à repenser sur des bases critiques et non-moralistes la question de la sexualisation de la sphère publique.

Since the release of the Grindr app in 2009, interest in digitally mediated public sexual cultures concerning men who have sex with men has increased. Yet, digital mediation of such public sexual cultures through apps had begun more than a decade before Grindr was released. For example, Squirt, a desktop and mobile hook up site for men who have sex with men, was launched in 1998 and has always functioned to facilitate public hook ups. Using Squirt as a case study, I will build on the work of Mowlabocus (2008) in relation to our understandings of digitally mediated public sex, employing a version of networked publics (boyd, 2008a; boyd, 2008b) and thinking regarding the real name web (Hogan, 2013). Through an actor-network theory (ANT) informed analysis of Squirt, I will demonstrate how, in a U.K. context, networked digital media inform and allow for the co-existence of a spectrum of gender and sexual politics, sexual preferences and sexual practices. Such an analysis encourages further explorations of the theoretical potentials of networked publics, and in doing so, I present the concept of pseudonymous publics.