Abstract:
In pursuit of answering the question, “How prevalent is the act of nonconsensual sharing
of explicit images and videos among persons engaged in exclusively monogamous, committed
relationships and are there identifiable motivations and consequences associated with this
behavior?” I examine the concepts of technology-facilitated sexual violence, image-based sexual
abuse, sexting, gender inequality, and performative actions. I hypothesize that men engaged in
exclusive, monogamous relationships will share explicit media without their female partner’s
consent in order to meet societal expectations that encourage men to follow a stereotypical image
of masculinity. Through the lens of structural functionalism, critical theory, feminist theory, and
social interaction and performative theory I demonstrate how social norms and expectations
translate to a system of inequities where women are less valued than their male counterparts.
This system influences the private and public sectors of women’s lives where victim-blaming
and image control has become normalized. Through theory we can identify the systems which
are holding society back and contributing to the victimization of women.
Introduction:
Technological innovations over the past decade have altered social interactions and
increasingly digital technologies are being used to facilitate intimate partner abuse and violence
(Henry & Flynn, 2019; Maddocks 2018). One of the most prevalent types of technology
facilitated intimate partner violence abuse is known as “image-based sexual abuse” (McGlynn &
Rackley, 2017), which I have chosen for the topic of my thesis. Image-bases sexual abuse
creates challenges for sociologists and criminologists because it is associated with a number of
different definitions and terms such as revenge porn, nonconsensual pornography, and
technology facilitated sexual violence (Maddocks, 2018). For my thesis image-bases sexual
abuse is defined as the act of sharing sexually explicit images or videos without the subject’s
consent and/or knowledge. Previous studies have been completed about nonconsensual sharing
of explicit media, but the majority of studies conducted in this area focus on cases where explicit
materials were shared post-relationship (i.e. revenge porn) or between subjects who were not
engaged in a monogamous relationship with one another. To address this gap my research
question is, “How prevalent is the act of nonconsensual sharing of explicit images and videos
among persons engaged in exclusively monogamous, committed relationships and are there
identifiable motivations and consequences associated with this behavior?” While most
researchers have studied the phenomenon of revenge porn, “the leaking of private images by a
vengeful ex-partner” (Maddocks 2018, p.346), I want to focus my study on incidents that occur
while the offenders and victims are still romantically involved with each other. If the “vengeful
ex-partner” scenario is taken out of the equation, then what other motives contribute to this
behavior? I hypothesize that motivations of revenge will be replaced with a need to control
women and performances to prove one’s masculinity to themselves and their peers.
The main concepts related to my research question are gender relations, media and
technology, toxic masculinity, and nonconsensual pornography. Several theories we have
examined throughout this course can be applied to these concepts and give insight into the
possible consequences and motivations behind the phenomenon of image-bases sexual abuse.
Functionalism can demonstrate how media and technology contribute to a functioning society.
Critical theory highlights gender issues by exposing systematic inequalities. Feminist theorists
deal with issues pertaining to women’s agency and how it is suppressed and violated by the
patriarchy. Goffman’s performative theories can explain how our private behaviors are
influenced by outside forces. Within these theories, value is placed on male dominance over
women and this is acted out through the sharing of explicit media where the female partner is the
subject matter.
Structural Functionalism:
Structural functionalism is based on the idea that society is a complex organism that
relies on many parts to work together to ensure the stability of the system. Talcott Parson’s take
on structural functionalism, specifically socialization and social control, discusses how social
norms and values are circulated amongst the individuals within the system. Through positive
and negative reinforcement, individuals learn what behaviors are acceptable and which are
unacceptable. The reactions of the people around an individual will have a great influence on
that individual’s behavior.
The United States still has somewhat clearly defined gender roles for men and women.
Men are expected to emulate a hypermasculine, heteronormative stereotype. Men are expected
to be assertive, dominant, and sexually expressive while women should be submissive and keep
their sexual-self private. Male peer support theory (DeKeseredy & Schwartz 2016) details the
male-gendered hierarchical structure and how men rely on one another to legitimize abusive
behaviors, like image-bases sexual abuse, towards women. Expressing one’s dominance of
women by sharing explicit media with other males can garner the support of their male peers and
effectively increase their ranking within the hierarchy. Regardless if the explicit media was
collected with or without the female subject’s knowledge or consent, men are most likely to view
that woman as immoral and as a result less deserving of their protection. The woman has lost
agency over her image and it is now used by men as a commodity for entertainment. Because
explicit images and videos are most commonly distributed by men (Walker & Sleath 2017, p.17),
this pattern points to this behavior being associated with masculinity and therefor society “turns a blind eye” when men engage in related activities.
Yes, there have been laws set in place to discourage image-bases sexual abuse, but many
times the legal process is lengthy and filled with loopholes that make convictions very difficult
to secure (Henry, Flynn, & Powell 2018, p.567-568). Parson’s theory on socialization explains
why men continue to share explicit material without the subject’s consent even though they
could be vulnerable to legal consequences and punishment. Because it is so difficult to convict
cases of image-bases sexual abuse within the United States’ court systems, the offenders rely on
the feedback they receive from their direct social circle. If the responses are not negative then
the behavior is reinforced, making the offender believe what he is doing to acceptable. Men
have been socialized to assert dominance over women and image-bases sexual abuse is just one
outcome of this gender role mentality.
Technology has become a cornerstone of society’s structure and facilitates many central
functions. Information is now regularly shared virtually and if the COVID-19 pandemic has
taught us anything, it has proven that many personal and professional activities do not need to be
carried out in the physical world. It is no surprise that technology has also greatly influenced
social interactions. Online dating platforms such as Tinder allow individuals to browse potential
romantic partners and compare compatibility with a simple right or left swipe of their index
finger. One-page user profiles rely on a photo and short bio to catch a potential partner’s
attention. Society has become accustomed to reducing individuals down to simplified, virtual
versions of humanity. Technology facilitated intimacy has also become normalized, more
commonly among men than women (Marganski 2017, p.197).
Sexual expression and entertainment have also migrated to online platforms. Anyone
with a smartphone and internet connection can access mullions of explicit images with a quick
Google search. Regardless of which side of the “access to pornography” argument an individual
identifies with, I argue that sexual expression is an element of social interaction that must exist in
some form or another for society to function. Technology has assisted this function, resulting in
both positive and negative consequences. For those who consume pornographic material, they
can become desensitized to this type of media and normalize its existence in inappropriate
settings (Henry & Flynn, 2019). For example, someone who utilizes their smartphone to access
pornographic material might not see a difference between the explicit photos of a stranger and
explicit photos of their romantic partner when viewed on the same device. Also, having these
images accessible by smartphone makes it easier to share and distribute them. Sexting, the
exchanging of sexually explicit images and videos through messaging apps such as iMessage,
text messaging, WhatsApp, Snapchat, etc., has become a popular way for couples to express
themselves sexually with the assistance of technology. The ease and convenience technology
grants society must be examined in order to gain a holistic understanding of the motivations and
behaviors related to episodes of image-bases sexual abuse.
Critical Theory:
Critical theorists examine different aspects of a society and critique conditions that they
find to cause inequalities such as classism, sexism, racism, ableism, etc. The United States is
controlled by a patriarchal society which holds men at a higher value than women. Women are
consistently paid less than men in similar industry positions and the division of labor both inside
and outside the home is heavily skewed to favor the male sex (Agger 2013, p.100-101). Even
pink-collar jobs in fields that are predominately filled with women, men who are the minority
still end up being promoted and receiving higher salaries than their female counterparts, a
phenomenon known as the “glass escalator” (Wingfield 2009). These are only a few examples
of how men are placed higher than women within the patriarchal hierarchy.
With a higher value placed on men, offenders of image-bases sexual abuse can either
validate their oppression against women or be ignorant to the negative consequences of their
actions. “Boys will be boys” is an all-too-common phrase heard within the United States to
explain away the deviant behavior male children and adolescents engage in. Even in adulthood,
instances where men have sexually harassed women can be excused and accepted by the public,
such as President Donald Trump’s “grab ‘em by the pussy” comment being referred to as
harmless “locker room talk” (Corbett 2017). Our society has created a culture where men in
power can get away with disrespecting women to the point where it is accepted and, in some
situations, encouraged. Liz Kelly’s continuum of sexual violence theory “sought to draw
attention to the ways the social construction of heterosexuality contributes to the likelihood that
men will use sexual violence against women in order to critique and de-naturalize socially
constructed heterosexuality” (Hayes & Dragiewicz 2018, p.115). Such behavior has resulted in a
normalization of everyday experiences of non-consensual sexual aggression by women.
The climate of gender inequality trickles down from men in positions of leadership and
power to men in lower socio-economic standings because regardless of where men rank within
their own gendered hierarchy, they are still placed above the women within their social circles.
Not only does a patriarchal system determine the social ranking of those “doing masculinity” but
also how to portray that masculinity, “masculinity studies show us that the decision to be violent
to women and others is affected by gender, class, and race/ethnic relations that structure the
resources available to accomplish what men feel provides their masculine identities”
(DeKeseredy & Schwartz 2016, p.3-4). The concept of toxic masculinity has appeared in gender
studies over the past decade. Toxic masculinity is a counter-response to the societal pressures
placed on men to behave in a way that maintains the status quo of classic gender roles. Toxic
masculinity is based on the idea that these expectations are harmful to men, women, and society
in general. For example, men are taught from a young age to suppress their emotions, but this
masculine tradition is psychologically unhealthy and leaves men without appropriate outlets to
express themselves. Emotional suppression can lead to violent outbursts and the need to control
things exterior to themselves to replace the interior control they have lost. This need for external
control has been found to be targeted towards women (Walker et al. 2019).
Where structural functionalism would suggest that these gender roles maintain the flow
of society, critical theory exposes the same gender roles for creating problems within society.
The elements of society previously identified such as the patriarchy, toxic masculinity, and the
discrepancies amongst the value placed on men and women – these all influence motivations and
behaviors associated with the nonconsensual sharing of sexually explicit materials. I would
argue that if the gender inequality gap was significantly decreased, or eliminated altogether,
image-based sexual abuse would be an anomaly and the number of reported cases would be
significantly less. Men and women would both be free to express themselves sexually as they
choose without fear of negative consequences for consensually sharing private media.
It is not only gender that divides society – religion, class, and political views can also
influence perceptions of right and wrong related to image-based sexual abuse. Looking back at
make attitudes towards controlling women, i.e. President Donald Trump’s “locker room talk”, a
relationship between class privilege and masculinity can be identified. Upper class citizens are
often afforded benefits that lower classes are denied, this can create a sense of entitlement.
Society holds men in a higher class than women and this supports the ability for men to control
women. Religious beliefs also affirm the expectations that women are to be controlled and
dominated by men. The United States is predominately Christian, and many denominations of
Christianity teach that women are to be submissive to men. Although the United States political
system is supposed to practice the separation of church and state, many policymakers depend on
Christian values to create and establish legislation. This directly impacts how women are treated
in our legal system and how victimization is identified and defined. Critical theorists recognize
these issues and find that “people are fed up with traditional politics and politicians, who have
been revealed as venal, self-serving, and even corrupt” (Agger 2013, p.125). Shining a spotlight
on policymakers who are not serving the needs of the public, especially those of women, has
resulted in some progressive change leading to greater criminalization of behaviors associated
with image-based sexual abuse (McGlynn, Rackley, & Houghton 2017).
Feminist Theory:
Feminist theorists usually align with critical theorists but are more focused on the
systems that uniquely oppress women. The need for feminist theorists was more widely realized
during the first wave of feminism when it was argued that “male theorists have disregarded the
oppression of women in the household, labor market, polity, and culture because they see women
as essentially noncitizens” (Agger 2013, p.100). Throughout the first, second, and third waves of
feminism, feminist theorists have addressed female sexuality in both private and public sectors.
Again, women are seen to be subordinate to men in their sexual expression and give up their
bodily agency to their male partner. Female sexual expression is seen as inappropriate while
men are free to express themselves similarly without consequence. Other than the
nonconsensual sharing of explicit images and videos, men have taken to expressing their sexual
entitlement through “unsolicited dick pics” (Hayes & Dragiewicz 2018) which are “part of the
broader escalation in the culture wars against feminism and sexual violence, characterized by
increasing misogyny and feminist activism on and offline” (Hayes & Dragiewicz 2018, p.116).
Allow me to propose two scenarios:
A man sends an explicit photo of himself to a woman.
A woman sends an explicit photo of herself to a man.
Based on legal reviews (Pina, Holland, & James 2017; Henry, Flynn, & Powell 2018; Marganski
2017), the most likely outcome to occur is that the man will share the woman’s explicit photos
with others within or outside his peer group but the woman will not share the man’s explicit
photos with her peer group (McGlynn & Rackley 2017). This behavioral outcome is directly
influenced by structural inequality between the genders and embodies the entitlement that men
feel they have over women. Feminist theory suggests that part of women being seen as
noncitizens is that they are actually perceived as property. Qualitative interviews conducted in
numerous studies have demonstrated the relationship between control and masculinity, “A boy
would want a naked photo of a girl to prove something to himself (or others), for example, that
she was in a way, under his control and there was nothing she would not do for him” (Stanley et
al. 2018, p.2935). When a man is in possession of a woman’s image, he believes to have
ownership over it and feels entitled to do with it what he pleases. Women on the other hand, do
not have these societal supported expectations of ownership and are less likely to distribute
similar material.
Feminist theorists do not only have an invented interest in identifying image-bases sexual
abuse related behaviors and motivations, but also how image-bases sexual abuse legal cases are
handled within global court systems. The United States legal system has not always adequately
protected women and delivered the justice that many female victims deserved and “feminist legal
theorists raise doubt about the ability of law to serve the interests of women” (Lageson,
McElrath, & Palmer 2018, p.565). The patriarchal social system translates to a patriarchal legal
system where policymakers create legislations that favors male dominance and reinforces gender
inequalities. Victim-blaming is one of the many obstacles women face when pursuing legal
action against their male offenders. Because classic gender roles dictate that women should hide
their sexual natures and follow certain modesty standards, if it is found that the woman provided
the explicit material voluntarily then she is less deserving of justice even if the material was
distributed without her consent. The action of consenting to the production of sexually explicit
material “transgresses norms of appropriate sexual expression” (Lageson et al. 2018, p.565).
Instead of policymakers ensuring that the nonconsensual sharing of explicit material is
prevented, they have become more concerned with determining if the offended female is actually
the victim of a crime. How a society views its women will determine how they are treated
within the justice system. While male promiscuity is valued, females are expected to remain
chaste. Just as women are expected to protect their own chastity from men, they are also
expected to protect their own sexual image. This is why society tends to believe victims are
blame-worthy for voluntarily participating in the sexual behaviors that led to the creation of
explicit media. This practice of victim-blaming translates to the court systems in the form of
non-convictions for male offenders (Fairbairn 2015). In fact, a 2018 study conducted on the
gendered support of the criminalization of image-based sexual abuse found that “women are
more supportive of criminalization than men regardless of the type of revenge porn” and the gap
between gendered support increases when the explicit material is known to be voluntarily
created, such as selfies (Lageson 2018, p.571-572)
Interaction & Performative Theory:
Erving Goffman’s theories on performative actions can help explain why men feel
compelled to share private images of their partner with others without consent. Portrayal of
gender identities fits within Goffman’s theories. As discussed previously, men are trapped in a
structural system that requires them to portray and prove their “manliness” to others. Sharing
explicit material with or without the subject’s consent is one way to achieve this, “When an
individual plays a part he implicitly requests his observers to take seriously the impression that is
fostered before them” (Goffman 1959, p.17). The act of sharing explicit material is more for the
benefit of the audience than the performer. Yes, the performer wants to express his masculinity
to his observers, but it is admiration and acceptance of his audience that he desires more than
exhibition of his masculinity itself. This is where Goffman’s front and backstage theories
demonstrate the influence the audience has over the performer’s actions. In the backstage, the
simple act of collecting and viewing explicit media privately can give the performer the sense of
masculinity he desires, but these actions are not enough in the frontstage with an audience. More
respect is given to the performer by his audience when he shows off his property and presents to
others what they cannot possess, only him (Walker et al. 2019, p.20-21).
The individual’s performance also changes depending on their audience. Because my
thesis explores the concept of image-bases sexual abuse within committed, monogamous
relationships it is important to differentiate between doing masculinity for a female romantic
partner and male peers. Masculinity is demonstrated through the act of taking something away
from a female partner. This could be her sense of agency through controlling behaviors or taking
ownership of her image. Masculinity is proven to male peers through the act of giving (or in this
case sharing explicit material). The performer is pursuing the same outcome with each audience,
proving their masculinity, but the means of achieving this outcome are different.
Conclusion:
Contemporary theorists such as Talcott Parsons, Liz Kelly, and Erving Goffman can offer
different perspectives on technology-facilitated image based sexual abuse. What is interesting is
that even though the theories themselves are unique, they can be applied to many of the same
concepts in similar ways. Parson’s take on structural functionalism can explain the phenomenon
of gender roles and why they are so prevalent in society. Men and women are expected to
adhere to certain standards in order for society to function effectively. For example, women are
expected to be natural caregivers and bear children while men are expected to fulfill the provider
role. Critical and feminist theorists have challenged these roles and exposed the resulting gender
inequalities. These gender inequalities have heavily contributed to the existence of image-based
sexual abuse and how technology is used to commit such offenses. If structural functionalism,
critical theory and feminist theory help explain why nonconsensual sharing of explicit material
happens, then Goffman’s performative theories help explain how it happens. Understanding the
motivations behind such behavior is just as important as understanding the behavior itself. As
social creatures, we will always be influenced by forces outside of ourselves and depending on
the audience, we will act out in different ways. By the completion of my thesis I hope to find the
answer to my research question and determine which theories best captures the nature of my
chosen social phenomenon.
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