‘Confident’ and ‘hot’ or ‘desperate’ and ‘cowardly’? Meanings of young men’s sexting practices in youth sexting culture

Abstract

To cite this article: Emily Setty (2020) 'Confident' and 'hot' or 'desperate' and 'cowardly'? Meanings of young men's sexting practices in youth sexting culture, Journal of Youth Studies, 23:5, 561-577,

They don’t even think about what the girl might think about it’: students’ views on sexting, gender inequalities and power relations in school

“…Young men do not necessarily gain status through sexting; they too are at risk of experiencing social shaming and exclusion. This, Setty (2020) argues, may cause young men to distance themselves from sexting.…”

A Rights-Based Approach to Youth Sexting: Challenging Risk, Shame, and the Denial of Rights to Bodily and Sexual Expression Within Youth Digital Sexual Culture

“…As stated above, the majority of participants were concerned about the potential for unauthorised distribution of personal sexual images. The designation of sexting as potentially shameful, more so for young women but also for some young men (Setty 2018a(Setty , 2019, meant that exposure could be "embarrassing" (Gary, 15, M). While this risk was normalised and taken-for-granted (Setty 2018b), it was apparent that unauthorised distribution is the result of decisions taken by individuals.…”

Adolescent Profiles According to Their Beliefs and Affinity to Sexting. A Cluster Study

“…[23]. Most qualitative studies into adolescent discourses regarding sexting reveal two positions in this respect [24,25]: those who assume the dominant discourse, who accept the requirements of virtual sexuality, and those who object and who define their positions as a rejection of virtual sexuality or in line with traditional sexual culture offline. Lippman and Campbell [26] claim that most of the adolescents who were interviewed approve of the standard culture of sexting, and they continue to sext, even with people who have not given their consent, despite being aware of the risks.…”

“…The analysis of sexual scripts by gender in adolescence describes how men take on more of a predator and consumer role, whereas women act more like sexual bearers [37], maintaining a double sexual standard in the virtual environment. Setty [24] analyzes the discourses about sexting in adolescents according to their type of masculinity. For men who come under a Western hegemonic masculinity, sexting is perceived as more acceptable, less risky, and less concerning than it is for women.…”

“…Lastly, there is one group that openly rejects sexting (28%), considering it to be a practice that is typical of rude, stupid, desperate, conflictive, and immature people. Critical views about sexting have been recognized as characteristics of alternative adolescence, being more respectful and more ethical towards sexuality [24], but they also coincide with the prevailing legal and academic theoretical framework that understands sexting as a new type of deviant sexual behavior in youth, being associated with risks to one's health as well as to immoral sexual behavior [5]. It would be useful to delve deeper into the discourse regarding the rejection of sexting to understand if it is linked to a more restrictive, censoring component or to a new sexual ethic based on maintaining intimacy and consensus.…”