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

Abstract

This study explores teenage students' views on sexting, with particular regard to image sharing, as well as how this shapes gender relations at a rural lower secondary school in Sweden. Among the boys at the school, students' sexting practices have created a hegemonic and homosocial peer culture. Homosociality is expressed by boys' sharing images of girls with their male peers without the girls' consent. The girls express how the exchanging of explicit images puts them in a vulnerable position, stating that they are exposed to threats as well as slut-shaming. Sharing explicit sexual images without consent is a form of sexual harassment aimed at the girls, which has an impact on their well-being. This study hopes to contribute knowledge about teens' experiences and practices of sexting and how this behaviour shapes students' power relations in school.

Teen Girls’ Experiences Negotiating the Ubiquitous Dick Pic: Sexual Double Standards and the Normalization of Image Based Sexual Harassment

“…Although girls can certainly ask for and keep dick pics, it was not as likely for them to openly discuss doing so as these practices come with certain risks of being slut shamed. There does not seem to be the same risk of shame for boys who send dick pics or who collect girls' nudes as "digital trophies" (Berndtsson & Odenbring, 2020). But dick pics do not work as trophies for girls in the same ways.…”

‘Wanna trade?’: Cisheteronormative homosocial masculinity and the normalization of abuse in youth digital sexual image exchange

“…More recently, Berndtsson and Odenbring (2020) explored homosocial bonds between boys as the main rationale for why boys solicited nudes to share with one another in their research on youth 'sexting' with 45 students aged 14-15. These authors note:…”

“…Hailey: It's normalised with boys to like to behave that way, I think. (year 9 girls, Swans) This group discuss how girls' nudes are used as 'trophies' of masculinity amongst boys as that 'heightens them up', directly referring to masculine status and prowess (Berndtsson and Odenbring, 2020). They also use the language of normalization to describe boys behaviour, which implies a level of awareness amongst the girls about sexism or sexual double standards.…”

Sexualized, platformed female bodies in male online practices

“…According to Ringrose et al (2013), such interpretations of exposed bodies -and the positions associated with these interpretations -entail much more stringent social judgement of girls than of boys depicted in similar situations. Such gender diff erences enable sexualized imagery of female peers to function as homosocial capital among boys (Hunehäll & Odenbring, 2020) in their eff orts to demonstrate hegemonic masculinity, establish gendered hierarchies, and maintain social bonds and gain recognition among male peers (Harvey & Ringrose, 2016;Johansen et al, 2018;Ravn et al, 2019). Being sent such imagery is a mark of prestige among boys and young men, while simultaneously posing a threat to girls and young women due to the risk of it being leaked online.…”

“…Such incidents may be a result of, for instance, confl ictual relationships (Van Ouytsel et al, 2017), visual gossiping (Johansen et al, 2018), cyberbullying (Shaheen, 2014) -or attempts to exert violence and abuse (Henry & Flynn, 2019;Powell & Henry, 2014;Powell et al, 2018). No matter how the imagery was produced and with which intentions, when it falls into the hands of boys and young men who use it to nurture asymmetric gender discourses, it becomes the object of degrading and malicious negotiations of homosociality and hegemonic (hyper)masculinity (Harvey & Ringrose, 2016;Henry & Flynn, 2019;Hunehäll & Odenbring, 2020;Johansen et al, 2018).…”