pornography
Feminist talk
The online space making pandemic sex easier (sort of)
Much as there is the risk of the online space breeding great amounts of anxiety, this can also be a time to form different types of human connection, find out more about innovative ways to get off and take a look at your love lives. Here is how.
In depth
Private Parts: Obscenity and Censorship in the Digital Age
Between right-wing governments and corporate capture of online spaces, there are interesting shifts in how sexuality is censored and governed online and offline. This article looks at the reach and over-reach of laws related to obscenity and censorship in South Asia and the impact that has had on free speech around sex, sex work and sexuality.
Feminist talk
Turning from Tumblr: Where is sex positivity on the internet going?
The Tumblr porn ban reveals how laws in one country against sex trafficking can be used to police content online, and especially has an impact on queer, trans and other sexuality related content. Here Tiffany Mugo talks about what that does to the discourse around sex positivity online.
We can be heroes: Towards public and legal recognition of online gender-based violence
Online violence, bullying, harassment, theft of identity, non-consensual circulation of intimate images - are now being recognised as offences in most countries, and acknowledged in public discourse as misogyny and attempts to silence women and gender-diverse people from participation in public life and denying them their rights to free expression and association, especially online. This...
In depth
Drawing a line between 'vulgarity' and lack of consent: Interview with Point of View
Point of View as part of EROTICS (Exploratory Research on Sexuality and the Internet) project undertook an extensive research to understand how law constructs obscenity online, and to identify specific instances of non-consensual sharing of intimate images, and the various ways in it is punished or acquitted. This study specifically looks at implementation of new laws under the Information...
Feminist talk
[COLUMN] The Gender Binary: TERFs, terms and conditions
Is the internet a playground for sexual identities, or also where new sources of shame and anxiety are found? Nadika in this month's column explores the complexity of different online labels or identities, including that of shemale. She writes about the inspiring journeys of trans women, how they came to adopt or reject labels and identities, and their idea of transgender femininity. Through...
Publication
Feminist Principles of the Internet [2016]
A feminist internet works towards empowering more women and queer persons – in all our diversities – to fully enjoy our rights, engage in pleasure and play, and dismantle patriarchy. This integrates our different realities, contexts and specificities – including age, disabilities, sexualities, gender identities and expressions, socioeconomic locations, political and religious beliefs, ethnic...
Feminist talk
Virtual reality pornography and tech-related violence against women: To boldly go have sex where no one has done it before!
The impact of virtual reality porn is relatively unknown but it might be a game changer.
Feminist talk
Porn. Panic. Ban.
In India, both the legislature and the judiciary are considering bans on the consumption of online porn; one petition argues that porn increases violence against women without offering any evidence to that effect, another focuses on the “moral depravity and corruption” caused by porn. Do we seriously imagine that violence against women in India will go down by banning online porn? Talk about...
Feminist talk
“Because of the internet, I have been able to help women in Pakistan,” says blogger
Sexual information is scarce or, worse, misinterpreted in most of the developing countries. Access to information is even more difficult in a predominantly Muslim country like Pakistan, where the culture makes any kind of sexual talk a taboo. In that environment, a Canadian-based Pakistani illustrator and blogger is trying to change the game.
