Sexting
Something You Just Don’t Talk About: An Analysis of Teenage Boys’ Experiences of Non-Consensual Sexting in Lower Secondary School.
Open Access: No.
Abstract
The current study explores Swedish teenage boys’ exposure to non-consensual sexting, drawing on interviews with ninth-grade students, age 14 to 15 years, in a lower secondary school in northern Sweden. The results reveal that boys are exposed to unsolicited “dick pics,” unsolicited “female nudes” and non-consensual “explicit video” sharing via the social media platform Snapchat. However, traditional notions of heteronormativity and heterosexual masculinity prevented boys from talking about, understanding and handling experiences that may be identified as digital sexual harassment. Additionally, because of traditional gendered perceptions, students had difficulty categorizing victims and perpetrators of sexting. The study shows that there is a link between male vulnerability and male loneliness that can be manifested in both an individual and collective sense.
Relevance
The study found that “boys are vulnerable to experiences such as unsolicited dick pics, unsolicited female nudes, and non-consensual sext sharing” – boys are also “victims.” Yet the “traditional notion of heteronormativity and heterosexual masculinity prevented boys from talking about, understanding, and dealing with negative sexting experiences, such as dick pics and female nudes. In addition, the findings revealed that, in a heteronormative school environment, boys are not recognized as vulnerable in situations where they receive unsolicited nudes from girls” and, furthermore, “the boys did not talk about themselves as victims of sexting, although they did express feelings of insecurity, confusion and discomfort about their vulnerable position in unpleasant situations. It is clearly stereotypical thinking to believe that boys would appreciate unsolicited nudes from girls without feeling emotionally violated.”
Citation
Hunehäll Berndtsson, K. (2022). “Something You Just Don’t Talk About”: An Analysis of Teenage Boys’ Experiences of Non-Consensual Sexting in Lower Secondary School. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 30(2), 155-173. https://doi.org/10.1177/10608265211042794
