A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Art, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Media Studies, 2017 / ABSTRACT Practices of Pleasure: Exploring porn consumption in South Africa Despite its enormous global lucrative charge, porn remains an under-researched topic in media studies, especially in Africa. Consumption theories which shed light on how people acquire, use and dispose of products (Aldridge 2003) can be used to explain the various ways people attain pornography and their motivations. In the context of South Africa, where pornography only became legal 20 years ago (1996), we still don’t have sufficient research that illuminates on the uses leading to the expansion of explicit media. Most research projects addressing the topic of porn in South Africa porn do so by engaging its textuality and discourses surrounding it. Pamela Ramlagun’s work on teenage girl’s consumption of porn is the only known work in South Africa to tackle pornography through those who use it. Still, this work is mainly qualitative and does not offer an encompassing national outlook. It is also not clear how South African porn consumption practices deviate from or converge with other consumption practices in other global economies. What can pornography consumption in South Africa tell us about South Africans? This research proposes to find out “why do people watch porn?” (motivations), “which types of porn do people watch?” (preferences), “what are people hoping to get when they watch porn?” (needs) and “what do people think about certain aspects of porn?” (beliefs). In determining the various consumption patterns of pornography consumers, this study utilised a mixed method approach, a large anonymous survey and in depth interviews. A total of 676 survey responses and 25 in depth interviews were recruited. Phase 1 of this research comprised the survey stage. An online questionnaire which remained open for 6 months gave porn consumers within the country an opportunity to participate in the study. The survey was hosted on an online survey hosting site called Qualtrics so that anyone in South Africa could access it. Information about the survey was advertised on the Sunday Times newspaper which is considered the largest weekly paper nationally. Various online fora such as Chat24, ZaGossip, Facebook and Blogspot were also used to mete out information regarding the study. Readers were informed the research sought to investigate porn usage in the South Africa and that in order to participate they had to be porn consumers, be at least 18 years of age, and be residing in South Africa at the time of completing the questionnaire. The link to the online questionnaire was also included. Once all the survey data had been collected, I exported it to SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for analyses. Phase 2 of the data collection process comprised interviews. Interview respondents chose their preferred mode of interviewing i.e. a face-to-face session, a recorded phone-call conversation, a WhatsApp mobile chat or an online live-chat. Information about the interview phase was distributed on Blogspot, Facebook and Chat24. All participants of the survey were guaranteed both anonymity and confidentiality. Where it was impossible to grant anonymity to the interview respondents (e.g. face-to-face interviews) confidentiality was assured. Interviews were transcribed and a coding schema was manually developed for the analyses of the interview data. Data reveals that African1 porn consumers often use borrowed, pirated and free porn whereas their white counterparts mostly afford to buy original DVD’s or pay for home internet which they use to download and/or stream quality porn material. Porn is thus revealed to be a commodity whose attainment reflects national socio-economic inequalities where white minority citizens possess greater wealth than the African majority. In South Africa, porn also proves to fill the glaring crevices of sexual education in a prude socio-cultural milieu where many parents and educators deliberately eschew the topic of sex. Furthermore, South Africa is a nation bereft of access and circulation of its own porn with most porn consumers indicating to watch only international explicit content. Not surprisingly, many survey respondents felt there wasn’t enough porn in South Africa. Lastly, porn consumption in the country is modulated by a contradictory legal framework which grants sexual consent at age 16 yet disbars porn till adulthood, making many consumers who possess and view porn as teenagers criminally complicit. / GR2018

The aim of this qualitative research study was to explore the influences of pornographic material on the sexual exploitation of children. An interpretive research method, based on phenomenological principles, was followed. A total of 18 semistructured interviews were conducted with sentenced sex offenders who had committed an offence against a child (a person under the age of 18). The research findings, obtained through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), highlighted personal and family characteristics that could increase individuals’ susceptibility to the effect of exposure to pornographic material. Moreover, it was found that early, recurrent exposure to pornography results in physical, cognitive and behavioural influences that considerably increase the level of sexual satisfaction and need for instantaneous sexual gratification. This uncontrollable need for sexual gratification often results in destructive behaviour such as addiction to pornographic material, criminal sexual acts involving children and damage to the family system. The effect of sexually explicit material is furthermore intensified by the availability of pornographic material on the Internet, which considerably increases the likelihood of individuals being exposed to a variety of pornographic images, including illegal material such as child pornography. Based on the outcomes of the research study, it can be concluded that pornography does have an effect on human behaviour in relation to the sexual exploitation of children which necessitates the effective regulation of pornographic material, especially on the Internet, and the evaluation of the help profession’s approach to effectively deal with issues stemming from exposure to pornographic material / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

The aim of this qualitative research study was to explore the influences of pornographic material on the sexual exploitation of children. An interpretive research method, based on phenomenological principles, was followed. A total of 18 semistructured interviews were conducted with sentenced sex offenders who had committed an offence against a child (a person under the age of 18). The research findings, obtained through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), highlighted personal and family characteristics that could increase individuals’ susceptibility to the effect of exposure to pornographic material. Moreover, it was found that early, recurrent exposure to pornography results in physical, cognitive and behavioural influences that considerably increase the level of sexual satisfaction and need for instantaneous sexual gratification. This uncontrollable need for sexual gratification often results in destructive behaviour such as addiction to pornographic material, criminal sexual acts involving children and damage to the family system. The effect of sexually explicit material is furthermore intensified by the availability of pornographic material on the Internet, which considerably increases the likelihood of individuals being exposed to a variety of pornographic images, including illegal material such as child pornography. Based on the outcomes of the research study, it can be concluded that pornography does have an effect on human behaviour in relation to the sexual exploitation of children which necessitates the effective regulation of pornographic material, especially on the Internet, and the evaluation of the help profession’s approach to effectively deal with issues stemming from exposure to pornographic material / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

Convergence of technology has made access to the Internet faster, easier and cheaper. Criminals, including paedophiles, child abusers and pornography traders make use of this technology to commit criminal offences. Computer Forensic Examiners (CFEs) are members of the Cyber Crime Unit, a professional, specialised unit of the South African Police Service (SAPS) who are responsible for computer forensic examination including the investigation of child pornographic images. The aim of the study was to seek understanding on what psychological effects the CFEs experienced when working with the images and was conducted from within the social constructionism and the narrative frameworks. The images had a severe impact on the CFEs as was clearly uncovered in the stories of six CFEs who participated in this study. The participants' stories were recorded and transcribed after which the application of thematic content analysis found that the participants all suffered similar negative effects. These findings were integrated with the findings of a focus group as well as with the findings of a similar study that was conducted during the same time by the Crimes against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire and resulted in identifying symptoms of trauma and stress experienced by the CFEs. Based on these results recommendations regarding the support for the CFEs were made. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study I analyse the first year of publication of Loslyf, the first and, at the time of its launch in June 1995, only Afrikaans pornographic magazine. The analysis comprises a historical account of its inception as relayed mainly by Ryk Hattingh, the first editor of Loslyf and primary creative force behind the publication. Such an investigation offers valuable insights into an aspect of South African media history as yet undocumented. As a powerful contributor to an Afrikaans imaginary, emerging at a time of political renewal, Loslyf provides a glimpse into the desires, tensions and tastes of and for an imagined community potentially still shaped by a censorial past. The magazine is worth studying, in part, as an example of an attempt at reinvesting the prescriptive and seemingly generic genre of pornography with cultural specificity and political content, with a view to making it more interesting and relevant. The study argues that whilst Loslyf succeeded in fracturing the “simulacrum” (Baudrillard 1990: 35) of pornographic representation, it also demonstrated that this kind of „alternativity‟ is difficult to sustain. An analysis of the written and visual content of the first 12 issues of the magazine, under Hattingh‟s editorship, investigates the basis of Loslyf‟s status as „alternative‟ publication. I conclude that the first year of Loslyf contributed towards the broader project of democratic expression in an expanding South African visual economy, as a simultaneously well considered and underrated (at the time of its publication at least) cultural product. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie analiseer ek die eerste jaar van publikasie van Loslyf as 'n baanbrekende en, in die tyd van sy ontstaan in Junie 1995, die enigste Afrikaanse pornografiese tydskrif. Hierdie analise behels ʼn historiese oorsig van die ontstaan van Loslyf soos hoofsaaklik verhaal deur Ryk Hattingh, die eerste redakteur van Loslyf en primêre kreatiewe mag agter die publikasie. So ʼn ondersoek bied waardevolle insig tot ʼn ongedokumenteerde aspek van Suid-Afrikaanse mediageskiedenis. As ʼn kultuurproduk wat ʼn kragtige bydrae gelewer het tot die Afrikaanse samelewing in ʼn tyd van politieke hernuwing, bied Loslyf ʼn weerkaatsing van die begeertes, spanninge en smake vir en van hierdie gemeenskap – begeertes en smake wat grootendeels gevorm is deur ʼn geskiedenis van sensuur. Dit is waardevol om die tydskrif te bestudeer as voorbeeld van 'n poging om die voorskriftelike en skynbaar generiese pornografiese genre met kulturele bepaaldheid en politiese inhoud te herbelê, ten einde hierdie genre meer interessant en relevant te maak. Hierdie studie beweer dat, terwyl Loslyf daarin slaag om die “simulakrum” (Baudrillard 1990: 35) van pornografiese voorstelling te breek, die publikasie ook demonstreer dat hierdie tipe „alternatiwiteit‟ moeilik volhoubaar is. ʼn Analise van die geskrewe en visuele inhoud van die eerste 12 uitgawes van die tydskrif, onder redakteurskap van Hattingh, ondersoek die basis van Loslyf se status as „alternatiewe‟ publikasie. Ek beslis dat Loslyf se eerste jaar bygedra het tot die breër inisiatief van demokratiese uitdrukking in ʼn ontwikkelende Suid- Afrikaanse visuele ekonomie, as gelyktydig goed deurdagte én ondergeskatte (veral ten tyde van sy ontstaan) publikasie.

Convergence of technology has made access to the Internet faster, easier and cheaper. Criminals, including paedophiles, child abusers and pornography traders make use of this technology to commit criminal offences. Computer Forensic Examiners (CFEs) are members of the Cyber Crime Unit, a professional, specialised unit of the South African Police Service (SAPS) who are responsible for computer forensic examination including the investigation of child pornographic images. The aim of the study was to seek understanding on what psychological effects the CFEs experienced when working with the images and was conducted from within the social constructionism and the narrative frameworks. The images had a severe impact on the CFEs as was clearly uncovered in the stories of six CFEs who participated in this study. The participants' stories were recorded and transcribed after which the application of thematic content analysis found that the participants all suffered similar negative effects. These findings were integrated with the findings of a focus group as well as with the findings of a similar study that was conducted during the same time by the Crimes against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire and resulted in identifying symptoms of trauma and stress experienced by the CFEs. Based on these results recommendations regarding the support for the CFEs were made. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Thesis (MA (VA)(Visual Arts))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / This thesis aims to investigate the representation of gender in Afrikaans underground comics. Initially the work of Conrad Botes and Anton Kannemeyer in Bitterkomix, dating from 1992 to 2004, will be discussed, followed by a closer look at Stripshow. Chapter one is primarily a discussion about pornography, starting with an overview of feminist arguments against it. This is followed by a number of counter arguments which are also rooted in feminist discourse. The sexually explicit images in Bitterkomix are then analysed according to the mentioned feminist arguments with a short investigation of the context which led to Bitterkomix’s inception, focusing on the dynamics of power and authority. This leads to a discussion of the origin of pornography which establishes Bitterkomix as part of a tradition where sexual explicitness is used in the service of social commentary. Chapter two investigates the connection between satire and iconoclasm and relates it to Stripshow and Bitterkomix. A discussion of the context in which Stripshow originated then follows. Finally, one story in Stripshow is analysed according to the preceding research in order to investigate the manifestation of satire and irony in the relationship between word and image.