Young men and women growing up in Sweden today have to face several difficult issues regarding their sexuality, yet, it is rather unexplored how they navigate through them. Pornography, the focus of this study, is widely used by both young men and women. However, few studies are examining young people’s own narratives of their encounters with pornography. The aim of this study was therefore to explore young women’s experiences of pornography, as well as how they believe pornography affects both themselves and other adolescents in terms of sexuality and sexual experiences. Seven young women between the age of 17-18 were interviewed for this study and their answers were analyzed through thematic analysis. The results showed that the participants experienced a predominately negative effect of pornography on their sexual lives. Due to the participants’ feminist moral values, their pornography consumption caused them strong feelings of shame. Further, they all felt pressured to adopt a supporting role in sex and to perform in line with a pornographic script, thus compromising their opportunity to self-pleasure, ability to consent, and claim of sexual agency. It also became evident how difficult it is to navigate through the conflicting roles within a postfeminist media culture, with regard to feminism, heterosexual gender norms, and the strong ideal of being an “agent” in sex. The results highlight the need for social change rather than individualized responsibility, in the pursuit of every person’s right to sexual integrity and sexual self-determination.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-176042 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Johansson, Sofia, Thunell, Klara |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för beteendevetenskap och lärande |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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