In this chapter, we examine how teenagers use digital emojis, stickers and nudes on social media to express and explore their sexuality, thus challenging traditional views of sexual innocence. The findings indicate that emojis, stickers and nudes carry sexualised meanings which are key to establishing intimate relationships. The study also highlights that boys’ reactions to girls’ online sexual expressions are shaped by patriarchal norms, thus leading to the objectification of girls. Nonetheless, while some boys pressure girls for images and shame them, others show concern for safety, demonstrating a complex interplay of gender norms and digital interactions. The complexity of girls’ and boys’ negotiations of sexuality in digital spaces illustrates the entanglement between social media, sexual identities, pleasure and risks. Our focus on the material agency of emojis, stickers and nudes show how it is an affective force that enables sexual pleasure and intimate relations between boys and girls and also how these forces curtail sexualities through the objectification of female bodies and unequal gender power dynamics. The findings of this study call for a nuanced understanding of teenage sexual expressions on social media, acknowledging both the empowering and precarious aspects of digital engagement in shaping sexual identities and experiences.

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Emojis, Stickers and Nudes: Boys, Girls and Online Sexual Connections

  • Diloshini Govender,
  • Laaiqah Syed

摘要

In this chapter, we examine how teenagers use digital emojis, stickers and nudes on social media to express and explore their sexuality, thus challenging traditional views of sexual innocence. The findings indicate that emojis, stickers and nudes carry sexualised meanings which are key to establishing intimate relationships. The study also highlights that boys’ reactions to girls’ online sexual expressions are shaped by patriarchal norms, thus leading to the objectification of girls. Nonetheless, while some boys pressure girls for images and shame them, others show concern for safety, demonstrating a complex interplay of gender norms and digital interactions. The complexity of girls’ and boys’ negotiations of sexuality in digital spaces illustrates the entanglement between social media, sexual identities, pleasure and risks. Our focus on the material agency of emojis, stickers and nudes show how it is an affective force that enables sexual pleasure and intimate relations between boys and girls and also how these forces curtail sexualities through the objectification of female bodies and unequal gender power dynamics. The findings of this study call for a nuanced understanding of teenage sexual expressions on social media, acknowledging both the empowering and precarious aspects of digital engagement in shaping sexual identities and experiences.