Sex and the Impossible Stigma and Sexualities of Online Fantasy Fetish Content Creators
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Sex and the Impossible Stigma and Sexualities of Online Fantasy Fetish Content Creators Alexander V. Fort (11184744) [email protected] Department of Sociology- Gender and Sexuality University of Amsterdam Supervised by Sarah Bracke Second Reader: Margriet Van Heesch Submitted July 7th, 2017 1 Acknowledgements To start, I’d like to thank the current US government for being absolute garbage regarding sexuality, driving me to find ways to fix it. I’d also like to thank the role-models in my life, who are too plentiful to list, for giving me the motivation and means to pursue my passions. Additionally, I’d like to express my dearest gratitude towards my partner, Jynx, as well as my family, for taking up my responsibilities back home and allowing me to go on a European adventure. I must also thank Gaby and all of the other friends I’ve made over here for their unwavering support and for encouraging me to get out of my own head. I must thank my instructors for satisfying my curiosity in the subject matter, and giving me the tools necessary to pursue my own research. So, thank you Marie-Louise and Gert for imparting your knowledge and wisdom to me and others; I hope this makes you proud. Also, I have to express my sincerest gratitude to Sarah for every bit of help she gave me, because I absolutely needed it. I probably still do. To my respondents, thank you very much for your time, your openness, and for your help. I hope this research helps you, and by proxy, the community. May the trials described in this work become documented as history rather than remain as present struggles. To those who responded that I didn’t get the chance to interview, I’m sorry. Had I more time, I would’ve gladly interviewed you all. To all of the others I contacted who didn’t get back to me...thanks, I guess. I didn’t need you anyways. I’m fine. I acknowledge this research isn’t exactly the kind of thing I can share with the family or put on my CV, however I am grateful for the chance to conduct it and see it through to the end. As such, to those who’ve read this far, thank you for finding this interesting enough for a cursory glance. It’s easy to joke about everything, and I do hope you read this with an open mind and a light heart, but know that this is real. I didn’t include pictures so you can joke about how weird it is. This is not some novel treatise to be discussed over coffee, remarking upon the “oddities” contained within. My respondents had much to say on the matter, so respect them and their lives as such. However, I must admit that I’d be flattered if this thesis was openly discussed at all. So, you know, I trust that you will garner some understanding and dignity. Enjoy. 2 Table of Contents Ch. 1: Introduction 3 Ch. 2: Literature Review 5 Gayle Rubin’s Thinking Sex 5 Fetishism and Psychiatry 6 Goffman’s Symbolic Interactionism 7 Rosenmann- Push/Pull Factors of Online Empowerment 8 Ch. 3: Methodology 10 Sampling Method 10 Data Gathering 11 Ethical Considerations 12 Limitations of methodology 12 Ch. 4: Fetishism 14 Fantasy 16 Necessity of fantasy 18 Separation of fantasy and reality 20 Openness about Fetishism 21 Stigma 22 Summary 23 Ch. 5: Work and Art 25 Offline Lives 29 Stigma 33 Summary 34 Ch. 6: Online Community 35 Negatives of the Online Community 39 Offline community 42 Summary 43 Ch. 7: Conclusion 45 Appendix 47 Appendix A: Outreach Letter 47 Appendix B: Interview Questions 48 Appendix C: Demographics 51 Appendix D: Fantasy Fetish List and Examples 53 Bibliography 56 3 Ch. 1: Introduction There is an informal rule of the internet, Rule 34, which dictates, "If it exists, there is porn of it – no exceptions" (Wikipedia, n.d.). This rule is generally cited in cases of fan-art or literotica (erotic stories) of a subject that would usually never be taken in a sexual context, such as fictional characters from cartoons or books. There is pornographic content involving Harry Potter, Teletubbies, The Muppets, and so much more. However, I find that the rule reaches further than anticipated, for it’s not restricted to characters, but events as well. When I first encountered instances of Rule 34 sexual expressions eight years ago, I quickly passed them off as ill-mannered jokes or the symptoms of mental illness. It wasn’t until, after years of digging into the content, that I realized that these depictions were legitimate, consistent sexual desires. It dawned on me that people can be aroused by things found exclusively in fantasy. This started my now decade-long quest to discover just how various and popular these desires are. However, I never considered the people who made these depictions. Their presented tastes are considered deviant and unhealthy by common society, it is very difficult for them to find a sexual partner who complements their desires, either through its rarity or from the fear of speaking publicly about it (Rosenmann, 2006). It comes as no surprise, then, that the internet is a wonderful haven for all variations of sexual desire (Durkin, 2006). I will focus on one specific genre: fetishists. There are online forums, like Fetlife, dedicated to the specific interests of each of the many niches of fetishism, including leather, balloons, panties, shoes, aliens, hair, muscles; pretty much anything one can imagine and more. These forums allow for a sense of community, as being around sympathetic others can remove the sense of isolation and can validate their socially-devalued sexual identity (Goffman, 1963). There is a specific genre of fetishism pertaining to physically impossible events. Fantasy has a place in every sexuality, but this specific genre is based in scenarios that are trapped in fantasy. For instance, this fetish generally focuses on events, like the scenes in Alice in Wonderland where she grows and shrinks, or moments in cartoons where one of the characters gets pumped full of air like a balloon. As such, most depictions of it are seen as outlandish, weird, or demeaning to the subjects portrayed. This leaves them appearing less legitimate to, or even unrecognized by, the greater fetish community. The online communities for this kind of fetishism are relatively small, but still cover a very wide range of attractions. As these kinds of events are fixated in fantasy, and with such a large variety of preferences, there are a surprisingly high number of members in the community who take the time to create content for this. These content creators illustrate pictures, produce comics, write stories, or even play out live action situations using camera tricks and props. Some do it for free, for the sake of art and sharing their creations, while others take commissions and put higher-quality content behind paywalls like Patreon. In this thesis, I investigate the personal lives of these producers, specifically how their sexuality and labor- the production of sexual representations/fantasies- work into it. There are many possible explanations for why they make this content, but virtually no empirical research into it. In producing this content, they put themselves in positions that may have an adverse 4 effect on their offline lives. This specific area of fetishism focuses on the physically impossible, and so I believe this limits their real-world sexual interactions. The DSM-V states that “many individuals who self-identify as fetish practitioners do not necessarily report clinical impairment in association with their fetish associated behaviors” (APA, 2013), but that does not detail the extent the role their fetish plays in the expression of their sexuality. The nature of their work could interfere with sexual expression, depending on how much they wish to disclose to their potential offline partners. On top of that, how much they share with the online community is unknown. It could be the case that they produce only what fits their erotic target, but they could also follow the demands of the market in order to make money off of it; it may even be their primary source of income. As it stands, it is unknown if what they include in their content is fully in line with their own desires or if they’re just putting as many tags in the work to appeal to consumers, and if this has any effect on their own sexuality. These producers also put themselves in the curious position in between the anonymity of online and the real-world representations of their sexual desires. Regardless of the medium, they still put themselves out into the public space of the internet. Artists and writers online have the comfort of anonymity, until they start making money, which can be traced (if someone were to care enough to dig). Actors, however, sometimes show their face, potentially exposing themselves (and associating themselves with these tastes) to people who could recognize them. The implications of outing their sexual tastes on their personal relationships, with family and friends, potential employers, as well as with romantic interests, are not well understood from the perspectives of those marked as sexual deviants. Either way, they are in the interest of making money off of this work, and so it could be argued that they want to earn some recognition within the community. As such, the primary interest of this thesis is to learn how they balance the pressures of stigma with the desire for self-exposure.