Sexual Entertainment Research Articles

The role of metaverse on sexual health of people with disabilities: narrative review.

Metaverse is the implementation of an Internet-based hypothetical meta-universe, which should facilitate an immersive experience in meeting people, working, shopping and other leisure activities. Immersive reality makes it possible to feel involved in a virtual environment using the mechanism of the "embodied simulations", i.e., the capacity to evoke a sense of presence in a specific reality, whether real or imagined. The growing interest in the metaverse suggests exploring how this new kind of communicative space could be used to provide and guarantee sexual entertainment and/or education for people with disabilities. Through a thematic analysis, we aimed to define the theoretical framework and analyze scientific literature on this subject. Our purpose is to provide a comprehensive picture of the use of metaverse as a tool for sexuality, and of the possible benefits of such technologies for people with disabilities. To this end, we have also discussed a major topic, related to the Sexual Assistants, examining how their possible application can be implemented within the context of augmented reality. Our study further explores the importance of the metaverse in sexual education. Finally, we addressed the issue of cyber security as well as possible threats and negative consequences linked to metaverse misuse.

Is Sex Cam Use a Substitute for “Real Sex?” Attitudes and Experiences of Consumers Using Adult Cam Platforms

ABSTRACT Adult webcam sites with live performers who provide viewer interactive experiences are a rapidly increasing form of sexual entertainment or “sextech.” The opportunity to engage with performers during synchronous contact without health risks represents a novel form of transactional sex. This study sought to understand viewer preferences in performers, and how viewers perceive webcam use is affecting their sex lives and their mood. Participants (N = 10,570) responded to a link on the adult webcam platform Chaturbate.com and completed a 93-item survey. Simple frequencies and descriptive statistics were used to characterize responses. Most viewers identified as heterosexual (75.1%) men (94.2%). Two-fifths (40.3%) had no sexual partners over the past 12 months. Exploratory factor analysis showed that respondents’ preferred qualities in performers clustered around an ideal sexual partner, an emotional connection, power dynamics, and compliance with viewers’ wishes. Respondents generally agreed that webcam use made them better educated about sex (66.0%) and feel better about their sex lives (54.6%), though about one-fourth reported less positive experiences. The majority (72.2%) felt watching cams was less satisfying than sex away from screen and only 19.1% defined watching cams as “real sex.” Over half (64.0%) perceived their webcam use as having positive effects on their mood, while a moderate proportion perceived negative emotional consequences. Findings suggest that a majority of viewers experience their webcam activities as a means of obtaining sexual release, but that this is not considered actual sex. Future research should explore additional consequences of long-term use of transactional webcam sex.

Thailand’s Sex Entertainment: Alienated Labor and the Construction of Intimacy

Promising research from Thailand already highlights women in the sexual entertainment industry as being active participants in both intimate relationships and commercial transactions simultaneously. Notably, they are neither victims nor alienated laborers, as some activist narratives assert. Women working in Thailand’s sex entertainment industry consistently adapt working cultures to modernity’s demand to reduce sex to a commercial transaction while often seeking emotional engagement. One result is that new forms of intimacy emerged, taking on new cultural meanings. The profoundly felt need to care for and take care of someone else [dulae (Thai: ดูแล)], seen as a form of “intimacy”, is, in fact, deeply rooted in the Thai social context. We reframe the literature about sex work in Thailand by assuming that intimacy is key to understanding how “sex work” arose and is sustained there. Focusing on intimacy distances research about sex work away from western assumptions about the commodification and alienation of labor. This gives a more holistic understanding of the complexity of overlapping and intersecting dimensions of the work women perform in sex entertainment. “Intimacy” ties together the issues of money, labor, and a need to care for someone and be taken care of. This thread links women with their customers, families, and themselves.

Shan Migrant Sex Workers Living with HIV Who Remain Active in Sexual Entertainment Venues in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Migrant female sex workers (MFSW) are at a high and increasing risk of HIV infection and may also be a source of transmission. In Northern Thailand, most MSFW are Shan ethnic nationals from Myanmar. This study aims to understand how the risks of HIV infection and transmission are perceived and acted upon by Shan MFSW living with HIV who remain active in sex work. The paper employs a narrative approach, offering insight into the lives of eight Shan MFSW living with HIV in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Their risk behaviors are examined, from when they first entered sex work through to becoming HIV-positive and adopting antiretroviral treatment, as well as the reasons for continuing sex work. The findings reveal several ways in which stigmatized identities and life conditions influence risk perceptions and behaviors of Shan MFSW. Shan MFSW exemplify biopolitical vulnerability as female migrants, and sex workers in addition to living with HIV and the constraints of poverty, and limited education and skills. Understanding the complexities in their life conditions suggested several ways to improve care for them.

Prevalence and factors associated with hepatitis B and D virus infections among migrant sex workers in Chiangmai, Thailand: A cross-sectional study in 2019

ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody to hepatitis delta virus (anti-HDV) and associated factors among migrant sex workers in Chiangmai, Thailand. MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted at various sexual entertainment venues in Chiangmai, Thailand, in 2019. Consenting participants were interviewed using a questionnaire, and plasma was tested for hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers (DiaSorin, Italy) and anti-HDV antibody (DIA.PRO Diagnostic Bioprobes, Italy), if HBsAg-positive. Associations between HBsAg positivity or HDV antibody and potential factors were examined using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis. ResultsA total of 396 migrant sex workers, half of them female, were recruited between February and September 2019. Their median age was 25 years (interquartile range 22–30 years) and 95% were Burmese. Overall, HBsAg prevalence was 11.4%; 8.1% in females and 14.7% in males (Chi-square, p = 0.040). One-third were still susceptible to HBV. No HBsAg-positive participants had anti-HDV antibodies. HBsAg positivity was associated with being male (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 3.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25–7.68, p = 0.014), having attended school (aOR 4.50, 95% CI 1.26–15.98, p = 0.020), being separated/divorced/widowed (aOR 5.77, 95% CI 1.48–22.52, p = 0.012), and having unprotected sex (aOR 3.38, 95% CI 1.31–8.71, p = 0.012). ConclusionsIn this young population, higher HBsAg prevalence in males may be related to sexual transmission, indicating the need for HBV screening programs linked with HBV prevention and care.

Acquiescing to the Script: A Panel Study of College Students’ Sexual Media Habits, Endorsement of Heteronormative Scripts, and Their Hesitance Toward Resisting Unwanted Hookups

The present study set out to better understand how sexual entertainment media may be related to college students’ heteronormative beliefs about sexuality and how these beliefs may be related to college students’ hesitance toward resisting unwanted hookups. In a 2-month two-panel survey, cross-lagged models found 292 U.S. college women’s sexual media habits were related to higher endorsement of heteronormative scripts, and their endorsement of heteronormative scripts were related to a hesitance toward resisting unwanted hookups. In addition, a half longitudinal mediation model found college women’s sexual media habits were indirectly related to a greater hesitance toward resisting unwanted hookups through their endorsement of heteronormative scripts. The same analyses involving 88 U.S. college men were not significant, although the sample size for men did not reach the level needed for statistical power. These results provide some initial evidence that college women’s, but not men’s, hesitance toward resisting unwanted hookups could be related to beliefs reinforced by their habits regarding sexual entertainment media, which suggests the importance of educating young adult women about sexual agency, consent, and how to combat the role to which they are relegated within heteronormative scripts.

Women's sex/porn sanctuaries and social movements in Hong Kong and San Francisco

ABSTRACTThis article analyzes the views and activities of sex activists and entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and San Francisco who were interviewed about the topic of queer and feminist pornography and its relationship to social movements. Hong Kong in recent years has become an exemplary East Asian protest site where questions of feminism, LGBTQ rights and erotic entertainment are negotiated at the borders of a larger democracy movement. For decades, San Francisco has been a mecca for LGBTQ activism, while also being at the forefront of queer pornography industries. This cross-cultural study and its ethnographic encounters will highlight and compare manners of queering porn and politics, while offering an interpretation of Judith Butler's writings on performativity and assembly as a way to understand contemporary activism and body politics. Finally, in a push to decolonize the myth of San Francisco as the more ideal erotic city, the article reflects on geo-political shifts affecting counter-cultural legacies of sexual collectivity and entertainment, including ongoing real-estate speculation coinciding with a global upsurge of supremacist governments.

My Sexual Entertainment, My Vote: How Attitudes Toward Condom Use in Pornography Related to Support for California’s Condom Law

In 2016, Californians voted down Proposition #60, which aimed to mandate condom use in pornography. Using an online survey administered through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, this study assessed how California citizens’ sexual entertainment preferences and viewing behaviors relate to their support for regulation. Findings generally suggest some aversion to condom use in pornography, especially among heterosexual males. Data suggest the more pornography one watches, the more averse one is to condoms in pornography, as well more opposed to regulation. Results varied more by gender than sexual orientation. Implications for third-person effects in relation to highly stigmatized topics are discussed.

Fifty shades of consent?

Fifty Shades of Grey—often classified as “mommy porn”—is far from a joke when considering its widespread cultural appeal. The trilogy populated the New York Times bestseller list for months and also influenced the sexual entertainment industry. Given its prominence, scholars have sought to understand audiences’ connection to the series, finding that Fifty Shades fans are using the narrative to navigate the post-feminist realities of hook-up culture. In this paper, I argue that existing research on audience engagement with Fifty Shades could go further since these studies are geared toward an audience largely crafted by marketers (heterosexual women who do not practice BDSM in their relationships). Using ethnographic observations and interviews inside a bondage, discipline, and sadomasochism (BDSM) community, I argue that since Fifty Shades continues to frame BDSM as a stigma, it obscures the important ways that BDSM communities work to create a culture of active consent. This is problematic because if audiences are turning to books like Fifty Shades as a form of “self-help,” as post-feminist scholars suggest, Fifty Shades ultimately reifies the fact that consent, negotiation, and communication remain unexamined topics in “vanilla” versions of sex and love.

Abstinence, Marriage and Religions for the Prevention and Control of HIV Infection and Other Sexually Transmitted Diseases

About 84% of world's population is linked to five major religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism. One thing common in these religions is marriage, which is a life-long cultural and spiritual union between man and women. Religions give great emphasis to marriage and discourage immorality and adultery. In Holy Bible, it is narrated, Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge sexually immoral and adulterous (Hebrews 13:4). Holy Quran describes, And among His (God Almighty) signs is that He created for you spouses from among yourselves, that you may find peacefulness in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy, verily, in that are signs for a people who reflect (30; 21). In Judaism, marriage is an important event and avoiding from it is considered as unnatural. In Buddhism and Hinduism also marriage is a sacred ceremony and lifelong commitment between wife and husband. Center for Diseases Control and Prevention recommends to abstain from oral, vaginal, and anal sex; or to be in a long-term, mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner. Marriage is an excellent mod of mutual relationship between spouses, provides ample opportunity for sex entertainment and together with religious attitude helps to abstain from sex outside marriage. Present article is aimed to promote marriage and religions for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, particularly Human Immune-deficiency Virus infection, which is becoming epidemic worldwide and there is no effective vaccine or treatment for that so far.

Time, space, and the authorisation of sex premises in London and Sydney

While the regulation of commercial sex in the city has traditionally involved formal policing, recent shifts in many jurisdictions have seen sex premises of various kinds granted formal recognition via planning, licensing and environmental control. This means that ‘sexual entertainment venues’, ‘brothels’ and ‘sex shops’ are now not just labels applied to particular types of premises, but formal categories of legal land use. However, these categories are not clear-cut, and it is not simply the case that changes in the law instantiate a change whereby these premises are brought into being at a particular point in time. Countering the privileging of space over time that is apparent within much contemporary research on sex and the city, this paper foregrounds the varied temporalities in play here, and describes how the actions of those policy-makers, municipal bureaucrats and officers allow sex premises to variously ‘fade in’, accelerate, linger, or disappear as legal land uses within the city. We examine the implications of these different temporalities of the law by exploring how sex premises have been subject to regulation in London and Sydney, showing that the volatile, contradictory and fractured nature of legal space-making does not necessarily provide the certainty sought by the law but produces overlapping and contested understandings of what types of premises should be subject to regulation. More broadly the paper highlights how attention to the contingency and complexity of municipal law can help us better understand the ways that commercial sex is differently manifest in different cities.

Online Sexual Activity Experiences Among College Students: A Four-Country Comparison.

The purpose of this study was to compare male and female college students in four countries (Canada, Germany, Sweden, and the U.S.) on their lifetime experiences (prevalence) and frequency of recent experiences with six types of online sexual activities (OSA): sexual information, sexual entertainment, sexual contacts, sexual minority communities, sexual products, and sex work. Participants (N=2690; M age, 24.65years; 53.4% women, 46.6% men) were recruited from a university in each of the countries to complete an online survey that included background and demographic questions, and questions about OSA. Most participants reported experience with accessing sexual information (89.8%) and sexual entertainment (76.5%) online. Almost half (48.5%) reported browsing for sexual products, and a substantial minority reported having engaged in cybersex (30.8%). Very few participants (1.1%) paid for online sexual services or received payment (0.5%). In general, participants showed relatively infrequent experience with all types of OSA within the last 3months. Men showed both higher prevalence and frequency of use of sexually stimulating material online than did women. However, this gender gap was smaller than in previous studies. Country and gender by country effects were (with one exception) either very small or non-existent, suggesting that, overall, students in the four countries were similar in their OSA experiences. Results are discussed in light of an emerging global net generation and globalized sexual culture.

Respectability, morality and disgust in the night-time economy: exploring reactions to 'lap dance' clubs in England and Wales.

The night‐time economy is often described as repelling consumers fearful of the ‘undesirable Others’ imagined dominant within such time‐spaces. In this paper we explore this by describing attitudes towards, and reactions to, one particularly contentious site: the ‘lap dance’ club. Often targeted by campaigners in England and Wales as a source of criminality and anti‐sociality, in this paper we shift the focus from fear to disgust, and argue that Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEVs) are opposed on the basis of moral judgments that reflect distinctions of both class and gender. Drawing on documentary analysis, survey results and interview data collected during guided walks, we detail the concerns voiced by those anxious about the presence of lap dance or striptease clubs in their town or city, particularly the notion that they ‘lower the tone’ of particular streets or neighbourhoods. Our conclusion is that the opposition expressed to lap dance clubs is part of an attempt to police the boundaries of respectable masculinities and femininities, marginalizing the producers and consumers of sexual entertainment through ‘speech acts’ which identify such entertainment as unruly, vulgar and uncivilized. These findings are considered in the light of ongoing debates concerning the relations of morality, respectability and disgust.

Porn by any other name: women's consumption of public sex performances in Amsterdam

This paper draws on ethnographic research conducted in Amsterdam, exploring the ways in which women tourists engage with public sex performances, drawing comparisons between these types of shows and other types of pornographic materials. Empirical data collected in Amsterdam, focusing on women's visual consumption of public sex performances at a well-known tourist sexual theatres that features live sex (including vaginal penetrative sex and oral sexual encounters for/by men/women, as well as masturbation and other highly sexualized acts), suggests that sex shows are positioned as legitimate sexual entertainment for men, women, and couples, and that a wide range of tourist women from different backgrounds visit these shows in substantial numbers. By attempting to unpick the ways in which women visually consume public sex performances, and thinking about this in relation to broader discussions around pornography and the literature around women's consumption practices, this paper will argue that many of the current understandings of pornography consumption as an androcentric activity fail to recognize women as active sexual, visual agents. Women's engagement with sex shows in Amsterdam complicates the various ways in which visual consumption of pornography might occur, and opens up questions about the social and gendered practices of watching sex.

Law, sex and the city: regulating sexual entertainment venues in England and Wales

Purpose – This paper aims to explore how municipal law, in its various guises, serves to police the boundaries of acceptable sexual conduct by considering how Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEVs) in British cities are controlled through diverse techniques of licensing and planning control. Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes the emergence of permissive new licensing controls that provide local authorities considerable control over SEVs. Licensing decisions, judicial review cases and planning inspectorate adjudications since the inception of the new powers are examined to explore the logic of judgements preventing SEVs operating in specific localities. Findings – Through analysis of case studies, it is shown that local authorities have almost total discretion to prevent SEVs operating in specific localities, particularly those undergoing, or anticipated to be undergoing, redevelopment and regeneration. Originality/value – This paper offers unique insights on the “scope” of municipal law by highlighting how land uses associated with “sexual minority” interests are regulated in the interests of urban regeneration, redevelopment and restructuring.

Regulating Strip-Based Entertainment: Sexual Entertainment Venue Policy and the Ex/Inclusion of Dancers’ Perspectives and Needs

This article showcases a research, dissemination and impact study on the striptease industry that explores why key stakeholders (dancers) are excluded, and ways that inclusion in policy development is achievable. This form of erotic work has undergone increased attention from policy and regulatory officials in recent years with the introduction of a new licensing process as venues are categorised as Sexual Entertainment Venues. The article will demonstrate how community and campaign group voices were heard over that of the dancers themselves, who were not consulted in the process of the legislative change. However, the article shows how small but significant interventions into policy development by direct work with stakeholders (here Licensing Committees and officers) can make steps towards an inclusion of dancer welfare and safety issues. Finally, we propose a set of principles that can ensure dancer and sex worker voices are included in policy consultation and decision making to ensure evidence-based policy making.

How do prostitution customers value health and position health in their discussions? Qualitative analysis of online forums.

Information on the health values and positioning of health among prostitution customers is limited. The aim is to explore the positioning of health among prostitution customers using data from Internet forums in Finland. Qualitative study using a purposive sample of public online forums among prostitution customers in 2002-2012. Health beliefs in relation to infections and risky sexual behavior were diverse, from correct to false. Although men were aware of health risks in prostitution, it was common to have multiple sexual partners and unprotected sex. Although there were men who warned others about possible health consequences when a condom is not used, typically men were proud not to use a condom with a prostitute and found different explanations for not using a condom. Condom breakage was not an issue discussed in forums. Unexpected findings were beliefs that one fifth of the Nordic population is resistant to HIV, that the possibility of HIV transmission is exaggerated by medical specialists, and that men should control their behavior in order not to degrade prostitutes. Discussions on health service use were few. Sexual satisfaction and entertainment were the main reasons to post in the analyzed forums health discussion was not common although condom use was reported, attention to health risks was selective information on health service use was limited, which may suggest this topic was not valued among men and should be a topic of future studies.

Criminalizing Revenge Porn: A Quick Guide

The term “revenge porn,” though frequently used, is somewhat misleading. Many perpetrators are not motivated by revenge or by any personal feelings toward the victim. A more accurate term is nonconsensual pornography, defined as the distribution of sexually graphic images of individuals without their consent. This includes both images originally obtained without consent (e.g. by using hidden cameras, hacking phones, or recording sexual assaults) as well as images consensually obtained within the context of an intimate relationship. Nonconsensual pornography transforms unwilling individuals into sexual entertainment for strangers. A vengeful ex-partner or opportunistic hacker can upload an explicit image of a victim to a website where thousands of people can view it and hundreds of other websites can share it. In a matter of days, that image can dominate the first several pages of “hits” on the victim’s name in a search engine, as well as being emailed or otherwise exhibited to the victim’s family, employers, co-workers, and peers.This short document provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about criminalizing revenge porn and other forms of nonconsensual pornography.

Combating Non-Consensual Pornography: A Working Paper

Non-consensual pornography, defined as the distribution of sexually graphic images of individuals without their consent, transforms unwilling individuals into sexual entertainment for strangers. A vengeful ex-partner or malicious hacker can upload an explicit image of a victim to a website where thousands of people can view it and hundreds of other websites can share it. In a matter of days, that image can become the first several pages of “hits” on the victim’s name in a search engine, as well as being emailed or otherwise exhibited to the victim’s family, employers, co-workers, and peers. Victims are routinely threatened with sexual assault, stalked, harassed, fired from jobs, and forced to change schools. Some victims have committed suicide. Non-consensual pornography can destroy victims’ intimate relationships as well as their educational and employment opportunities. While non-consensual pornography can affect both male and female individuals, empirical evidence indicates that the majority of victims are women and girls, and that women and girls face more serious consequences as a result of their victimization. By violating legal and social commitments to gender equality, non-consensual pornography is similar to sexual harassment, rape, and domestic violence.This working paper details the lack of appropriate legal response to this issue. While victims can in theory make use of tort or copyright law, such civil actions are burdensome, costly, and often bring increased attention to the harmful material. Moreover, non-consensual pornography is a form of sexual abuse and should be treated as such by the law. Currently, only two states have criminal laws that offer protection against such conduct, and there is no federal criminal law that directly addresses it. Both state and federal criminal laws are necessary to address non-consensual pornography. State criminal laws are necessary to address conduct that does not cross state lines. Federal law is necessary because state laws are limited both by jurisdiction and by the Communications Decency Act §230, which creates high hurdles for either civil or criminal charges against website operators who distribute non-consensual pornography. Given that the Internet has greatly amplified the scope and harm of non-consensual pornography, an effective law must also reach Internet traffickers. According to existing federal provisions, using the Internet to transmit information qualifies as “interstate commerce,” which Congress has the power to regulate. Combined with the fact that CDA §230 does not shield websites from federal criminal liability, this means that a federal criminal prohibition is both appropriate and necessary to fully address the problem of non-consensual pornography.

Taking back the night? Gender and the contestation of sexual entertainment in England and Wales

Despite important moves towards gender equality, the experience of the night-time city remains profoundly different for women and men. The visibility of self-styled ‘gentleman’s clubs’ where female dancers perform for a predominantly male clientele has been taken as prime evidence of this persistent inequity. Opposition to such clubs has hence been vocal, with the result that many local authorities in England and Wales have moved to ban clubs within their jurisdiction utilising the powers of the Policing and Crime Act, 2009. This paper explores the arguments that have persuaded policy-makers to refuse licences for such venues, particularly the idea that sexual entertainment causes specific harms to women. The paper does not question the veracity of such arguments, but instead explores why sexual entertainment venues have become a target of feminist campaigning, situating this opposition in the context of long-standing debates about the vulnerability of women in the night-time city.