Week 4 Scholarly Vs. Popular Media Focus on Sexuality Paper
Ashley Twyman (4233114)
CHFD/220
October 3rd, 2011
Thomas King
WEEK 4 SCHOLARLY 2
Week 4 Scholarly Vs. Popular Media Focus on Sexuality Paper Summary of Scholarly Article Stone (1995) indicated that “electronic communication networks-- radio, television, computer networks-- accompany the discourse networks and social formations now coming into being” (p.20). Michael W. Ross from the University of Texas-Health Science Center at Houston takes this idea and melds it into a research question related to sexuality and the internet. His article was published in 2005 in The Journal of Sex Research. The focus of Ross' research was on the increasing salience of sexuality within modern technological realms, such as the internet. His goal was to assess where this particular mode of sexuality, that is so pervasive throughout the internet, fits within social theory. Ross wished to gain insight into which particular social theories should be used to explore this unique sub-topic within the genre of human sexuality. He further posited the possible use of the internet as a potential method for the further exploration of topics within the realm of human sexuality. This is especially true of topics that have previously posed problems for researchers within other mediums. The internet becomes the perfect environment to explore these difficult research questions within the study of human sexuality. Lastly, Ross presents the argument that the internet has actually within itself created a new form of sexuality. He calls this new form of sexuality--”cybersexuality” (Ross, 2005). The conclusions provided by Ross show that the internet