2nd Assignment

Name : I Made Wisnu Buana

Reg. No : 20SSMA74
Course : M.A Sociology
Class : Sexuality and Society

Essay Topic : Digital Spaces and Sexual/Erotic Intimacies

Essay Question : Write an essay in 2500-3000 words on digital spaces and sexual/
erotic intimacies
Essay Title : Sexual Intimacy in the Digital Hand: Phenomenon and Its
Impact on Teenagers

The rapid development of technology has a huge impact on the process of exchanging
information and at the same time providing convenience for humans in carrying out daily
activities. Especially activities that are separated by distance, space and time. One product of
these technological developments is the internet. By using the internet we can access various
kinds of information and vice versa can disseminate information in a very short time to all
parts of the world.
The presence of the internet as a communication medium has changed almost the
entire constellation of human life, including the most private ones. These changes in
communication patterns due to the presence of the internet in turn change patterns of
relationships and social practices that have been embedded for a long time. Various rules,
norms and habits that have been entrenched and rooted in everyday life in society have also
been affected and changed. The pattern of correspondence, chatting up to meeting activities
or gathering together is now mostly done through the internet. Especially during the current
COVID-19 pandemic, forcing everything to be done online or through the digital space.
These changes in daily routines have placed the internet as a very important medium in
human life, it can even be said to be a primary need. Globalization and modernization that
emphasize freedom and technological tools are very influential factors in the process of this
change. Globalization along with modernization offers freedom of access and various
conveniences for everyone in fulfilling their daily needs. Starting from basic things such as
food, clothing to tertiary needs, we can now easily and freely access, even the market from
this is not only limited to the local area of the place, but has been able to cover across
countries. For example, in the past maybe we only knew where to buy and sell in the local
market and could only be accessed by coming to the market place directly, but now with
technology, this can be done just by touching through our smartphone screen and can be done
anytime and anywhere. In fact we can buy something that is not limited by distance, we can
buy any item from online markets around the world just by touching our smartphone anytime
and anywhere.
Not just selling or buying, there are many things we can do through internet
technology. Starting from looking for information, communicating with other people, looking
for entertainment, developing talents and hobbies, to becoming a place to work to make
money like bloggers, or YouTubers who are currently trending. There are so many positive
things that we can access on the internet if we use it properly. But besides that, there are also
many negative things that we get when we use it wrong. For example, crime, a lot of violent
content, fraud, to things that smell like pornography. If we are not able to use this technology
properly, then we will fall into negative things that can affect us.
Based on research by Revista de Psicología Clínica con Niños y Adolescentes,
entitled The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on internet use and escapism in adolescents,
written by Fernandes et al. (2020) stated the results of a very surprising study where internet
use during the pandemic period increased significantly, and what was even more astonishing
was that the use was dominated by teenagers. In this research, Fernandes also examined how
the behavior of internet users before and after the pandemic. The effect of the lockdown
policy contributed the highest to the increase in the number of internet users in the world and
this was dominated by the youth group.
The results of the research above show that the use of information and communication
technology through internet access has become a phenomenon of today's youth lifestyle.
Teenagers use the internet for social media activities, online learning, downloading pictures,
movies, videos, music, playing games and so on. Teenagers seem to get new channels to
access information that is more desirable and popular, such as seeking entertainment in the
form of playing games, watching movies to finding sensitive topics related to sexual issues,
for example about pregnancy, contraception, sexual activity and pornography. In addition, the
internet also acts as a teenager's social environment in shaping adolescent beliefs for behavior
in romantic relationships between men and women. For example, when they want to express
their love for the opposite sex, teenagers can search for information through search engines
on the internet or even directly use the internet through a chat platform to express their love.
In this case, the use of the internet actually has a lot of positive and negative impacts
for users, especially teenagers depending on how each of them reacts to it. The positive
impact of the internet for adolescents is such as seeking information, expanding social
networks, entertainment facilities, releasing boredom, learning resources and of course being
able to do school assignments. Internet use is also related to the formation of identity,
sexuality, and self-esteem obtained through exploration of cyberspace. This is in accordance
with the statement of Boies & Knudson (2004) in their article entitled The Internet, Sex, and
Youths: Implications for Sexual Development which states that many teenagers use mass
media, including the Internet, to obtain information about the sexual world. This is according
to Kar et al. (2015) are actually normal and healthy actions carried out by adolescents in their
development period. Kar also said that during adolescence, a person's thoughts, perceptions,
and responses are colored sexually. This shows that teenagers and their colorful sexuality are
normal and natural. However, if this is a collaboration between internet technology and the
attitude of teenagers who are very curious and always want to try new things, it is feared that
this will only cause more negative impacts than positive impacts if they are not supervised
and guided by adults.
Reporting from the official website of the World Health Organization (WHO) (2020),
it is estimated that every year 21 million girls aged 15-19 years in developing countries get
pregnant and about 12 million of them give birth. The WHO further said that at least 777,000
births occurred to girls under 15 years old in developing countries. Seeing this data, of
course, it is very unfortunate that this incident occurred because of the lack of sex education
among teenagers. For parents, sex is still considered taboo to be told and taught, this may be
one of the causes of early pregnancy in adolescents in addition to the internet technology
factor.
In line with this, the influence of internet technology on minors has also become one
of the most sad things in this era. In fact, I just discovered this incident when I accidentally
opened the Instagram social media platform. On that platform, I accidentally found news
about a 12 year old boy and his friends molesting his own 6 year old girl friend with married
role playing mode. Furthermore, it was reported from the official Instagram account of
Tribunnews (2021), saying that 5 children in the city of Pontianak, precisely in the province
of West Kalimantan, Indonesia, abused 6-year-old children with married role playing mode.
Furthermore, the Instagram account also said that there were a total of five minors, each of
which was under the age of 12, some were even 10 and 9 years old. What's even more
horrifying is that this incident has been carried out since a year ago (2020). Initially there was
only one perpetrator who committed the immoral act against the victim, but as time went on
because the perpetrators and the victim were playmates, more and more other children
committed immoral acts against the victim. In fact, according to the victim, there were other
perpetrators who carried out the obscenity, but when questioned, the victim did not
remember. Furthermore, in his press statement, the police said that the perpetrators
committed acts of obscenity against the victim because they often watched adult films
(pornography) through the internet so that he was compelled to commit such immoral acts to
the victim. This incident is still very new when this essay was written (04/11/2021). From
this incident we can say that the internet becomes very useful if we are wise in using it and
used by the right people. This is in line with what is explained by the official website of the
Ministry of Communication and Information of the Republic of Indonesia (KOMINFO)
(2017) written by Deviga, which makes an analogy that the internet is like a double-edged
knife. In addition to functioning as a source of information and communication quickly, it
also has a negative impact that has become a boomerang for him.
Referring to some of the realities above, it can be said that the internet has changed
the way people think, communicate, relate, work, shop, to change the pattern of people in
fulfilling their sexual desires. Sexual access can now be easily obtained, from contemporary
pornographic content to online prostitution produced and distributed massively and very
quickly on the internet. The idea of sexuality that was once taboo has now found its place to
be discussed. Through the internet, sexuality is used as a place for recreation and a biological
necessity as an outlet for essential desires and lusts, as Foucault shows that sexuality is not
just a biological impulse, but is a form of behavior and thoughts that are subdued by power
relations that are carried out for various purposes other than the interests of sexuality itself.
In addition to the increased access to pornography in adolescents, internet abuse by
adolescents has led to different behaviors in viewing the concept of sexuality between
generations. In contrast to the generation of their parents, teenagers in the digital era make the
internet an important part of their social, romantic and sexual lives. This shows that there is a
generation gap in addressing the issue of pornography. Individuals who grew up in the pre-
internet era still have a distant mindset when it comes to pornography. The pre-internet
generation does not have a reference point to understand the dangers and risks of exposure to
pornographic content experienced by today's young generation. This shows that such changes
in adolescent sexual behavior are due to the internet being a channel for producing,
consuming and distributing pornographic content. This is in line with what Bell (2017) in his
research entitled An Overview of Research on the Impact that Viewing Pornography has on
Children, Pre-Teens and Teenagers, where in this study, Bell said that children, pre-teens,
adolescents and young adults are statistically proven to be exposed to and have access to
pornography at very high levels. In this case, teenagers seem to get the media, get a place to
get pornographic content that they want quickly, easily and very easily accessible.
The increase in internet access with pornographic content seems to show a graph that
never goes down, even up significantly. Tikkanen & Ross (in Nilsen, 2006) conducted a
study on sexual activity on the internet with a sample in Sweden recruited from a website. In
his study showed that 69% of men and 20% of women reported exposure to pornography on
the internet. A higher percentage of younger women used the internet to watch erotica than
older women. The percentage of men who reported using the internet to find a partner
increased with age. Similarly, Goodson, McCormick, and Evans (in Nilsen, 2006) found that
44% of American students had watched pornography on the internet, and there were
significant gender differences in use. With this data, it shows that teenagers accessing graphic
pornography is increasing. Even some of them can be exposed to dependence on pornography
starting from things they don't want (unintentionally) such as through advertisements, pop-
ups, and others. This is in line with what was expressed by Camilleri, Perry and Sammut
(2021) in their article entitled Compulsive Internet Pornography Use and Mental Health: A
Cross-Sectional Study in a Sample of University Students in the United States, they explained
how exposure to pornography can occurs in both men and women. Furthermore, they also say
that teenagers can be addicted to pornography from various reasons, for example from the
family environment, friends, personal curiosity to unintentional exposure such as through
advertisements, pop-ups / advertisements on the Internet, TV, websites, video games. , and so
on. This data shows that teenagers can be addicted to pornography from things that are not
intentional. Especially during the current pandemic which forces children and teenagers to
always use the internet as a learning medium, and it is not impossible when they use it, there
will be many advertisements displaying pornographic content. Recent research from Mestre-
Bach et al. (2020) regarding the use of internet pornography during the COVID-19 pandemic,
it was found that data from Pornhub, one of the largest pornographic sites in the world, shows
an increase in the use of pornography in many countries, with global traffic increasing by
more than 11% from the end of February to 17 March 2020. In addition, according to Mestre-
Bach, searches for pornography using the terms "coronavirus", "corona", and "covid" have
reached more than 9.1 million.
This condition cannot be separated from free access to various kinds of pornographic
content that is easily accessible by anyone, including downloaders under the age of eighteen.
This is the main factor in how the pornography industry still exists, in addition to the need for
sex, which is the main human need. As long as humans still exist, of course they need sex as
their main need. This is in line with what was expressed by Kellerman (2013) with his article
entitled The Satisfaction of Human Needs in Physical and Virtual Spaces, he said that sex is
the most complex basic human need. He also explained that apart from being able to be done
offline, sex can also be done virtually or through media such as the internet. This is further
added by Ben-Ze'ev (in Kellerman, 2013) who says that sexual life over the internet, so-
called cybersex, refers to sex that is generated and developed through the internet, although
the sexual activity per se is physical. Then Kellerman explained that sex life through virtual
spaces or through the internet can be accessed through watching still and streaming pictures
or through written and video chats.
Furthermore, Childtrends (2013) unexpectedly reported the results of its research that
36% of teenagers in the United States had never dated. But they have sex without a
commitment (hook up). In the past, people dated (dating) as an exploration into a more
serious relationship, marriage or sex. Now, they have uncommitted sex before moving on to
dating.
The internet, which makes the world more hyper-connected, makes it easier for
everyone to communicate. The loss of skepticism, a life of fantasy and the courage to take
risks, makes people more open on the internet. That openness creates intimacy relatively
easily. Padgett (2007) from the University of Texas School of Public Health said that
intimacy on the internet can not only replace intimacy in the real world, but is considered to
be of higher value. That's why many people can talk more freely with their internet friends
than with their real-life partners. Though maybe he has never met his internet friends in
person, but he can be more intimate than anyone in the real world. This causes relationships
on the internet to become hyper personal and more intimate than face-to-face relationships in
the real world.
This hyper personal online relationship has finally replaced the need for dating in the
real world. Dating and intimacy is enough to do in cyberspace through applications from
smartphone screens. Then proceed to sexting (sex conversation on the internet) or exchanging
erotic photos. With this, sex that occurs during face-to-face meetings will gradually be
replaced with intimate relationships on an online scale. People no longer date online, but they
are like doing a 'power-date' in cyberspace.
In 2006 psychologist from the University of Central Florida, Maria J Lavooy (in
Aboujaoude, 2011: 186), conducted research on the quality of intimacy in cyberspace and the
real world. The measuring instrument he uses is the Love Scale, which was created by Zick
Rubin. Those involved were 546 men and women aged 18-59 years. As a result, people who
expect to get intimacy in cyberspace experience a decrease in the quality of intimacy in the
real world. This type will also have difficulty in building intimacy in the real world. This is
inversely proportional to the group of people who do not use the internet to get intimacy.
In 2008 Harris Interactive (in Cheng, 2008) conducted a survey of 2,119 adults in the
United States. They were given a choice: two weeks without sex or two weeks without the
internet? Surprisingly, 46% of women and 30% of men chose two weeks without sex over no
internet. One of the reasons they prefer the internet over sex is because sexual intimacy and
satisfaction can also be found on the internet. Two weeks without sex in the real world can be
replaced by intimacy on the internet. But, two weeks without intimacy on the internet can not
be replaced by sex in the real world.
Through the internet, the relationship between love and sex has become more
complex. Meanwhile, the internet makes sex more outspoken, simple when negotiated,
arranged quickly, promises more psychological comfort and doesn't need to be embellished
with promises or high hopes. When intimacy and sex are so easily accessible and obtainable
via the internet, the definition of love in the digital age is becoming more complex.
From the explanation above, it can be concluded that in this era with all the advances
in science and technology, it seems to eliminate a distance between people who are far apart.
Besides being able to eliminate a distance, the presence of technological advances in the form
of the internet also affects the intimate relationship environment. We have encountered this
phenomenon a lot in this era, people no longer date via offline or meet in person, physically,
but with technology people can date and relate very intimately and even erotically only
through the internet. Those who do are mostly from teenagers to adults. In addition, with the
internet, it also negatively affects a person to be able to fall and can even cause addiction to
watching pornographic films.

References:
1. Fernandes, B., Biswas, U. N., Tan-Mansukhani, R., Vallejo, A., & Essau, C. A. (2020).
The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on internet use and escapism in adolescents:
Revista de Psicología Clínica con Niños y Adolescentes. Vol. 7 - pp 59-65
doi:10.21134/rpcna.2020.mon.2056.
https://www.revistapcna.com/sites/default/files/010_0.pdf (accessed by 03 November
2021)

2. Boies, Sylvain & Knudson, Gail. (2004). The Internet, Sex, and Youths: Implications
for Sexual Development. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity. 11. 343-363.
10.1080/10720160490902630.
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228880270_The_Internet_Sex_and_Youths_I
mplications_for_Sexual_Development (accessed by 03 November 2021)

3. Kar, S. K., Choudhury, A., & Singh, A. P. (2015). Understanding normal development
of adolescent sexuality: A bumpy ride. Journal of human reproductive sciences, 8(2),
70–74. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-1208.158594
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4477452/ (accessed by 03 November
2021)

5. World Health Organization (WHO). (2020). Adolescent pregnancy.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy (accessed by
04 November 2021)

6. Tribunnews. (2021). https://www.instagram.com/p/CV12VMOv2dA/?

utm_source=ig_web_copy_link (accessed by 04 November 2021)

7. Devega, E. (2017). Medsos Ibarat Pisau Bermata Dua, Kominfo Galakkan Literasi
(Social media is like a double-edged knife, Kominfo Promotes Literacy).
https://www.kominfo.go.id/content/detail/10859/medsos-ibarat-pisau-bermata-dua-
kominfo-galakkan-literasi/0/sorotan_media (accessed by 04 November 2021)

8. Bell. (2017). An Overview of Research on the Impact that Viewing Pornography has on
Children, Pre-Teens and Teenagers. https://bravehearts.org.au/wp-
content/uploads/2018/01/Research-Report_Overview-of-research-into-the-effects-of-
viewing-pornography-on-children....pdf (accessed by 06 November 2021)

9. Camilleri, C., Perry, J. T., & Sammut, S. (2021). Compulsive Internet Pornography Use
And Mental Health: A Cross-Sectional Study In A Sample Of University Students In
The United States. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613244/full
(accessed by 06 November 2021)

10. Kellerman, Aharon. (2014). The Satisfaction of Human Needs in Physical and Virtual
Spaces. The Professional Geographer. 66. 10.1080/00330124.2013.848760.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266207660_The_Satisfaction_of_Human_Ne
eds_in_Physical_and_Virtual_Spaces (accessed by 07 November 2021)

11. Childtrens. (2013). Dating and Sexual Relationships. Adolescent Health Highlight.
https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2013-
04DatingSexualRelationships.pdf (accessed by 08 November 2021)

12. Padgett, P.M. Personal safety and sexual safety for women using online personal
ads. Sex Res Soc Policy 4, 27–37 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1525/srsp.2007.4.2.27
(accessed by 08 November 2021)

13. Aboujaoude, Elias. (2011). The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality.

https://books.google.co.in/books?id=QhGGwJWV-
KMC&pg=PA186&lpg=PA186&dq=love+scale+Maria+J+Lavooy&source=bl&ots=v2
w9sMysz5&sig=ACfU3U0zJu72Q35UOmHwm49aLaWffU-
w1w&hl=id&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiHwtbp-
 of0AhWGbisKHXnOCYAQ6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=love%20scale
%20Maria%20J%20Lavooy&f=false (accessed by 08 November 2021)

14. Cheng, Jacqui. (2008). No headache needed: 46% of women choose Internet over sex.
https://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2008/12/no-headache-needed-46-of-women-
choose-internet-over-sex/ (accessed by 08 November 2021)