VCU news

By Brian McNeill

A new journal founded by two Virginia Commonwealth University professors and their colleagues from three other universities will critically examine the phenomenon of sexualized media and how it can affect individuals, relationships, communities and society.

The journal, Sexualization, Media, & Society, a peer-reviewed, open-access interdisciplinary journal published by Sage Publications, will feature original research articles, book reviews, personal reflections and literary pieces to explore the social, behavioral, cultural and health effects of sexualized media — such as Internet pornography, as well as other forms of "hypersexualized" content.

"If you want to do research on sexualization, hypersexuality, pornography and so on, you have to literally hunt and peck through a lot of different places," said Deirdre Condit, Ph.D., chair and professor of the Department of Political Science in the College of Humanities and Sciences at VCU, and one of the journal's editors. "So what we're hoping to do is provide a central location — the No. 1 place – to find research in this area."

Along with Condit, the journal's other editors include Jennifer Johnson, Ph.D., chair and professor of VCU's Department of Sociology in the College of Humanities and Sciences; Ana Bridges, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Psychological Science at the University of Arkansas; Gail Dines, Ph.D., a professor of sociology and women's studies and chair of American studies at Wheelock College; and Carolyn West, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Washington.

The journal will feature articles by leading academics, practitioners, activist groups and members of the public. The editors have started accepting submissions for review and hope to begin posting online the first articles in July, followed by a full issue in the fall.

All of the journal's articles will be available through an open-access model as they clear the peer-review process, allowing anyone to access the research for free, without the need for a journal subscription.

Additionally, unlike some other journals, Sexualization, Media, & Society will not require authors to pay a fee to have their work published. The free-to-publish model in its inaugural year is supported by VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences and Wheelock College in Boston.

The journal is arriving at a time of easy access to hypersexualized media — notably including pornography — yet little of the impact is understood. The editors hope the journal provides an empirical understanding of the consequences.

The presence of sexuality and hypersexuality in the media has become so expansive. ... They're free, they're everywhere, they're easily accessible. Yet we do not have a clear understanding of how they will impact human growth and development, particularly sexual growth and development.

"The presence of sexuality and hypersexuality in the media has become so expansive," Johnson said. "We have no idea of the impact that these images and the rapid access that we have to them will have. They're free, they're everywhere, they're easily accessible. Yet we do not have a clear understanding of how they will impact human growth and development, particularly sexual growth and development.

The idea for the journal grew out of a 2013 conference organized by Johnson and the Virginia Department of Health that explored the effects sexualized media could be having on public health.

"Rather than thinking about sexualized media as something that is a personal choice or a personal problem, it was about beginning to think about sexualized media as a public health concern, because it so highly correlates with variables that are predictive of sexual violence," Johnson said.

For example, she said, studies have indicated that men who watch a high amount of sexualized media are more likely to subscribe to traditional gender ideologies. And a belief in traditional gender roles also correlates highly with sexual violence.

"No one's saying that pornography or hypersexualized media causes sexual and domestic violence, but it certainly provides an environment in which that seems logical, rational or believable," Johnson said. "VDH recognizes traditional gender ideologies as a precursor to sexual and domestic violence. Ergo, hypersexualized media which communicates those messages is a part of a public health issue."

The editors say the journal will address questions related to sexualized media in an unbiased, empirical way.

"While we may each have an attitude or perspective on these kinds of issues, we begin with the [stance] that we don't really know," Condit said. "There's just an awful lot we don't know about these issues. So we start with the question, what is it? What does it mean? What does it do to us? What is its context? What does it mean to human beings? And what should we do with it?"

"Most people tend to react in an emotional way to these kinds of questions. It's one of those things that you can get into a barroom fight over, whether you're pro or anti," Condit added. "We want to react in a scientific and intellectual way. That's what we hope this journal does."

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