Mediated Intimacy

Meg-John Barker is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at The Open University. Rosalind Gill is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at City University, London.Laura Harvey is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Brighton.

"At a time when the field of sexual discourse is often characterized as unbounded we may fail to notice the structuring operations of new normativities. This exceptionally readable book tracks fraught concepts of intimacy as they arise in a range of media forms, and a period of more overt transactionalism and heavy cultural emphasis on production of the sexually desirable, sexually agentic self. The authors' meticulous and rigorous account of public discourses of sexual intimacy is a considerable achievement."—Diane Negra, University College Dublin"Investigating the varied dimensions of mediating our intimate lives, this brilliant book provides a far-reaching analysis of contemporary forms of sex advice, from sex television to sex apps and more. Importantly, Mediated Intimacy not only examines the contemporary media landscape, but it is also a guide for readers to create sex-critical advice on their own, using creative and thought-provoking examples for challenging conventional norms and practices about sexual intimacies."—Sarah Banet-Weiser, University of Southern California

• Acknowledgements vi1 Mediated Intimacy: Sex Advice in Media Culture 12 History of Mediated Sex Advice 303 Gender, Sexuality and the Body in the Media 514 Being Normal 835 Work and Entrepreneurship 1076 Pleasure 1327 Safety and Risk 1538 Communication and Consent 1769 Conclusions 202References 226Index 261