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Journal article 1457 views 406 downloads

‘The embodied empathy revolution … ’: pornography and the contemporary state of consumer virtual reality

Leighton Evans Orcid Logo

Porn Studies, Volume: 8, Issue: 1, Pages: 121 - 127

Swansea University Author: Leighton Evans Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/23268743.2020.1777894

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) has been proposed as a potentially revolutionary medium for pornography. The notion of VR as a an ‘empathy machine’ has led to predictions that VR will facilitate more empathetic relationships between pornography and the viewer, and pornographic actors and viewers. This affectiv...

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Published in: Porn Studies
ISSN: 2326-8743 2326-8751
Published: Informa UK Limited 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa54559
first_indexed 2020-06-29T07:49:43Z
last_indexed 2025-03-21T09:46:50Z
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title ‘The embodied empathy revolution … ’: pornography and the contemporary state of consumer virtual reality
spellingShingle ‘The embodied empathy revolution … ’: pornography and the contemporary state of consumer virtual reality
Leighton Evans
title_short ‘The embodied empathy revolution … ’: pornography and the contemporary state of consumer virtual reality
title_full ‘The embodied empathy revolution … ’: pornography and the contemporary state of consumer virtual reality
title_fullStr ‘The embodied empathy revolution … ’: pornography and the contemporary state of consumer virtual reality
title_full_unstemmed ‘The embodied empathy revolution … ’: pornography and the contemporary state of consumer virtual reality
title_sort ‘The embodied empathy revolution … ’: pornography and the contemporary state of consumer virtual reality
author_id_str_mv cc05810f3465ddddd6814e131f4e9a79
author_id_fullname_str_mv cc05810f3465ddddd6814e131f4e9a79_***_Leighton Evans
author Leighton Evans
author2 Leighton Evans
format Journal article
container_title Porn Studies
container_volume 8
container_issue 1
container_start_page 121
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
issn 2326-8743
2326-8751
doi_str_mv 10.1080/23268743.2020.1777894
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - Media, Communications, Journalism and PR{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - Media, Communications, Journalism and PR
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description Virtual Reality (VR) has been proposed as a potentially revolutionary medium for pornography. The notion of VR as a an ‘empathy machine’ has led to predictions that VR will facilitate more empathetic relationships between pornography and the viewer, and pornographic actors and viewers. This affective turn in VR pornography is contingent upon the use of teledildonic technology and VR to facilitate new embodied relations for the viewer. However, the current state of VR pornography is very far from this vision. Currently, VR pornography is dominated by a variation on the point-of-view genre of pornography where the viewer is embodied in a stationary, subject position – often that of a straight, white male while a female actor submits to the desire of the actor. The promise of VR pornography is currently some way from being realised, and the material currently available recycles debates on heteronormativity and hegemonic masculinity in eroticism.
published_date 2021-03-01T07:42:16Z
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score 11.0578165

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