From Screens to Intimacy: Pornography Consumption as an Intimate Cultural Practice
Keywords:
pornography consumption; intimacy; cultural practice; sexual scripts; moral incongruence; relational embeddingAbstract
This article re-conceptualizes pornography consumption as an intimate cultural practice, exploring how it is embedded within complex relational, cultural, and interpretive dimensions. Prior Work: Traditional research relies on frameworks emphasizing pathology, addiction, or relational dysfunction (e.g., sexual scripting theory, media effects), largely underrepresenting regions like Southeastern Europe. Approach: The paper utilizes an integrative theoretical approach, synthesizing existing empirical findings, cross-cultural evidence, moral incongruence models, and usage contexts (solitary versus shared use). Results: Analysis demonstrates that the meanings and outcomes of pornography use vary substantially based on individual values, relationship dynamics, and specific socio-cultural backgrounds. Implications: The study provides researchers and practitioners with an expanded comprehensive framework, shifting future academic inquiry from pure pathology to contextual and intersectional analysis. Value: The original contribution lies in introducing a novel integrative theoretical model that fills geographical research gaps in Southeastern Europe and transcends the limiting paradigm of pathologization.
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