From sex tapes to revenge porn: Construction of a genre : Gender, sexuality and power in new media

This paper makes an attempt to explain the construction of a newly developed genre called revenge porn flourishing in new media. The study analyzes the patterns of production and display of revenge porn content as well as the mechanisms of the site that archives such materials. The results of this study suggest that the development of such a genre cannot be attributed only to liberatory and/or victimizing effects of the electronic space. Rather, social power structures based on discourses like gender, heterosexuality and capitalist patriarchy that exploit the surveillance mechanism of the internet are significantly influencing both individual uses of the internet as well as its apparatus and technologies. These are the major forces contributing to the institutionalization and commercialization of revenge porn in new media. This is a case study based investigation that uses both content analysis and discourse analysis as methods to interpret the revenge porn genre in new media