Abstract

The “sphere of intimacy” is increasingly mediated by a socio-technical network inlaid with new meanings and readings in love and seduction games. In these affective-digital exchanges, nudes are essential in linking interest between partners, also setting spaces for power struggles and violence. This work aims to analyze the prevailing moralities, the emotional management, and the inclusion of the body in affirming autonomy and diversity identified in the statements of young people whose intimate contents were disseminated on the internet without their consent. We analyzed 20 videos of young YouTubers who had such an experience from the Critical Discourse Analysis perspective. The statements carry discursive forces of “venting”, “testimony”, and, above all, “counseling”. The narrated experiences highlight the dynamics of disseminating these intimate contents and how they differently affect the representations of face and social recognition of boys and girls. Handling suffering techniques vary between resignation in the face of patriarchal order and overcoming and autonomy discourses. We also highlight the initiatives of these young people in managing intimate images and a political stance on the use and expression of their bodies.

Key words:
Violence; Gender; Privacy; Social network; Internet

Introduction

The “sphere of intimacy”, recognized as fluid spaces for the enunciation of the Self¹, is increasingly mediated by a socio-technical network, covered by new meanings and readings in the love and seduction games experienced by digital means²2 Albury K, Burgess J, Light B, Race K, Wilken R. Data cultures of mobile dating and hook-up apps: emerging issues for critical social science research. Big Data Soc 2017; 4(2):2053951717720950.. In this context, the “presentation of the Self” will be performed on the body and digital borders in a connective culture whose premises of “spectacularization of the Self”³3 Sibilia P. La intimidad como espectáculo. Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Econômico; 2017. and hyperexposure⁴4 Lemos A. Cibercultura: tecnologia e vida social na cultura contemporânea. Porto Alegre: Sulina; 2016. are emblematic marks.

The internet is increasingly incorporated, embodied, and mundane⁵5 Hine C. Ethnography for the internet: embedded, embodied and everyday. Huntingdon: Bloomsbury Publishing; 2015., mediating most interactions and experiences, including those related to exercising sexuality. Countless apps promote sexual/sentimental encounters, channels, and tutorial programs to “teach” how to behave and perform acceptable sexual scripts according to the parameters of reference groups, and many others to question and deconstruct such models. Other sites and pages promote practices with identity contours, among so many erotic-sensual manifestations that hold a place on the internet⁶6 Silva LCS, Sales SR. A cibertecnologia do nude selfie na produção de relações de sexualidade das ciborgues na contemporaneidade. In: 13º Mundos de Mulheres e Fazendo Gênero 11. Transformações, conexões, deslocamentos. Florianópolis 2017; 30 jul a 4 ago.. After all, as Lins⁷7 Lins BA. Caiu na rede: mulheres, tecnologias e direitos entre nudes e (possíveis) vazamentos [tese]. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo; 2019. reiterates, the internet can be considered a battlefield about ways of living and defining sexuality. It is an arena for affirming diversity, whether of non-hegemonic bodies and sexualities, waging fierce disputes of inclusion, recognition, and acceptance⁸8 Ramos JS. A sexualidade como campo de batalha na internet: grupos religiosos e movimentos feminista e LGBT na luta em torno dos direitos sexuais. In: Anais do 37º Encontro Anual da Anpocs [Internet]. Águas de Lindóia; 2013 [acessado 2021 mar 13]. Disponível em: http://anpocs.org/index.php/encontros/papers/37- encontro-anual-da-anpocs.
http://anpocs.org/index.php/encontros/pa... in the different media and platforms.

However, the vast production, circulation, and exchange of erotic/sexy videos and pictures of the naked body or intimate sexual interaction with a partner will be treated by a “moral pair”⁹9 Giongo MG. Madalenas modernas e um caso de pornografia de vingança: reflexões sobre gênero, sexualidade e cidadania na educação. Porto Alegre: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; 2015. that, on the one hand, condemns women who express and experience their sexuality, and on the other hand, are tolerant and permissive to the manifestations of male desires⁶6 Silva LCS, Sales SR. A cibertecnologia do nude selfie na produção de relações de sexualidade das ciborgues na contemporaneidade. In: 13º Mundos de Mulheres e Fazendo Gênero 11. Transformações, conexões, deslocamentos. Florianópolis 2017; 30 jul a 4 ago.^,99 Giongo MG. Madalenas modernas e um caso de pornografia de vingança: reflexões sobre gênero, sexualidade e cidadania na educação. Porto Alegre: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; 2015.^,1010 Barrat SA. Reinforcing sexism and misogyny: social media, symbolic violence and the construction of femininity-as-fail. J Int Womens Stud 2018; 19(3):16-31.. Against this backdrop, the debate on the non-consensual dissemination of intimate content highlights the limits and possible agreements between the public and the intimate, shaping the contours of the relationships of violence between intimate partners in a field where moralities are selectively activated per gender referents and hierarchies. When analyzing several cases disseminated in written and online media, Giongo⁹9 Giongo MG. Madalenas modernas e um caso de pornografia de vingança: reflexões sobre gênero, sexualidade e cidadania na educação. Porto Alegre: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; 2015. confirms that boys sharing intimate content are not even mentioned. The blame will fall on girls/women for their inadmissible “daring” or “naive” behavior in sharing images of their naked bodies. As indicated by Paz e Silva¹¹11 Paz AA, Silva SR. Isso não é pornografia de vingança: violência contra meninas e mulheres a partir da explanação de conteúdo íntimo na internet. Reciis 2021; 3(15):561-579., those whose confidential material is published on the internet suffer moral retaliation because, per the patriarchal view, “they are the ones who give away the contents”, contrary to the expectation of modesty and restraint of their sexual instincts. Such elements confirm mechanisms of control and surveillance of the image and the manifestations of female sexuality and behavior.

Although there is already significant production on the subject, the focus has been on the judicialization and criminal liability of those who take ownership and disseminate intimate content without consent on social networks¹²12 Neris N, Ruiz JP, Valente MG. Análise comparada de estratégias de enfrentamento a "revenge porn" pelo mundo. Rev Bras Pol Publicas 2017; 3(7):333-347. or the process of illness of people who suffer such abuse¹³13 Bates S. Revenge porn and mental health: a qualitative analysis of the mental health effects of revenge porn on female survivors. Fem Criminol 2017; 12(1):22-42.

14 Chaudhary P, Peskin M, Temple JR, Addy RC, Baumler E, Ross S. Sexting and mental health: a school-based longitudinal study among youth in Texas. J Appl Res Children 2017; 8(1):11-48.^-1515 Gassó A, Mueller-Johnson K, Montiel I. Sexting, online sexual victimization, and psychopathology correlates by sex: depression, anxiety, and global psychopathology. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17(3):1018-1036..

Looking at the body, positioning its place of autonomy and political expression, and resignifying violence suffered can put new lenses on debates about the expression of sexuality in digital spaces and the deconstruction of blame, especially of female bodies and the so-called “divergent bodies”.

This paper aims to analyze the experience of young people whose intimate content was disseminated without consent over the internet, the interactional dynamics linked to the leak, the prevailing gender moralities, emotional management, and inclusion of the body in the affirmation of autonomy and diversity. Thus, we selected the statements of young YouTubers, recognizing them as influencers and spokespersons for a digitally native generation.

Methods

We searched on the YouTube platform, using an anonymous guide to avoid suggestions based on search history, from June 2019 to February 2020. The inclusion criteria were videos of YouTubers that presented adolescents as leading figures of the unconsented leak experience or young people narrating such situations that occurred in adolescence.

Chart 1 describes the keywords used in the search that resulted in 41 videos. Repeated videos were excluded from the collection; those with ‘nude’ in the title but that did not present the title theme in the content; and those of “trolling” (staging made to deceive someone). Twenty videos remained after the selection, 12 starring girls and eight boys. They were classified by decreasing order of the number of views and transcribed fully, fully respecting the phonetic enunciation and time mode. Body actions and audiovisual effects were described, comprising 180 transcribed pages.

After successive approximation readings, the collection was initially divided into three major thematic blocks: 1 - Dynamics and moralities; 2 - Emotional management; 3 - Empowerment. The themes were analyzed from the Critical Discourse Analysis perspective¹⁶16 Fairclough N. Discurso e Mudança Social. Brasília. Universidade de Brasília; 2000.. Taking its three-dimensional perspective, we highlighted text elements (grammatical and syntactic aspects when vital for the analysis of meanings and intentions), the discursive practice (especially the category of “power”), and the ideological aims that contextualize such utterances.

Results and discussion

Dynamics of non-consensual leak of intimate content, gendered moralities, and shame

“It happened to me: nudes”, “The day my nudes leaked!”, “My nude leaked!”. The video titles posted by teenagers and young YouTubers already make it clear that a personal experience about the dissemination of intimate content on the network will be reported there, ensuring, from the onset the credibility of “a statement place”. The experience and position of an aspiring digital influencer give them the authority to advise other young people on how to handle this type of situation, advising on managing actions, behaviors, and emotions. The titles also indicate some technical mastery regarding the choice of words in a media term economy so that videos are easily found on YouTube.

The several stories narrated confirm some known dynamics of the event. The exchange of erotic or sensual photos, texts, and videos will occur during occasional or stable affective-sexual relationships. At some point in this virtual interaction, one of the partners will ask for “sending nudes”, either as a “proof of trust” or as a prerequisite for maintaining interest in the other. The exchange of nudes seems to be a new contemporary sexual script¹⁷17 Parker R. Reinventing Sexual Scripts: Sexuality and Social Change in the Twenty-First Century (The 2008 John H. Gagnon Distinguished Lecture on Sexuality, Modernity and Change). Sex Res Soc Policy 2010; 7:58-66.. However, in the face of suspicion of betrayal, jealousy, or relationship breakup, that material may be disseminated on social networks as revenge and attack on the partner’s public image¹1 Giddens A. A transformação da intimidade: sexualidade, amor e erotismo nas sociedades modernas. São Paulo: Editora Unesp; 1993.^,1818 Sydow ST, Spínola LMC. A viabilidade de aplicação da justiça restaurativa nos crimes de sextorsão e pornografia de vingança. Rev Direito Cult 2020; 36(15):329-355.^,1919 Gomes CCA, Ortega LS, Ramos IJ. Identificação do fenômeno sexting por estudantes de ensino profissional tecnológico de Minas Gerais. Holos 2020; 1(36):1-12..

Another dynamic mentioned is when some disaffected person outside the love circuit builds a fake profile with the person’s name and publishes erotic materials collected on the internet, attributing the authorship to this person. The exchange of intimate materials can also occur between anonymous members (or not) of a closed WhatsApp group or in specific applications (app) for these exchanges. In this case, the leak occurs when one of the group members breaks the anonymity pact and reveals the identity of the materials exchanged. Finally, this content can be hacked from the cellphone through cloning apps or improper access to the device. The unconsented spread of such contents may be preceded by blackmail and threats (extortion).

Suppose the dynamics of intimate content production potentially involve the consent of those involved. In that case, non-consensual dissemination will have absolutely different effects depending on the gender position of the person who had the content explained¹⁹19 Gomes CCA, Ortega LS, Ramos IJ. Identificação do fenômeno sexting por estudantes de ensino profissional tecnológico de Minas Gerais. Holos 2020; 1(36):1-12.. While it can cause vexatious situations in the family environment and among friends, the non-consensual leak of a male body image is more tolerated and even eventually offers the vital capital of “fame” in the economy of digital exchanges. Unless these boys belong to some conservative religious group, the episode will be commented on as a fun fact or a manly act. Sanctions and criticism will be shifted to other poles of discrimination, such as having a fat body or a small penis. In a hierarchy of gender relationships, straight boys reported triggering arguments to justify the public exposure of their bodies that showed to be socially accepted. Although they also recognize prejudice, the openly gay boys supported a more autonomous narrative of exchanges of intimate images, indicating that the socio-technical network of the internet has played an essential role in the erotic and sexual mediations of the LGBTQIA+ community for a long time²⁰20 Ferrari W. Nas tramas da sexualidade: um estudo sobre trajetórias afetivo-sexuais de homens jovens gays [tese]. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Fernandes Figueira; 2021.^,2121 Miskolci R. Desejos digitais: uma análise sociológica da busca por parceiros on-line. 1ª ed. Belo Horizonte: Autêntica; 2017.. As can be seen, it is a moral, clearly gendered framework.

On the other hand, girls will go through itineraries that begin with discovering the leak through the intense movement of their network of contacts who warn them of what happened. The sudden “fame” is quickly followed by “moral lynching” in digital networks and face-to-face relationships. Negative moral labels will be assigned to their identity. They will be seen as the “girl who doesn’t value herself”, embodying unforgivable neglect with their “name” and “honor”. They will also be called “tramp”, “slut”, “whore”, or “little whore”, entering the circuit of social devaluation embodied by stigma²²22 Goffman E. Estigma: notas sobre a manipulação da identidade deteriorada. 4ª ed. Rio de Janeiro: Guanabara; 1988.. Living in a small town or countryside damages this girl’s image and her network of relationships. Thus, these young women will shift from the initial “fame” that moves the networks to a “bad reputation”, which embeds the local memory permanently. These young women will be morally judged for exercising their sexuality, besides the infamy of being shown in front of a camera, closing a circuit of blame and moral suspicion. Similar reports and trajectories were reported in studies by Sydow and Spínola¹⁸18 Sydow ST, Spínola LMC. A viabilidade de aplicação da justiça restaurativa nos crimes de sextorsão e pornografia de vingança. Rev Direito Cult 2020; 36(15):329-355., Barratt¹⁰10 Barrat SA. Reinforcing sexism and misogyny: social media, symbolic violence and the construction of femininity-as-fail. J Int Womens Stud 2018; 19(3):16-31., and Chisala-Tempelhoff and Kirya²³23 Chisala-Tempelhoff S, Kirya MT. Gender, law and revenge porn in Sub-Saharan Africa: a review of Malawi and Uganda. Palgrave Commun 2016; 2:16069..

In the narrative succession, the plot moves to discriminations perpetrated by peers, (self)imposed isolation, and emotional suffering. In a spiral of attacks, the insults hurled by those who published the material will be endorsed by the comments of the network members and will continue in the face-to-face spaces where these same people circulate.

In the analyzed videos, except for the mentions made to the police institution, where some of the complaints were taken, and to the family, there is a lack of mediation from the institutions that are part of the daily lives of adolescents (school, courses, and sports groups) to mitigate or repair the offenses suffered by young people. It is unsurprising that for some girls, the breakup, isolation, change of neighborhood, or school were cited as ways to “escape” the shame. “Shame” with different intensities was the core of the meanings attributed by almost everyone to the experience.

[Girl, apparently 18-19 years. She says she met a boy at a teenage club in her town when she was about thirteen. Soon afterward, at the boy’s insistence, they began exchanging nudes. After the end of the relationship, the boy leaked the material.]

Barbosa²⁴24 Barbosa RB. Vergonha Cotidiana, ofensa moral e ressentimento: as dimensões emocionais e morais dos rituais cotidianos de interação. Rev Estud Investig Antropol 2016; 3(1):195-212. produces a detailed study on the categories of shame, moral offense, and resentment. The author takes up the Goffmanian work to define how the relationships between the interactional patterns of the Self take place to stabilize itself as a facade, that is, an image and public reputation of a positive nature to ensure recognition and social acceptance within its line, defined as the set of its interactions. Therefore, the socially integrated Self would have succeeded in responding to expectations to a set of demands regarding reputation, complying with certain etiquettes linked to the social system of positions, performing expected roles, to a set of obligations and identity performances. We should remember that Goffman²²22 Goffman E. Estigma: notas sobre a manipulação da identidade deteriorada. 4ª ed. Rio de Janeiro: Guanabara; 1988. affirms a close emotional connection between the Self and its facade, whether family or individual. Thus, severe offenses and moral accusations that produce a frontal attack on this facade result in the disfigurement and humiliation of the other, possibly leading to their fraying and the rupture of social bonds. Shame is that social pain, which is also emotional, of having one’s facade entirely devoid of socially valued attributes.

In a psychological reading, Lameiras²⁵25 Lameiras HNM. Influência da vergonha e das suas memórias traumáticas na Psicopatologia alimentar em mulheres com e sem excesso de peso [dissertação]. Coimbra: Instituto Superior Miguel Torga; 2013. defines the notion of shame as “an internal experience of the self as undesirable, unattractive, defective, worthless, and impotent”. His study indicates that the experience of shame in childhood and adolescence can generate traumatic records and self-identity elements, which can affect emotional self-regulation and be associated with greater vulnerability to various psychopathologies such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, body image, and eating behavior disorder. The statements analyzed in our study also report insomnia, deep sadness, and suicidal ideas, as mentioned in international literature by Bates¹³13 Bates S. Revenge porn and mental health: a qualitative analysis of the mental health effects of revenge porn on female survivors. Fem Criminol 2017; 12(1):22-42., Chaudhary et al.¹⁴14 Chaudhary P, Peskin M, Temple JR, Addy RC, Baumler E, Ross S. Sexting and mental health: a school-based longitudinal study among youth in Texas. J Appl Res Children 2017; 8(1):11-48., and Gassó et al.¹⁵15 Gassó A, Mueller-Johnson K, Montiel I. Sexting, online sexual victimization, and psychopathology correlates by sex: depression, anxiety, and global psychopathology. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17(3):1018-1036.. In a study involving 1,370 Spanish university students about their involvement in sexting and psychopathological symptoms, measured by a sexting scale and by the Brief Symptom List (BSL-50), Gassó et al.¹⁵15 Gassó A, Mueller-Johnson K, Montiel I. Sexting, online sexual victimization, and psychopathology correlates by sex: depression, anxiety, and global psychopathology. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17(3):1018-1036. indicate that no differences were identified between men and women in the prevalence of their victimization by non-consensual disclosure of sexual content. However, women were more pressured, threatened, and vulnerable to depression. Being female and participating in sexting, passive sexting, and online sexual victimization were variables associated with worse mental health. In a study with 480 university students, Drouin et al.²⁶26 Drouin M, Ross J, Tobin E. Sexting: A new, digital vehicle for intimate partner aggression? Comput Hum Behav 2015; 50:197-204. indicate that coercion to send sexting can be a marker for other types of intimate partner abuse. Those coerced into sexting had more anxiety, depression, and generalized trauma symptoms. Coercion by sexting was also related to physical, sexual coercion, and intimate partner violence. Qualitative studies⁷7 Lins BA. Caiu na rede: mulheres, tecnologias e direitos entre nudes e (possíveis) vazamentos [tese]. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo; 2019.^,1010 Barrat SA. Reinforcing sexism and misogyny: social media, symbolic violence and the construction of femininity-as-fail. J Int Womens Stud 2018; 19(3):16-31.^,2727 Faria FCM, Araújo JS, Jorge MF. Caiu na rede é porn: pornografia de vingança, violência de gênero e exposição da "intimidade" na internet. Comun Cult 2015; 3(13):659-677. also reinforce the moral distress and humiliation endured by women whose intimate contents were disseminated without consent.

As the young woman in video 8 points out, using the phonetic stretching feature (“vaaaarious qualities”), the set of offenses and insults that are associated with the leaking of nudes, especially of girls, disfigures the elements of facade presentable in the market of social acceptance relationships, discrediting any other favorable attributes:

“But this body is not mine”

[Adolescent, female, looking about 15 years old, lots of makeup, working-class home].

In this story, the girl announces the discursive style of confession and captures the audience’s interest by summoning empathy (“it could have happened to you”). From the first contact, the girl suspects the intentions of that “so handsome, available boy”. She speaks without prejudice and participates in “sexual content groups”, in which the exchange of intimate images and sexting is free and consented. With some experience, she believes she knows how to control the proposed game and sends photos of someone else, an anonymous body, collected in digital indigence. However, even with such an artifice, she will be labeled a “slut”, discriminated against, and designated by the nickname “hairy cunt”. The image used as a substitute for her body starts to receive more credibility than her word. Humiliation follows a diffuse and incomplete temporality (the lexicon tense is repeated several times, alternating indistinctly between past and present). Her account reiterates that the permanence of posts, the scale of reproductions, and the circulation speed are unpredictable or uncontrollable⁷7 Lins BA. Caiu na rede: mulheres, tecnologias e direitos entre nudes e (possíveis) vazamentos [tese]. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo; 2019.^,2828 Sibilia P. A nudez autoexposta na rede: deslocamentos da obscenidade e da beleza? Cad Pagu 2015; 44:171-198.. As in the work of Paganotti²⁹29 Paganotti I. A censura privada de controle: Xuxa contra Google e o direito ao esquecimento. In: Costa MCC, organizadora. Privacidade, sigilo e compartilhamento. São Paulo: ECA-USP; 2017. p. 124-134., who analyzed the case of TV host Xuxa, who filed a lawsuit against the Google platform to remove content related to search keys about her participation in a porn film in the 1980s, digital platforms hijacked the right to oblivion in their commercial-algorithmic logics.

Then, the already vulnerable girl and her public image devoid of social value, circulating in the spheres of stigma²²22 Goffman E. Estigma: notas sobre a manipulação da identidade deteriorada. 4ª ed. Rio de Janeiro: Guanabara; 1988., becomes the target of gossip about having participated in group sex in exchange for a sweet. The penultimate excerpt shows the borderline relationship between online and offline moral persecution that gives continuity to it. She will be treated as someone who would trade sex for anything, personifying moral debauchery. In the last excerpt, the girl reveals endless grievances, the lower self-esteem, and the naive argument of not even liking that type of candy is what is left in her defense.

Other young people in the analyzed videos also mention using images of bodies collected on Google to protect themselves from a possible leak. This feature was specially mentioned when there is little trust in the partner or when the intimate content is exchanged in groups, on sites, or groups for this purpose. However, such a device is only effective with evidence of the stratagem, such as screen prints. It will be useless to deny that the body shown is not even similar to yours. One’s word is worth less than the image, and, in turn, the meta-image (the image of the captured image) has more credibility.

On the other hand, the photo is disseminated without the head (“faceless”), a resource already known as a measure of image self-protection in digital sexual exchanges and an element of contemporary visual cultures³⁰30 Cavalcante JVS. A imagem informe: reflexões sobre a alteridade dos corpos sem rosto. Galáxia 2020; 44:129-143.. Even disfigured, it will be analyzed by the members of the communities that receive it. The “clues” will be sought only to give legitimacy to the inquisitorial accusation, “proving” that that body is, in fact, the “denounced” individual. Hair color and even jewelry will be considered “proof” enough:

Despite the trivialized appearance of naked bodies or in the sensual exposure games that endlessly circulate in networks and digital media, in exchanges where intimacy and privacy are constantly resignified in the search to “exist” to have recognition in the “market of digital visibility”³3 Sibilia P. La intimidad como espectáculo. Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Econômico; 2017.^,2727 Faria FCM, Araújo JS, Jorge MF. Caiu na rede é porn: pornografia de vingança, violência de gênero e exposição da "intimidade" na internet. Comun Cult 2015; 3(13):659-677., the female sexuality’s exposure continues to be evaluated by the sieve of patriarchal morality, with frankly unequal rules of use and social sanctions applied in this game of moralities. Even when this exposure was not consented to or desired, clearly configuring an action of violence against this woman/girl, the disciplinary devices of the female body appear with all their aggressiveness.

Managing emotions

The “tutorial” style is part of the YouTuber’s linguistic and media genre, and even children and adolescents assume the role of “teachers” in their channels³¹31 Sampaio IV, Pereira GC, Cavalcante AP. Crianças youtubers e o exercício do direito à comunicação. Cadernos CEDES 2021; 113(41):14-22.. The videos on this platform also tend to “teach” and prescribe how to deal with feelings in situations that cause suffering. Nude leaks will also be discussed in this cyber-pedagogy of emotions in this emotional, social technique. In our collection, all the young people shared their previous experiences and how they managed their feelings, creating a “guide” to “help” those who are experiencing the problem. This discursive set consolidates what Le Breton³²32 Le Breton D. Antropologia das Emoções. Petrópolis: Vozes; 2009., in his text Anthropology of Emotions, recognizes as the negotiations and cultural modeling of feelings. Young YouTubers show a certain expected “way” of feeling (which emotions are predictable and which are acceptable or not for each interactional context) and ways of dealing with these emotions.

The girls’ videos reaffirm a typical emotional journey. The leaked nude will generate suffering and humiliation, and there is nothing to do but conform and “let it pass”. The waiting resilience will be strengthened with the presence of “true”, supportive friends who believe their word, now so undervalued. Warnings are made that this time of suffering can be prolonged, even lasting years, with tireless harassment after the fact. The overcoming comes after this stage. The last stage is the “fuck it” moment, a term repeatedly cited as the expression of this resignification, when the comments of others no longer influence the girls’ emotional state, and they manage to resume their lives and define other identity performances.

In the emotions management tutorial made by boys, the shame phase is experienced very quickly, being immediately led to the reinforcement of male self-esteem (“what is beautiful is to be shown”, “I will be on the cover of some nude magazine”). The boys teach each other how to detach themselves in this melodramatic game and even try to get some benefit out of it:

In the compendium of emotions, some of the girls’ videos also call for empathy, warn them not to feel guilty, and so that they can support those who are experiencing this type of situation. The sisterhood summoned offers a counterpoint to the many reports of access perpetrated by other girls, relentlessly defending the rationale of male domination and labeling those who had their nudes spread:

[Shy, middle-class looking female teenager about 15 to 17 years old - soundtrack music Hey, Fais featuring Afrojack. The video is shot in her bedroom.]

Some of the young women count on oblivion by saturation. These harassments can be mitigated when other leaked nudes grab attention on the same social media, replacing the target of harassment. In this case, violence and its (re)production rationales are maintained, just replacing the leading roles this time:

The empowerment speech

The opinions of these young “experts” on the experience of having a nude disseminated without consent varied, showing different agencies in the face of moralities on the subject. Some people consider it a mistake and a significant risk to exchange such intimate materials over the internet. Other people advise others to do it only if they wish, but with a certain “restraint”, with a subjective judgment of sending only “to whom one’s trust”. Finally, those young women who claim to enjoy taking and exchanging nudes consider it a form of free expression, an affirmation of their sexual freedom, and their bodies’ (political and digital) existence. For this last group, the exchange of intimate images and the decision to publish their nude on social networks is part of a set of implementable choices, an expression of their visibility and digital citizenship, and the use of their body as language and identity:

The “affront girl” clearly defines the leading role in managing the level of dissemination she wants of her nudes, managed by her and not at the mercy of the blackmail or revenge of (former) partners. Her statement reiterates the expanded boundaries between daring and moralizing, labeling, taking risks, and the pleasure of publicizing her body images. In this movement, she recognizes and rebels against the “moral regulation” of female sexuality in “internet times”⁶6 Silva LCS, Sales SR. A cibertecnologia do nude selfie na produção de relações de sexualidade das ciborgues na contemporaneidade. In: 13º Mundos de Mulheres e Fazendo Gênero 11. Transformações, conexões, deslocamentos. Florianópolis 2017; 30 jul a 4 ago.^,3333 Lins BA. Não existe privacidade 100% na internet: sobre leis, mulheres, intimidade e internet. Rev Estud Emp Direito 2018; 3(5):199-211.. The testimonies of the two boys also reiterate the attribution of positive values, such as beauty, visibility, and autonomy - boys whose bodies would be far from established stereotypes. There, the nude becomes an arena of discursive struggle for diversity, for the affirmation of the space their bodies desire and can occupy in digital (hyper)visibility⁶6 Silva LCS, Sales SR. A cibertecnologia do nude selfie na produção de relações de sexualidade das ciborgues na contemporaneidade. In: 13º Mundos de Mulheres e Fazendo Gênero 11. Transformações, conexões, deslocamentos. Florianópolis 2017; 30 jul a 4 ago.^,2828 Sibilia P. A nudez autoexposta na rede: deslocamentos da obscenidade e da beleza? Cad Pagu 2015; 44:171-198..

Conclusions

The videos analyzed suggest an intersection between the personal experience of suffering, involving different types of violence experienced such as humiliation, threats, and persecution, and, on the other hand, the media handling of a topic that “yields an audience”. “Nude leaks” dominated the network’s “trend topics” for some time and was highlighted among the complaints made to Safernet³⁴34 Safernet Brasil. Institucional/SaferNet [Internet]. 2019 [acessado 2020 nov 4]. Disponível em: https://bit.ly/3fNHrvP.
https://bit.ly/3fNHrvP... for consecutive years, leading many professional and aspiring YouTubers to include the subject in their channels.

How social inequalities impact differently on the lives of those who suffer this type of violence deserves a reflection. Although the values and specific standards of morality discussed in part here are embedded in all social strata, as we saw in our study, young people, especially women from the poorer strata and in locations/communities with a religious profile, in the inland region or even in the suburbs, can be more vulnerable and have lower acceptance by the family, the community, and suffer virtual lynching and social exclusion. Studies adopting an intersectional perspective, articulating social position/class, race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, and their different impacts on the way young people (boys and girls) experience and re-signify the exposure of nudes are required for a better understanding of the event and the more appropriate ways to approach it, whether for its discussion/prevention or for the care of those who suffer from such an experience.

However, the nudes also potentiated a “look at oneself”. The fact of photographing oneself sounds like the reversal of patriarchal patterns and the dynamics of power that involve being meekly captured by the lens of the other. The erotic self-portrait also represents a self-esteem exercise, as those who see themselves outside the media body standards encourage other people to show their bodies more, as self-admiration, self-acceptance, and reaffirmation of the diversity of bodies⁷7 Lins BA. Caiu na rede: mulheres, tecnologias e direitos entre nudes e (possíveis) vazamentos [tese]. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo; 2019..

If contemplating one’s image was considered an unwanted erotic stimulus for women³⁵35 Corbain A. Bastidores. In: Perrot M, organizadora. História da vida privada: da Revolução Francesa à primeira Guerra. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras; 1992. p. 387-573. until the 19^th century, the “politicization of nudity” has conferred an activist character in recent decades by highlighting the power of the female nude, confronting the limits of what is socially acceptable to show⁶6 Silva LCS, Sales SR. A cibertecnologia do nude selfie na produção de relações de sexualidade das ciborgues na contemporaneidade. In: 13º Mundos de Mulheres e Fazendo Gênero 11. Transformações, conexões, deslocamentos. Florianópolis 2017; 30 jul a 4 ago.^,2828 Sibilia P. A nudez autoexposta na rede: deslocamentos da obscenidade e da beleza? Cad Pagu 2015; 44:171-198.. Likewise, the growing movement of the voices of “divergent” bodies in digital spaces has brought to the fore the debate on democratization in the struggles for the recognition of diversities and the constant threat of violence that these clashes include.

Finally, concerning the approach to this topic, we observe a discursive tone in health-derived productions, associating “sexting” with risk behaviors with STIs, early sexual initiation, and the demand for intervention measures. This production’s background is the blame, accountability of young people, and the dictates about exercising sexuality with a strong gender bias³⁶36 Patrocino LB, Bevilacqua PD. Sobre risco, violência e gênero: revisão da produção da saúde sobre o sexting entre jovens. Cien Saude Colet 2021; 7(26):2709-2718.. This perspective still permeates the ways of dealing with this issue concerning health care, where digital violence and how subjects face it is rarely discussed.

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