Title: COVID-19 and the Shifting Landscape of Sex
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the ways in which we make negotiations, shifting from in-person exchanges to virtual, resulting in a collective reevaluation of the ways that we negotiate trust through long-term online discussions, rather than face-to-face calculations. Sexual interactions have been affected by these shifts, as many were forced to seek sexual satisfaction through virtual chats and/or monetary exchanges on platforms like Grindr and OnlyFans.
Using data collected through 25 interviews in a CDC-funded study among MSM in the Philadelphia area, we found that many participants had begun using dating apps for the purpose of social interactions and seeking sexual connections differently, to avoid risks related to COVID-19. We also examined in a different case, through an online exploration of the digital platform OnlyFans, that the platform had observed an increase in use as a result of the transition to virtual interactions and exchanges, rather than in-person transition to virtual interactions and exchanges, rather than in-person sex work (Jarvey, 2020). Using this data, we analyze the new ways that people are calculating risks and negotiating exchanges in a socially distanced world, as well as the implications of these social shifts on a post-COVID-19 world and beyond.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the ways in which we make negotiations, shifting from in-person exchanges to virtual, resulting in a collective reevaluation of the ways that we negotiate trust through long-term online discussions, rather than face-to-face calculations. Sexual interactions have been affected by these shifts, as many were forced to seek sexual satisfaction through virtual chats and/or monetary exchanges on platforms like Grindr and OnlyFans.
Using data collected through 25 interviews in a CDC-funded study among MSM in the Philadelphia area, we found that many participants had begun using dating apps for the purpose of social interactions and seeking sexual connections differently, to avoid risks related to COVID-19. We also examined in a different case, through an online exploration of the digital platform OnlyFans, that the platform had observed an increase in use as a result of the transition to virtual interactions and exchanges, rather than in-person transition to virtual interactions and exchanges, rather than in-person sex work (Jarvey, 2020). Using this data, we analyze the new ways that people are calculating risks and negotiating exchanges in a socially distanced world, as well as the implications of these social shifts on a post-COVID-19 world and beyond.