Abstract

With the majority of individuals in the United States owning a mobile device, communicating via text is popular. Many individuals who text also engage in sexting, commonly defined as sending a sexually suggestive or explicit message that can include a nude image. In September of 2019, Texas passed a law prohibiting the sending of an unsolicited nude image without consent from the receiver. The goal of the study was to capture the reactions of individuals to this state law. There were 400 different responses by 400 different individuals posted on Reddit by users expressing their reactions to the passing of the state law. Initial reactions were captured, chosen from specific Reddit threads containing the link to the law within 1 month of the law being passed. These comments were collected and the research team used thematic analysis to highlight the themes to users’ responses to the sexting law. Of note was the sizeable number of individuals who disapproved of the law, highlighting a lack of knowledge about consent to engage in sexual behaviors in general, the need to gain consent to engage in sexting, and a misunderstanding of what defines sexual harassment. Implications for sex education programs and policy makers are discussed.

摘要

由于美国大多数人都拥有移动设备，因此通过文本进行交流很受欢迎。许多发短信的人也参与色情短信，通常定义为发送可能包括裸体图片的性暗示或露骨信息。2019 年 9 月，德克萨斯州通过了一项法律，禁止未经接收者同意发送未经请求的裸照。该研究的目的是捕捉个人对该州法律的反应。用户在 Reddit 上发布了 400 名不同的个人的 400 条不同的回复，表达了他们对州法律通过的反应。在法律通过后 1 个月内，从包含该法律链接的特定 Reddit 线程中捕获了最初的反应。收集了这些评论，研究团队使用主题分析来突出用户对色情短信法的反应的主题。值得注意的是，有相当多的人不赞成该法律，这突显出对一般性行为的同意缺乏了解，需要获得同意才能进行色情短信，以及对性骚扰定义的误解。讨论了对性教育计划和政策制定者的影响。