Description

Queering pornography through qualitative methods

NATALIE INGRAHAM

Department of Social and Behavorial Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

Abstract

This study explores the meanings of participation for members of the queer pornography community in the San Francisco Bay Area of California by utilizing a mix of qualitative research methods. Research questions sought to grasp the shared values and beliefs of the participants, including factors that might influence identification with this community and its activist roots. Prior research has examined queer porn with regard to the race and gender diversity of performers (Hernandez & Tester, 2004), and the queering of specific sex acts such as penetration (Day, 2009). But a more empirical exploration, including examining the discourse on definitions of both queer pornography and the queer pornography community has not yet been done. Nor have issues of identity making or identify affirmation through participation in queer pornography been addressed (DeGenevieve, 2007; Jacobs, 2007). These unexplored aspects of pornography research and the unique characteristics of the queer pornography community demanded the flexibility in methodology and data analysis offered by qualitative research. A combination of ethnography and narrative analysis was used to investigate participants’ experiences of participation in queer pornography.

Keywords: pornography, qualitative methods, mixed methods, queer theory