1. First, watch the video lecture for this week
2. Next, read the required readings for this week.
1. Norman, Donald. The Design of Everyday things.
2. Foucault. The History of Sexuality I
3. Bataille. Death and Sensuality.
4. Ahmed, Sarah. Affective Economies
2. Foucault. The History of Sexuality I
3. Bataille. Death and Sensuality.
4. Ahmed, Sarah. Affective Economies
3. Third, contemplate these questions on your own or with some friends
1. Reflecting on Bataille's writings, do 'taboo's' regarding sex exist online? Does the stigma of it change online as compared to reality?
2. Define Norman's term: affordance. Does the modern cellphone offer affordances which we could suggest have led to some contemporary social media phenomena? Elaborate and discuss.
3. What reading does Foucault give to the history of sexuality? How would you evaluate it? Does it fit the historical facts? Does it interpret them in a reasonable way?
4. What relationship could we describe Sarah Ahmed as drawing between emotions and rhetoric in her piece on affective economies?
2. Define Norman's term: affordance. Does the modern cellphone offer affordances which we could suggest have led to some contemporary social media phenomena? Elaborate and discuss.
3. What reading does Foucault give to the history of sexuality? How would you evaluate it? Does it fit the historical facts? Does it interpret them in a reasonable way?
4. What relationship could we describe Sarah Ahmed as drawing between emotions and rhetoric in her piece on affective economies?
4. Then, check out these case studies and given the lecture and the required readings for the week, answer the questions below.
1. Compare the poses in sexy selfies to the poses of models in fashion mags or (if you have access), the poses of models in porn magazines. Are the tropes of visual sexiness? What are they for men and what are they for women?
2. The category of Amatuer porn is one of the fastest growing porn categories (http://www.mob76outlook.com/the-us-porn-industry-continues-to-get-bigger-and-bigger/ info found) why do you think amateur porn is increasingly desired as opposed to traditionally produced forms of porn?
2. The category of Amatuer porn is one of the fastest growing porn categories (http://www.mob76outlook.com/the-us-porn-industry-continues-to-get-bigger-and-bigger/ info found) why do you think amateur porn is increasingly desired as opposed to traditionally produced forms of porn?