Disclaimer

Topics of sexual violence and child porn will

be mentioned during the presentation, but
no plans to show extremely explicit
illustrations or cite direct quotes.
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Marta Tymińska, PhD
University of Gdańsk
DIGRA 2023, Games and PORN workshop

S*x among avatars -

research questions and
limitations
 This presentation will be
like sex

Kind of messy but I hope, that satisfying.

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 We will start
with two
anecdotes,
which might be
useful
I know anecdote is not
data. No worries ;)

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 Anecdote 1

I wrote the submission.

I self-censored words in e-mail such as: s*x, r*pe.
Agata wrote to me and asked: Why?!?
I answered: no idea…

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Potential answers to the
anecdote

• Servers of my uni (Outlook) do the weirdes stuff. They

block epub files and conference CFPs.

• Automated censorship devices on youtube, twitter,

Tumblr, etc.

• There is also the issue of purity culture in online

fandoms, which also interestingly react to things.

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 Another I have a lot of different PDFs scattered around my
several disc. One of the texts I used in my PhD got lost.
anecdote I remember reading it. I even added it to the literature
review for this presentation.
I’ve spend good hour today looking for it. Usually I can
find this text I go and try to find it again.

IT’S UNFINDABLE NOW. I wonder why…

This is the text: Adams, A. A. (2010). Virtual Sex With

Child Avatars. W Emerging ethical issues of life in
virtual worlds (s. 55–72). Information Age Publishing,
University of Montatana.

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 Research
questions

What to research and

how in terms of avatar
sex?

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Avatar defined

Avatar is a digital representation (visual,

audial and/or haptic) of a player. It varies in
complexity in form, structure and relatability
towards both players, NPC-s and avatar-
players dyads. Avatar enables: action,
movement, interaction, exploration and
communication within a digital game or
virtual world.
So many avatars,
so little variables

I propose five dimensions for describing

avatars: expression of various features
determined by game genre (Garda,
2015; Garda, 2016), technology, and/or
designer’s intent. Those dimensions are
then described by opposing pairs of
features and are, as follows:
5-dimensional avatar typology

OPEN ------------------------------------ CLOSED

TRANSPARENT ------------------------------------ SUBSTANTIAL

INSTRUMENTAL ------------------------------------ ALLIED

SINGULAR ------------------------------------ COLLECTIVE

ABSTRACT ------------------------------------ EMBODIED

 Three waves Controversies and outrages
(Harvainen,
Brown, Sex as a methodological side
Suominen, note
2018)
Personal relationships

I’d like to propose another

wave!
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 List of Gender and sexual expression

topics Sexual explorations and transgressions

Sexualisation and influence

Kink in avatars

Doji games

Erotic games

Place for porn games in streaming

Sexual violence, rape and framing of harm

Children pornography (VR, MMO)

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 List of Gender and sexual expression

topics Sexual explorations and transgressions

Sexualisation and influence

Kink in avatars

Doji games

Erotic games

Place for porn games in streaming

Sexual violence, rape and framing of harm

Children pornography (VR, MMO)

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Sexual explorations
and transgressions

• How to explore the topic without

overreaching boundaries?

• Methodologies: sexological, psychological

inventories, self-reports, interviews,
observations (???).

• Case: VRChat and pole dance.

• Source:
https://www.reddit.com/r/VRchat/comments
/xfnraz/i_love_pole_dancing_in_vrc/

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 Doji games

• Fan made games based on animations

and sounds of the mainstream games.

• The possibility to transgres the

mainstream text.

• Motly male gaze’y but queer games

exist too.

• Ethics of using assets, voice and/or ai

to create them.

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 Sexual violence, rape and framing of
harm

• The most difficult topics of those.

• Actively affecting victims.

• The most interesting framing, for me, is to approach it from safety design.

• Rape in Roblox and other assaults – there should be analysis of harm.

• Less Focus on perpetrators, more on harm reducing.

• Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/4316449/roblox-gang-rape-7-year-
old-girl/

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 Limitations

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 How to start?

• Asking friends awkward questions.

• „Googling” is almost impossible.

• High level media literacy needed.

• VPNs, alt accounts and internet safety are your friends.

• Research ethics comitee would be cool…

• Learning the context (Western – Eastern porn game production might vary, doji circles etc.)

• Looking at my brother’s wishlist* (we’ll get back to that).

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 How to mainstream?

• Mainstream game industry has weird, ambivalent relationship towards porn games.

• Less horny versions of games on Steam.

• Case of Studio FOW and presence on steam.

• DL site – one of the mainstream sites that have H and doji games.

• How sex is visible in mainstream games and virtual worlds? Second Life, Roblox, WoW, The Sims –
all dabbled in erotic content somehow.

• Modding mainstream games.

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 Studio FOW

6/18/2023 https://studiofow.com
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 How to ethics?

• Little to none ethics comitee at my uni!

• How to talk about in-game sexual assault and trauma with gamers/players?

• Key things are: transparency, empathy, compassion and non-judgement.

• Is the snowball effect method effective while researching sex and games?

• I’d love to create a guidelines doc to help scholars researching this topics.

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 Yeah, this is my brothers Steam account

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 Bibliography

● Adams, A. A. (2010). Virtual Sex With Child Avatars. W Emerging ethical issues of life in
virtual worlds (s. 55–72). Information Age Publishing, University of Montatana.
● Bardzell, S. (2010). Topping from the Viewfinder: The Visual Language of Virtual BDSM
Photographs in Second Life. Journal For Virtual Worlds Research, 2(4).
https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v2i4.704
● Brookey, R. A., & Cannon, K. L. (2009). Sex Lives in Second Life. Critical Studies in Media
Communication, 26(2), 145–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295030902860260
● Consalvo, M. (2003). It’s a Queer World After All: Studying The Sims and Sexuality.
https://www.academia.edu/654441/Its_a_queer_world_after_all_Studying_The_Sims_and_se
xuality
● Dietz, T. L. (1998). An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games:
Implications for Gender Socialization and Aggressive Behavior. Sex Roles, 38(5/6), 425–442.

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 Bibliography

● Ding, R., & Song, L. (2023). Digital Sexual Publics: Understanding Do-It-Yourself Gay Porn
and Lived Experiences of Sexuality in China. 17. International Journal of Communication.,
17, 2463–2478.
● Ferguson, C. J., Sauer, J. D., Drummond, A., Kneer, J., & Lowe-Calverley, E. (2022). Does
sexualization in video games cause harm in players? A meta-analytic examination. Computers
in Human Behavior, 135, 107341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107341
● Fox, J., Bailenson, J. N., & Tricase, L. (2013). The embodiment of sexualized virtual selves:
The Proteus effect and experiences of self-objectification via avatars. Computers in Human
Behavior, 29(3), 930–938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.027
● Harviainen, J. T., Brown, A. M. L., & Suominen, J. (2018). Three Waves of Awkwardness: A
Meta-Analysis of Sex in Game Studies. Games and Culture, 13(6), 605–623.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412016636219

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 Bibliography

● Lankoski, P., Apperley, T., & Harviainen, J. T. (2023). Platform-produced Heteronormativity: A Content
Analysis of Adult Videogames on Patreon. Games and Culture, 18(1), 102–123.
https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120221084453
● Malkowski, J., & Russworm, T. M. (Red.). (2017). Gaming representation: Race, gender, and sexuality in
video games. Indiana University Press.
● McKelvey, C. (2013). Sexualized avatars affect the real world, Stanford researchers find. Stanford News.
https://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/october/virtual-female-avatars-100913.html
● Morgan, H., O’Donovan, A., Almeida, R., Lin, A., & Perry, Y. (2020). The Role of the Avatar in Gaming for
Trans and Gender Diverse Young People. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public
Health, 17(22), 8617. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228617
● Ruberg, B., & Philips, A. (2018). Not Gay as in Happy: Queer Resistance and Video Games (Introduction).
Game Studies. Special Issue -- Queerness and Video Games, 18(3).

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 Bibliography
● Salter, A., & Blodgett, B. (2017). Toxic geek masculinity in media: Sexism, trolling, and identity policing.
http://public.eblib.com/choice/PublicFullRecord.aspx?p=5143375
● Sihvonen, T., & Tuomas Harviainen, J. (2020). “My Games are … Unconventional”: Intersections of game
and BDSM studies. Sexualities, 136346072096409. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460720964092
● Schlunke (intro.), K., Frow, J., Bennett, T., & Muecke, S. (2012). Avatar, Identification, Pornography [by
John Frow, with responses from Tony Bennett and Stephen Muecke]. Cultural Studies Review, 18(3).
https://doi.org/10.5130/csr.v18i3.2853
● Serafini, V. (2017). Bisexual erasure in queer sci-fi „utopias”. Transformative Works and Cultures, 24.
https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2017.01001
● Tymińska, M. (2019). Awatar w użyciu. Problematyka rozumienia pojęcia w literaturze przedmiotu i
środowisku osób grających [Rozprawa doktorska]. Uniwersytet Gdański.
● Yee, N. (2014). The proteus paradox: How online games and virtual worlds change us- and how they
don’t. Yale University Press.

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 Last minute bibliography

• Dibbell, J. (1998, 1993). A Rape in Cyberspace. http://www.juliandibbell.com.

http://www.juliandibbell.com/articles/a-rape-in-cyberspace/

• Reeves, C. (2013). Fantasy depictions of child sexual abuse: The problem of ageplay in Second Life.
Journal of Sexual Aggression, 19(2), 236–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2011.640947

• Cypress Valkyrie, Z. (2011). Cybersexuality in MMORPGs: Virtual Sexual Revolution Untapped. Men
and Masculinities, 14(1), 76–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X10363256

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