[Commlist] Games and Pr0n, DiGRA2023 workshop

  Games and Pr0n

Organizers: Agata Waszkiewicz, Maria Ruotsalainen, Mike Hyslop Graham, 
Tanja Välisalo


Workshop call also at:https://tinyurl.com/gamesandpr0n 
<https://tinyurl.com/gamesandpr0n>

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Workshop at DiGRA 2023 Sevilla

19 June 2023

Call for papers, presentations, and activities: Deadline 28 April 2023

Announcement of workshop acceptance: 30 April 2023


      Workshop Description

Undoubtedly, sex has always been a part of digital and analog games 
(Brathwaite 2007), with game studies research focusing on both the 
representation of sex in the narrative level, and the way sex and porn 
imagery in games negotiates and influences the players’ embodied 
engagement and expression of desire (Grasmo and Stenros, 2022). However, 
not much research has been yet conducted on the intersections of game 
and porn studies.

Due to its popular and common use, pornography and its abbreviated 
version “porn,” are rarely defined in a more detailed way. As Helen 
Hester notes inBeyond Explicit: Pornography and the Displacement of Sex, 
the use of the suffix “porn” is currently quite broad and it “has become 
attached to a surprisingly diverse set of texts and affects, few of 
which actually put the sexual body front and center,” (2014, 14) such as 
“grief porn,” “poverty porn,” “misery porn,” “war porn,” and others, 
which do not necessarily represent hard-core sex, but rather point to 
the pornographic aesthetics of arousal of their various contents that 
saturate the contemporary media. At the same time, she argues that 
“[w]hereas the term pornography seems to speak empathetically of 
sexuality, it has come to be associated with concerns that are not 
overtly sexual; and although ‘adult entertainment’ appears to be a 
disingenuous and horribly euphemistic description, the materials and 
practices to which it refers can more reliably be seen to concern 
themselves with sex as a genital act” (2014, 14).

However, as Nigel Pope et al. point out the crucial role of the context 
in which the imagery is presented as important in the definition process 
because “[e]ssentially, the frame – not its content – provides the 
meaning” (2007, 167), pointing to the examples of Vanity Fair cover that 
stirred controversy for portraying nude, pregnant Demi Moore. While 
discussing the difference between pornography and art, Hans Maes writes 
that “Pornography is explicit and represents people as objects, while 
art invites us into the subjectivity of the represented person and 
relies on suggestion” (2011, 385). This relates to the majority of 
definitions of pornography which closely relate it to sexual activity, 
rather than just nudity. Finally, the definition of erotica, in 
opposition to pornography, as humanizing, rather than dehumanizing, sex, 
which is reflected for example in Catharine MacKinnon’s definition of 
erotica as “sexually explicit material premised on equality” (1985, 
304), putting it in direct opposition of Andrea Dworkin’s strict 
definition of porn as “objectification, hierarchy, submission, and 
violence” (1985, 1572).


      Aim and Topics

The aim of the workshop is to provide a both safe and open space to 
share and discuss research regarding the broadly understood 
intersections between games (digital and analog) and pornography. We 
invite scholars coming from a variety of fields and backgrounds to 
present short (10-15 minute long) presentations including finished 
research, work in progress, as well as present more open-ended research 
questions that can become the basis for broader discussion.

Potential topics of the presentations  include but are not limited to:

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    Pornographic themes and content in digital and analog gaming

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    Pornographic aesthetics in gaming

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    Interactive porn and porn gamification

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    Games and gaming in porn videos (e.g., game porn parodies)

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    Intersections of games and pornography in livestreaming

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    Other intersections of porn and games?

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    Research methodologies on the edges of porn and games studies (e.g.
    access, content, informed consent, researcher proximity)


      Workshop Format & Consent Considerations

The workshop is designed to last 5 hours, encompassing ideally 8 short, 
individual or group presentations (10-15 minutes). Each presentation 
will be followed by a 15 minute discussion, and the workshop will 
additionally feature a 30-minute long coffee break and 30 minutes of  a 
closing discussion.

Due to the sensitive topic of the workshop, and in order to be able to 
accept a wide range of (potentially triggering and difficult) topics, we 
will provide clear content warning information and schedule the topics 
in such a way that the attendees will have an option to skip certain 
blocks of presentations/discussions. Whereas possible, we will ensure 
that presentations, panels, activities, and discussions are blocked 
together thematically, going from discussing soft- to semi- to hardcore 
porn. We will strive to distribute submissions before the workshop so as 
to give attendees a chance to prepare and decide on which blocks to 
attend based on these descriptions and trigger warnings. Due to the 
topic of the workshop, it will allow only for in-person attendance 
(rather than online/hybrid).

The outcome of the workshop is left open to a finishing segment in the 
workshop, where the participants are encouraged to find connections and 
connectivity in their research to further establish networks in Game 
Studies.


      Submission Guidelines

The participants will be asked to submit within one of the three 
formats: 1) an abstract presenting mature or finished research, 2) a 
reflection note on early or future research, including presentation of 
research questions to be discussed together, 3) an activity (e.g., 
playing a game or showing specific material) which illuminates potential 
research questions or new trends within the area.

Submission length is 500 words maximum (excluding references). In 
addition to this, participants will be asked to provide an estimation of 
how explicit their presentation/activity will be. Soft-semi-hardcore is 
our general idea of a categorisation. Also participants will be asked to 
provide a link or other reference to specific games or materials used in 
their research, so it can be distributed before the workshop for 
attendees to familiarize themselves with. This additional information 
does not count towards the word limit.

Within submission, participants will be additionally asked to provide 
information whether the material contains explicit mentions or visual 
representations of:

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    sexual abuse or sexual violence

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    homophobia or transphobia

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    or other potentially sensitive content

Submissions will not be anonymously reviewed. Program decisions will be 
made by the workshop organizers.


Call for papers, presentations, and activities: Deadline 28 April 2023

Announcement of workshop acceptance: 30 April 2023

Send your submission to:(gamesandpr0nz /at/ gmail.com)

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