Commodified Sexual Freedom
“…I believe such a kind of intensely commodified sexual freedom interferes with the capacity of men and women to forge intense, all-involving, meaningful bonds, which provide one with knowledge of the kind of persons one cares about” (Illouz). Basically, Illouz states that the sexual freedom we are giving through the use of internet is stunting our social lives, making us incapable of forming meaningful relationships.
I used this artifact because it seemed to best represent what Illouz is trying to state. That the internet will only lead to casual encounters, so meaningless that one does not even bother to learn the true name of whom they are talking to.
“If the second wave of feminism opened the gates of sexual constriction and repression, it is now time we reexamine the state of estrangement and alienation created by the interaction and intersection of emotions, sexual freedom, and economics” (Illouz). While I will agree that the internet has led to “bodies in bubbles,” it does not mean that we are alienated from community. Quite the contrary, I believe that is why we have such addiction to these social network sites, because it fuels our need for daily socializing with people we truly want to talk to, rather than who is available to talk at the time. True, there is nothing better than sitting face-to-face with a cup of coffee and catching up, but as Americans we live busy lives. We are always on the go and always working. So why should the way we socialize not be allowed to adapt to the way we live our lives?
With all that said, the concepts most applicable to this term are: interactivity, addiction, and the affective turn. Interactivity, because this is all about interactions and how we are evolving in the way we socialize thanks to the internet. It all started with word by mouth, then written letters, phone calls, emails, texting, and now we have numerous social networks at our fingertips. Addiction is when you feel you need something and you start to hurt when you can’t have it. Well, as people we actually do need to socialize – we go crazy if we don’t. So, while we are addicted to social media, I find it to be an understandable addiction. Finally, the affective turn, which describes the “bodies in bubbles” that I talked about earlier, but also this idea that technology alters what the body is. It is this technology, the internet, which fuels our ever-constant craving for attention and simultaneously provides us with numerous ways to sate this hunger
