The pornification of the male body: Notes on the imperative of images on the searching between men for partners on-line

Abstract

Based on a cartography about men's use dating apps to find sexual and romantic partners, such as Grindr and Hornet, we sought to reflect on the imperative of images on websites and applications used among men to find partners online. We analyze historical transformations within the scope of technological development to think how these changes affect the search for love and sex in the current scenario. Contrary to the views that understood that the internet would have discorporating effects, in which the body would lose importance as criterion in the searches of partnerships, we noticed that the body not only matters, but has become central as selection criterion in the online searches. But what is the desired body in this context? In consonance with contemporary researches, we understand that a process that we have called pornification is under way. The images by which individuals present themselves online seem to refer to the iconography derived from pornography, so that today's pornographic bodies seem to be the privileged setting for which bodies matter and which ones will be considered desirable in digital spaces.