‘A male dominance kind of vibe’: Approaching unsolicited dick pics as sexism
Open accessAbstract
This article explores women’s accounts of receiving unsolicited dick pics from men. Drawing on material derived from in-depth interviews with adult British women, its focus is on how these interviewees relied on a postfeminist discursive framework in order to make sense of such experiences, and on how this rendered them more likely to recognise unsolicited dick pic practices as acts of sexism. As such, these women also felt encouraged to respond to their receiving of unsolicited dick pics by engaging in humorous practices of anti-sexist resistance. Still, the article also shows how the interviewees’ drawing on a postfeminist discursive framework rendered them more prone to approach unsolicited dick pic practices and sexism in individualised and decontextualised manners, meaning that they failed to recognise and critically address the broader social structures that enable dick pics to circulate online as acts of sexism in the first place.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
There has been limited research on adolescent girls' experiences of receiving dick pics.
“there has been limited research on this age group (Madigan et al., 2018).”
From Teen Girls’ Experiences Negotiating the Ubiquitous Dick Pic: Sexual Double Standards and the Normalization of Image Based Sexual Harassment (2021) · cites this paper as Amundsen, 2020
Some girls felt compelled to avoid bringing further embarrassment or awkwardness, making girls responsible for managing their own victimisation.
“We observed that some girls felt compelled to avoid bringing further embarrassment or awkwardness to the situation, which made the girls responsible for managing their own victimisation in ways similar to Amundsen’s (2020) findings with adult women.”
From Teen Girls’ Experiences Negotiating the Ubiquitous Dick Pic: Sexual Double Standards and the Normalization of Image Based Sexual Harassment (2021) · cites this paper as Amundsen, 2020
Most girls did not identify unwanted dick pics as harassment.
“Also, like Amundsen, we found that most girls did not identify unwanted dick pics as harassment.”
From Teen Girls’ Experiences Negotiating the Ubiquitous Dick Pic: Sexual Double Standards and the Normalization of Image Based Sexual Harassment (2021) · cites this paper as Amundsen, 2020
Cites
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006) · Qualitative Research in Psychology · doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa · Cited by 194,414 · see citing works
Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity
(1990) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.28-1264 · Cited by 7,747 · see citing works
Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative
Butler, J. (1997) · Cited by 6,334 · see citing works
Inventing our Selves: Psychology, Power, and Personhood
Rose, N. (1996) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511752179 · Cited by 2,809 · see citing works
The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change
McRobbie, Á. (2008) · Goldsmiths (University of London) · Cited by 2,802 · see citing works
Postfeminist media culture: Elements of a sensibility
Gill, R. (2007) · European Journal of Cultural Studies · doi:10.1177/1367549407075898 · Cited by 2,302 · see citing works
Neo-liberalism and the End of Liberal Democracy
Brown, W. Y. (2003) · Theory & Event · doi:10.1353/tae.2003.0020 · Cited by 1,590 · see citing works
Post‐feminism and popular culture
McRobbie, Á. (2004) · Feminist Media Studies · doi:10.1080/1468077042000309937 · Cited by 1,376 · see citing works
Massanari, A. (2017) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444815608807 · Cited by 1,264 · see citing works
Ain't I A Woman? Revisiting Intersectionality
Brah, A., & Phoenix, A. (2004) · Journal of international women's studies · Cited by 1,131 · see citing works
Reflective Interviewing: A Guide to Theory and Practice
Roulston, K. (2010) · SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781446288009 · Cited by 1,119 · see citing works
Speech Acts and Unspeakable Acts
Langton, R. (2009) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199247066.003.0002 · Cited by 855 · see citing works
Protecting Respondent Confidentiality in Qualitative Research
Kaiser, K. (2009) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/1049732309350879 · Cited by 807 · see citing works
The affective, cultural and psychic life of postfeminism: A postfeminist sensibility 10 years on
Gill, R. (2017) · European Journal of Cultural Studies · doi:10.1177/1367549417733003 · Cited by 617 · see citing works
Banet‐Weiser, S., Gill, R., & Rottenberg, C. (2019) · Feminist Theory · doi:10.1177/1464700119842555 · Cited by 510 · see citing works
Beyond ‘Revenge Porn’: The Continuum of Image-Based Sexual Abuse
McGlynn, C., Rackley, E., & Houghton, R. (2017) · Feminist Legal Studies · doi:10.1007/s10691-017-9343-2 · Cited by 471 · see citing works
Sexual Violence in the Digital Age
Henry, N., & Powell, A. (2016) · Social & Legal Studies · doi:10.1177/0964663915624273 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
Gill, R. (2014) · Social Politics International Studies in Gender State & Society · doi:10.1093/sp/jxu016 · Cited by 296 · see citing works
Sexism Reloaded, or, it's Time to get Angry Again!
Gill, R. (2011) · Feminist Media Studies · doi:10.1080/14680777.2011.537029 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Ringrose, J., & Harvey, L. (2015) · Continuum · doi:10.1080/10304312.2015.1022952 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
Burkett, M. (2015) · Sexuality & Culture · doi:10.1007/s12119-015-9295-0 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Privates in the online public: Sex(ting) and reputation on social media
Salter, M. (2016) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444815604133 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Dick pics on blast: A woman’s resistance to online sexual harassment using humour, art and Instagram
Vitis, L., & Gilmour, F. (2017) · Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal · doi:10.1177/1741659016652445 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Introduction: Sexism - A Problem With a Name
Ahmed, S. (2015) · New Formations · doi:10.3898/newf.86.introduction.2015 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Snapchat memory and youth digital sexual cultures: mediated temporality, duration and affect
Handyside, S., & Ringrose, J. (2017) · Journal of Gender Studies · doi:10.1080/09589236.2017.1280384 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
“Bitch I Said Hi”: The Bye Felipe Campaign and Discursive Activism in Mobile Dating Apps
Shaw, F. (2016) · Social Media + Society · doi:10.1177/2056305116672889 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Hess, A., & Flores, C. (2016) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444816681540 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Ricciardelli, R. (., & Adorjan, M. (2019) · Journal of Gender Studies · doi:10.1080/09589236.2018.1560245 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Unsolicited dick pics: Erotica, exhibitionism or entitlement?
Hayes, R. M., & Dragiewicz, M. (2018) · Women's Studies International Forum · doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2018.07.001 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Seduction: men, masculinity and mediated intimacy
Valkenburgh, S. P. V. (2018) · Journal of Gender Studies · doi:10.1080/09589236.2018.1533167 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Remixing misandry, manspreading, and dick pics: networked feminist humour on Tumblr
Ringrose, J., & Lawrence, E. (2018) · Feminist Media Studies · doi:10.1080/14680777.2018.1450351 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Oswald, F., Lopes, A., Skoda, K., Hesse, C. L., & Pedersen, C. L. (2020) · The Journal of Sex Research · doi:10.1080/00224499.2019.1639036 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
The Dick Pic: Harassment, Curation, and Desire
Paasonen, S., Light, B., & Jarrett, K. (2019) · Social Media + Society · doi:10.1177/2056305119826126 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Sexism As A Means Of Reproduction: Some Reflections On The Politics Of Academic Practice
Franklin, S. G. (2015) · New Formations · doi:10.3898/newf.86.01.2015 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Mandau, M. B. H. (2020) · Sexuality & Culture · doi:10.1007/s12119-019-09626-2 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Setty, E. (2019) · Journal of Youth Studies · doi:10.1080/13676261.2019.1635681 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
The Choreography of Everyday Sexism: Reworking Sexism in Interaction
Calder‐Dawe, O. (2015) · New Formations · doi:10.3898/newf.86.05.2015 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“Kind of like making porn of yourself”: understanding sexting through pornography
Amundsen, R. (2019) · Feminist Media Studies · doi:10.1080/14680777.2018.1494617 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Ringrose, J., Regehr, K., & Whitehead, S. (2021) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-021-01236-3 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
“…there has been very little research that has looked in depth at adolescent girls’ experiences of receiving dick pics; most research is with adults (Amundsen, 2020) or those aged 17 and above (Mandau, 2020) and/or there is limited discussion of girls’ experiences as recipients of dick pics…”
BackgroundSexual violence and abuse in online dating: A scoping review
Filice, E., Abeywickrama, K. D., Parry, D. C., & Johnson, C. W. (2022) · Aggression and Violent Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.avb.2022.101781 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Ringrose, J., Milne, B., Mishna, F., Regehr, K., & Slane, A. (2022) · Women's Studies International Forum · doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2022.102615 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Women’s and Men’s Reactions to Receiving Unsolicited Genital Images from Men
Marcotte, A. S., Gesselman, A. N., Fisher, H. E., & Garcia, J. R. (2021) · The Journal of Sex Research · doi:10.1080/00224499.2020.1779171 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Dietzel, C. (2021) · Sexuality & Culture · doi:10.1007/s12119-021-09920-y · Cited by 44 · see citing works
The Tinder Games: Collective mobile dating app use and gender conforming behavior
Sobieraj, S., & Humphreys, L. (2021) · Mobile Media & Communication · doi:10.1177/20501579211005001 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Forced Empowerment and the Paradox of Mobile Dating Apps
Sobieraj, S., & Humphreys, L. (2021) · Social Media + Society · doi:10.1177/20563051211068130 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Karasavva, V., Brunet, L., Smodis, A., Swanek, J., & Forth, A. (2023) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2022.107593 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
The Help-Seeking Behavior of Victims of Image-Based Sexual Harassment and Abuse: A Scoping Review
Pijlman, V., de Waardt, M., Schoonmade, L. J., Eichelsheim, V. I., & Pemberton, A. (2024) · Trauma Violence & Abuse · doi:10.1177/15248380241289435 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Honkatukia, P., Peltola, M., Aho, T., & Saukkonen, R. (2022) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1111/josi.12512 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Sexuality Discourses: Indexical Misrecognition and the Politics of Sex
Barrett, R., & Hall, K. (2024) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-052721-092531 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Technology and Sexual Offending
Fisico, R., & Harkins, L. (2021) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-021-01269-1 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Expectations VS reality: Expected and actual affective reactions to unsolicited sexual images
Karasavva, V., Swanek, J., Smodis, A., & Forth, A. E. (2022) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2022.107181 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Johnstonbaugh, M. (2021) · Gender & Society · doi:10.1177/08912432211036907 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Dick pics and the shifty meanings of porn
Paasonen, S. (2024) · Porn Studies · doi:10.1080/23268743.2023.2301095 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Femininity in the 21st century
Evans, A. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101502 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Durán, M., & Rodríguez-Domínguez, C. (2022) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/08862605221120906 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Happy or Unhappy? Mental Health Correlates of Receiving Sexts and Unsolicited Sexual Images
Sciacca, B., Mazzone, A., Loftsson, M., Norman, J. O., & Foody, M. (2024) · Youth & Society · doi:10.1177/0044118x241230639 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Dahlqvist, H., Svensson, Å., & Gillander Gådin, K. (2022) · International Journal of Circumpolar Health · doi:10.1080/22423982.2022.2130362 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Ortiz, S. M. (2023) · Feminist Media Studies · doi:10.1080/14680777.2023.2185565 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Dahlqvist, H. Z., & Gådin, K. G. (2024) · International Journal of Adolescence and Youth · doi:10.1080/02673843.2024.2400500 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Fernández, L., Álvarez-Cueva, P., & Masanet, M.-J. (2025) · Sexuality & Culture · doi:10.1007/s12119-025-10316-5 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Oswald, F., & Pham, M. D. (2024) · Contemporary Justice Review · doi:10.1080/10282580.2024.2444912 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Pijlman, V., & Burgmeijer, A. (2024) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2024.108312 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Gilroy, C., & Kashyap, R. (2021) · Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World · doi:10.1177/23780231211029499 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Victims’ experiences of cyberflashing: an explorative study
Jeacock, B., Ohlsson, I., & Jafari, S. (2024) · Journal of Sexual Aggression · doi:10.1080/13552600.2024.2323190 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Champion, A. R., Oswald, F., Hughes, S., & Pedersen, C. L. (2024) · Sexuality Research and Social Policy · doi:10.1007/s13178-024-01002-6 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Almanssori, S., Aderinto, A., & Paskaran, L. (2025) · International Journal of Adolescence and Youth · doi:10.1080/02673843.2025.2536798 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Online daters' reactions to sexually explicit initiation messages
Lilly, A. E., & Buehler, E. M. (2023) · Personal Relationships · doi:10.1111/pere.12486 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Experiences of Online Sexual Violence: Interviews With Swedish Teenage Girls in Psychiatric Care
Rindestig, F. C., Gådin, K. G., & Dennhag, I. (2023) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/10778012231203000 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Johansen, K. B. H., & Tjørnhøj‐Thomsen, T. (2024) · Women s Studies International Forum · doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2024.102954 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Unsolicited Dick Pics: Online Sexual Harassment, Gendered Relations and Schooling
Berndtsson, K. H., & Odenbring, Y. (2021) · Young people and learning processes in school and everyday life · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-75319-1_8 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Pornography, social media, and sexuality
McCormack, M., & Wignall, L. (2024) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-28804-3.00011-9 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Dai, M., & Xia, S. (2025) · Frontiers in Communication · doi:10.3389/fcomm.2025.1572179 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Lebedíková, M. Š., Olveira-Araujo, R., Subrahmanyam, K., & Šmahel, D. (2025) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/14614448251333731 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Meier, B.-D., & Ballon, J. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-35450-3_32-1 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Dahlqvist, H. Z., Gådin, K. G., & Landstedt, E. (2025) · International Journal on Child Maltreatment Research Policy and Practice · doi:10.1007/s42448-024-00218-8 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Rodríguez-Domínguez, C., Vizcaíno-Cuenca, R., & Durán, M. (2025) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/10778012251334763 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
‘Now you’re home’: Awareness cues, rejection and post-digital safety on mobile dating apps
Campaioli, G., Zamperini, A., & Cecchinato, M. E. (2025) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/14614448251336437 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Choi, S. Y. P., Yip, T. P. C., & Nakano, L. (2025) · Sexuality Research and Social Policy · doi:10.1007/s13178-025-01160-1 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Online Dating Sexual Harassment as Slow Violence: Chinese Women’s Victimization and Resistance
You, Y., & Chen, S. (2025) · Asian Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1007/s11417-025-09472-2 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Zwischen Vertrauensvorschuss und Misstrauensmanagement
Müller, J., Tischer, M., Tischendorf, M., Staib, D., & Thumel, M. (2026) · MedienPädagogik Zeitschrift für Theorie und Praxis der Medienbildung · doi:10.21240/mpaed/jb23/2026.07.30.x · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Meier, B.-D., & Ballon, J. (2023) · Cyberkriminologie - Theorien, Methoden, Erscheinungsformen · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-35442-8_32 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Cyber-Flashing Identification Method of Analysing Human Skin on Social Media Platforms
Karpagam, M., Chen, T., & Sathiyanarayanan, M. (2024) · International Conference on Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (ICONSTEM) · doi:10.1109/iconstem60960.2024.10568789 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
(2021) · Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft · doi:10.5771/1615-634x-2021-3-449
Forms, Effects and Responses of Online Sexual Harassment
陈, 婷. (2024) · Advances in Social Sciences · doi:10.12677/ass.2024.133220
Hedlin, M., Eek-Karlsson, L., & Olsson, R. (2024) · Nordisk tidsskrift for ungdomsforskning · doi:10.18261/ntu.5.1.4
Ramsey, S. M., & Hook, D. W. (2024) · Psychoanalysis Culture & Society · doi:10.1057/s41282-024-00494-w
Interrogating consent roundtable
Amundsen, R., Azbel, L., Frankovitch, A., Hakim, J., Klitgård, M., & Locatelli, C. C. (2025) · Journal of Gender Studies · doi:10.1080/09589236.2025.2482623
Self-citationPijlman, V. (2025) · Sexuality & Culture · doi:10.1007/s12119-025-10474-6
Unsolicited: Dick Pics and Interactional Omissions as Visualized in Swedish Comic Art
Fägersten, K. B. (2025) · Sexuality & Culture · doi:10.1007/s12119-025-10475-5
Can dating app cultures support emotional health and well-being in future pandemics?
Heaphy, B., García-Iglesias, J., Yodovich, N., & Xiong, Q. (2026) · Culture Health & Sexuality · doi:10.1080/13691058.2026.2637151
Vizcaíno-Cuenca, R., Romero-Sánchez, M., & Carretero‐Dios, H. (2026) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2026.109095
Vizcaíno-Cuenca, R., Scott, A. J., Romero-Sánchez, M., Carretero‐Dios, H., & Gabbert, F. (2026) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-026-01697-4
- Authors
- Amundsen, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Amundsen, Rikke
- ORCID
- Amundsen, Rikke
- Venue
- New Media & Society
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-02-17
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1465-1480
- ISSN
- 1461-4448 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7315
- OpenAlex
- W3008878489
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 8.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- New Media & Society (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion)
- Apollo
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Keywords
- sexism, postfeminism, male dominance, individualization, online sexual harassment, gendered power relations
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
