Maria Vihlman
Biographic Data
| ID | 228244 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Maria Vihlman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Maria |
| FAMILY NAME | Vihlman |
| SIGNATURE | VIHLMAN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Turku |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9815-5670 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 16 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 7 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
I would just like to be straight.’ Boys and young men’s concerns about being gay in the questions sent to a Finnish sexual counselling service
This article delves into the experiences of boys and young men grappling with anxiety surrounding potential ‘homosexual’ orientation, particularly within the context of societal expectations of normative heterosexuality. Using data from queries submitted to a Finnish sexual counselling service between 2017 and 2019, we highlight a dissonance between societal equality initiatives and the lived experiences of boys and young men in Finland. Drawing …
Rethinking the Social in Social Media
This paper makes an argument for the value of including sexual sites in definitions and analyses of social media. Building on interview data (four developer interviews and 56 user interviews) from three North European sexual platforms (Darkside, Alastonsuomi and Libertine.Center) devoted to nudity, sex, and kink, it examines the implications of defining sex platforms as social media and the analytical avenues that the inclusion of sexual sites op…
About Sex, Open-Mindedness, and Cinnamon Buns: Exploring Sexual Social Media
General purpose social media platforms-often incited by American legislation-increasingly exclude sex from acceptable forms of sociality in the abstract name of user safety. This article analyzes interview data (four developer interviews and 56 user interviews) from three North European sexual platforms (Darkside, Alastonsuomi, and Libertine.Center) to explore what follows from including sexual sites in definitions and analyses of social media an…
Vanilla normies and fellow pervs: Boundary work on sexual platforms
Building on a study of three Nordic and Baltic digital sexual platforms, this article analyzes the perceptions of enjoyable sex and sexual belonging among 60 people, who self-identify as sexually liberal. In dialogue with Gayle Rubin's formative work on sexual hierarchies and "good sex," we explore our participants' complex and often ambiguous sexual boundary work to delineate liberated sex. Independent of particular preferences (non-monogamy, BD…
Locating sex: Regional geographies of sexual social media
Contributing to the field of the geographies of digital sexualities, this article explores the geosocial dimensions of digital sexual cultures by analyzing three regionally operating, linguistically specific social media platforms devoted to sexual expression. Drawing on case studies of an Estonian platform used primarily for group sex, a Swedish platform for kink and BDSM, and a Finnish platform for nude self-expression, we ask how these contrib…
Space, Place and Location in Sexual Social Media
Contributing to the swiftly emerging field of the geographies of digital sexualities, this panel explores the geosocial and geopolitical dimensions of digital sexual cultures by zooming in on the connections between sexual practices, geographic imaginaries, and locally embedded social media platforms devoted to sexual expression. Building on case studies of an Estonian platform used primarily by those interested in group sex (LC, est. 2018), a Sw…
Social Networking Sites' Gag Order: Commercial Content Moderation's Adverse Implications for Fundamental Sexual Rights and Wellbeing
This article critically investigates the reasoning behind social media content policies and opaque data politics operations regarding sexual visual social media practices and sexual talk, asking what is at stake when social media giants govern sexual sociability on an international scale. Focusing on Facebook, in particular, this article proposes an alternative perspective for handling various expressions of sexuality in social media platforms by…
Locating sex: Regional geographies of sexual social media
Contributing to the field of the geographies of digital sexualities, this article explores the geosocial dimensions of digital sexual cultures by analyzing three regionally operating, linguistically specific social media platforms devoted to sexual expression. Drawing on case studies of an Estonian platform used primarily for group sex, a Swedish platform for kink and BDSM, and a Finnish platform for nude self-expression, we ask how these contrib…
About Sex, Open-Mindedness, and Cinnamon Buns: Exploring Sexual Social Media
General purpose social media platforms-often incited by American legislation-increasingly exclude sex from acceptable forms of sociality in the abstract name of user safety. This article analyzes interview data (four developer interviews and 56 user interviews) from three North European sexual platforms (Darkside, Alastonsuomi, and Libertine.Center) to explore what follows from including sexual sites in definitions and analyses of social media an…
Vanilla normies and fellow pervs: Boundary work on sexual platforms
Building on a study of three Nordic and Baltic digital sexual platforms, this article analyzes the perceptions of enjoyable sex and sexual belonging among 60 people, who self-identify as sexually liberal. In dialogue with Gayle Rubin's formative work on sexual hierarchies and "good sex," we explore our participants' complex and often ambiguous sexual boundary work to delineate liberated sex. Independent of particular preferences (non-monogamy, BD…
Social Networking Sites' Gag Order: Commercial Content Moderation's Adverse Implications for Fundamental Sexual Rights and Wellbeing
This article critically investigates the reasoning behind social media content policies and opaque data politics operations regarding sexual visual social media practices and sexual talk, asking what is at stake when social media giants govern sexual sociability on an international scale. Focusing on Facebook, in particular, this article proposes an alternative perspective for handling various expressions of sexuality in social media platforms by…
Space, Place and Location in Sexual Social Media
Contributing to the swiftly emerging field of the geographies of digital sexualities, this panel explores the geosocial and geopolitical dimensions of digital sexual cultures by zooming in on the connections between sexual practices, geographic imaginaries, and locally embedded social media platforms devoted to sexual expression. Building on case studies of an Estonian platform used primarily by those interested in group sex (LC, est. 2018), a Sw…
Social Networking Sites' Gag Order: Commercial Content Moderation's Adverse Implications for Fundamental Sexual Rights and Wellbeing
This article critically investigates the reasoning behind social media content policies and opaque data politics operations regarding sexual visual social media practices and sexual talk, asking what is at stake when social media giants govern sexual sociability on an international scale. Focusing on Facebook, in particular, this article proposes an alternative perspective for handling various expressions of sexuality in social media platforms by…
Locating sex: Regional geographies of sexual social media
Contributing to the field of the geographies of digital sexualities, this article explores the geosocial dimensions of digital sexual cultures by analyzing three regionally operating, linguistically specific social media platforms devoted to sexual expression. Drawing on case studies of an Estonian platform used primarily for group sex, a Swedish platform for kink and BDSM, and a Finnish platform for nude self-expression, we ask how these contrib…
Rethinking the Social in Social Media
This paper makes an argument for the value of including sexual sites in definitions and analyses of social media. Building on interview data (four developer interviews and 56 user interviews) from three North European sexual platforms (Darkside, Alastonsuomi and Libertine.Center) devoted to nudity, sex, and kink, it examines the implications of defining sex platforms as social media and the analytical avenues that the inclusion of sexual sites op…
About Sex, Open-Mindedness, and Cinnamon Buns: Exploring Sexual Social Media
General purpose social media platforms-often incited by American legislation-increasingly exclude sex from acceptable forms of sociality in the abstract name of user safety. This article analyzes interview data (four developer interviews and 56 user interviews) from three North European sexual platforms (Darkside, Alastonsuomi, and Libertine.Center) to explore what follows from including sexual sites in definitions and analyses of social media an…
Vanilla normies and fellow pervs: Boundary work on sexual platforms
Building on a study of three Nordic and Baltic digital sexual platforms, this article analyzes the perceptions of enjoyable sex and sexual belonging among 60 people, who self-identify as sexually liberal. In dialogue with Gayle Rubin's formative work on sexual hierarchies and "good sex," we explore our participants' complex and often ambiguous sexual boundary work to delineate liberated sex. Independent of particular preferences (non-monogamy, BD…
I would just like to be straight.’ Boys and young men’s concerns about being gay in the questions sent to a Finnish sexual counselling service
This article delves into the experiences of boys and young men grappling with anxiety surrounding potential ‘homosexual’ orientation, particularly within the context of societal expectations of normative heterosexuality. Using data from queries submitted to a Finnish sexual counselling service between 2017 and 2019, we highlight a dissonance between societal equality initiatives and the lived experiences of boys and young men in Finland. Drawing …
Sociology (7 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Gender Studies (5 works) · Gender, Feminism, and Media (5 works) · Human sexuality (5 works) · Social media (5 works) · Psychology (4 works) · Sex work and related issues (4 works) · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology (4 works) · World Wide Web (4 works)