Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads, and Cashing in on Internet Sexploration by Audacia Ray

Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads, and Cashing in on Internet Sexploration Reviews

• 
  Brittany

  Audacia Ray, staying true to herself as a sex-positive blogger with a casual, interested tone when it comes to sexuality and the internet, presents this book with a wit often absent in women's studies books. She covers a basic history of sex on the internet, beginning with the earliest listservs to camgirl blogs and support groups (with a full index of terminology and URLs, which thankfully there is no need to flip back and forth between as you read).
  
  It is quite refreshing, for me, to finally read a book that broaches internet sexuality (and yes, the large amounts of pornography that stem from internet sexploration) in a manner that is more reasoned than the approach of most sociologists who also bill themselves as feminists--Ray sees nothing degrading about women exploring their sexuality through pornography or even being a camgirl or self-employed pornographic actress--so she does not act as many do when they write books about pornography, touting it as the single most common sexual deviance, something that destroys the family and leaves the door wide open for sexual addiction and lack of communication between partners (a notion, mind, which is utter crap).
  
  In short, this book is a wonderful resource to learn about the history of sex on the Internet and several of its facets, from the internet pornography industry to Internet-enabled sex toys and the quest for the "perfect" cybersex experience that combines the audiovisual with the mental and physical, and a very intriguing and well-rounded read.
• 
  Phrodrick

  3.5 stars rounded up. Written from behind her on line identity as Audacia Ray, Naked on the Internet presents itself as a cross between the author’s personal experience and more generalized qualitative research. The result is certainly personal and may be sufficiently representative to be a research tool. There should be no doubt that this is not targeted to a family audience, but neither is it going to directly serve anybody’s prurient interests. Many of the listed URLs are live and more than a few will contain content and images well into the X rated.
  
  Miss Ray addresses several aspects of the female experience as a sexual person on line. She addresses something of the history of how women have been served, harmed, neglected and funded in the early years of the Net. She includes herown history as an editor, directly paid sex worker and now on line blogger in the more specialized, specifically female oriented, net available by her 2007 publication date.
  
  Overall her voice is that of a researcher, but she is never shy about adding her POV. From the predictable despair over the lack of variation in the mainstream (?) male oriented pornography to the almost silly disrespect toward women who in seeking to explore their sexuality fail to charge money.
  
  Important in her book is the identification of some of the early, pioneer women who built spaces dedicated to the needs of women, in general and particular populations within the broad canvass of female sexuality. She also documents that in serving these populations, some of the same people also created safe spaces for the special interests of the many sexual identifications who previously had no name or common community.
  
  Given how much Naked on the Internet is personal it can be difficult to judge how much of the history and therefore how much of the research is prejudiced by Miss Ray’s friendships and POV. Whoever intends to challenger her directly on these points needs to have their own research base. For a less specialized reader; Naked on the Internet is no less than a valid survey of the history, services and options still available.
  
• 
  Leilani

  this book has me interested in sex work. with all of the recent conversations with the internet altering social landscapes, it is awesome to hear how the internet (though it can be dangerous - it's like having sex without a condom or not knowing how to properly handle a firearm) is being used as a tool of liberation and to connect with people. though this book concentrates on sexually connecting with 'generous men.'
• 
  Lesley

  Rather impressed with this. More thoughtful about the complications and contradictions than it might have been (given the rather sensationalist title - publishers!). Though, me being a historian and all, it made me think about other times and places which enabled women to explore themselves in a relatively anonymous way - cf Walkowitz on the late Victorian metropolis. But it does grapple with that pleasure/danger axis around female sexuality - I note that she has an ack to Anne Snitow, who was involved in some of the late 70s/early 80s anthologies about women, pleasure and desire. Have more thoughts than will probably fit here.
• 
  Jeff

  This was a fair read. I was disappointed that the scope was wide but not too deep--I would have liked less of a survey and more depth from all of the women interviewed. I was also a little disappointed that there were so few men interviewed/quoted. There are good reason for the fact that Ray mostly talks about *women* naked on the internet, but I would have liked to have at least some information on how men deal with Hookups, downloads, and cashing in on internet sexploration...there was virtually none.
  
  
• 
  Natalie

  I was pleasantly surprised to find this book in Lambda Rising in DC when I was there. I had discovered Audacia Ray's blog through an online friend and been enjoying it for a few weeks. It was very interesting to read this book, a spinoff of her master's thesis. It is very well researched and answered a lot of my questions about some internet sites and activities I have only heard about or considered looking into. Very informative and accessible even to those who haven't spent much time online.
• 
  Erin Siegal

  well, full disclosure firstly: i helped the lovely ms. audacia proof her first book before it went to press. nevertheless, it's a good one: informational, smart, conversational, and interesting. for anyone interested in the multiple intersections sex/society, sex/commerce, sex/technology, sex/gender, or sex/femimism (to name a mere few), i'd definitely recommend this one.
• 
  Kate Schimpf

  Interesting insight into the world of blog-exhibitionists. Got this one as a gift, would never have picked it up on my own but I found it ... educational. If you think craig's list gets raunchy ... yikes.
• 
  Jefferson

  Awesome, insightful and dude, I'm in it.
• 
  Emily (emilykatereads)

  I read most of this while doing research for a paper and it was really helpful and also interesting.