‘For men arousal is orientation’: Bodily truthing, technosexual scripts, and the materialization of sexualities through the phallometric test

Abstract

We trace the history of the phallometric test--which measures erections of men exposed to visual erotic stimuli to characterize sexualities--in order to account for its functioning as a 'truthing technology'. On the basis of a content analysis of 410 key scientific journal article abstracts, we argue that since its invention in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s, phallometry has been employed within three distinct assemblages: as a test of predominance of sexual desire, as a test for therapeutic efficacy, and as a threshold test of sexual risk. Drawing on works of theorists of materialization and proponents of script theory, we argue that within each assemblage phallometric testing materializes male desire and renders it measurable via a 'technosexual script'. We consider the performative effects of phallometry in establishing scientific conceptions of normal and abnormal sexualities. At the same time, through attention to debates among practitioners and broader controversies surrounding the employment of phallometry, we examine the limits of researchers' abilities to establish the broader credibility of the test and capture the phenomenon of sexual desire. This analysis contributes to the study of truthing technologies (or 'truth machines') as a class, while also helping to build bridges between science and technology studies and sexuality studies.

Engaging the Community: Building Effective Partnerships in Sexual Violence Prevention

“…All searches were completed between February and April of 2016. To ensure feasibility and gain a sense of knowledges that had acquired some traction in scientific communities, I restricted the search to works that had received at least 10 citations among those published from 1975 to 2009 and at least five citations among those published from 2010 to 2015 (see Waidzunas and Epstein 2015). This yielded an initial pool of 1,855 records, including 1,511 and 314 from these respective time periods.…”

Between the Screens: Brain Imaging, Pornography, and Sex Research

“…1 For an overview of the history of debates regarding measurement technologies and sex research, see Waidzunas & Epstein (2015).…”

Between the Screens: Brain Imaging, Pornography, and Sex Research

“…Notes 1 For an overview of the history of debates regarding measurement technologies and sex research, see Waidzunas & Epstein (2015).…”

“…6 This is particularly pronounced in the widely debated work of Reiger et al (2005) who used self-identified bisexual men's lack of genital response to sexually explicit visual stimuli featuring two women, and their heightened response to stimuli featuring two men, as evidence that male bisexuality does not really exist as sexual orientation. See Jordan-Young (2010) and Waidzunas & Epstein (2015) for an excellent critique of this research.…”