John Edward Campbell - Getting It On Online: Cyberspace, Gay Male Sexuality, and Embodied Identity

John Edward Campbell

Getting It On Online
Cyberspace, Gay Male Sexuality,
and Embodied Identity

Pre-publication

REVIEWS, COMMENTARIES, EVALUATIONS

J ohn Edward Campbells Getting It On Online invites us to rethink some of the core methodological and theoretical questions that have concerned cyberculture studies over the past decade, including the status of online ethnography, the nature of virtual communities, and the absence or centrality of the body to our cyber-identities. This book offers startling insight into the construction of gay male sexuality, taking an approach that is theoretically informed but never loses sight of the reality of participants experiencesonline and offline. Campbells own role as an active participant in the online communities being discussed allows him to share an incredible degree of intimacy with the people who choose to hang out at these virtual gay bars. Campbell writes cautiously, carefully, avoiding easy generalizations, capturing the richness and complexity of this online culture. Few other ethnographers have captured gay men speaking with this degree of frankness and openness about their bodies, their desires, their fantasies, and their fears. This book marks the debut of an important new talent in the field of media and cultural studies.

Henry Jenkins, PhD

Director, Comparative Media,

John E. Burchard Chair in the Humanities,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

More pre-publication

REVIEWS, COMMENTARIES, EVALUATIONS

C ampbells work puts to rest awkward and untenable assertions about disembodiment in cyberspace. Like other communicative scenes, cyberspace invites the body in and out, responding to the desires and relationships of those who participate, and bringing offline habits to new forms of mediation. Getting It On Online also keeps the sex in queer studies, with a playwrights sensitivity to sexual dialogue, a social researchers sensitivity to sexual community, and a lovers sensitivity to erotic tastes and practices. Gay masculinities are admirably diversified and deconstructed, and the book contributes sharp methodological and ethical insights to the burgeoning but under-explored field of virtual ethnography. This is queer cyberstudies at its bestfond, critical, and illuminating.

Lisa Henderson, PhD

Associate Professor of Communication,

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

NOTES FOR PROFESSIONAL LIBRARIANS
AND LIBRARY USERS

This is an original book title published by The Harrington Park Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc. Unless otherwise noted in specific chapters with attribution, materials in this book have not been previously published elsewhere in any format or language.

CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION NOTES

All books published by The Haworth Press, Inc. and its imprints are printed on certified pH neutral, acid free book grade paper. This paper meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Material, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

Getting It On Online

Cyberspace, Gay Male Sexuality,
and Embodied Identity

HAWORTH Gay & Lesbian Studies

John P. De Cecco, PhD
Editor in Chief

Male to Male: Sexual Feeling Across the Boundaries of Identity by Edward J. Tejirian

Straight Talk About Gays in the Workplace, Second Edition by Liz Winfeld and Susan Spielman

The Bear Book II: Further Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture edited by Les Wright

Gay Men at Midlife: Age Before Beauty by Alan L. Ellis

Being Gay and Lesbian in a Catholic High School: Beyond the Uniform by Michael Maher

Finding a Lover for Life: A Gay Mans Guide to Finding a Lasting Relationship by David Price

The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore by Devdutt Pattanaik

How Homophobia Hurts Children: Nurturing Diversity at Home, at School, and in the Community by Jean M. Baker

The Harvey Milk Institute Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Internet Research edited by Alan Ellis, Liz Highleyman, Kevin Schaub, and Melissa White

Stories of Gay and Lesbian Immigration: Together Forever? by John Hart

From Drags to Riches: The Untold Story of Charles Pierce by John Wallraff

Lytton Strachey and the Search for Modern Sexual Identity: The Last Eminent Victorian by Julie Anne Taddeo

Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context edited by Vern L. Bullough

Sons Talk About Their Gay Fathers: Life Curves by Andrew R. Gottlieb

Restoried Selves: Autobiographies of Queer Asian/Pacific American Activists edited by Kevin K. Kumashiro

Queer Crips: Disabled Gay Men and Their Stories by Bob Guter and John R. Killacky

Dirty Young Men and Other Gay Stories by Joseph Itiel

Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas by Randy P. Conner with David Hatfield Sparks

How It Feels to Have a Gay or Lesbian Parent: A Book by Kids for Kids of All Ages by Judith E. Snow

Getting It On Online: Cyberspace, Gay Male Sexuality, and Embodied Identity by John Edward Campbell

Getting It On Online

Cyberspace, Gay Male Sexuality, and Embodied Identity

John Edward Campbell

First published 2004 by

Harrington Park Press

Published 2014 by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10017, USA

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2004 by John Edward Campbell. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilm, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover design by Marylouise E. Doyle.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Campbell, John Edward.

Getting it on online : cyberspace, gay male sexuality, and embodied identity / John Edward Campbell.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-56023-431-8 (hard : alk. paper)ISBN 1-56023-432-6 (soft : alk. paper)

1. Gay menComputer network resources. 2. Computer sex. 3. Dating (Social customs)Computer network resources. 4. Body image. 5. InternetSocial aspects. 6. Online chat groups. I. Title.

HQ75.14.C36 2004

025.04086642dc21

2003012259

ISBN 13: 978-1-560-23431-9 (hbk)

ISBN 13: 978-1-560-23432-6 (pbk)

To the memory of my grandmother, Naomi O. Campbell, for her unyielding love and for asking, Johnny, what exactly is a drag queen?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Edward Campbell, MA, is a doctoral candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Working under the rubric of cultural studies, he examines how people incorporate new communication technologies into their everyday lives. His research has been published in the