Surveillance is Sexy

Abstract

This paper considers sexualization of surveillance as a mode of resistance. It explores various modes of sexualized surveillance, from ‘reality porn’ to webcam footage, and focuses on the ways in which voyeurism and exhibitionism are mobilized within an emerging ‘surveillance aesthetic’ across these forms. Building on work that considers ‘playful’ engagements with surveillance, and discussions of forms of counter-surveillance, the paper attempts to locate ‘sexy surveillance’ within this body of critical engagement that seeks not to hide from surveillance, but to confront its logics head on. In exploring how the omnipresence of surveillance shifts experiences of voyeurism and exhibitionism into new contexts, the paper argues that sexualization is one possible response for the ‘surveillance-savvy’ subject to utilize.