Visual gossiping: non-consensual ‘nude’ sharing among young people in Denmark

The practice of sending and receiving nude and semi-nude images without consent is gaining increasing public attention and has been identified as a new form of digital sexual violence, framing sexting as a risk behaviour. In order to account for the existence of non-consensual nude sharing among young people in Denmark, we set out to conduct an ethnographic exploration of the social processes, gender dynamics and social implications of the practice. Our analysis suggests that non-consensual sharing acts as a form of visual gossip to maintain social bonds and gendered recognition. The practice often has gendered implications as it rests on and reproduces gendered values, forming the basis for judging girls’ and boys’ sexual activities differently. By using the framework of visual gossip, we draw attention to how the social dynamics of gossiping shape the different violating actions tied to the nude across time and context.