About

Screening Sex is a research initiative led by Darren Kerr (Bath Spa University, UK) and Donna Peberdy (Southampton Solent University, UK). Screening Sex aims to call attention to the critical and cultural significance of sex, stimulate debate on marginalised matters and amplify the diverse and important research being carried out in this multi-disciplinary area.

Comprised of a Special Interest Group for the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies, an Edinburgh University Press book series, an academic blog and an international network of 120+ researchers, academics and industry professionals, the idea behind “screening sex” follows Linda Williams‘ dual notion of the physical screen (representation across film, television, web) and screening to conceal, evaluate or investigate. As such, Screening Sex extends beyond the screen to consider sex in broader social, cultural, political and historical terms.

With our book series (Edinburgh University Press), we encourage a broad range of critical, contextual and cultural methodologies to sex on screen, drawing on cross-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research as well as encouraging intersectional observations and approaches. Alongside analytical considerations of representational strategies, we also welcome work that examines the approaches and changes encountered in industry practice, production techniques, as well as changing modes of exhibition and new strategies of distribution.

On the Screening Sex blog, we publish research articles, opinion pieces, interviews and reviews on a range of topics related to sex on screen and sexual cultures for a wide and varied readership. We are keen to engage with and support the work of creative practitioners, visual artists and filmmakers exploring sex on screen in various styles, forms and approaches.

The Screening Sex network establishes a space to connects writers, researchers and creative practitioners working in the area, raising the visibility of their work and encouraging research sharing and new collaborations. 

“screeningsex.com is an especially important resource making the research of a range of scholars freely available and accessible to a non-specialist audience inside and outside of academia”

John Mercer, Professor of Gender and Sexuality, Birmingham City University, UK.

In 2018, we established a BAFTSS special interest group, which aims to continue and extend the work that has emerged from screeningsex.com. This SIG aims to build on the valuable work of existing contributors, extend the research network, support the development of original work and invest in its contributors and members in order to produce and support activities that continue to highlight the value of sex on screen, in culture and in society.

Interested in contributing to the blog, joining our network or BAFTSS special interest group or have a publication, CFP or event to promote? Contact us here or email screeningsex@gmail.com.

sex on screen; sex and representation; sex and sexual cultures; sex, sexualities and sexual identity; sexualisation; sex in/and the mainstream; reel/real sex; alternative sex and sexualities; transgression, deviance and sexual perversion; pornography; sexually explicit media; sex crime; sex work; the sexual body; performance; censorship; consumption; politics and culture; discourse and debate.

PROJECT LEADS

Darren Kerr is Associate Professor of Sexual Cultures and Head of the Bath School of Art, Film and Media at Bath Spa University, UK. His publications include Hard to Swallow: Hard-core Pornography on Screen (2012) and Tainted Love: Screening Sexual Perversion (2017). He is series co-editor of the Screening Sex book series for Edinburgh University Press, co-convenes the Screening Sex special interest group for the British Association for Film, Television and Screen Studies and a member of the editorial board for the journal Porn Studies.

Dr Donna Peberdy is Associate Professor of Performance, Sex and Gender at Southampton Solent University, UK. Donna is the recipient of a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship to pursue the project “Screening Sexual Violence“, which explores the representation of sexual violence against women and girls in film. She is the author of Masculinity and Film Performance: Male Angst in Contemporary American Cinema (2011), which was awarded CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title in 2012. She is co-editor of Tainted Love: Screening Sexual Perversion (2017) and series co-editor of the Screening Sex book series for Edinburgh University Press. She co-convenes the Screening Sex special interest group for the British Association for Film, Television and Screen Studies.