Though gay and bisexual men were much more likely to report positive reactions to receiving unsolicited genital images than women, some men reported ambivalent and even negative reactions,” Marcotte told PsyPost. “I think the main takeaway is that consent and communication matter. One fourth of the men reported having a negative reaction.
About 44% of men reported being “entertained” and 41% reported feeling “curious” after receiving a dick pic. In contrast, men tended to view receiving genital images more positively than women. The researchers found that 50% of women who received unsolicited genital images reported feeling “grossed out” and 46% felt “disrespected.” Only 26% of women reported having a positive reaction. Women of all sexual identities reported predominantly negative reactions. Though some men have malicious motives, according to previous research, heterosexual men primarily send unsolicited images of their genitals to women in the hopes of receiving either similar images or sexual interactions in return.īut the new findings suggest that such images rarely provoke the intended response. “This includes 90.7% of women - 90.7% of heterosexual, 91.3% of lesbian, and 90.8% of bisexual women - and 87.1% of men - 88.1% of gay men and 82.1% of bisexual men,” the authors of the study wrote. The researchers found 80 percent of the men and almost 50 percent of the women reported receiving a “dick pic.” Among those who had ever received such a photo, 90 percent had received one without asking for it. In particular, they examined responses from 2,045 women of all sexual identities and 298 gay or bisexual men who consented to the sexuality module of the survey. As someone who studies both consent and digital sexual practices, it made sense to tackle this project.”įor their study, the researchers examined data from the Singles in America (SIA) study, an annual survey on the attitudes and behaviors of single adults in the United States. “I was interested in this particular project because the practice of sending dick pics has become so common and is discussed so much, but there is very little research on the topic, especially when it comes to gay and bisexual men. I am also interested in how people navigate digital consent communication,” said study author Alexandra Marcotte, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Kinsey Institute. “My work, broadly, explores the intersections between digital communication technologies (mostly online dating sites/applications, Internet-based sex work sites, and social media platforms), sexuality, and intimacy. But gay and bisexual men appear to be significant more receptive to receiving such images without warning. Receiving unsolicited genital pictures from men appears to be a largely negative experience for most women, according to a new study published in The Journal of Sex Research.