CYBER SEXY rethinking pornography
‘Precise and unflinching’ Alana Massey, author, All the Lives I Want
‘Cyber Sexy is highly intelligent and a great read’ Karuna Nundy, advocate, Supreme Court of India
‘I hope every woman in India reads this book’ Rega Jha, editor-in-chief, BuzzFeed India
‘Provocative and sharp’ Rohan Joshi, comedian and writer
In 1964, American judge Potter Stewart famously said, ‘I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it.’
Over fifty years later, the reverberations of these words are still being felt across the world. Be it proposed porn bans, religious morality or women’s rights, the assumption is that porn has a single, knowable definition. But one man’s art is another woman’s erotica is another person’s sex tape.
In this intrepid, empathetic and nuanced account of the sexual shopping cart that is the internet today, Richa Kaul Padte takes readers on an intimate tour of online sex cultures. From camgirls to fanfiction writers, homemade videos to consent violations, Cyber Sexy investigates what it means to seek out pleasure online.
And as for whether or not something counts as porn? You’ll know it when you see it.
About the author: Richa Kaul Padte grew up in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, and became a person in Brighton, England. She is co-founder of the award-winning publication Deep Dives, and her writing has appeared in several places, including BuzzFeed, Vice, GQ, Racked, the Caravan, India Today, Open and Rolling Stone. Cyber Sexy is her first book.