Amy Adele Hasinoff: Sexting Panic: Rethinking Criminalization, Privacy, and Consent

Excerpt

In Sexting Panic: Rethinking Criminalization, Privacy, and Consent, Amy Adele Hasinoff argues for the decriminalization of adolescents’ sexting. The book consists of two main parts. The first argues that the portrayal of sexting in the media, education, and legal fields is problematic due to their view of sympathetically excusing the act of sexting as either a criminal, biological, or psychological problem. The author provides a critical analysis of literature that upholds society’s mainstream “common sense”, referring to the socially acceptable, yet irrational expectations of adolescent girls. The second part of the book uses the previously cited evidence to offer alternative ways of thinking about sexting among adolescents in order to transform the laws, stereotypes, and victim-blaming rhetoric that is currently used in today’s society. The author argues that changing theories about sexting as intimate communications in the framework of private conversation or media production can rectify the stigma and legal ramifications of sexting for those who choose to engage in this action. The book’s main argument is for the decriminalization of sexting not only to protect adolescents but also, more importantly, to motivate readers to consider adolescents as young adults, who deserve the basic rights and liberties as any other citizen. …