Teen Cock Pics Workshop

Teenage girls are increasingly sending and receiving sexually explicit selfies, nude photos of themselves or zoomed-in penis images through Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook apps from male peers in their peer network. Most of these dick pics are unsolicited sex which constitutes indecent assault or possession of child pornography – often considered forms of harassment by peers who receive them and can lead to the person receiving these images being subjected to social shaming for retaining such material.

At this workshop, participants physically drew images that had been sent them and discussed how exchanges like these can have an effect on their self-image and social reputation. Girls noted how boys may use such images as transactional flirtation – perhaps by forcing girls to send one in order to receive one – which corresponds with research indicating that girls who receive unsolicited dick pics experience equal levels of sexualised shame as boys who share nude pictures (Setty 2019a).

This episode highlights the connected reality of teenage life and their constant connectivity to their peer groups even when away from school. An example is when one teen was on holiday with her family during Covid-19, yet was still contactable by peers through mobile phone and tablet calls from peers. Once her parents heard voices coming from inside her room they confiscated the device which contained inappropriate material including nude images and discussions regarding sexual relations.