Mediated Intimate Relations
Online pornography provides the means to pursue the authenticity and the imagination of sex in daily life. Intimate relations, thus, are mediated via spectacle. In LIHKG forum, it is common to seek for local or amateur porn videos uploaded by Hong Kongers as well as the Japanese AV in which the protagonists are Asians, having cultural proximity with local AV. Teenagers can easily involve themselves more in these local AV and Japanese AV, arising their sexual fantasy and intimate relations. It can be proved from the interviews. Both of our interviewees admit that they will look for the Asia and Western pornography from LIHKG, yet, having the preferences on local and Japanese AV. Since Asian protagonists in AV can create the sense of familiar, their resonance can be easily consumed. Besides, they correspond to the preference of the local netizens. The images of AV actress are rather passive and vulnerable which match the female images in Hong Kong society. The wide range of themes in pornography can also encourage sex fantasy of the interviewees like having sex in all circumstances and with different females, constructing the mediated intimate relations.
However, problem is generated within these mediated intimate relations. As females are being portrayed in ideal and desirable images, spectators will become picky in the qualities of an ideal partner. There are numerous AV actresses being portrayed as ideal women who are gorgeous with perfect body shape. Spectators can choose their ideal one according to their preference in pornography. As a result, they will become picky and their standard for seeking a partner in reality may be enhanced. Regarding the interview, male interviewee agrees that his criteria for selecting a partner are affected by the beautiful images imposed by porn stars. Therefore, the abundance of female ideal images will blur the boundary of authenticity and the mediated intimate relations in daily life.
