“Liking You Doesn’t Mean I Want Your Dickpic”: (Cyber)Rape Culture Predicts Women’s Perception and Emotional Responses to Unsolicited Genital Images

Abstract

The unsolicited receipt of genital images is a widespread form of cyber-sexual violence against women. While many women describe these experiences as humiliating or disgusting, others perceive them as harmless or even flattering. Building on a qualitative pilot study (92 women participants), we investigated how women evaluate and emotionally react to unsolicited genital images, and how these responses are influenced by prior sexual context and myths about cyber-sexual violence. A total of 218 Spanish women participants reported their acceptance of myths about cyber-sexual violence and evaluated a hypothetical incident of receiving an unsolicited genital image with the sexual context manipulated in a between-participants design. Results showed that women evaluated the incidents less positively and exhibited more anxiety, anger-hostility, and sadness, and less happiness and fewer feelings of power after exposure to both incidents of unsolicited genital images. Importantly, women with a higher acceptance of myths about cyber-sexual violence evaluated the incidents more positively, which in turn was associated with more positive and fewer negative feelings when the woman previously showed sexual interest toward the perpetrator (vs. no sexual interest or the control condition). These findings highlight the need for interventions that challenge these myths, empowering women to resist pressures to normalize such behaviors.