Aphrodite

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APHRODITE Information Design as a strategic skill in understanding knowledge production.

Eleonora Grotto



Eleonora Grotto

APHRODITE Information Design as a strategic skill in understanding knowledge production. [ The case of defining sexual paraphilias ]

RELATORE Donato Ricci Politecnico di Milano Scuola del Design Tesi di Laurea Magistrale Design della Comunicazione Matricola: 798727 A.A. 2014 / 2015



To the memory of my mother. You are, and always will be, the greatest example I could have asked for.



ABSTRACT

La presente tesi è un esperimento e un test sulla figura del designer della comunicazione all’interno dei processi conoscitivi, con il particolare riferimento alle aree del sapere non ancora sedimentato, in cui la controversia rispetto alla loro definizione risulta attuale e aperta. La necessità di rappresentare tali spazi nella loro interezza, ma altresì distinguendo in essi le differenti posizioni che disegnano il dibattito, trova una possibile risposta nell’utilizzo di una metodologia design-oriented, basata sui metodi digitali, la strutturazione e la visualizzazione dei dati. L’orientamento sessuale, topic scelto per quest’indagine, è un’area di dibattito avente le caratteristiche prima descritte, che bene si esplicita a livello digitale dove è altresì assicurato l’anonimato degli utenti. Una prima indagine è avvenuta rispetto alla pagina di discussione dell’articolo “sexual orientation” di Wikipedia, da cui sono emerse le maggiori controversie: la correttezza della definizione di orientamento sessuale; la possibilità di ridefinire pedofilia, zoofilia e altre attrazioni considerate parafilie, come orientamenti sessuali. Da qui lo spostamento dell’oggetto di ricerca verso le parafilie sessuali. Attraverso una selezione manuale a più livelli, si è costruita una lista di 165 articoli di Wikipedia inerenti a parafilie, feticismi, fobie e dipendenze sessuali. Sfruttando i collegamenti dalle sezione “See also” di ogni articolo è stato creato un network che, pulito e spazializzato, conta 1336 nodi - i.e. articoli. Tali sono stati letti e manualmente taggati al fine di strutturare un dataset in grado di restituire campo di studi, categoria e timeline di ogni articolo. Sono stati poi indagati i collegamenti di ogni articolo con i rispettivi nelle differenti edizioni linguistiche di Wikipedia. La base dati creata è stata poi visualizzata ed analizzata. Emerge da ciò un preponderante dispiegamento del tema nell’area sociologica e psicologica, sia rispetto alle parafilie stesse che alla loro percezione e al loro giudizio, il quale è fortemente dipendente dalle norme sociali e culturali. Presenza che denota interesse per il tema, promuovendone lo studio e contribuendo a rimuovere il velo di taboo da una tematica che, per quanto avente profili erotici, è essenzialmente legata alla psicologia e al benessere della persona (nonché della società). Altresì emergono le potenzialità di Wikipedia e del design della visualizzazione nel processo conoscitivo, che si concludono con un possibile spunto rispetto all’utilizzo del network creato quale mezzo nelle mani di uno psicologo per indagare la matrice simbolica di un paziente affetto da una forma di parafilia.

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ESTRATTO IN ITALANO Individuare il ruolo del designer nell’azione di trasformare un dato in visualizzazione grafica è di piuttosto facile inquadramento. Basta prendere tale termine “Information Visualization Design” e definire ogni sua parte: Design, quindi progettazione di sistemi grafici in grado di trasformare un insieme di dati astratti in una conformazione significante, capace di comunicare correttamente all’untente le informazioni che prima si trovavano sotto forma di dato astratto. Per permettere ciò, la progettazione si avvale di aspetti quali la forma, la funzionalità ed il rapporto fra le due, espedienti grafici subordinati alla funzione di comunicare: aspetti confacenti all’ambito del design. Se poi si considera il design della comunicazione come avente lo scopo principale di dare forma visiva alle cose, di fornire rappresentazioni visuali e tangibili dei punti di vista, l’inserimento dell’information visualization design in questo campo di studi risulta agilmente comprensibile. Meno immediata è l’individuazione del ruolo del designer in un processo più ampio di conoscenza, legato a tecnologia e società, alla definizione di nuovi spazi digitali e alla necessità di analizzarli, all’esplorazione e narrazione dell’enorme ricchezza informativa prodotta degli attori coinvolti in una disputa, considerando che siano appunto gli spazi complessi delle dispunte e delle controversie, del sapere ancora non sedimentato, quelli da privilegiare nella scelta degli spazi da analizzare. Quello che la tesi si propone in relazione all’ambito di studio è di essere allo stesso tempo un esperimento e un test rispetto al ruolo della figura del designer nei processi conoscitivi, esplorarando le potenzialità della strutturazione di dati ed informazioni, delle visualizzazioni e di una metodologia designoriented e legata ai metodi digitali. La scelta del topic rispetto a cui effettuare l’analisi è rispondente alle caratteristiche richieste dalle modalità di indagine sopra descritte: una tematica controversa il cui dibattito sia aperto e si sviluppi - anche - sul web. L’orientamento sessuale è un’area di discussione aperta et attuale, da sempre controversa, che bene si esplicita a livello digitale dove è assicurato altresì un buon livello di anonimato. Il contesto da cui i dati sono estratti è quello digitale Wikipediano (inglese di partenza), considerato come uno spazio in cui la conoscenza è visibilmente non sedimentata, in cui le discussioni rispetto ad essa sono aperte e visionabili, la partecipazione è (potenzialmente) aperta a chiunque voglia farlo, la diffusione è (potenzialmente) mondiale, l’aggiornamento imme-

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diato e continuo e l’accuratezza è prossima a quella dell’enciclopedia britannica. Questa scelta, così come la scelta di indagare un argomento a livello Web, sono alla base di una ricerca che rispetto al topic scelto come “test”, mira ad investigare i comportamenti sociali che si attuano nel digitale, ormai diventato una componente essenziale all’interno della società stessa. Una prima indagine è avvenuta rispetto alla pagina “sexual orientation” di wikipedia, in particolare rispetto ai threads di discussione, da cui è emerso che le maggiori controversie fossero sulla definizione di orientamento sessuale e sulla possibilità di ridefinire pedofilia, zoofilia e altre attrazioni sessuali, attualmente considerate parafilie dal Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, come orientamenti sessuali. Ciò basandosi soprattutto sul fatto che l’omosessualità stessa fosse considerata un disturbo fino al 1994. Da qui lo spostamento dell’oggetto di ricerca verso quelle che sono le parafilie sessuali e la loro definizione. Attraverso una selezione manuale a più livelli, si è costruita una lista comprendente 165 articoli di Wikipedia inerenti a parafilie e pratiche strettamente connesse, feticismi, fobie e dipendenze sessuali. Sfruttando i collegamenti della sezione “See also” di ogni articolo è stato creato un network che, una volta pulito e spazializzato, conta 1336 nodi (i.e. articoli di Wikipedia). Tali sono stati letti e manualmente taggati al fine di strutturare un dataset in grado di restituire campo di studi, categorizzazione e timeline di ogni articolo. Altrettanto sono stati indagati i collegamenti di ogni articolo ai rispettivi nelle differenti edizioni linguistiche di Wikipedia. La base dati creata è stata poi visualizzata ed analizzata. Emerge da ciò un preponderante dispiegamento del topic nell’area sociologica e psicologica, sia rispetto alle parafilie stesse che alla loro percezione e al loro giudizio, il quale è fortemente dipendente dalle norme sociali e culturali. Presenza che altresì denota un interesse per il tema, promuovendone lo studio e contribuendo a rimuovere il velo di taboo da una tematica che, per quanto avente profili erotici, è essenzialmente legata alla psicologia e al benessere della persona (nonchè della società). Altresì emergono le potenzialità di Wikipedia e del design della visualizzazione nell’affiancamento al processo conoscitivo e di indagine che si concludono con un possibile spunto rispetto all’utilizzo del network creato quale mezzo nelle mani di uno psicologo per indagare la matrice simbolica di un paziente affetto da una forma di parafilia.

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INDEX

Figures and visualizations 15 Intro 23 I

Information Design as a strategic skill In understanding knowledge presentation 27

1

Shaping information 28 From raw data to graphic representation 28 Constructive typology for schematic representation 30 Qualitative scheme 31 Structural scheme 32 Graphs 24 Maps 27 Ordinal scheme 37 Computational system properties 37 Perception and exploration 38

2

Internet as study object 40 Real virtuality 42 Digital humanities approach 44 Digital methods, tools and information visualization 46

3

A fertile playground 52 Cartography of controversies 53 Define a controversy 54 A matter of perspectives (to be shown) 54 The cartographic side 56 The web affinity 57

4

Case study: personal experiences 60 Emaps sprint 60 Digital Methods Summer School 64 Internship at Fundaciò Barcelona Media 66 Internship at Medialab Sciences Po 66

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II

Aphrodite 69

5

Perspectives of contribution 70

6

Pick a topic: sexual orientation 76 Sexual orientation 77 Method 80

7

Not to hide by hiding 82 The playground: wikipedia 85 Information accuracy 79 The “wiki� technology and the participative model 80 Debate analysis and visualization design 82 The controversy size 88 En.Wikipedia.Org/sexual_orientation 98

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Contropedia, controversies detector 100 The contropedia project 100 Sexual orientation article : the dark side 104

9

Investigating the dark side 108 Thread one: sexual orientation, identity and behaviour 110 Thread two: other sexual orientation must be mentioned too 112 Thread three: zoosexuality 114 Thread four: pedophilia 116

10

Stabilize the research orientation 118 Making list process 121

11

From list to network 132 Seealsology process 133 Step into gephi 147 Network cleaning with gephi 148

12

Aphrodite network 152 Profiling structured data 156 Categories and subjects 148 Time analysis 164

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13

Deeper in the content 170 Get to know the network 171 Areas and clusters 176 Leak in the cluster 186 Central area 188 Androgyny 194 Grambling 198 Incest 200 Rape culture 206 Modularity shaped cluster 210 What about paraphilias? 212 Zoophilia 222 Bdsm 228 Pedophilia 236

14

Going global 244 Languages analysis 248 Languages per articles 249 Languages per paraphilias 251 Articles per languages 264 Escluding main European languages 265

15

Analysis conclusion 272

16

Conclusion 274

III

Appendix 279

A

Sexual orientation 280

B

Contropedia case study 284

C

How to read a network 292

D

Detected nodes 294

IV

Bibliography 339 Acknowledgements 349

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FIGURES AND VISUALIZATIONS

[ Fig. 1 ] [ Fig. 2 et 3 ]

Example of double-axis composition. (Mackinlay, 1986) 31 Cone Tree, 3D visualization technique developed by Robertson, Card e Mackinlay, 1993. 32

[ Fig. 4 ]

Hyperbolic Browser. (Lamping and Rao, 1995) 33

[ Fig. 5 ]

Hierarchical Clustering Explorer, Seo and Shneiderman, 2002. http://www.cs.umd.edu 33

[ Fig. 6 ]

Example of visualization made with Walrus tool. http://www.caida.org 34

[ Fig. 7 ]

Map of the market. Martin Wattenberg , 1998. 35

[ Fig. 8 ]

Wind Map, by Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg. http://hint.fm/ 36

[ Fig. 9 ]

Aphrodite Pudica (Roman copy of 2nd century AD), National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photo taken from Wikipedia. 81

[ Fig. 10 ]

”On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog”. Cartoon caption by Peter Steiner, published by The New Yorker on July 5th, 1993. Image taken from Wikipedia 83

[ Fig. 11 ]

Homepage Wikipedia. http://www.wikipedia.org 86

[ Fig. 12 ]

Relative levels of community building work for owners and other members. (Butler, Sproull, Kiesler and Kraut, 2007) 87

[ Fig. 13 ]

Growth of Wikipedia. (Buriol, Castillo, Donato, Leonardi, Millozzi, 2006) 89

[ Fig. 14 ]

Distribution of conflict in Wikipedia. (Kittur et al. 2009) 90

[ Fig. 15 - 16 ] [ Fig. 17 ]

History Flow user interface. (Viegas et al., 2004) 91 Revert Graph. (Kittur et al., 2007) 92

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[ Fig. 18 ]

Example visualization of a revision network. (Brandes, 2008) 93

[ Fig. 19 ]

Differences between Categories. (Laniado et al., 2011) 94

[ Fig. 20 ]

Structure of the discussion page “Presidency of Barack Obama”. (Laniado et al., 2011) 95

[ Fig. 21 ]

Evolution of controversy measure with number of edits of Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, with Gompertz fit shown in red. (Yasseri et al., 2012) 96

[ Fig. 22 ]

Evolution of controversy measure with number of edits of Anarchism and Barack Obama. (Yasseri et al., 2012) 96

[ Fig. 23 ]

Evolution of controversy measure with number of edits of of Iran – the insets depict focuses of some of the local war periods. (Yasseri et al., 2012) 96

[ Fig. 24 ]

Revert and mutual revert maps of Benjamin Franklin and Israel and the apartheid analogy. (Yasseri et al., 2012) 97

[ Fig. 25 ]

Sexual Orientation content Index. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_Orientation 99

[ Fig. 26 - ... - 29 ]

Contropedia demo version. http://contropedia.net/demo 101 - 103

[ Fig. 30 ]

Sexual Orientation Wikipedia Talk Page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Sexual_orientation 104

[ Fig. 31 ]

Pedophilia thread. Chain of comments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Sexual_orientation 105

[ Fig. 32 ]

Analysis of Pedophilia thread. Excel Tables. Project file. 105

[ Fig . 33 ]

Wikipedia talk page thread. “Other sexual orientation must be mentioned too”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Sexual_orientation 109

[ Fig. 34 ]

Wikipedia talk page thread. “Sexual orientation, identity and behaviour”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Sexual_orientation 111

[ Fig. 35 ]

Wikipedia talk page thread. “Zoosexuality”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Sexual_orientation 114

[ Fig. 36 ]

Wikipedia talk page thread. “Pedophilia”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Sexual_orientation 116

[ Fig. 37 ]

Uncleaned result from Seealsology analysis. Project file 135

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[ Fig. 38 ]

The final Network, as it is displayed on Gephi. Project file. 149

[ Fig. 39 ]

See also section in the Zoophilia Wikipedia page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia 223

[ Fig. 40 ]

Analysis from Roger and Sendijarevic studio (2012). 245

[ Fig. 41 - 42]

Example of Omnipedia usage. https: / /omnipedia.northwestern.edu/ 246 - 247

[ Fig. 43 ]

Users citing each other without following the replay back structure. Global warming conspiracy theory Wikipedia Talk Page 286

[ Fig. 44 ]

Example of links to wikipedia policies and rules used as arguments. Global warming conspiracy theory Wikipedia Talk Page 287

[ Viz. 1 ]

Flux map designed during EMAPS Sprint (2014). 62 - 63

[ Viz.2 ]

Detail of a visualization performed during the Digital Methods Summer School (june 2014). 65

[ Viz.3 ]

Endpoint analysis to detect the drivers for Ebola Virus Spillover., performing during the internship at Medialab Sciences Po. 67

[ Viz.4 ]

Google Trends for the query “Sexual Orientation”. 77

[ Viz. 5 ]

Network “Sexual orientation, identity and behaviour” thread. 111

[ Viz. 6 ]

Network of the thread “Other sexual orientation must be mentioned too”. 113

[ Viz. 7 ]

Network of the thread “Zoosexualty”. 115

[ Viz. 8 ]

Network of the thread “Pedophilia”. 117

[ Viz. 9 ]

Network resulted from the see also sections final crawling: “Aphrodite Network”. 150 - 151

[ Viz. 10 ]

Number of articles belonging to each category. 158 - 159

[ Viz. 11 ]

Number of articles belonging to each subject. 160 - 161

[ Viz. 12 ]

Scatterplot. Relations between categories and subjects 162 - 163

[ Viz. 13 ]

Timeline showing first and last edit for all the articles. 166 - 167

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[ Viz. 14 ]

Timeline showing each single article timeline. 168 - 169

[ Viz. 15 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Zoom central nodes. 171

[ Viz. 16 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Overview. 174 - 175

[ Viz. 17 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Microcluster. 178 - 179

[ Viz. 18 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Macrocluster. 180 - 181

[ Viz. 19 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Overall reading. 183

[ Viz. 20 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Area deep one. 184

[ Viz. 21 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Area deep two 185

[ Viz. 22 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Central area) 188

[ Viz. 23 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Central area) 190 - 191

[ Viz. 24 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Central area) 192 - 193

[ Viz. 25 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Androgyny) 194

[ Viz. 26 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Genders cluster) 196 - 197

[ Viz. 27 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Grambling cluster) 198

[ Viz. 28 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Internet addiction cluster) 199

[ Viz. 29 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Gramling cluster) 199

[ Viz. 30 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Incest cluster) 200

[ Viz. 31 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Incest cluster) 203

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[ Viz. 32 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position and links in the network. (Incest, Pedophilia cluster) 205

[ Viz. 33 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Pedophilia related cluster) 205

[ Viz. 34 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Rape culture) 206

[ Viz. 35 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position and links in the network. (Rape culture, Objectification cluster) 207

[ Viz. 36 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Objectification cluster) 207

[ Viz. 37 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Genders cluster, Rape culture position) 209

[ Viz. 38 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (First group of cluster per Modularity) 211

[ Viz. 39 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Second group of cluster per Modularity) 211

[ Viz. 40 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Paraphilias) 212 - 213

[ Viz. 41 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network and label by cluster (Paraphilias) 215

[ Viz. 42 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network and label by node (Paraphilias) 216 - 217

[ Viz. 43 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes outgoing links (Paraphilias) 220 - 221

[ Viz. 44 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Zoophilia) 222

[ Viz. 45 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Zoophilia cluster) 224 - 225

[ Viz. 46 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. Nodes Subjects attribute. (Zoophilia cluster) 226 - 227

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[ Viz. 47 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (BDSM cluster) 228

[ Viz. 48 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. Nodes Subjects attribute. (BDSM cluster) 230 - 231

[ Viz. 49 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. Nodes Categories attribute. (BDSM cluster) 232 - 233

[ Viz. 50 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (BDSM cluster, Erotic Pain, Religious and educational pain) 235

[ Viz. 51 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (BDSM cluster, Erotic Pain, Religious and educational pain) 235

[ Viz. 52 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Children related cluster) 236

[ Viz. 53 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Children related cluster) 238 - 239

[ Viz. 54 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Children related cluster) 240 - 241

[ Viz. 55 ]

“Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Children related cluster) 242 - 243

[ Viz. 56 ]

Barplot, number of languages per articles (Articles with more than 49 languages linked witht he english version of the article) 256 - 257

[ Viz. 57 ]

Matrix, languages per article (Articles with more than 49 languages linked with the article english version) 258 - 259

[ Viz. 58 ]

Barplot, number of languages per articles (Paraphilias articles) 260 - 261

[ Viz. 59 ]

Matrix, languages per article (Paraphilias articles) 262 - 263

[ Viz. 60 ]

Barplot, number of articles per languages (Languages with more than 100 articles - linked with the english version of the article) 266 - 267

[ Viz. 61a - 61b] [ Viz. 62 ]

Matrix, languages per article (Articles not present in the main european languages - linked with the english version) 268 ... 271 Network considering the users position in the discussion threads analyzed using manually collected data. 287

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INTRO

“wondering in the first place at obvious perplexities, and then by gradual pro-

It is through wonder that men now begin and originally begin to philosophize;

gression raising questions about the greater matters too, e.g. about the changes of the moon and of the sun, about the stars and about the origin of the universe. Now he who wonders and is perplexed feels that he is ignorant (thus the myth-lover is in a sense a philosopher, since myths are composed of wonders); therefore it was to escape ignorance that men studied philosophy, it is obvious that they pursued science for the sake of knowledge, and not for any practical utility. (Aristotele, Metaphysic, 1,2,9)

The “desire of understand” is a distinguished humans quality. Curiosity brings us to investigate and discover phenomenons inside and outside us, to understand them and increase our knowledge. The human being has always tried to classify, describe and settle down its knowledge of the world. First, the scientific formalization had as main aim to highlight and show the regular characteristics of a system, ignoring and avoiding systems and phenomena that seemed to have great anomalies, multiple interconnections or difficult predictability (Cilliers, 1998). In the last thirty years, socio-technical changes have subverted this trend, forcing us to face also with what is not possible to formalize in a classic way. With the crisis of the analytical system, linked to the possibility to divide everything into small units that can be individually observed to return in a second later to the totality, what has found preeminence is the whole, the reasoning that does not separate to comprehend but thinks about the connections and the context: the systemic thought. This new awareness is one of the engines of the growing interest for the Theories of Complexity (Mitchell, 1992).

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The Theories of Complexity rises from interdisciplinary studies and researches on complex systems and emerging phenomena associated with them. Complex systems are open systems (therefore they exchange information both with the internal and external environments), made up by many components (more or less complex) that interact with each other through many local interactions (each component affects the nearest ones) giving rise to a collective behaviour, non-linear (i.e. many interactions between components are simultaneous and the mathematical functions that describe such interactions are non-linear). It means that the components must form a network: in case there is a central component (hub) or a linear sequence, the system can not be considered a network, therefore it can not be defined as complex system. All these system adapt - that is, change their behaviour to improve their chances of survival or success - through learning or evolutionary process.

A system in which large networks components with no central control and

“simple rules of operation give rise to complex collective behaviour, sophisticated information processing, and adaptation via learning or evolution. � (Mitchell, 2009) These Theories seek to explain how large number of relatively simple entries organize themselves, without the benefit of any central controller, into a collective whole that creates patterns, uses information, and, in some cases, evolves and learns. (Mitchell, 2009)

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This growing and limitless need of investigating, explaining and describing a complex world goes hand to hand with technological and IT progress and the massive reproduction of data and information. The traditional forms used to understand and explain reality are re-setting up and the engagement of the representation capabilities typical of design, turn out to be more and more functional and suitable to the need of orienting in that environment. Consequently, visual modes should be able to assemble information and practices even apparently unrelated, in a single optically coherent space (Venturini, 2008) and allows to study the totality of the phenomenon, its elements in an interconnected and indivisible manner instead of divides and analyses them separately.

The importance of the visual modes’ role in this sense is demonstrated by the growing importance of the information visualization design.

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I

Information Design as a strategic skill in understanding knowledge presentation


1. SHAPING INFORMATION

The role of graphic representation consist in “[...]the transcription, into the graphic sign-system, of information known through the intermediary of any given sign-system” (Bertin, 1967) where the polarization created, from abstract to figurative, reflects two rappresentative modalities, respectively schematization and depiction. The aim of both the modalities is to visualize informations. This activity in the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) field is called Information Visualization. Card, Mackinlay and Shneiderman define information visualization as “the use of computer-supported, interactive, visual representations of abstract data to amplify cognition” (Card, Mackinlay, and Shneiderman, 1999) and describe its purpose as using human perception to amplify cognition. Humans are “hardwired” to perceive many characteristics easily, including spatial position, color, size, and movement (Card and Colin Ware, 2000). Since successful information visualization should provide insights to facilitate decision-making, discovery or explanation, effective visualizations will use these easily detected characteristics to illuminate their information.

Jacques Bertin (27th July 1918 – 3rd May 2010) was a French cartographer and theorist, known from his book “Semiologie Graphique” (Semiology of Graphics), published in 1967. This work, based on his experience as a cartographer and geographer, represents the first and widest intent to provide a theoretical foundation to Information Visualization.

FROM RAW DATA TO GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION Graphic representation organizes huge amount of data into constructive models, producing modes of simulation, control, action and communication (Manovich, 2001). Doing so, data become scheme, graphical object and because of this “new nature” they have, they can be accessed. Graphic solutions are based on the given data features. The choice among which visual model (or more properly constructive typology) has to be used, depends on the nature of the data themselves. Moreover, these constructive typology are themselves visual expression of an informative complex phenomenon. Each representative typology organizes the information in a schematic structure and supports, thanks to its proper shape, the functions necessary to its knowledge-improving manipulation. In the meantime, it gives shape to the phenomenon on a communicative level and on a representative ones. (Botta, 2004)

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Together with writing, graphic representation is a modality to register, transcribe and visualize information. As said, as we are speaking about Information Visualization, graphic representations are supported by the computer. Their computational nature allows us to manipulate phenomenons’ data, even when they are complex, in order to understand them. The starting data are considered as pure, abstract data. They acquire the representation status only after having been manipulated through a correspondences system, created to establish relations that allow their formal structuration.

The term “Information Visualization” come into view in the Human Computer Interaction at the end of 90’s, in Robertoson, G. G.; Card, S. K., ad Mackinlay, J. D. (1989). “The Cognitive Coprocessor for Interactive User Interfaces.” Proceeding of UIST’89, ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology. 1018. Later, it has been adopted to define a research area in which graphic representation qualities, interaction and animation co participate in order to improve the use and knowledge of complex informative phenomena.

The strategy is to transform pure, abstract data (raw data), in a structured relation - or group of relations -. Basically, it has to be create a data table that allows to describe the informative phenomenous through its components, and where columns specify arguments or analysed cases while rows specify variables (i.e. groups of values related to the cases). (Botta, 2004) A Data Table is not a representation but a collection and catalogue of variables that reveal the phenomenon, without determining the data visual structure. The system with which the collected data (metadata) are described, permits to organize them into a structured form and to obtain, thanks to a data transformation process, additional information that - as assert by Tweedie (1997) - can be expressed with the following relations: I. From starting values, derive other values. II. From starting structures, derive other structures. III. From starting values, derive other structures. IV. From starting structures, derive other values. Data transformation process, supported by computational capacities of computerized systems, shows that the same information is likely to be organized in several forms, which can coexist within a single interface solutions or can be managed separately, showing therefore different informative levels. Any phenomenon that has a quantitative, geographical,statistical but also categorical nature, can be broken down and described through the identification of a number of homogeneous variables, constituting a relations system between abstract data, mathematically describable and conveniently manipulable by computer. (Botta, 2004)

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CONSTRUCTIVE TYPOLOGY FOR SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION Each organizational framework has at its base a constructive typology, with specific properties that fulfill their correspondent communicational functions once the data visualization is carried out. The visualization of informations does not take place through visual metaphors. Information are articulated, distributed and ordered in the space according to a conventional schematic model that simplifies and orders the interpretation possibilities of a given reality, a given knowledge, a given complex phenomenous.

The scheme is defined as a conventional simplified model that represent a more complex reality. It is possible to recognise three recurring modalities used to organise and visualize knowledge (i.e. information): I. Through qualitative schemes (Knowledge is geometrically constructed inside a space, depicting the profile or the pattern of a given phenomenon). II. Through structural scheme (knowledge is distributed in an articulated space. They reflect the phenomenon complexion). III. Through ordinal scheme (Knowledge is organized as a progressive succession, a functional disposition and it is suitable for consultation). These typologies can coexist inside the same visualization, producing different informative levels and allowing different reading of the same phenomenon. Each scheme typology is explicated through representations: diagrams are associated to qualitative schemes, graphs and maps to structural schemes and timeline and list to ordinal scheme.

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QUALITATIVE SCHEME The graphic construction of qualitative scheme is the diagram. It allows to observe the informative component sizes, subdividing and rationally distributing them in a geometric space (Bertin, 1967), and to manage with great flexibility and precision, relational and multidimensional information properties (Botta, 2004). The first study that has brought together computation and automatic information visualization was accomplished by Mackinlay (1986), that produced diagrams to analyze complex phenomena (e.g. the ozone quantity in some american cities [Fig.1] ). His work has laid the foundation for facing an increasingly widespread and elusive informational environment, taking advantage of the development of sophisticated interface solutions aimed at the phenomena analysis and understanding. Diagrams can assume different shapes, according to the communicative goals they want to achieve: I. Order non qualitative components in the space (i.e.mapping quantitatively a phenomenon, based on a pre-established classification, highlighting structural pattern - e.g. Using matrices) II. Show qualities, estimate component size. Trufte (1983) states that the quantitative visualization, especially for statistical purposes, communicates clearly, accurately and effectively large amounts of data in a small space. Moreover, it allows the qualitative exploration of an object when the latter is describable through the use of a mathematical model. III. Show a phenomenon evolution, profile or appearance.

[ Fig. 1 ] From Mackinlay studies. “Example of doubleaxis composition. The diagram describes a month of ozone measurements for two cities. The reason that a line char design was not used for these data is that there are missing measurement for some of the days: a line chart is only used for continuous functions.� (Mackinlay, 1986)

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STRUCTURAL SCHEME Representations define as structural schemes are graphs [a] and maps [b]. They allow to become awareness about the system structure, and about the relations between the parties. Moreover they report topologically organizes information.

a. Graphs The hypertextuality has produced multilinear systems defined by paths, relations and connections that have found a natural form of representation in the graph. It have had an applicative evolution in computer systems, in particular in the Web: at first it has been employed as a formalized tool for the definition of the organizational structure. Secondly, it has turned out to be an important tool for analysis and investigation, allowing to schematically represent the organizational complexity of these systems, highlighting possible structural and functional deficiencies. in the third phase, it has been used as access system or interface, as an alternative to the index, for visually manage the structural complexity. (Botta, 2004) Following, the functions carried out by graphs at a communicative level: I. Establish a hierarchical order. An example could be the three structured system, evolved at the same pace with the new browsing technologies. (e.g. ConeTree, elaborated by Robertson, Card e Mackinlay, 1993 [Fig. 2 et 3] or Hyperbolic Browser [Fig. 4] ). The interactive exploration of the graph, joins with the dynamic data integration, brings to hybrid solutions (e.g. Hierarchical Clustering Explorer, Seo and Shneiderman, 2002 [Fig. 5] ). The need to perceive the data structure within the web, has brought to produce tools, browser and utilities for managing, analysing and implementing websites.

[ Fig. 2 et 3 ] Cone Tree, 3D visualization technique elaborated by Robertson, Card e Mackinlay, 1993.

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[ Fig. 4 ] Below. Hyperbolic Browser. . The link structure of the Xerox WWW Server shown as a tree . The X represents the Xerox home page and its children represent the pages pointed to by that page , and so on (Lamping and Rao, 1995)

[ Fig. 5 ] Below. Hierarchical Clustering Explorer, Seo and Shneiderman, 2002. http://www.cs.umd.edu

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II. Representing a network. Internet as infrastructure and informative, is characterized by complex relations, connections and interactions between the parties. Using a graphic network it is possible to represent its infrastructure or the social relation generated within it. When a graph assumes a circular configuration, the representation of the whole becomes at the same time focused and synthetic: in a clear spatial synthesis, connections can be freely explored. III. As the diagram, also the graph shapes and defines phenomena. The graphic layout combined with the expression of quantitative values, allows to represent the evolution of an information system and assesses at a glance its growth. (e.g. Walrus tool [Fig. 6] ). [ Fig. 6 ] Example of visualization made with Walrus tool. http://www.caida.org

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b. Maps By now, this typology of representation is strongly conventional and normed given. This is due to the long tradition of map production. In the course of time measurement techniques, restitution and data collection have been refined. The extraordinary flexibility of the typographic syntax, get the map to be an instrument extremely manipulable and adaptable to all situations in which functional links, structural relations and spatial distribution of knowledge, return the complexion of an informative phenomenon. Maps have the following functions: I. Topographically recreate a territory. II. Being frame media on which locate and reproduce topographically referred information. [Fig. 8 - following page] Geographical anamorphosis are considered maps as well. They have no geographical references, but use the design principles of the maps. (e.g. Map of the Market [Fig. 7] ). Finally, it is useful to underline the map anaphoric property (i.e. being a representation that facilitates the interpretation). It is a direct and efficient cognitive model, both in communicative and functional terms, in which indexes, items and text blocks, fulfilled with figurativeness, determine a greater immediacy in interpretation, pointing out the spatial relation and the topological characteristics of the text.

[ Fig. 7 ] Map of the market, a visualization of stock market information. It shows the market capitalization and fluctuations over time of hundreds of publicly traded companies. Martin Wattenberg , 1998.

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[ Fig. 8 ] Wind Map is an art project by Fernanda ViĂŠgas and Martin Wattenberg.The map conveys the movement of the air in visual motion. http://hint.fm/

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ORDINAL SCHEME Data indexed with analytical or descriptive criteria, can be conveniently ordered in a progressive series, universally recognizable and easy to consult. Ordinal schemes use this principle, organizing information according two main components: the temporal one and the categorical. The representative forms are the timeline (that shows the phenomenous trend and evolution) and the list (that shows a cross-division of phenomena according to thematic subjects). Together with spatial representation (qualitative and structural scheme), timeline and list are the typical forms of knowledge organization.

COMPUTATIONAL SYSTEM PROPERTIES As sad, Information Visualization representations have a computational nature. As so, they have the same base properties than a computational system. These could be divided into three levels. I. Structural: it is built by simple elements that bring to a complex structure or to scaling increment the structure. II. Functional: it metabolizes data (Metabolism), it keeps itself in balance (Homeostasis), it reacts to environment stimulations (Responsiveness), it re-adapts to different environments and simulations (Adaptation), it has the capability to create other entities similar to itself (Reproduction). III. Expressive: it has capability of graphically represent its inside status (Appearance) and gives it back showing behaviors.

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PERCEPTION AND EXPLORATION Jacques Bertin (1967) states that “the absence of signs means the absence of issues [ ... ]“. Any information is describable through a limited number of variables that translated into graphical components allow the configuration of a graphic representation. At this point, thanks to their “new” graphic nature, they can be perceived and become manipulable. To handle a large amounts of data in small spaces and to produce configurations that formally and technically arrange the information to make them suitable at the contact with the recipient, the representation is enriched with sentient elements. These could be devices specialized in achieving a specific goal or graphics devices (to create a semantic contextualization - titles , subtitles , use of color ... - to create continuity and formal coherence - elements that are repeated from section to section - to establish spatial orientation). They participate in giving the information a semantic meaning, they allow the syntactic organization and act directly on the user. The information, the graphic layout, the functional devices and graphical apparatus, are all elements that contribute to shape the process of accessing, surfing and orienting knowledge.

The way to operate with information varies depending on the type of graphical depiction that they assume. Surfing and reading techniques used with a text mode configuration or a schematic system, are not the same that have to be used with representation. In the first case, data have a text form while in the second they have an abstract ones. In this the latter case , it is possible to identify different types of direct interactions. I. Selection (i.e. those methods and techniques that allow to locate and operate a selection of information sources, primarily using indexical instrument). II. Exploration (i.e. those methods and those techniques based on free recognition of an informative space or environment, where the topological information distribution is combined with functional devices that exhibit - at least- a local coherence). III. Manipulation (i.e. those methods and technique applied in the cases where the representation itself is conceived as information source, arranged to be reworked and modified by the user).

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In the case of a graphic representation, exploration and manipulation have a great role in the interpretation. In relation to this two types of interaction, it is possible to summarized the following actions: I. Observe and immerse (i.e. the possibility of reading a representation using different scales, from micro to macro, from overview to detail). II. Manipulate the object. (i.e. act on the object, put it posing, look a int it all its parts, watch inside it, making transparent parts that do not allow to see, disassemble the object without damaging it (exploded diagram) and damaging it (cross / vertical section) . III. Act over the data. This can be done at two levels. In the first and deeper one, the user can modify the data mapping system that will determine the graphic construction. In this way, the clue of the action is in the system that regulates the correspondences between data and representation. Basically, acting on the data table and on the relations between data established by it. In the second level, the user modifies the data transformation process directly from specific interface devices, selecting categories and parameters that specify the representation characteristics. These technique aim to approach, refine and orienting the representation towards a specific user’s interest, but also to point out structural pattern that, from a generic and all-encompassing gaze, are not evident. IV. Isolate and exclude elements, analyzing changing that consequently happen in the environment. V. Use the movement to explore or to investigate changes.

These short considerations concern the theoretical-projectual, structural and functional aspects of graphic representation, aim to contextualise the relations between graphic forms, informative structures and interaction modalities, that allow to organise, visualise and interact with information in order to extract knowledge from them.

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2. INTERNET AS STUDY OBJECT

Technological progress, the Internet and the digital revolution have greatly modified the “knowledge modes”, affecting the research, the production of knowledge but also the ways in which people choose to acquire information or, more simply, come into contact with information. In addition, what digital technology and the web today can offer is the possibility to play an active role and to generate knowledge, information and data. New media, new languages, an increasing number of exchanges and interactivity still ongoing, lead the way to new possibilities. Information digitalization, that now involves every knowledge field and routine life, brings to the natural definition of Internet as a data container. Knowledge in twenty-first century is transformed into digital information through computational techniques and consequently, research is increasingly being mediated through digital technology. An new infinite archive, huge quantities of articles, texts and data suddenly available at the researcher’s fingertip. (Berry, 2012)

The digital status of information, web property, makes the data collecting process faster and direct. This is not the only advantage in using internet as research ground; the ways in which data are organized and stored, multiply exponentially its potential: the shape of this organization is itself a new datum to observe and measure. “Firstly, unlike other well-known media, the Internet does not simply exist in a form suited to being archived, but rather is first formed as an object of study in the archiving, and it is formed differently depending on who does the archiving, when, and for what purpose.” (Brügger, 2005)

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On one hand, the contents, the knowledge packaged by some users and used as it is, as a big digital library, easy to consult. It is now quite clear that historians will have to grapple with abundance, not scarcity. Several million books have been digitized by Google and the Open Content Alliance in the last two years, with millions more on the way shortly; the Library of Congress has scanned and made available online millions of images and documents from its collection; ProQuest has digitized millions of pages of newspapers, and nearly every day we are confronted with a new digital historical resource of almost unimaginable size. (Jah, 2008)

Technology enables access to the databanks of human knowledge from anywhere, disregarding and bypassing the traditional gatekeepers of knowledge in the state, the universities and the market. [...] This introduces not only a moment of societal disorientation, with individuals and institutions flooded with information, but also requires a computational solution to this state of events in the form of computational rationalities (Berry, 2012)

On the other hand, an infinite quantity of information, related with the trace left by users that create or offer information online. The media modes of operation in response to users actions, its knowledge organization modalities, its different ways to to differentiate itself nationally and linguistically, its way of storing data, the links and their analysis: all these aspects open new studies and new possibilities in the analysis of phenomena and behaviors . What is theorized is the power of the digital as a place where it is possible to create and reorganize knowledge. Therefore, it is essential to find new tools and methods to properly analysis a content that is radically different.

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REAL VIRTUALITY It is essential to clarify which is the position of internet compared to the real world. This consideration determines, in terms of choice and modality, the data collection, their management, visualization and interpretation. Initially, the web was described as “cyberspace” where there was no corporality but information, where equal roles and equality seemed to separate the web from the real territorial and cultural differences. Some had supported the idea that cyberspace re-creates new spaces beyond reality, while others had seen it as a dissociation from real social life, as distinct and disconnected virtual space. In both the cases, what was described was a non informative and non localizable space if compared to real and concrete life. The new perspective is placed in stark contrast to these ideas.

Virtual methods may be seen as an exercise to measure the new technologies’

“impact on society and, more specifically, on the user. By visiting the ground’s the Web is made comprehensible as an important social and political space ” (Weltevrede, 2009) Plunging into the study of phenomena by using internet, it is essential to overcome the belief which sees Internet as realm apart from real world, as a kind of non-place, an alternative to the real world (Barlow, 1996; Benedict, 1991). The first attempt in this direction can be considered a research upon Internet use in Trinidad and Tobago in 1999: ethnographers Daniel Miller and Don Slater performed a detailed study of the online universe of Trinidad and Tobago, showing how Trinidad local culture had consistently changed the online space. While a case study, the overall thrust of the research was its potential for generalizability. If Trinis were using the Internet to stage Trini culture, the expectation was that other cultures were doing the same. As findings, this research only traced for the first time a link between offline and online cultures, but more generally it questioned the meaning of global and local levels within the studies of the internet. This is actually the next step: to abandon the dichotomy between real and virtual, overtaking the problem of the relation between online and offline and focusing on how changes and cultural diversities can be investigated by using Internet.

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I would like to put forward a new era in Internet research, which no longer

“concerns itself with the divide between the real and the virtual. It concerns a

shift in the kinds of questions put to the study of the Internet. The Internet is employed as a site of research for far more than just online culture. The issue no longer is how much of society and culture is online, but rather how to diagnose cultural change and societal conditions with the Internet. The conceptual point of departure for the research program is the recognition that the Internet is not only an object of study, but also a source. (Rogers, 2009)

Richard Rogers (born 15 March 1965, Lawrence, Massachusetts), New Media Professor at the University of Amsterdam, Director of the Govcom.org Foundation, Visiting Professor in Science Studies at the University of Vienna, founder and director of the Digital Methods Initiative (DMI - Amsterdam).

Based on this renovated perspective, Richard Rogers introduces the term online groundedness: “[...] the digital methods program introduces the term online groundedness, in an effort to conceptualize research that follows the medium, captures its dynamics and makes grounded claims about cultural and societal change.” (Rogers 2009b) It is no longer necessary to justified internet research in the real world as the observation surrounding how the Web works and the definition of research methods based on this are in themselves sufficient basis for researches results. Sanctioned the end of the gap between virtual and real, between cyber and real spaces, what is it necessary is to reflect over the methods used to analyze the mechanisms of the web itself in organizing, distributing and showing knowledge: is it enough to simply adapt the methods borrowed from other disciplines (sociology, computer science) or is it necessary to rethink the research protocols? The difference is identified by Rogers (2009) with two terms that reflect this distinction. He identifies as digitized those methods that are translated from offline to online and as digital those methods created ad hoc for native digital data, based on the observation of how online tools organize information. The emphasis is clearly on the latter, arguing that methods for online research should be designed observing and learning from the medium itself, escaping from transpose instruments and structures typical of non-digital research. This means fist to study the digital existing mechanisms of ordering, composing , managing, storing the reality, and then, on the basis of their modes of operation, to experiment the construction of tools and devices that can process the components and the contents of the digital (Rogers, 2009b). information’ organization in the Web allows to observe phenomena from completely new points of view and to point out connections between elements, otherwise difficult to intercept.

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DIGITAL HUMANITIES APPROACH As confirmation of this trend, another field of study is growing: Digital Humanities. Thanks the emergence of enormous amount of online data, that has been previously described, the methods with which social researches are performed has been changing. Traditional textual instruments turn out to be no longer sufficient to describe the information’ richness of the new systems. Moreover, fixing what is happening in the digital doing nothing, brings to an incomplete research, considering the role, now uncontested, that digital has assumed in our lives Digital humanities arise from these considerations. They can be defined as a field of study, research and teaching that takes shape from the union of humanities and information technology disciplines and that aims to realize the integration of a new and modern approach to the classic study of humanities and social sciences, as well as the literature and the arts. It is a set of approaches and skills that share the goal to innovate the research methodology in the humanities subjects, introducing new knowledges, especially those related to statistics and computer science. All the studies inside digital humanities can not exclude the digital component, which facilitates the production and its divulgation.

It is difficult for the traditional arts, humanities and social sciences to com-

“pletely ignore the large-scale digitalisation effort going on around them. (Berry, 2012)

Whilst some decry the loss of the skills and techniques of older research traditions which relied heavily on close reading, others have warmly embraced what has come to be called the digital humanities, and has been strongly associated with the use of computational methods to assist the humanities scholar (Schreibman et al. 2008; Schnapp and Presner 2009; Presner 2010; Hayles 2011). The digital humanities try to take account of the plasticity of digital forms and the way in which they point towards a new way of working with representation and mediation, what might be called the digital ‘folding’ of memory and archives, whereby one is able to approach culture in a radically new way.

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In the early days, they were often seen as a technical support to the work of the “real” humanities scholar, who would drive the projects. (Berry 2012) At that time they were called “computing in the humanities” or “humanities computing”. With Internet, dialogue and collaboration possibilities increase dramatically, as well as the exchanges and the knowledge possibilities. A new era, the digital one, is taking shape, with its proper organizational modality and functions. Digital is no longer the support for “real humanities scholar” but a peculiar social science that has to be analyzed. As Hayles explains, changing to the term “digital humanities” was meant to signal that the field had emerged from the low-prestige status of a support service into a genuinely intellectual endeavour with its own professional practices, rigorous standards, and exciting theoretical explorations’ (Hayles 2012). A second wave of Digital Humanities – what can be called “Digital Humanities 2.0” – is deeply generative, creating the environments and tools for producing, curating, and interacting with knowledge that is ‘born digital’ and lives in various digital contexts.

Digital humanities is addressing many of the most basic research paradigms and methods in the disciplines, to focus our attention on important questions to be asked and answered, in addition to important new ways of asking and answering that are enabled by our interaction with the computer. (Schreibman, Siemens and Unsworth, 2004).

A third wave has been suggested by David M. Berry. He proposes to look at the digital component of the digital humanities in the light of its medium specificity, as a way of thinking about how medial changes produce epistemic changes. The third-wave points to the way in which digital technology highlights the anomalies generated in a humanities research project and which leads to the questioning of the assumptions implicit in such research, for example close reading, canon formation, periodisation, liberal humanism and so forth. A new type of research is placed side by side to the classic one, that involves new subjects such as statistics and computer science, and requires the contribution and involvement of the typical design knowledges to adequately support the process. These range from the interface and usability design - typical of the Human Computer Interaction - to the data visualization, therefore the Information Visualization Design.

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DIGITAL METHODS, TOOLS AND INFORMATION DESIGN “Data are widely available; what is scarce is the ability to extract wisdom from them.” (Hal Varian, Google’s chief economist) With a simple sentence, Varin emphasizes the coexistence on one hand of the need to reflect on how to proceed to collect data in their new (digital) form (i.e. data extraction) and on the other of the necessity to experiment and create devices through which transform the new data into narrations aimed to understand the phenomena and to describe them, presenting the different components in a unified manner, without making arbitrary divisions between the parties in the analysis process. This area of investigation is recognized under the label of knowledge cartography. (Okada, Shum, e Sherborne 2008). “The term ‘‘mapping knowledge domains’’ was chosen to describe a newly evolving interdisciplinary area of science aimed at the process of charting, mining, analyzing, sorting, enabling navigation of, and displaying knowledge. This field is aimed at easing information access, making evident the structure of knowledge [...]” (Shiffrin e Börner 2004). The reference disciplines are information design, information visualization, knowledge visualization: subjects that share the desire to make visible the structure of the systems with which they relate.

Information design is the practice of presenting information in a way that fosters efficient and effective understanding of it. The term has come to be used specifically for graphic design for displaying information effectively, rather than just attractively or for artistic expression. Information visualization is the study of (interactive) visual representations of abstract data to reinforce human cognition. The abstract data include both numerical and non-numerical data, such as text and geographic information. Knowledge Visualization is a relatively new field of research that focuses on the creation and transfer of knowledge by visualizations with and without the help of computers.

The key concepts of these disciplines refer to some theories arise within the cognitive sciences with Johnson-Laird regarding the image efficacy, particularly the graphics, maps and diagrams ones, not only in the mnemonics tasks (Yates 1974), but also in those of complex reasoning and orientation among a high number of data and information.

Si intuisce qui che il passaggio dalla descrizione logica e testuale, per sua natura seriale, lineare, successiva, che assomiglia alla descrizione di un tragitto di tipo egocentrato – la successione di punti di vista man mano che si procede –, è sostituito, grazie alla spazializzazione, da una descrizione in parallelo, simultanea, che, nello stesso tempo, permette anche di creare strade – come la mappa di una città permette di trovare nuove strade, di stabilire relazioni, di confrontare itinerari, di manipolare mentalmente i rapporti tra gli elementi. (Berthoz, 2004)

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Visualize data in order to better understand the object of interest, to make visible the systems structures, to produce effective graphical representations, functional to their own reading. And since it is through graphical features that maps become readable, they should be considered design subject, a field of study that deals with forms, functionalities and their relations.

Alongside to text and discourse, visual models should be a mode of representation that does not divides or analyzes the elements separately but studies them in an interconnected and indivisible manner. Images thus could assume a role of primary importance: able to describe elements as a whole without dividing them, it becomes an irreplaceable instrument for depicting qualities of systems otherwise difficult to interpret. (Ricci, 2010b)

Visualizations render certain aspects of a phenomenon more visible and they can carry so much argumentative weight. This is what Berry (2012) define as the “power of visual evidence”, referring to visualizations as a tool or instrument that is employed in order to investigate specific phenomena. Information visualization is a process that transform data, information and knowledge into a form that relies on the human visual system to perceive its embedded information. Moreover, the more qualitative the narrator evocation is, the more the observer is favorably disposed towards its meaning and the connection of its elements (Graffieti, Scagnetti, Ricci, Masud, & Porpora 2011).

C’est l’emploi des propriétés de la perception visuelle dans le cadre d’un

“ensemble fini de données. Quelles sont les propriétés de la perception visuelle?

C’est essentiellement le fait que, devant une image, l’oeil est libre de s’intéresser soit à un seul point, soit à l’ensemble de l’image, soit à tout sous-ensemble intermédiaire qu’il construit instantanément la hiérarchie de tous les sous-ensembles possibles. (Bertin, 1967)

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The power of data visualizations is the fact that they are able to bring out hidden connections, otherwise not directly visible, and that they can present information in a way that allows information themselves to generate knowledge as they have the ability to describe complex, heterogeneous and interconnected phenomena that can not be fragmented but that at the same time have to be observed simultaneously from multiple points of view to be understood.

The greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to notice what we never expected to see. (John W. Tukey. Exploratory Data Analysis, 1977)

Heintz (2007) underlines that, because of their nature, numerical and visual reasoning is much more easily accepted as ‘evidence’, while textual rhetoric usually stays on the level of ‘argumentation’. While a textual argument can easily be converted into its negation (anyone can quickly formulate a counter-argument) a visual or quantitative argument is not as easily reversed (one would need access to the instrument and its specifications). Therefore, the use of numbers and images in scientific communication has a certain tendency to overwhelm the recipients, rendering them less prone to question their inherent explanations. This could somehow hide the huge potential of data visualization. “Effective design is not just a matter of making text pretty or entertaining, but of shaping understanding and clarifying meaning.” (Emerson, 2008). Visual design doesn’t just make things more catching or sparkling, it makes things visible. That’s why it should not only be considered a cherry on the top of a research pipeline. It should be integrated part of the cognitive process itself. It is exactly the process that get importance in the idea of using visualizations as scientific intruments.

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Indeed, in order to alleviate this problem, Heintz herself suggests a process-based approach. Instead of presenting the visualization as a finished object with (seemingly) apparent interpretation, it should be presented as a temporary result of an ongoing process. This would shift the focus to the methodological steps prior to the actual image – the decisions and reductions that went into its production, but also to the necessary steps following the presentation of the image – the need to interpret the results, to compare, and to ask questions about validity, generalisability and, above all, meaning. Edward Trufte (born March 14th, 1942) is an American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. He is noted for his writings on information design and as a pioneer in the field of data visualization.

According to Edward Tufte, perhaps the central figure in the field of graphical representation of quantitative data, ‘graphical displays should “induce the viewer about the substance rather than about methodology, graphic design, the technology of graphic production, or something else” (Tufte, 2001). In this scenario, whoever creates the image gets to decide what its ‘substance’ is supposed to be. Moving the methodology to the foreground, however, gives the viewer a much greater chance to question the plausibility of the visual argument. This two opinion could actually coexist at the point in which we consider a visualization not as an absolute evidence but as an evidence of a determined and chosen process, that could at the same time makes phenomenons visible as underline criticalities, gap, points of interest in an argumentative and open possibility. It has been pointed out the result of a designer work: the visualization, the capacity of it of representing data and, doing so, responding at the need of knowledge extraction in the digital field.

Without design interventions knowledge presentation and communication would simply not work, because knowledge needs to be mediated by an interface so that it can be perceived and assimilated. Otherwise knowledge would remain abstract and could neither be accessed nor be experienced. Here is offered a leverage point for information design as indispensable domain and tool in the process of communicating and at the same time disclosing knowledge. (Bonsiepe, 2000)

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But, in which moment of this process should actually intervenes the designer? and with which proper role? Surely a central role in the results finalization, as well as in the communication and divulgation of them. However, design expertises are not only related with public communication but also influences the analysis process. Visual artefacts are indeed used by researcher in the analysis process to validate results and identify errors and pitfalls. They must be considered semifinished products or materials supporting the analysis. In this last case, the artifacts’ core features are quickness of execution, simplicity in re-executing them and openness to new analysis action starting from them. Their use is functional to identify. (Mauri, 2013) Apply design potentials in the early stages of the process to help and guide it, becomes crucial in the production of an acute and professional research. Visualization should be conceived as a tool capable of providing timely feedbacks, checking errors, trends and the goodness of the method. Simplifying, the research process should be designoriented. The designer role is not over. Indeed, the challenge is not only to realize visualizations (i.e. the design of their functions, modes, interactions, functionalities, lectures, graphic details), but also to build languages and tools that could allow the access to the creation of (standard) visualizations by a huger and huger audience of users. Especially quick, intuitive, easy to use tools, able to assist the investigation process.

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3. A FERTILE PLAYGROUND

It has been spoken about a complex reality, about the need of investigating, explain and describe it; about technological developments and about the data and information proliferation, that has brought to re-configure the traditional mode of accessing the reality; about the birth and growth of a design area, the information visualization, that points out new information representation strategies. It has been individuated an aim, incrementing knowledge, and a possible tool to do so, the information visualization. The following question is in which spaces should these tool be used? Antonio Caronia stated the eulogy to the conflict dialect claiming that conflicts create the real experience of multi-dimensionality, that is the richness of life and that learns to solve conflicts through itself.

This theoretical position leads to focus on disputes, to study the construction of scientific knowledge, to turn to the debates within the scientific community to observe how they are opened and closed, to define how, in society, the truths are upheld or rejected. Essentially, the fertile playground in which investigate, appears to be the one in which knowledge is not solidified yet.

Bruno Latour (born 22nd June 1947) is a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist of science, especially known for his work in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS).After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris, from 1982 to 2006, he is now Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006), where he is the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He is also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics.

To highlight and empirically prove the goodness or these assumptions, Bruno Latour has developed a theory, called Cartography of Controversies. The theoretical position according to which it would be better to concentrate over controversies and increase knowledge pointing to actual debates analysis, comes from a previous theory, elaborated by Latour and others, known as “Actor Network Theory” (ANT).

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Its main objective is to understand and restore symmetry (Latour, 1995) between the nature sphere, governed by the nature laws, with which it is defined the scientific pertinence, and the society sphere, with political and moral consequences, considering them as a complex network made up with relationship between heterogeneous actors, objects and discourses (Ricci, 2010). One of the most innovative elements in the Cartography of controversies, that configures it as an evolution of the ANT, is the modality with which the description of the analyzed complex social system is performed. Overtaken the limits of a pure analytical approach, based on textual forms, and preferred a method that can look at the whole without separate the elements, it has been individuated in the potential of information visualization and the information design, the capability of observing social phenomena responding to this new demand.

CARTOGRAPHIE OF CONTROVERSIES The Cartography of Controversies can be defined as a set of techniques for observing and describing, as well as to explore and visualize social issues, especially but not exclusively, socio-technical systems. The word controversy refers as a neutral term, to a shared uncertainty or to «a debate surrounding a technique or scientific fact that has not yet been determined». Its aim is to open the black boxes of techno-scientific truth and observe empirically how they are constructed through a widened and non-linear process of negotiation. (Ricci, 2010b) Controversies are the place where heterogeneous relations and connections between actors occur. They are the place in which it is possible to find the parts of scientific and technological production that have not yet been stabilized. In these controversial places it is observed situations where actors do not share the same position regarding a specific socio-technical issue but they agree in having different point of view of the same topic. “Controversies begin when actors discover that they cannot ignore each other and controversies end when actors manage to work out a solid compromise to live together. Anything between these two extremes (the cold consensus of reciprocal unawareness and the warm consensus of agreement and alliance) can be called a controversy. “ (Venturini, 2009). Controversies are among the most complex phenomena that can be observed in social and collective contexts.

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Indeed, some features of the complex systems show resemblances with the controversies, as the dynamicity due to a high number of agents and actors and the non-compressibility due to non-linear interactions. Furthermore, the very same definition of controversy makes reference to open dimension, with a priori non-definable boundaries. They are indefinable as the Complex systems are, bringing to an impossible exhaustive, stable and complete knowledge. (Ricci, 2010b)

DEFINE A CONTROVERSY At a conceptual level all the controversies, even though each one is essentially unique, have some common characteristics (Law, 2004): I. A high number and high diversity of actors and agents involved; not only human and social actors, but also natural, biological, industrial, as well as institutional and economical agents, social and technical artifacts. If something influences (more or less intentionally) the evolution of an action, it must be considered an actor and not a contextual element. II. A high dynamics of relations between actors and agents; III. A marked non-reducibility and compressibility; IV. A dialectic but conflicting form. Exactly because of the deployment of heterogeneous elements, no simplification, no order, no collective consensus can be built and maintained without their active work, involving negotiation and translation. This work sometimes takes the form of a democratic process, sometimes exercises power and influence. In controversies, dynamic forms of aggregation and alliances, even between solidly interconnected elements, may break and then get back together in new and innovative forms. (Ricci, 2010)

A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE (TO BE SHOWN) The Cartography of Controversies is a meta-methodology and its applicatio, justified by the notion of a controversy itself, could be extended to any form of collective dispute. As such, it does not need to define a research object, but to suggest an observation perspective. To study social phenomena as controversies, means to focus on the complexity and dynamism of community life, overlooking the agreement points and pursuing the divergence ones, the disagreements and

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the conflicts. It demands an open attitude, an interest in social actors and the observation, description and understanding of specific situations and social practices. The controversies study succeeds if it is able to observe a controversy and provide an efficient description of it. However, Cartography of Controversies, does not have the ambition to explain or interpret social phenomena, but simply reports the explanations and interpretations of its actors. A short sentence of Latour explains the only base rule of the research method: “Just look at controversies and tell what you see.” Though It should be specified that “Latuorian” relativism is different from an absolutistic point of view, indeed it is opposed to it.

Each approach to the knowledge space can exist only from subjective and

“partial point of view. The only objectivity accepted by the social epistemology is a second order objectivity, which is the attempt of understudying a system as a unique object through the highest number of possible point of views, even those in opposition. This position, often accused of radical relativism, is interested more in “the truth of relationship” rather than in “the relativity of the truth. (Ricci, 2010b)

Finally, in controversies, no observation can be immediate or local (Venturini 2009). This is due to the fact that no phenomenon is exclusively local, isolated, hermetically separated from the influence of other phenomena, even if far away from it. The nature of conflicts and disputes itself is to expand, move in space and time; their boundaries are blurred, they occur and resolve in a variety of linguistic and cultural materials, produced by multiple actions in different times and places . Take in their investigation into a localized situation means giving up in observing the actors movements and the deployment of their connections and networks. Directly observe a phenomenous means to attempt to follow the relations maze that constitute it. (Ricci, 2010) As stated by Law (1999), the task is “to live, to know, and to practice in the complexities of tension”. Observe and describe without predetermined conceptual assumptions and without protocols and research inflexibility. Therefore, controversies figure out to be ideals investigation cases.

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THE CARTOGRAPHIC SIDE Preceding the term “controversies” there is “cartography”. Traditionally, it is linked with the geographical representation field, but it is now extended to the new mapping discipline, the data and information visualization. It can be defined as a tool to represent the multiples realities (Goodman, 1978). It seems quite a logical step, considering the proximity between the concept of cartography as a representation of social, political and physical spaces in response to a functional need of measure, analyse and know a territory and the idea of describing the controversy space: the process consist in implementing strategies that lead to know the reality around us, just as it is in the goals of cartography since its origin.

I would conclude that we are currently witnessing a major transformation

“in the nature of knowledge and knowledge production in several interacting

arenas. In environmental change, in the biosciences, in information technology (IT), and in business organisation we have started to encounter the necessity of dealing with multiplicity. We are entering a new era of mapping and databasing where it may now be possible to find ways in which local mapping traditions, including those of western science, can work together in productive dialogical tension and, in so doing, we will have created a new form of mapping, a new form of knowledge and a new form of innovation based in the concept of emergence. Previously, the dominant trope for knowledge, its management and assemblage was the map, and mapping through location and coordination in a standardised metricated space was taken as the essential prerequisite for understanding the world. Now this Cartesian simplification, which gave reductionism its analytical power, has started to reach the outer limits of its explanatory scope. (Turnbull, 2007)

What is asked to the information visualization design is to deal with the representation of the smooth and complex spaces of controversies and knowledge. The aim and challenge is not in representing fixed positions in space and time, but rather in rendering in a visual language the actors’ mutable tension and strengths produced during the controversy.

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THE WEB AFFINITY Venturini (2008) points out the connection between Cartography of Controversy and the web technologies, underlying that new technologies has brought to the possibility of putting into relation a (potentially) unlimited number of actors and assembling heterogeneous information and practices in the same communication and optically coherent space. The web space comes out to be a media that allow to face complexity without subdividing it, but looking at the whole. More than this, digital technologies allow to organise and reorganise (almost outright) huge amount of raw data. THis possibility permits to radically renovate social sciences practices, prospecting the passing of the distinction between qualitative and quantitative methods.

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Come abbiamo più volte ricordato, il compito della cartografia delle con-

“troversie è innanzi tutto quello di esplorare e rappresentare l’enorme ricchezza

delle pratiche e delle idee degli attori coinvolti in una disputa. Si tratta, in ultima istanza, di un lavoro d’integrazione: dello sforzo di raccogliere, amplificare e mettere in relazione le voci di tutti i partecipanti facilitando il dibattito e la negoziazione. Questa vocazione alla messa a confronto di punti di vista differenti ha finito quasi inevitabilmente per creare un’affinità elettiva tra la cartografia delle controversie e le tecnologie del web. Negli ultimi anni tali tecnologie hanno infatti rivelato straordinarie potenzialità d’integrazione nell’ambito del dibattito pubblico. Non si tratta solo della possibilità di mettere in relazione un numero potenzialmente illimitato di attori, ma anche della capacità di assemblare le informazioni e le pratiche più eterogenee nel medesimo spazio di comunicazione: Non è tanto il web in se stesso che ci interessa, quanto la digitalizzazione di molti insiemi di informazioni e pratiche apparentemente irrelati che fino a oggi non potevano essere messi insieme in un unico spazio otticamente coerente (Documentazione del progetto Macospol, trad.Venturini Tommaso) Precisamente nel momento in cui comincia a rassegnarsi all’impossibilità di sciogliere la complessità della vita collettiva, la nostra società scopre un mezzo di comunicazione che permette d’affrontare questa complessità senza ridurla. Sul web, esattamente come nelle controversie, non c’è alcuna distinzione tra scienze e politica, economia e diritto, fatti e valori, verità e opinioni. Tutto è inestricabilmente (ma non caoticamente) mescolato e tutto contribuisce alla costruzione di un mondo comune. La digitalizzazione, inoltre, a radicalmente rivoluzionato l’accesso ai dati della ricerca sociale. Fino all’introduzione degli hyperlink, dei motori di ricerca, dell’indicizzazione automatica, del social tagging, l’unico modo per presentare grandi quantità di dati era di ridurne la ricchezza attraverso procedure d’aggregazione statistica. Oggi tale aggregazione (e la perdita di complessità che essa comporta) è sempre meno necessaria perché le tecnologie digitali permettono di organizzare e riorganizzare quasi istantaneamente enormi quantità di dati grezzi. Questa possibilità promette di rinnovare radicalmente le pratiche delle scienze sociali, prospettando il superamento della distinzione tra metodi qualitativi e metodi quantitativi. (Venturini, 2008)

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4. CASE STUDY: PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

The phenomena investigation taking advantage of the complementarity between digital methods and design visualization, the online disputes mapping process, the data structuration process and the data representation have been tried in person in different occasions, before and during the development of this thesis. This has allowed me to personally act over some case studies, different one to the other by themes and purposes, each having peculiar characteristics. For each experience, I have tried - in a more or less significant way, according to the project - data digitization, data extraction, data structuration , manipulation, display and presentation.

EMAPS SPRINT The first experience I had, more than the Sintesi Finale Course at Politecnico di Milano (DesignDensity Research Lab), took place in March 2014. The EMAPS project rises from the collaboration between the Médialab of the university Fondation Nationale Des Sciences Politiques (Sciences Po), the DesignDensity Research Lab (Politecnico di Milano), the Digital Methods Initiative (University of Amsterdam) The Young Foundation, the Fundació Barcelona Media, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (BM), the TU Dortmund University, Institute Of Spatial Planning (IRPUD). [Viz. 1 - following pages]. EMAPS (Electronic Maps to Assist Public Science), is a 3-year research project funded by the EU that advanced an innovative method called ‘controversy mapping’ to visualise the main actors and controversies around two major scientific debates: an ageing population and climate change adaptation. The EMAPS project was designed to assess the opportunities and risks in the use of the web and the social media as a meaningful tool to foster participatory communication between scientists and the different publics of science and technology. It draws on a set of theories and scientific practices ranging from digital methods to climate science. [1]

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What they underline about the process steps and methodology they adopted is that it is neither standard nor linear. It is a process made up of many loops, which are difficult to predict. It starts with an hypothesis phase: a “dialogue between domain experts and data experts in order to identify research questions that is possible to answer using chosen methods” [1] . “Design won’t play an active role in this phase, but it must have a clear knowledge of the research question, the used protocol, and what kind of information should emerge from visualization”. During a second phase of data extraction and validation, that should be done by data experts, designers should identify the “data format they will need for the visualization, and the process to get it from raw data”. [1] Third and central phase: sketching in the framework of data and information visualization. This is not a linear process, but a cyclic one. “We call “sketches” simple visualizations, produced on sample of real data, useful to evaluate the initial hypothesis.(...) Sketches validation requires the involvement of data experts and domain experts. Is the visualization respecting data features? Is it showing something real? Is the visualized data useful to the initial question? It’s useful to identify some research sub-questions to test the extracted data. (...) Can them find an answer to the research question with the visualization?”. [1] And finally, a production phase, the finalization and implementation of the visualization / interactive application.

[1] http://http://climaps.eu/ - About EMAPS project

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VIZ.6

NATIONAL ADAPTATION STRATEGY ROADMAP

KYOTO PROTOCOL

Finland

Spain

Germany

UK

Norway

Hungary

France

Ireland

Germany

Austria Latvia

UK

France

Italy

Germany Finland Ireland

Hungary

Romania

Poland Netherlands Austria Norway Latvia

Belgium Denmark Slovenia

Germany Tur k e y Uk Italy Spain Poland Romania Netherlands Greece Portugal Belgium Czech Republic Sweden Austria Bulgaria Switzerland Slovakia Denmark Finland Norway Ireland Lithuania Latvia Slovenia Estonia Cyprus Luxembourg Malta Iceland Liechtenstein

*

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

LEGEND Colors: EU-15 Countries

New EU-13 Countries

Non-EU Countries

Data Missing Country*

Streamgraph: Changing Stage Country

Size: 5.000.000

Year *Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia - Herzegovina, Albania, Yugoslav, Kosovo, Montenegro

Belgium Amount of population

2007

2008


CANCUN CONFERENCE 76 mil Finland

France

France

Norway

Finland Norway

MONITORING & EVALUATION STAGE

205 mil

Germany

Germany Spain

France

UK

UK

Spain

Austria

Malta

Austria Denmark Malta

IMPLEMENTATION STAGE

Denmark

Belgium

France

Poland

Poland

Ireland

Romania

Malta

Hungary

Romania Belgium Hungary Switzerland Ireland

Switzerland

Austria Denmark

Italy

Italy Romania

Czech Republic

Poland Belgium

Sweden

Portugal

Bulgaria

Denmark

Switzerland

Slovakia Slovenia Liechtestein

Malta

Switzerland

Estonia Malta

Slovenia

Czech Rep. Portugal Sweden Bulgaria Slovakia Slovenia Latvia Slovenia Liechtenstein

Netherlands Greece Cyprus

Greece

Czech Republic

92 mil DECISION STAGE

Cyprus Liechtenstein

108 mil FORMULATION STAGE

AGENDA SETTING STAGE

28 mil

79 mil NOT YET STARTED

Turkey Lithuania Luxembourg Iceland

DATA MISSING

2009

Michele Mauri, DensityDesign Mario Porpora, DensityDesign Wannes Sanderse, UvA Rik van Eijk, UvA

2010

Chiara Gagliardi, DensityDesign Eleonora Grotto, DensityDesign

PROJECT 1 PAGE 6

2011

2012

2013

STAGE

22 mil

2013 POPULATION

[ Viz. 1 ] Flux map designed during EMAPS Sprint (2014). It shows the adaptation strategy on climate change for each nation during time, highlighting the different stages.


DIGITAL METHODS SUMMER SCHOOL In June 2014, I took part to the Digital Methods Summer School, collaboration between the DesignDensity Research Lab (Politecnico di Milano) and the Digital Methods Initiative (University of Amsterdam). [Viz. 2] We can define the Digital Methods Initiative as a contribution to doing research into the “natively digital”. As they explain, the initiative is twofold: they wish to interrogate what scholars have called “virtual methods,” ascertaining the extent to which the new methods can stake claim to taking into account the differences that new media make (Hine, 2005). And thet desire to create a platform to display the tools and methods to perform research that, also, can take advantage of “web epistemology”. Amsterdam-based new media scholars have been developing methods, techniques and tools since 1999, starting with the Net Locator and, later, the Issue Crawler, which focuses on hyperlink analysis (Govcom.org, 1999, 2001). Since then a set of allied tools and independent modules have been made to extend the research into the blogosphere, online news-sphere, discussion lists and forums, folksonomies as well as search engine behavior. These tools include scripts to scrape web, blog, news, image and social bookmarking search engines, as well as simple analytical machines that output data sets as well as graphical visualizations. [2]

The research and investigation process applied inside the Digital Methods Initiative (DMI) and the design methods developed can be applicated and experienced in various knowledge fields. This is demonstrated within the same initiative and its continuous research and experimentation activity.

[2] https://wiki.digitalmethods.net - About Digital Methods Initiative

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[ Viz.2 ] Page on the right. Detail of a visualization performed during the Digital Methods Summer School (june 2014).It regards the number of pictures took at the NorthSide Festival 2014 (Aarhus, Denmark), considering likes and comments they have received on instagram. The aim was to analyze the event impact on Ig through follow an official Hashtag.



INTERNSHIP AT FUNDACIO BARCELONA MEDIA In July 2014, during an internship at Fundació Barcelona Media I had the possibility of taking part to the Contropedia Project, collaboration between the Médialab of the university Fondation Nationale Des Sciences Politiques (Sciences Po), the DesignDensity Research Lab (Politecnico di Milano), the Digital Methods Initiative (University of Amsterdam), the Fundació Barcelona Media, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (BM), U Dortmund University, Institute Of Spatial Planning (IRPUD). Contropedia has became the subject of the whole internship, allowing me to start my thesis project. For this specificity it will be considered later on this research. Part II: Aphrodite; Chapter 8: Contropedia controversies detector. Part III: Appendix; Chapter B: Contropedia case study.

INTERNSHIP AT MEDIALAB SCIENCES PO From November 2014 to August 2015, I have been Intern at the Médialab of the university Fondation Nationale Des Sciences Politiques (Sciences Po). During this experience I had the possibility of taking part and seeing the development of different projects, both in the controversies visualization field and in the creation of supporting tools for the data investigation and analysis. I have been particularly involved in a project, commissioned by ESFA Italia: “Identification and analysis of the main drivers for Ebola Virus spillover”. [ Viz.3 ] In this last project, data were not native digital but digitalized, result of a manual structuration starting from selected papers. The tasks were mainly aimed to data structuration methodologies and data visualization, more than data extraction. During this last internship has taken shape and consistence this research project.

[3] http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/supporting/pub/860e

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“Identification and analysis of the main drivers for Ebola Virus Spillover” This project has been publicated the 2015, June 27th. It can be consult at the following address [3]. [ Viz.3 ] Page on the right. Endpoint analysis to detect the drivers for Ebola Virus Spillover. Table 19. [3]



Aphrodite Ancient Greek goddess of love, beauty, and desire, Aphrodite (Roman name: Venus) could entice both gods and men into illicit affairs with her good looks and whispered sweet nothings. In mythology the goddess was born when Cronos castrated his father Uranus and cast the genitalia into the sea from where Aphrodite appeared amidst the resulting foam (aphros). Believed to have been born close to Cyprus, she was worshipped in Paphos on the island (a geographic location which hints at her eastern origins as a fertility goddess and possible evolution from the Phoenician goddess Astarte). Compelled by her mother Hera to marry Hephaistos, she was less than faithful, having notorious affairs with Ares, Hermes, and Dionysos. She was the mother of Eros, Harmonia (with Ares), and the Trojan hero Aeneas (with Anchises). In mythology Aphrodite is cited as partly responsible for the Trojan War. At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Eris (goddess of strife) offered a golden apple for the most beautiful goddess. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite vied for the honour, and Zeus appointed the Trojan prince Paris as judge. To influence his decision, Athena promised him strength and invincibility, Hera offered the regions of Asia and Europe, and Aphrodite offered the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris chose Aphrodite and so won fair Helen of Sparta. However, as she was already the wife of Menelaos, Paris’s abduction of Helen provoked the Spartan king to enlist the assistance of his brother Agamemnon and send an expedition to Troy to take back Helen.


II

Aphrodite


5. PERSPECTIVE OF CONTRIBUTION

Information Visualization is acquiring increasing importance in the Communication Design field. To identify the role of the designer in the action of transforming data in graphic representation is easily framing, just analyzing each term inside the “Information Visualization Design”. “Design”, i.e. the creation of graphic systems capable of transforming a set of raw data in a meaningful conformation, readable for the users. In order to do this, design makes use of some aspects such as the shape, the functionality and the ratio between the two: these graphic devices are subordinated to the communicative function and so at the design field. As communication design is considered to have the primary purpose of giving visual form to things, of providing visual representations and tangible points of view, the inclusion of information visualization design in this field of study is easily understandable.

However, information visualization is not just a matter of displaying a set of data, already structured and with quantitative nature. What is visualized are not simple data, but information, both quantitative and qualitative: although starting from the necessity of displaying data, and although data are the visualizations’ starting point, what is depicted is, therefore, information. Grefé R., Executive Director of AIGA, underlines that “Design is the intermediary between information and understanding”. This idea is increasingly materializing, opening new considerations concerning the role of the designer and the methods with which he participates in knowledge process. In this process, the designer has to deal with the link between technology and society, the definition of new digital spaces and the need to analyze them, the exploration and the narration of enormous amount of information produced by the actors involved in a dispute, considering that the complex spaces of disputes and controversies, where knowledge is still not settled, are the areas to be preferably analyzed.

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What is asked to the designer is to assemble the most heterogeneous information, points of view and practices in the same communication space, that Venturini (2008) called optically coherent space, reaffirming that isolated information are meaningless data and that the process through which they are connected and narrated, represents a real activity of knowledge investigation and so, in its understanding and assimilation.- in some case in, its production. Another consideration concerns the increasingly important role of Internet, that has enlarged the ground of information visualization action including the web world. Managing online digital and digitalized dataset requires additional computational skills for the designer.

Il design è stato attraversato da una molteplicità di fenomeni che ne hanno

“modificato il senso e la natura profonda contemporaneamente, e il suo campo

d’azione è andato articolandosi ed estendendosi verso nuovi e diversi territori, facendo emergere nuove domande di progetto e nuovi strumenti con cui affrontarle. (Manzini, 2004)

As well, the designer has to be able to recognize the quality of the information he is working with. Online data, information and knowledge are not only scientific, mono-disciplinary and unambiguous, but often a ““rumour” or a “fad” becomes almost as precisely described as a “piece of news”, “information”, or even a “scientific fact”.” (Latour , 2007). There is no clear and declared separation between science and pseudoscience, facts and values, truths and opinions: on the Internet everything is mixed.

Non si dispone a priori di un bacino di elementi singoli o di un corpo di pratiche che possono essere sottoposte all’azione dei vettori di trasformazione che gli artefatti di visualizzazione producono. Ci si presentano frammenti, temporanei e opachi, prodotti da attori umani, biologici, industriali, economici e industriali, di natura quantitativa e qualitativa. (Ricci, 2010)

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Moreover, the Internet has changed the traditional forms to access and produce knowledge, bringing crucial changes in the society and in its relation with technology: the designer has to understand them as he has to deal with their analysis. “The traditional design role has been to recognize technological innovation and translate it in socially acceptable products and service. [...] But now, something else has to be done. The bridge between technology and society has to be built in the opposite direction, too: to recognize social innovation and to translate it in technically (and economically) feasible products and service. This requires not only new design tools, but also a different idea of the designers’ role” (Manzini, 2009). This reversal of perspectives is not to be intended as static, rather it is a movement that the designer has to do all the time. Moving between different perspectives, not be harnessed in a standard one-way tunnel but using the multidisciplinarity and the different points of view, conceiving the visualization not only as the last artifact to be produced at the end of a research to present the results, but as a tool for problem setting, able to give input, to organise and structure information, to deal with the huge amount of data, to show errors and paths. “The bridge between technology and society” cited by Manzini, is what allows to both these fields to improve: the capabilities of the first lead to increase knowledges in the second, the demands of the second to develop the first, to bring new challenges and the research of new solutions.Therefore, the designer must know how to extrapolate, structure, manipulate, display and communicate information,in order to build tools and also to know how to observe and interpret the structures that he aims to analyze. He has to face complexity, dynamic systems, undefined and non settled systems.

Controversies and social complexity require new ways of understanding and

“developing tools that can collect information, amplify and connect the all actors’

voices. These voices, often perceptions, are at the base of knowledge construction. Since they are not shared, they are considered transient and unstable and they have intensified forms of social, political and ethical uncertainty. Therefore, visual writing skills emerge as to be strategic, developing mutable explanations of the data reasoning and interpretation. The information visualization capability should be able to explain the inevitable distortions of reality that accompany decisions. In this sense, the information design must face the difficult task of expressing the multiplicity of complexity. (Ricci, 2010)

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The challenge that information visualization design should take up is to build bridge-artifacts, not crystallized networks, to represent the social dynamism and its complexity, the data, information and knowledge comparison and above all, the actors’ different points of view, without denying the conflictual dimension, trying to show the divergence and disagreement points. The conflict is indeed, as already explained, the constructive property of every dialogue, every relation and every process of knowledge and decision.

Now here is the challenge: during its long history, design practice has done

“the marvellous job of inventing the practical skills for drawing objects, from

architectural drawing, mechanic blueprints, scale models, prototyping etc. But what has always been missing from those marvellous drawings (designs in the literal sense) is an impression of the controversies and the many contradicting stakeholders that are born within with these. […] four hundred years after the invention of perspective drawing, three hundred years after projective geometry, fifty years after the development of CAD computer screens, we are still utterly unable to draw together, to simulate, to materialize, to approximate, to fully model to scale, what a thing in all of its complexity […] we are far from being able to provide for things, that is for matters of concern, a visual, publicly inspectable space that is as remotely as rich, at least as easy to handle, and as codified as what has been done over four centuries for objects conceived of as matters of fact. [...] Why should this prove to be an impossible task? Why can the powerful visual vocabulary that has been devised in the past by generations of artists, engineers, designers, philosophers, artisans and activists for matters of fact, not be devised (I hesitate to say restyled) for matters of concern? (Latour, 2008)

In taking up this challenge and graphically represent a system, there is no reference to any metaphorical images, but to the relationship between the reality and the mental models on the basis of it is perceived and interpreted.

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In altre parole, gli strumenti operativi dovrebbero permettere di concentrarsi

“sulla possiilità di far coesistere le diverse prospettive nelle loro due componenti principali: il modello mentale con cui il problema è interpretato e il linguaggio con cui l’aspettativa di evoluzione del sistema è espresso. Queste due componenti costituiscono la struttura cognitiva in grado di costruire il significato e in grado di far interpretare il sistema ad ogni attore, in termini di caratteristiche tencinche, personali e organizzazionali. (Ricci, 2010)

What can be noticed looking at what should be the role of the designer, is that he must have the capacity of managing multidisciplinarity - understood as the coexistence of different scientific knowledges. According to Anne Balsamo, the designer would be able to meet all this because he has got the qualities that allow him to quickly surf between different perspectives, take into account different point of views, integrate all with tools that expand mental capacities, as well as create prototypes to evaluate their reliability and functionality. (Balsamo, 2009) This multidisciplinarity was certainly not an easy hurdle to overcome in the evolution of this thesis. Although my studies’ background is quite heterogeneous, it did not fully meet the requests, especially those related to the specific IT and social field. On the other hand, the method acquired during my studies, especially in relation to problem solving, allowed me to face new issues and improve my skills, both inside a particular area and more generally in the ability to respond actively and dynamically to new stimuli, considering different perspectives and not staring at one-way only. And this is, personally speaking, what I consider to be the major achievement I obtained while doing this work What the thesis aims to do, in relation to the communication design field, is to test the skills of information visualization design and the designer role within knowledge contexts, exploring the potential of data and information structure, of visualizations and of the - clearly - design-oriented methodology within the knowledge process. In addition, to empirically try to experiment the way the information design should work, in order to produce meaningful visualizations and to make the knowledge process more effective.

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The main questions this thesis aims to answer to are: Is it the information visualization design useful? Does it allow us to deal with the huge amount of data and information that can be collected through the web? Does it give an input to organise and analyse information in a meaningful way? Could it actually represent a path to follow in order to explore an unknown topic?

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6. PICK A TOPIC

Clarified that the investigation find a fertile ground in those areas of not yet solidified knowledge, the controversies, it is now important to understand how to choose the controversy to map.

Given that most of the social and collective phenomena can be a controversy, and that there is no specific rules to identify the right one, it is good to keep in mind a few guidelines, outlined by Venturini (2008). I. Avoid controversy now cold, the risk is to have too little data and only few trends to observe. II. Avoid asymmetrical controversies, as the imbalance in allies and resources can put in silence actors that are not well supported. III. Avoid close controversies, crystallized and reduced to semplicity. IV. Avoid controversies that result boundless as regards time and research resources. V. Avoid occult controversies, not open to public debate. There are as well some rules for the operative part: I. Do not simplify numbers. II. Watch, observe and describe taking into account the multiplicity of points of view. III. Let the actors speak for themselves, and do not try to group together several different languages. IV. Do not forget the map reversibility: each element must be processed in such a way that it makes possible to “go back “.

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[ Viz.4 ] Google Trends for the query “Sexual Orientation”.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION Keeping in mind these considerations, my choice has been oriented toward a subject that could be defined as a fundamental aspects of a person and his behavior: sexuality. With this term we define on the one hand acts aimed to reproduction and pursuit of pleasure, on the other the social aspects that evolve in relation with the different genders’ characteristics. Individual’s sexual orientation plays a huge role in this and it has always been a controversial, open, actual and sensitive topic. It has received even more attention recently that USA Supreme Court has legalized homosexual marriage in the whole country (26 June 2015). This reasons bring me to choose this last theme as subject of my investigation. [Viz.4]

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Sexual orientation refers to the sex of those to whom one is sexually and romantically attracted. People express their sexual orientation through behaviors. Many controversies spin around this, regarding which ones should be accepted as “sexual orientation” and if it is something related with biological heritage / genetic or a choice that one person do by his own. Categories of sexual orientation include: I. heterosexual, attraction for people of the other sex. II. homosexual, attraction for people of one’s own sex (gay men or lesbians). III. bisexual, attraction for both, people of the same and the other sex. There is also a “fourth category” that is the lack of sexual attraction to other: asexuality. While these categories continue to be widely used, researches has suggested that sexual orientation does not always appear in such definable categories and instead occurs on a continuum (e.g. Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin, Gebhard, 1953; Klein, 1993; Klein, Sepekoff, Wolff, 1985; Shiveley, DeCecco, 1977) In addition, some researches indicates that sexual orientation is fluid for some people; this may be especially true for women (e.g. Diamond, 2007; Golden, 1987; Peplau, Garnets, 2000). People may also refer to sexual orientation using other terms. Androphilia and gynephilia (or gynecophilia) are terms used in behavioral science to describe sexual attraction, as an alternative to a homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. They are used for identifying a subject’s object of attraction without attributing a sex assignment or gender identity to the subject. Related terms such as pansexual and polysexual do not make any such assignations to the subject.

Other two terms have been introduced from whom refuses the strict definitions used to describe human sexual orientation: Pansexuality and Polysexuality. Pansexuality, or omnisexuality, is sexual attraction, sexual desire, romantic love, or emotional attraction toward people of any sex or gender identity (the attraction does not regard the person’s sex). Polysexuality is the attraction to multiple genders and/or sexes, refusing the idea of a clear division between masculine sex and feminine sex.

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There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles; most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation. DMS Acronyms for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Right now it is at its Fifth Edition (DSM-5). It is the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the United States. APA Acronyms for American Psychiatric Association. Formation: 1844. It is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. Its members are mainly American but some are international. The association publishes various journals and pamphlets, as well as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual orientations are not disorders. Research has found no inherent association between any of these sexual orientations and psychopathology. Both heterosexual behavior and homosexual behavior are normal aspects of human sexuality. Both have been documented in many different cultures and historical eras. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual relationships are normal forms of human bonding. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, the largest psychiatric organization in the world), offers a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders and definitively abandoned classifications of homosexuality as a mental disorder with the DSM IV edition, in 1994. Prejudice and discrimination are still huge, and they make it difficult for many people to come to terms with their sexual orientation identities. All major national mental health organizations have officially expressed concerns about therapies promoted to modify sexual orientation. To date, there has been no scientifically adequate research to show that therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation (sometimes called reparative or conversion therapy) is safe or effective. Furthermore, it seems likely that the promotion of change therapies reinforces stereotypes and contributes to a negative climate for lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons. This appears to be especially likely for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals who grow up in more conservative religious settings.

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Sexual orientation is influenced or heavily compromised by the rules of the culture in which people live. Some countries negate the existence of sexual orientations different from the heterosexual one, pointing out the others as “mental disease”. Some others countries individuate different sexual orientations (e.g. Third Spirit in Native American cultures). Because of the web characteristics - the role it has nowadays and the amount of data it could collect - and because of this phenomenon nature - that engages all of us but that it is still a tabu and generate social controversies - I think it could be an interesting topic to investigate through the digital. In internet no embarrassment, less fear of being judged, no cost, immediate and unlimited access, allow people to “hide themselves while exhibit”.

METHOD Having to check how much information visualization design and digital methods are capable of leading a research due to their ability to reorganize the information, the research method has been not defined in detail in advance. Given theoretical guidelines concern the possibilities of digital methods, the analysis of controversies and the data structuration (tested personally through different work experience and shown in previous chapters), the method has been shaped step by step ongoing, with the ultimate goal to retrace the different steps on a meta-level and make them applicable to other topics.

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[ Fig. 9 ] Aphrodite Pudica (Roman copy of 2nd century AD), National Archaeological Museum, Athens. 81


7. NOT TO HIDE BY HIDING

To date, one of the main aims of the World Wide Web has been to provide users with information. With the development and advance of recent technologies such as wikis, blogs, podcasting and file sharing this model is challenged and community-driven services are gaining influence rapidly. These new paradigms obliterate the clear distinction between information providers and consumers: information is no longer created only by an exclusive type of expert (as authors or journalists) and becomes a real social community ritual. (Kolbitsch and Maurer, 2006)

However, if it is true that everyone has the possibility to express themselves, it is as well true that there is no possibility to properly check “who is writing”. A famous aphorism about this peculiarity of the web comes from a cartoon caption by Peter Steiner, published by The New Yorker on July 5th, 1993: “In internet nobody knows you are a dog!” The cartoon features two dogs: one sitting on a chair in front of a computer, speaking the caption to a second dog sitting on the floor. [ Fig. 10 ] The cartoon symbolizes an understanding of Internet privacy that stresses the ability of users to send and receive messages in general anonymity. Lessig (2006) suggests “no one knows” because Internet protocols do not force users to identify themselves; although local access points such as a user’s university may, this information is privately held by the local access point and not an intrinsic part of the Internet transaction. The phrase can be taken “to mean that cyberspace will be liberatory because gender, race, age, looks, or even ‘dogness’ are potentially absent or alternatively fabricated or exaggerated with unchecked creative license for a multitude of purposes both legal and illegal.” (statements made by John Gilmore, 1996)

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[ Fig. 10 ] ”On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog”. Cartoon caption by Peter Steiner, published by The New Yorker on July 5th, 1993.

This “anonymity guarantee” feature turns out to be interesting while speaking about sexual orientation, as it’s a way to make people more comfortable and inclined to coming out, a way not to hide, by hiding themselves.

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Both the anonymity and the buried lines between producers and consumers are characteristics defined at the base of a platform such as Wikipedia, where every reader can become an author, instantly. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual, free and collaborative online encyclopedia. Although at first glance it looks like a static environment, behind it lies one of the most interesting web social phenomena: hundreds or even thousands of users are simultaneously creating new articles, adding words, images or links, discussing and coordinating. Analyzing Wikipedia does not mean to study a technological phenomenous only, but especially a social ones. Everyone can participate: editing, discussing, adding. Here rise debates and controversies surrounding topics that are controversial in the real life as well such as the ones regarding politics, religion, sex. Society mirrors itself in this platform. (Rogers, 2013; Kittur et al., 2009).

Indeed, Wikipedia characteristics themselves led me to choose it as the environment in which to perform my research: a multilingual encyclopedia, related to open debate area, continuously and rapidly updated. It is important to keep in mind that any results obtained in this thesis is related to the structure and nature of Wikipedia. Data and visualizations that emerge are not “absolutely true” but “relatively true” to the Wikipedian context.

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THE PLAYGROUND: WIKIPEDIA Wikipedia is one of the most successful examples of collaboration on the web. It is the largest online cultural reference, so that to be constantly present in the top ten most visited sites on Alexa.com [4]. From its birth (2001, January 15th), this encyclopedia has exponentially grown, until reaching more than 35 million articles (data referred to August 2015 [5]) drawn up in 291 languages and including more than 4.9 million entries in the English version, the largest of all [6]. The term “Wikipedia” stands for “fast culture”: the term “wiki” means “quick” while the suffix “-pedia” comes from greek and means “upbringing”. Its aim is to collect information, data and experiences creating and distributing to the users a free encyclopedia, immediately available. It includes both typical encyclopedia articles, almanacs and geographic and specialized dictionaries. It must be remembered that Wikipedia is a completely free project where users that participate in the community and in the content production do not receive any financial reward [7]. Lakhani and Wolf (2005) in their study found that that “enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation, namely how creative a person feels when working on the project, is the strongest and most pervasive driver.” [Fig. 11 et 12 - following pages]

[4] alexa.com/topsites; [5] meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias#Grand_Total; [6] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Size_of_Wikipedia; [7] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation;

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a. Information Accuracy Despite some articles contain unverified information, incorrect or not valid sources, a study perdormed by Nature in 2005 points out the good quality and accuracy of Wikipedia contents. The Free Encyclopedia was compared with the Encyclopedia Britannica, one of the most important generalist encyclopedias and example of specialized and traditional knowledge. Researchers have found an average of four errors for the first and three for the second analysis (comparing some lemmas concerning scientific arguments). What rises from this study is that Wikipedia has a level of accuracy, precision and quality comparable to that of the Encyclopedia Britannica (Giles, 2005). Moreover, unlike traditional encyclopedias, Wikipedia has the advantage that it can be updated in a more fast, dynamic and flexible way. Wikipedia articles often attract the attention of their editors in relation to historical events, news anniversaries and commemorations. (ViĂŠgas et al., 2004; Rogers and Sendijarevic, 2012)

[ Fig. 11 ] Page on the left. Homepage Wikipedia. http://www.wikipedia.org [ Fig. 12 ] On the right. Relative levels of community building work for owners and other members. (Butler, Sproull, Kiesler and Kraut, 2007).

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b. The Wiki Technology and the partecipative model The technology that has enabled the creation and expansion of this project [Fig. 13], is itself called “wiki” and consists of a self-organized website where each user can edit and delete existing documents or create new ones. All this is done through a web browser, using a simplified markup language or an online text editor. Basically, it is a collection of hypertext documents stored in a repository, which is updated and modified by its own users who work together. Each change is memorized and visible in the chronology in such a way that it can be retraced and, if necessary, it makes possible to bring back the text to the previous version. Anyone on the Internet can edit existing pages and add new documents any time they wish. This means that every reader can instantly become an author. This characteristic is interesting because initial authors of articles allow other users to edit “their” content. The fundamental idea behind wikis is that a vast number of users read and edit the content, and therefore errors will be found and corrected. Although modifications to the original article can introduce errors, the principle of evolution determines that in the course of time, after a number of changes, the document will become complete. The aim of wikis is to reach an agreement among the authors. Through the iterations an article undergoes, and the numerous editors, the content is generally agreed upon. For the same reason, wikis tend to be unbiased, which differentiates them from blogs. (Kolbitsch and Maurer, 2006)

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[ Fig. 13 ] Growth of Wikipedia: (a) number of articles, (b) number of updates, (c) unique visitors, in terms of monthly average provided by Alexa and (d) distinct editors. (Buriol, Castillo, Donato, Leonardi, Millozzi, 2006)

Discussion and coordination pages to find this “agreement� are, therefore, well visible in Wikipedia, core of it. This is especially interesting in light of my research, as it allows to easily access areas of debate, within which it is possible to individuate controversies and investigate their dynamics and points of view. Thanks to this technology, the complete overturning of traditional knowledge production and divulgation modes takes place: information are no longer written only by experts and professionals authors but by each of us. People of all ages, genders, cultures and countries can participate.

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c. Debate analysis and visualization design An interesting page to observation the interactions between users is the “talk page”, placed behind every encyclopedia article: here people actively discuss about how to organize and coordinate the work over the article (which the talk page is linked with) and resolve conflicts raised in the article editing, having as guideline the Wikipedia policies. The amount of “replay back” between different users in a same talk page thread, can be a valid measurement to investigate and represent the conflict. Two main behavioral patterns have been identified: comments posted after a structural change of the page to inform that “the change has been done” (such as the change of a title) that do not obtain any answer and are therefore accepted by the community; comments that obtain answers, and generally give rise to a chain of replay back between two or more users: this conformation indicate a debate. With this method, it has been detected the controversiality of some articles categories, such as the philosophical and religious ones.(Kittur et al., 2009 [Fig. 14]; Laniado et al., 2011). Numerous studies about the representation of these conflicts and debates have been carried out. Within this thesis, I find it interesting expose some of those in which visualization design have played a key role.

[ Fig. 14 ] Distribution of conflict in Wikipedia. Seze represent normalized conflict, while the topic order (clockwise from People) reflects the absolute amount. (Kittur et al. 2009)

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Viegas, Wattenberg and Dave (2004) have proposed to analyze conflicts and consensus behaviours through a tool called History Flow [Fig. 15 et 16], which represents a flow of information over time and their relative mutations, showing the mutual relations between different versions of the same Wikipedia article on the base of the user that did the edits. Thanks to this tool it is possible to observe different trends and patterns of users’ behavior, to identify different types of vandalism, the process of negotiation between points of view, the edit wars, the type of users (registered or not) and their mutual behaviors.

[ Fig. 15 ] History Flow user interface showing the “Microsoft” page on Wikipedia; on the right we see the content of the page, on the left we see all the authors who have contributed to this page; the center panel shows the visualization. (Viegas et al., 2004)

[ Fig. 16 ] “Chocolate” page spaced out by number of versions; we can see the zigzag pattern of an edit war. (Viegas et al., 2004)

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Kittur, Suh, Pendleton and Chi (2007) have built a tool called Revert Graph tool [Fig. 17] that helps to understand the development of conflicts between users. The unit of measure used to identify how much a user is involved in a conflict, is the chronology of the mutual reverts occurred between two or more users. The result is a network of users where, with a force directed layout, it can be highlighted groups of users based on different points of view. The node size is proportional to the number of revert performed and the color represents the various types of editors (administrators, registered users and anonymous users). The more nodes move away from each other, the more users are in disagreement, on the contrary, the more nodes attract each other, the more the attitude of users is a collaborative ones. With this tool, it is possible to identify social patterns among users, different points of view, mediation, vandals fighting, negotiation processes and conflict among users.

[ Fig. 17 ] Revert Graph for the Wikipedia page on Dokdo. Revert Graph uses force directed layout to simulate revert relationship between users. The tool also allows its users to drill down into revert relationships, which enables them to investigate the nature of the conflicts. (Kittur et al., 2007)

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Brandes (2008) has created networks as well, but in his study he has considered not only mutual revert between users but all the history edits related to an article, considering their authorship. In this way, according to the author, it is possible to have a more complete picture of the conflicts without limiting it to those related to revert actions. Through this tool it can be investigated which are the most relevant authors, which role they played in the article building and writing process, how much they are involved in controversies. The visualization is a circular network where the users are arranged on the circumference depending on their characteristics. Their representation and position indicates the actual position in the discussion and, consequently, the engagement in the different roles of “auditor” and “reconditioned”. The link between users indicates the relationship between them: the more they are far and asymmetrical the more they oppose one to the other. With this tool it is also possible to identify behavioral patterns and analyze Wikipedia articles in response to the change that they had after important historical events concerning that topic. The author offers as well a view of the monthly changes by normalizing the percentage values to have an overview. [Fig. 18]

[ Fig. 18 ] Example visualization of a revision network (determined from Gun politics and related pages). Nodes represent the different authors. If two authors are on opposite sides they strongly revise each other. Other characteristics are represented as described in the legend on the righthand side. The diagram at the bottom shows the total number of edits per month. (Brandes, 2008)

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Li, Datta and Sun (2012) have proposed a new unit of measure called “expert-based similarity� based on user experience. The purpose was to identify the semantic relations between Wikipedia articles from the authorship point of view. Each author contributes in editing a relatively small number of articles, focusing on some areas. Examining articles from this perspective it was observed that the main source of controversy in Wikipedia are some specific topics contained in the articles and that debates do not depend on the users aggressiveness nor they are concerning general controversial concepts.

[ Fig. 19 ] Differences between Categories: (left) the average number of chains in the article discussion pages vs. the average number of article edits, (right) the average number of users versus the h-index of the tree structure. Gray areas indicate (when larger than the corresponding symbol size) the 95% confidence interval. (Laniado et al., 2011)

Finally, also in the research of Laniado, Tasso, Volkovich and Kaltenbrunner (2011), it has been analyzed the debate and the relations between users but through a more direct observation of the article talk page behind the article. When the visualization, realized through Graphviz (open source instrument for network visualizations), takes the form of a circular network, it indicates the agreement of the users: after a structural change of the page no user comments or argue about it. If, however, users begin to respond each other, the visualization assumes a form more similar to a tree diagram, where the length represents the intensity of the debate. [Fig. 19 et 20]

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[ Fig. 20 ] The structure of the discussion page of “Presidency of Barack Obama�. Blue nodes are structural, green nodes are unsigned comments. (Laniado et al., 2011)

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d. The controversy size Given that Wikipedia itself contains spaces suitable for discussion, conflict and the dialogue and that this is exactly the strength and the goodness of the instrument, is it possible to calculate the “controversiality degree” of an article? Numerous studies have tried to define a unit of measure that can objectively represent it. One first unit of measure used has been the “quantity of discussion” between users, based on the calculation of the mutual words cancellation (trackable thanks to the history edit). This model is based on the idea that the more an article is controversial, the more users debats. This automatized method to identify conflicts considers many factors: contents cancellations request, length of the talk page, page protections, expert users engagement, users expulsion. All these factors bring to establish a controversiality unit of measure (M), with which it is possible to compare articles. [Fig. 21, 22, 23 et 24]

[ Fig. 21 ] Evolution of controversy measure with number of edits of Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, with Gompertz fit shown in red. The initial rapid growth in M tends to saturate, corresponding to the reaching to consensus. (Yasseri et al., 2012) [ Fig. 22 ] Evolution of controversy measure with number of edits of Anarchism and Barack Obama. M(n) is normalized to the final value M∞. There is no consensus even for a short period and editorial wars continue nonstop. (Yasseri et al., 2012) [ Fig. 23 ] Evolution of controversy measure with number of edits of of Iran – the insets depict focuses of some of the local war periods. M(n) is normalized to the final value M∞. Cycles of peace and war appear consequently, activated by internal and external causes. (Yasseri et al., 2012)

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Yasseri, Sumi, Rung, Kornai and KertĂŠsz (2012) have focused on the automatic identification of edit wars through the reverts (modifications cancellation), considering how much the reversed text coincided with the previous one. Moreover, they have taken into account the conflicts dynamics and patterns that they create. On a short time scale (such as hours, days and weeks) it has been detected a match between controversiality and user activity: offensive changes, indeed, are reverted much faster than the normal edits. During the entire life of the article (a larger time scale) it has been identified three different behaviors. The first one is the final achievement of consensus. The second is the sequence of temporary consensus (i.e. periods of calm and controversiality that follow periodically one another). The last, proper of high controversial articles, is the lack of any achieved consensus. One last project related with the controversiality detection in Wikipedia, is Contropedia. As directly involved in this research, I will dedicate to it a larger section in the following chapter.

[ Fig. 24 ] Revert and mutual revert maps of Benjamin Franklin (left) and Israel and the apartheid analogy (right). Diagrams in upper row show the map of all reverts, whereas only mutual reverts are depicted on the diagrams in the lower row. Nr and Nd are the number of edits made by the reverting and reverted editors respectively. Size of the dots is proportional to the number of reverts by the same reverting and reverted pair of editors. (Yasseri et al., 2012)

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EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/SEXUAL_ORIENTATION At the starting line of my research, I have a subject - sexual orientation - and a platform Wikipedia - from which I can get quantitative and qualitative information surrounding my topic. The first logical step is to look at “sexual orientation” article page in Wikipedia. It has been decided to develop the research starting from the English Wikipedia, as it is the most developed one (it counts almost 5 millions of article and more than 37 millions of total pages). Generally, what people do is read the main article. What we could find reading through it are: encyclopedic style definitions, pointing out the shades in typology of sexual orientations, general aspects, related topics; possible causes; efforts to changing sexual orientations, assessment and measurement, statistics, culture and social related topics. It seems to give the reader a complete vision over the topic. The sexual orientations definitions seem to be as well clear and complete. The only incertain statement regards its causes as they “have yet to be established”. [8] [Fig.25]

Is this really everything we could know about sexual orientation, looking at Wikipedia? How could we explore deeply the topic, how could we detect the controversy that turns around this subject? How could we investigate the connections of this argument, its development, its shades? Could we reach a wider perception of what “sexual attraction” is? As said, when looking for information on Wikipedia, Internet users generally read the latest version of an article (the article page). However, in its back-end there is much more: associated to each article are the edit history and talk pages, which together entail its full evolution. (Borra et al, 2015) Contributions, discussions, proposed topics are listed by time in this space and it is not trivial to make sense of them by manual inspection.

[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/Sexual_Orientation

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[ Fig. 25 ] Sexual Orientation content Index . [8]

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8. CONTROPEDIA CONTROVERSIES DETECTOR

During my internship at Fundacion Barcelona Media (Barcelona, Spain), I had the possibility of getting more aware about this side of Wikipedia. During my first week there, I took part to one of the “Contropedia Hackathon” for the development of a new platform: Contropedia. This project has raised from the idea of taking advantage of the Wikipedia’s spaces of debate potential and the peculiarities of these spaces, that assimilate the research with the contest described in the previous chapter: the digital participative knowledge.

CONTROPEDIA PROJECT As said, Wikipedia is the most prominent examples of collaboration online and as all the collaborative content, its creation inevitably reaches situations where different points of view lead to conflict. It is a system where conflict is mediated by both policy and software, and where conflicts often reflect larger societal debates. Edit history and discussion section is public for every article but identifying disputes and negotiations that led to the current version of an article may thus require a significant effort, especially for big or controversial articles. This is an issue both for readers who want to know more about an article’s development, and for editors who have to manually look through the edit history and talk pages to find out when and why something was changed. Inexperienced editors, or editors who are not familiar with an article, are especially affected as awareness of the previous history of an article, and of the negotiations that led to its current state, is paramount to successful contributions. (Halfaker et al., 2012)

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It is as answer to this problematic that has taken shape Contropedia, a tool that augments Wikipedia articles and gives insight into the development of controversial topics. Its visual interface allows one to identify the elements that aroused more dispute and activity, and to explore the development of a topic within an article. [Fig. 26 to 29]

[ Fig. 26 et 27 ] Screen views of Contropedia demo version. (contropedia.net). In the first one, it is possible to see the Wikipedia article main page, where have been highlighted the most controversial topic (color is according to the degree of controversiality that each word has). They refers to the edit history of the article. The second image show the same (controversial words), but instead using Wikipedia layout, all the controversial words have been listed in a dashboard, to easily compare them and show the “controversy timeline� of the word itself.

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Contropedia aims to offer a the real-time analysis and visualization of controversies in Wikipedia. Controversy metrics are extracted from the real time activity streams generated by edits to, and discussions about, individual articles and groups of related articles. An article’s revision history and its corresponding discussion pages constitute two parallel streams of user interactions that, taken together, fully describe the process of the collaborative creation of an article. Contropedia builds on state of the art techniques and extends current metrics for the analysis of both edit and discussion activity. Furthermore, the combination of these two approaches allows for a deeper understanding of the substance, composition, actor alignment, trajectory and liveliness of controversies on Wikipedia. The platform is designed with a special focus on the utility of the metrics and the public relevance of the visualizations: the metrics focus on the extraction of societal controversies while the visualizations aid in shaping new knowledge about the controversial topic. This research aims to provide a better understanding of socio-technical phenomena that take place on the Internet and to equip citizens with tools to fully deploy the complexity of controversies. Contropedia will be useful for the general public as well as user groups with specific interests such as Wikipedians, scientists, decision makers and media communicators. [9]

[ Fig. 28 ] Screen views of Contropedia demo version. (contropedia.net). Detail of the word’s edits.

[9] http://contropedia.net/

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[ Fig.29 ] Screen views of Contropedia demo version. (contropedia.net). Detail of the users that edit the word.The network shows as well the intaction between users.

By my side, I have had the opportunity to initially take part and contribute to the platform development itself, and then to analyse more deeply the talk page structure. Specifically I have manually labelled substantive discussions in discussion threads. The goal was to find out which are the most important to read to get a sense of what really happened in the story of the article and to test the algorithm used by Contropedia platform in order to improve and/or fix it. I’ve tested this method on the “global warming” article, and then I’ve executed the same analysis on the “sexual orientation” article.

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SEXUAL ORIENTATION ARTICLE: THE DARK SIDE I have carried out this first part in starting from september 2014. After having read through the page of “sexual orientation”, I have stepped in the talk page, and have started the threads analysis. [10] It has consisted in reading the threads and manually collecting data from them. The total threads number was 177. I have analyzed 16 threads, chosen according to the number of comments they had: equal or more than ten comments. [Fig. 30 et 31] Each of these 16 threads have been tagged, extracting information about: thread title, user that had taken part to it, number of user’s comments, relation between users (replay back to whom, link, quote from one user to the others), wikipedia pages link (pages that explain how to write in Wikipedia and what is the platform policy), user position in the single thread discussion, controversy level (based on a subjective perception). Particular attention has been taken at the replay back structure, the tone of voice and the discussions content. [Fig. 32] Having these data, I proceed in the construction of the networks, not based on the wikipedia reply back structure (as the contropedia algorithm does) but on the content manually analyzed (real replay back, quotes, link to other users, topics).

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Sexual_orientation

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[ Fig. 30 ] In this page. Sexual Orientation Wikipedia Talk Page. Threads with more than ten comments each. [ Fig. 31 ] On the right. Above. Pedophilia thread. Chain of comments. [ Fig. 32 ] On the right. Below. Analysis of Pedophilia thread, data have been organized using Excel Tables.


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The analysis regards especially the content itself, looking at those qualitative data that are more difficult to collect than simple numbers. Concerning the content, it is possible to distinguish two different kind of threads: I. Discussion over a specific topic (content of the Wikipedia’s article). These discussion were the ones that lead me to the next research steps. II. Discussion over Wikipedia policy, interesting because of the aim of Contropedia project itself. See appendix for more details. Between the two, threads especially regard the article’s topic itself, whether there is something to add / change / delete / rewrite. Those discussions were the best ones to investigate the topic, its controversy level and the society knowledge level and position. Their analysis could be summarised as follow. Users present their point of view trying to make it as much objective as possible using reference and quote, providing evidences, proofs and examples of their own thesis. Sometimes is right the “Neutral Point Of View” needing that it is used as a sort of excuse to start the discussion, saying for example, “this part of the topic is missed, so it is necessarily to add it and give the whole article a real neutral point of view”. It is actually clearly that the user want to propose an editing not thinking rst at the NPOV but at the topic itself. In those cases, it is explicit the users’ point of view over the subject. It is possible to divide those kind of threads in different subgroups, according to the nal status of the discussion: - Resolved: the discussion end with a common decision taken or the edit is accepted with no oppositions. - Open: the discussion doesn’t not come to an end with a decision, the parties remain with different opinion with no solution (Sometimes, the same discussion is propose again later in the talk page).

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Those threads turned out to be particularly interesting as their discussed topics do not appear in the Wikipedia article page. More than one discussion regard paedophilia and zoophilie but this controversy is not shown in the article page. Interesting as well are the problems regarding the exact definition of the term “sexual orientation� itself. The controversy inside this theme is open and active. The performed analysis, contextualized in this research, has been primarily useful to the Wikipedia platform understanding, especially concerning the talk pages, the discussions and the article edits in their relation with the article page and its content. For the results concerning to the Contropedia platform itself, see the Part III: Appendix; Chapter B: Contropedia case study.

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9. INVESTIGATING THE DARK SIDE

The obtained result concerning the content and the topic itself was crucial in the choice of the research direction. Analyzing the discussion threads it emerges that the most discussed and controversial are those relating to the topic itself. There are information that enrich the topic, that seemed to be complete in the main article . What is questioning is mostly what is not said in the article page, in particular stressing the need for a redefinition of “sexual orientation”, more correct and less exclusive: right now it is said to be discriminatory and it should include other sexual orientations. The current definition accepts as legitimate and legal only those orientations towards humans of consenting age (age fixed in most cases at the legal level). All the sexual arousals and attractions addressed to subjects that do not have these characteristics are considered paraphilias. These are considered perversions, deviations, disturbs. This is, as well, not explicitated in the main article, it seems to be, somehow, taken for granted.

Paraphilia The term comes from the Greek (para) “beside” and (-philia) “friendship, love”. Paraphilias are defined as unusual fantasies, urges, or behaviours that are recurrent and sexually arousing. These urges must occur for at least six months and cause distress to the individual in order to be classified as a paraphilia. The causes of these conditions are generally not known. Behavioral, psychodynamic, and pharmacological methods have been used with varying efficacy to treat these disorders.

The most controversial threads regard the possibility of considering pedophilia and zoophilia as sexual orientation, extending the definition to non humans and to every age. The request is to legitimate in some cases the act itself, as for what concerns zoophilia, in others the possible attraction, as innate sexual arousal, which does not constitute a form disease. This consideration does not necessarily implies the legitimacy of actions such as the abuse of children in the pedophilia case, rather it is based on the psychological side of the attraction. The leverage point on which the arguments often rely is the fact that until the edition came into force in 1994, the DSM himself had considered homosexuality a psychosexual disorder rather than an orientation.

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DMS Acronyms for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Right now it is at its Fifth Edition (DSM-5). It is the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the United States. [ Fig . 33 ] Screenshot from a thread present in the Sexual Orientation Wikipedia Talk Page. Author: Deemusil, Thread title: “Other sexual orientation must be mentioned too”.

Exemplary is this comment, presents in one of the most discussed threads. “You homosexuals want special rights but you don’t want to share them with pedophilies or zoophiles” (Deemusil, Thread title: “Other sexual orientation must be mentioned too”, Talk page “sexual orientation” article on Wikipedia). [Fig. 33] Ordering the threads in a descending order (from the most to the less discussed, considering as parameter the number of comments each thread contains) and taking into consideration the first four, it is possible to notice that they all refer to the definition of “sexual orientation” and, consequently, the necessity to add or to avoid other sexual attraction, different from the ones included in the official definition of “sexual orientation”. [Fig. 30 - previous pages]

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THREAD ONE: SEXUAL ORIENTATION, IDENTITY AND BEHAVIOUR The first thread titled “Sexual orientation, identity and behaviour”. Three different position emerge from the discussion: Someone think that sexual orientation could be changed by willing, and that it must mention this position as well. Someone support the idea that sexual orientation is mainly based on biology, but not only. Other “non genetic factors” influence it too. Someone is deeply convinced that only scientifically supported opinions have to be mentioned, and that the opinions that do not have scientific proof are fringe. From the reading it easily comes out the confusion about the definition. The main problems regard “what does determine someone’s sexual orientation? Is it a biological based characteristic? What should we mention in the article page and how should we do it, in order to make it the most complete as possible?” [Fig. 34] [Viz. 5] Speaking about “making an article reliable and complete”, it must be said that often the “lack of NPOV” or the “lack of completeness” are veiled excuses and strategies to support oneself opinion and to find consens in order to modify the article.

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[ Fig. 34 ] On the right. Background: “Sexual orientation, identity and behaviour” thread chain. It has been highlighted some comments from the same thread. [ Viz. 5 ] Network of the thread “Sexual orientation, identity and behaviour”. Talk page “sexual orientation” article on Wikipedia.


“I think it would improve this article if it identified actual debates, and put views on sexual orientation in the context of such debates when appropriate. For example, there is a debate (largely in the US) about whether LGBT people should have equal rights and be socially accepted. In the context of this debates, some people argue “yes” becausesexual orientation is not a choice (which ie often equated with “biological” or “natural”) and some people argue “no” because they believe sexual orientation is a choice. I think the second view is a minority view but NPOV requires us to include minority views; we just have to be careful not to give them undue weight. But there is a second debate in academe, among anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists, as to what factors determine sexual orientation.” Slrubenstein

“Sexual orientation is one component of a person’s social identity. When you are talking about people, it is not only social scientists, like anthropologists, psychologists, and sociologists, whose views are relevant. The views of sexed persons are also relevant.” Slrubenstein

“I think the point is that there is a not insignificant number of people who believe that everyone has control over their own sexual orientation, or perhaps, doesn’t recognise that there is such a thing as sexual orientation (because everyone is really heterosexual and everything else is deviant behaviour)” Orientalmoons

“I am not sure about the view that Sexual orientation being non-existent, or a matter of choice being primarily an US view is ridiculous. That viewpoint is primarily subscribed to by fundamentalist religious groups.” Atom “I think we do have an issue in that there is no consensus of what we mean by sexual orientation.[...] there are people who use sexual orientation as a synonym for sexual identity and sexual behaviour. The article should note that. Would that be sufficient to cover the views of those who consider sexual orientation as something that a person chooses?” Orientalmoons “Again, a confusion over sexual orientation and sexual identity.” Atom “Sexual orientation is mostly based in biology with some choice.” Nick Levinson


THREAD TWO: OTHER SEXUAL ORIENTATION MUST BE MENTIONED TOO The second thread regard the possibility of mention other sexual orientations. Someone stand for adding them, some others avoid this idea, standing for keeping the classification as it is, and finally someone doesn’t really take a drastic and close position but ask for more proof. Zoophilia, paraphilia, pansexuality and polysexuality are pointed out as possible sexual orientations. Especially strikes a chord this comment: “You homosexuals want special rights but you don’t want to share them with pedophilies or zoophiles.”[Fig. 33 - previous pages] It is a clear reference to the fact that, until 1994, homosexuality was officially considered a disease, and as so, cataloged as paraphilia in the DSM. This thread strongly shows a different position in the debate, that is actually even more unexpected considering the fact that zoophilia is illegal or no illegal (that does not mean it is legalized, but that there are no laws that regulate it) in most of the countries. [Viz. 6]

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[ Viz. 6 ] On the right. Network of the thread “Other sexual orientation must be mentioned too”. Talk page “sexual orientation” article on Wikipedia.


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THREAD THREE: ZOOSEXUALITY Zoosexuality (actually zoophilia) is the subject of the third thread. Again, points of view are pretty clear: some users think about zoophilia as a sexual orientation that must be added as so. Some others underline that by now, zoophilia has not been recognized as sexual orientation by the DSM and in general by reliable scientific opinions. It must not be added in the article until no proof can support it. ANd of course, other users are strongly convinced by the fact that there are no other sexual orientation more than heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality and asexuality towards humans.

[ Fig. 35 ] On this page. Comment’s highlight. Author: Alusky. Thread title: “Zoosexuality”, Talk page “sexual orientation” article on Wikipedia.

“...My male dog is more than willingly to mount me and make me his “bitch”. He is happy to do that and I’m happy he enjoys it, I find it insulting that you call any sex acts with animals rape,I DO NOT rape my k9 boyfriend, I respect his opinion and I don’t force him to do anything he doesn’t want.” (Alusky. Thread title: “Zoosexuality”, Talk page “sexual orientation” article on Wikipedia). [Fig. 35] [Viz. 7]

This comment well summarize the idea that has a person that is sexually and/or emotionally attracted by animals. Indeed, the idea at the bottom of the fact that sexual zoophilia can not be considered legal and/or right, stays in the consideration of zoophiliac acts as an abuse, a cruelty from humans towards animals, that are not considered able to keep decisions. Laws on zoophilic activity tend to be shaped by animal welfare concerns, moral views, and cultural beliefs. In many cultures, humans are viewed as different from other animals and having sex with animals is seen as defilement. What is argued from zoophilous is that it is not an abuse but a form of love.

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[ Viz. 7] Network of the thread “Zoosexualty”. Talk page “sexual orientation” article on Wikipedia.

Speaking about laws, it is important to underline that laws against humans performing sex acts on animals, where they exist, are concerned with the actual act, which it commonly refers to as bestiality, rather than the sexual attraction to animals. Having a sexual attraction to animals but not put it in practice, can not be considered a crime. For this reason, prohibitions of zoophilic pornography is more varied; they may be unlawful if an actual sex act with an animal is involved, but the status is not clear cut if there is a mere representation, such as a painting or cartoon. In that case, normal obscenity laws will normally apply. All zoophilic imagery is widely regarded as pornography. On the other hand, it is unavoidable that every kind of representation or production, even a merely imaginary tale, feeds social ideas and attitudes toward this topic.

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THREAD FOUR: PEDOPHILIA Abstracting this line of reasoning, it is possible to apply it to the fourth thread subject: pedophilia. Indeed, more than one user underlines, above all, that there is a distinction between being sexually attracted by a child and having a sexual intercourse with him. Having a sexual arousal is not illegal (with eventual variation depending on different jurisdictions). Pedophilia became a crime when it is put into practice, when there is a sexual intercourse between the minor and the adult (keeping always in mind that “adult” and “minor” are concepts socially and legally decided, it is an arbitrary decision made to regulate society). “Pedophile” is a strongly connotated term, became a common use word with deeply negative meaning and implying a crime. There is a distinction between the two. Pedophilia refers to the emotional and/or sexual attraction someone has for children. Child sexual offender is the person that actually abuse of a minor. Likewise true is that, also in the pedophilia case, as well as in the zoophilia, - with eventual variation depending on different jurisdictions - written production surrounding pedophilia fantasy is generally permitted (although it increases social consciousness towards an act that it is considered a crime) as well as cartoon pornography is allowed in some countries. [Fig. 36] Differently, child pornography is no legal, as it is abuse and exploitation of a minor. Having pedopornographic material is likewise a crime (as it increase the abuse and exploitation traffic - always with proper reference to each country jurisdiction).

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[ Fig. 36 ] On this page. Comment’s highlight. Author: 152.78.249.33. Thread title: “Pedophilia”, Talk page “sexual orientation” article on Wikipedia.


[ Viz. 8 ] Network of the thread “Pedophilia”. Talk page “sexual orientation” article on Wikipedia.

Similarly at the zoophilia phenomenon, the pedophile as well does not see the sexual intercourse with the minor as an abuse but rather as a form of love, an educative value or a sexual pleasure for the child. This debate contains different and contrasting points of view: Someone argue that pedophilia is a sexual orientation, some other answer back that right now, it is not recognize as sexual orientation by the DSM and even if it is true that not all the pedophiles actually commit the sexual intercourse, it is not proved yet that pedophilia is a sexual orientation. Finally, someone supports the idea that there are no other sexual orientation more than heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality and asexuality as lack of sexual orientation. As we can read: “Paedophilia isn’t (and never will be) a sexual orientation. It’s a categorical impossibility. Children aren’t a sex. (LeeBonolo, Thread title: “Pedophilia”, Talk page “sexual orientation” article on Wikipedia). [Viz. 8]

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10. STABILIZE THE RESEARCH ORIENTATION

“no vice, no degradation; it cannot be classified as an illness; we consider it to be Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of,

a variation of the sexual function, produced by a certain arrest of sexual development. Many highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among them. (Plato, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc). It is a great injustice to persecute homosexuality as a crime –and a cruelty, too. (Freud, 1905)

After having analyzed the main threads, it is possible to identify that the more general controversy stays in the definition of what should and what should not be considered a paraphilia. The idea of “normal” and “right” (then “straight” in the colloquial vocabulary, with the meaning of heterosexual) has been for long related with the biological act of the reproduction: an explanation that lots of churches used and still use -, that run through societies during the centuries, bringing even to consider it as a crime punishable by capital punishment. Sigmund Freud as well played an important role in the definition of human sexuality but still he considered as a right and complete sexuality develop only the heterosexual one. Although he did not consider homosexuality as a crime or an illness, he classified it as a “deviation” from the social object of desire.

With the time and the different influences, mainly based on this idea of “normality”, societies have developed an idea of what is right and responds to “natural law” or “natural sexual development” and what it is not, excluding all the seuxal attraction other than the one between a man and a woman.

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Paraphilia Sexologist John Money popularized the term paraphilia as a non-pejorative designation for unusual sexual interests. Money described paraphilia as “a sexuoerotic embellishment of, or alternative to the official, ideological norm.” (Money, 1990). Psychiatrist Glen Gabbard writes that despite efforts by Stekel and Money, “the term paraphilia remains pejorative in most circumstances.” (Gabbard, 2007) Coinage of the term paraphilia (paraphilie) has been credited to Friedrich Salomon Krauss in 1903, and it entered the English language in 1913, in reference to Krauss by urologist William J. Robinson. It was used with some regularity by Wilhelm Stekel in the 1920s.

Including homosexuality (and so bisexuality) as a sexual orientation, have taken a long time and only in 1994 it became officially accepted (at least from a medical official point of view,ì; not always and everywhere from a sociological once. Even where it is legal, social stigma still persist) and not classified as paraphilia. It is considered a paraphilia (also known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, or individuals. (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) No consensus has been found for any precise border between unusual sexual interests and paraphilic ones. Generally, it is listed as disease a sexual interest that becomes exclusive, the only way to reach sexual excitement and orgasm. People with a paraphilia tend to become aroused by the stimulant to the exclusion or near exclusion of more common sources of sexual arousal. The intensity of the attraction can be overwhelming enough to cause distress. The unusual or forbidden nature of a paraphilia often causes symptoms of guilt and fear of punishment. Symptoms of paraphilia can include preoccupation to the point of obsessiveness. Paraphilia sufferers may experience depression or anxiety that is temporarily relieved by engaging in paraphilic behavior, thus leading to an addictive cycle.

There is debate over which, if any, of the paraphilias should be listed in diagnostic manuals, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or the International Classification of Diseases. Classification of these types, change over years (e.g. the case of homosexuality) according to knowledge achievements. Many terms have been used to describe atypical sexual interests, some paraphilias have more than one term to describe them, and some terms overlap with others, and there remains debate regarding technical accuracy and perceptions of stigma. The causes of paraphilic sexual preferences in people are unclear. In his 2009 book, Anil Aggrawal compiled a list of 547 terms describing paraphilic sexual interests. He cautioned, however, that “not all these paraphilias have necessarily been seen in clinical setups. This may not be because they do not exist, but because they are so innocuous they are never brought to the notice of clinicians or dismissed by them. Like allergies, sexual arousal may occur from anything under the sun, including the sun.”

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Debate The American Psychiatric Association, in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition, draws a distinction between paraphilias (which it describes as atypical sexual interests) and paraphilic disorders (which additionally require the experience of distress or impairment in functioning). Paraphilias without DSM codes listed come under DSM 302.9, “Paraphilia NOS (Not Otherwise Specified).


Paraphilia can be identify as any status in which excitement and sexual gratification of the person depend only on his recurring fantasy, or on directly live the event that becomes the main focus of sexual behavior. The difference between paraphilia and curiosity of sperimenting different sexual behaviour is that a subject that suffers from paraphilia feels constantly the need of satisfying his sexual desire, even this would interfere with his life, and that the presence of the “sexual object” or “sexual fantasy” are essential and exclusive to reach the climax. In this sense, more than one sexual practice or behaviour or attraction could become a paraphilia, indeed all the form of fetishism are considered disease when they become (as said) exclusive. Speaking about anomalies in the sexual behaviour, it is as well necessary to take into consideration phobias linked with the sexual act, as forms of psychological disease and phobia towards something that should not provoke it, and sexual addictions, as form of psychological disease in which the need of a certain act or practice (considered a normal behaviour) became pathological. All these psychological conditions are considered to have a same matrix at the bottom, which is the one that indicate them as object for psychological/psychiatric field: they all move from an obsessive compulsive or addictive behaviour. Even though during years Several sub-classifications of the paraphilias have been proposed and manual have been publicated, this space of knowledge is still fuzzy, controversial, not delimited and partially unknown. It is dynamic and open, always subject to new knowledge achievements or sociological changes.

The rising questions are: is it possible to map all these other psychosexual attraction and behaviours and see how they actually connect and relate each others? With what are they connected? Do they relate with other sexuality topics? And which?

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MAKING LIST PROCESS Starting from the idea , previously illustrated, that reality is a complex system, it can be said that individual units can be connected each other at different degrees of analysis. It is up to those who carries out the research to decide “how deep” it has to be investigated. The objectivity of this choice stands in the fact that every decision is justified and taken according to clear guidelines that can be retraced. Move from a micro-vision of a phenomenon to a macro ones during a research process, is a useful mechanism to maintain the control and proceed in the analysis, seeing how context changes the individual parts and how they, modifying themselves, change the context. Nevertheless, it is useful in order to keep into consideration the phenomenon nuances. Every single actor within a system, to be understood in its entirety, must be considered not only as a single entity, whose characteristics are described in itself, but as part of the system, related (and therefore affected and influenced) with other units belonging to the same system and with units and systems other than the one he belongs to (but linked to it).

Having these premises, a first investigation has been performed looking at the human sexuality all, to have a general and wide view of the area in which the specific objects of research are included. Wikipedia offers a list of articles related to human sexuality: Index of human sexuality articles [11], that includes 1473 articles. Starting from this list, it has been performed an analysis of the different aspects and fields that describe “sexuality”. Each article describes one aspect of human sexuality or something related to it. In particular, it can be identified categories and subcategories that allow to classify those articles. Although each unit is in fact affected by more than just one aspect, such classification makes it easier to get an overview of the major aspects involved .

[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_human_sexuality_articles

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I. Medicine, health, psychology: I. I. Psychological aspects. I. II. Biology / Anatomy / Response circle. I. III. Genetics / Reproductive system. I. IV. Pathologies / Diseases. II. Identity: II. I. Seuxal identity. II. II. Gender. II. III. Sexual orientation. III. Relationship, society and culture: III. I. Sex industry (Movie, book, video game, media entertainment, erotica, pornography, prostitution, museum, sexy shop, sex tourism, sex toy, strip club). III. II. Law. III. III. Historical aspect. III. IV. Literature aspect. III. V. Religious aspects / Related articles. III. VI. Association / Reference person. III. VII. Affection / Emotional / Romance sphere. III. VIII. Named role inside the society. III. IX. Slang vocabulary. III. X. Cultural differences. III. XI. Internet role (Cybersex, pornography ecc..). III. XII. Behaviour, related practices (Family planning, abortion...). III. XIII. Education. IV. Activity: IV.I. Sexual positions. IV. II. Sexual acts, sexual practices. IV. III. Violence / rape / abuse / slavery / human trafficking. IV. IV. Paraphilia, unusual sexual preference / sexual arousal, fetishism. IV. V. Other behaviour (abstinence, body modification..).

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This analysis allows to have an overview of the system, a macroscopic perspective, not so much detailed but extended. Keeping it in mind, it is now possible to go back to a more microscopic level. In choosing a more limited research field, it has been taken into account the results of the sezual orientation’s talk page analysis. What is arisen is that the major controversies spin around the definition of what should be considered (non) usual, (non) conventional, (non) common, (non) pathologic. Mainly, zoophilia and paraphilia have been pointed out as possible other sexual orientations. This has lead me to the decision of going deeper in the analysis of the categories that include these aspects: paraphilia (zoophilia and pedophilia are considered so), uncommon sexual behaviour (fetishism, addiction, phobias).

From the 1473 articles, is then necessary to extract the articles related to these area and to complete the list looking at the other Wikipedia pages. The objects’ list has been made considering the following filter: I. Articles concern sexuality as capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. II. Articles not concern the subject of the sexual arousal but the object and the act itself (this esclude all the “roles and/or definitions” that indicate and describe a person’s sexuality). III. Articles which subjects are considered to be unusual, uncommon, unconventional practice, preference, arousal; mental diseases (more or lesse legal). According to this, it includes: I. Phobias (Related with sexuality. As unusual behavior towards someone because of his/her sexuality. Phobias towards something that concerns the sexual activity). II. Addiction (Related with sexuality. As uncommon approach / unusual behavior towards sexuality and/or sexual activity). III. Paraphilias and deviated behaviors. Including fetishisms and partialisms as specific forms of paraphilias. IV. Activity strongly related with paraphilia and fetishism. V. Asexuality (As uncommon approach / unusual behavior / rejection towards sexuality and/or sexual activity).

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Clarified what I want to detect, I follow a precise process to create the objects complete list. Starting from the english Wikipedia , it has been selected all the paraphilias article citated in the Wikipedia “list of Paraphilia” [12]. The result was a first list: the paraphilias list. Secondly, it has been selected all the articles citated in the Wikipedia “list of Human Sexuality Related Articles” [13]. This lead to a second list: human sexuality articles list. These two lists have been compared: List one contains 101 objects, 57 unique objects. List two contains: 1473 objects, 1429 unique objects. There are 44 common objects And a total of 1530 unique objects.

As seen, in list two there are objects belonging to a wild range of categories. So it has been necessary to manually clean this second list. Again, some specific criteria has been followed to manually select objects from the second list . I. Objects keep: I. I. Paraphilia (atypical sexual arousal). I. II. Fetishism (form of paraphilia). I. III. Partialism (form of fetishism / paraphilia). I. IV. Activity strongly related with paraphilia and fetishism. I. V. Phobias (Sexuality related). I. VI. Addiction (Sexuality related). I. VII. Asexuality (as uncommon behavior regarding sexuality). II. Objects deleted: II. I. Common practice related with the sexual act. II. II. Role assigned to describe one person sexuality / Relationship. II. III. Biological, anatomical and genetics diseases. Syndroms provoked during the act itself. II. IV. Anatomy. II. V. Society related article. II. VI. Slang words for roles / activities / acts. II. VII. Law. II. VIII. Books, Movies, Entertainment industry. II. IX. Affection related article. II. X. Generality over sexuality (sexual orientation related, sexual identity related, sexual behavior related, gender identity related).

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At these two list it has been added the list of all the sexuality related phobias from Wikipedia “list of sexuality related phobias” [14] and the list of all the sexual fetishism from Wikipedia “sexual fetishism”. [15] Last, it has been added also the list of all sexuality related behavioral addictions from Wikipedia “Behavioral addictions” [16]. This last list has been cleaned as well, taking into consideration only the sexuality related addictions. So it has been merge together (considering all the unique objects) list one, three, four, list two cleaned, list five cleaned. It has been unified the “same page redirect” links to obtain a list of unique objects. A final manual verification of each link (checking the redirections) lead to the final object list that includes 167 objects. What we end up with is a list of objects that belong to the same category. How is it possible to explore this list of information and understand how they are linked, how they relate each others? How is it possible to visualize them?

[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paraphilias [13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index_of_human_sexuality_articles [14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sexuality_related_phobias [15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_fetishism [16] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_addiction

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Research Protocol On the left. Making list process. List of unique Wikipedia articles (i.e. links) on the following pages. 126


FORMER LIST OF LINKS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abasiophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstinence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acarophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrotomophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agalmatophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algolagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvinolagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androphobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropophagolagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropophagy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apotemnophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaphilia_(fetish) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armpit_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attraction_to_disability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autagonistophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autassassinophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-haemofetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoandrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonepiophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopedophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoplushophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autovampirism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autozoophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_fetish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDSM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biastophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biphobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_inflation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chremastistophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_vampirism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_fetish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cock_and_ball_torture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-dressing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crush_fetish

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_history_of_the_buttocks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacryphilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrophilia_(paraphilia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaper_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dippoldism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doll_fetish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emetophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephebophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_asphyxiation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_lactation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_spanking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotomania http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhibitionism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_commitment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feederism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminization_(activity) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_play http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formicophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frotteurism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerontophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasses_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glove_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynandromorphophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebephilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeovestism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_furniture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybristophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoactive_sexual_desire_disorder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_addiction_disorder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_sex_addiction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katoptronophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptolagnia

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klismaphilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knismesis_and_gargalesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latex_and_PVC_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_subculture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paraphilias http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotion_play http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lust_murder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maschalagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_worship http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narratophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navel_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nose_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_sexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscene_phone_call http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculolinctus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odaxelagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omorashi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphilic_infantilism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partialism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecattiphilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedovestism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perversion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piquerism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plushophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_addiction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy_fetishism

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_fantasy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadomasochism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salirophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_addiction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_sex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somnophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandex_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectatoring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigmatic-eligibilic_paraphilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigmatophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphorophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamakeri http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technosexual http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalpotentiginy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tickling_game http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tightlacing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_enclosure_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toucherism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transphobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestic_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troilism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwear_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urolagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urophagia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampirism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorarephilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyeurism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_and_messy_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoosadism

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11. FROM LIST TO NETWORK

“blaggio che la regola. Non sarebbe incongrua neppure una lista che elencasse

Una lista pratica non è mai incongrua, purchè di individui il criterio di assem-

insieme una scopa, una copia incompleta della bibiografia di Galileo, un feto sotto spirito o (per citare Lautréamont) un ombrello e un tavolo anatomico. Basterebbe stabilire che si tratta dell’inventario di oggetti rilegati nello scantinato di una facoltà di medicina. (Eco, 2009) But, is it possible to translate this list into a graphic representation?

Looking at the structure of Wikipedia, it has been noted that each article actually has connections to the others, these links are present in two cases: I. Other languages in which the same article is present. II. “See Also” section, that shows the articles linked with the one the user is reading About the first one, the possibility of performing a languages analysis will be shown later. Focusing on the second one, the “see also” section, it is at this point that digital methods and information design get together: collecting data (links) and showing them. After a first data collection test performed by Guillaume Plique (Sciences Po Paris), a tool called “Seealsology” (and now available on http://labs.densitydesign.org/seealsology/) has been developed by Donato Ricci (relator of this thesis) and the DesignDensity Reserach Lab (Politecnico Milan).

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SEEALSOLOGY PROCESS A serie of crawlings and checks has been performed in the order that will be described right after to create the network.

I. Crawling deep one of the objects list. It means to detect and collect data regarding “at which pages each article links” in order to create an index of data. “Deep one” means that this crawling action has been performed only in the 167 listed pages. Basically, it has been firstly considered the “see also” links of the 167 listed pages only. Stop words at the crawling action: list of, index of, categories of, portal, disambiguation, outline of, wikipedia:, category:, file:, wikisource:. (pages containing these words as title, has not been crawled / investigated). As results, it has been obtained 728 total objects after the crawling. 31 sources has been not founded (all these pages has been manually checked: none of them has a “see also” paragraph) 11 sources stopped by the “stop word list” (list of, index of, category of, portal, disambiguation, outline of, Wikipedia:, Category:, File:, Wikisource:). II. Creation of a new list with all the objects from the original list and some manually selected objects from the first crawling. Criteria with which the links from the first crawling list have been manually selected [See the scheme at the following page]. From this second list, it has been kept 277 objects. Some of them were included in the original list, the total unique object was 197.

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SELECTED:

NOT SELECTED:

I. Expressed sexuality and highly linked to the sexual act itself , paraphilia act, phobia act, addiction act. II. Other paraphilia, phobia, addiction linked with sexuality. III. Sexuality role, identification, typology. IV. Humans/animals relations (in sexual therms). V. Activity concerning the act itself. VI. Festival, contest, active personality/expert. VII. Objects, clothes, accessories highly linked with the practices. VIII. Body modification (for sexual pleasure and arouse). IX. Consequences highly linked with the practices (primal scene). X. Dedicated places. XI. Specialized psychologist (in sexuality and/or paraphilia ). XII. Human sexuality (child sexuality, human sexuality behaviors...). XIII. Incest (as practice). XIV. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. XV. Perversion.

I. Cure. II. Sexual related crime (and name given to identify those crimes). III. Sexual criminals (specific person or name given to identify those people). IV. Movies, literature, art, magazine, song, photography, television, editors, theatre acts related with sexuality, paraphilia, phobia, addiction. V. Social groups organized as associations, organizations. VI. “History of...”. VII. “Sexuality in..”. (different cultures, countries, social contest...). VIII. Generic psychological diseases (they could have effects also in the sexuality field or be related with it, but intact they invest a person’s whole life). IX. Robots with humans features (not design for sexual purposes). X. Law. XI. Religions. XII. Medicine. XIII. Animals’ field, zoology (communication, life, rights, classification...). XIV. Anthropocentrism. XV. Help groups, organizations, associations, social movements (pro and against). XVI. Clothes, objects, accessorizes not particulary related with sexual practices. XVII. Postumes (theatre referred). XVIII. Dances. XIX. Tortures in general (not just “practices in the sexual field”). XX. “Category:”. XXI. “List of paraphilia”. XXII. Related with costumes, society.

Research Protocol Criteria at the base of the manual selection of Wikipeda articles. 134


III. Creation of a final list to be crawled. This list include the manually selected objects from the first crawling and the original list “Same page redirect” links have been unified, the object name is the one of the page to which it redirects. The final list includes 366 objects. IV. Crawling deep two of this final list. Stop words: list of, index of, category of, portal, disambiguation, outline of, Wikipedia:, Category:, File:, Wikisource: As results, it has been obtained 13543 total objects after the crawling. 292 sources have not been founded (They have been manually checked: none of them has a “see also” paragraph). 133 sources have been stopped by the “stop word list”. The final output it is a .gexf file format network.

Each object corresponds to a network node. As with the final crawl we obtained 13543 objects, this means the network, as it is now, contains 13543 nodes. It would be obviously hard to read through such a huge network and more than this, the analysis focus would be lost, ending up in a complete but too much generic research. [Fig. 37] What is necessary to do is to clean this network according to its structure itself, that is to delete all the nodes that are too small and peripheral to significantly influence the network.

[ Fig. 37 ] Uncleaned result from Seealsology analysis. It contains 13543 nodes.

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LINKS LIST FOR THE SECOND CRAWLING http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abasiophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstinence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acarophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_incest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrotomophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agalmatophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_disparity_in_sexual_relationships http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ageplay http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algolagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvinolagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amputee_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_eroticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal-oral_sex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgyny http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androphilia_and_gynephilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androphobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_marriage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_roleplay http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropophagolagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropophagy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apotemnophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaphilia_(fetish) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armpit_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arse_Elektronika http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ass_to_mouth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attraction_to_disability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autagonistophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autassassinophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-haemofetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoandrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoeroticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogynephilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonepiophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoplushophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autosadism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autovampirism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autozoophilia

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakunyu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_fetish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDSM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_(gay_culture) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearbaiting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkley_Horse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biastophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big Handsome Man http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Beautiful_Woman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biphobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanchard%27s_transsexualism_typology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_inflation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_modification http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_odor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_odor_and_subconscious_human_sexual_attraction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_worship http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondage_(BDSM) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondage_(sexual) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_worship http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom_(BDSM) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candaulism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chastity_cage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chremastistophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chub_(gay_slang) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_of_transsexual_people http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleo_Dubois http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_vampirism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothed_female,_naked_male http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothed_male,_naked_female http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_fetish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cock_and_ball_torture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cock_ring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogender http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsive_gambling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsive_masturbation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_heterosexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consent_(BDSM)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content-control_software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_(BDSM) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprophagia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrective_rape http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar_(slang) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterdependency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterphobic_attitude http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtship_disorder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-dressing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crush_fetish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckquean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_history_of_the_buttocks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacryphilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_during_consensual_sex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrophilia_(paraphilia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaper_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dippoldism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Sanchez_(sexual_act) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_talk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_pretenders http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discipline_(BDSM) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogging_(sexual_slang) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doll_fetish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominance_and_submission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_(clothing) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_(BDSM) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emetophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_femme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephebophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erogenous_zone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_asphyxiation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_humiliation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_hypnosis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_lactation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_Spanking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_target_location_errors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotomania http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhibitionism

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facesitting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggot_(slang) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_commitment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feederism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_dominance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminization_(activity) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetish_club http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetish_fashion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FetLife http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figging http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingering_(sexual_act) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folsom_Street_Fair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_play http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footjob http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_seduction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formicophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxy_boxing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frotteurism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garment_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayle_Rubin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genderism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genital_modification_and_mutilation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerontophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasses_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glove_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groping http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynandromorphophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynoid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handjob http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanky_code http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebephilia

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteronormativity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosexism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_(South_Asia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_and_cultural_perspectives_on_zoophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogging_(sexual_practice) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeovestism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_panic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Karl_(slang) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_furniture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sexual_behavior http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanoid_robot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybristophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoactive_sexual_desire_disorder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoxia_(medical) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I’ll_show_you_mine_if_you_show_me_yours http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidents_of_necrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mister_Leather http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_addiction_disorder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_pornography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_sex_addiction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jailbait http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Giles_(philosopher) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathoey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katoptronophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kink_(sexual) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kink.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinky_boots http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptolagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klismaphilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knismesis_and_gargalesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latex_and_PVC_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_Archives_and_Museum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_subculture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legbrace_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limits_(BDSM) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidophilia

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paraphilias http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolicon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotion_play http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovemaps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lust_murder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9nage_%C3%A0_trois http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_submission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammary_intercourse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maschalagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masturbation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MILF_(slang) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Leather_Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortification_of_the_flesh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummification_(BDSM) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_worship http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narratophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navel_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnal_emission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnal_penile_tumescence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-penetrative_sex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nose_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nu_Fetish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyotaimori http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_sexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscene_phone_call http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculolinctus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odaxelagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omorashi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otokonoko http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pansexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphilia

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphilic_infantilism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partialism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_(gender) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecattiphilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedovestism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistent_genital_arousal_disorder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perversion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philias http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_sex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinafore_eroticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piquerism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playing_doctor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plushophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_addiction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_scene http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pubic_hair_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_heterosexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_fantasy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RealDoll http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsible_non-monogamy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_von_Krafft-Ebing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddle_scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Stoller http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadomasochism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safeword http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saliromania http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salirophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Vaknin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrotal_inflation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_and_gender_distinction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_doll http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexaholics_Anonymous http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_addiction

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_arousal_disorder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_Compulsivity_Scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dysfunction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_ethics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_objectification http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_obsessions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_orientation_hypothesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_repression http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_roleplay http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_roleplaying http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissy_(transgender) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_sex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociosexual_orientation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somnophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Leatherfest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandex_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectatoring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigmatic-eligibilic_paraphilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigmatophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulation_of_nipples http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhero_erotica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swinging_(sexual_practice) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphorophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamakeri http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technosexual http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalpotentiginy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threesome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tickling_game http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tightlacing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_(BDSM) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_enclosure_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toucherism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trampling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfan

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenderism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmisogyny http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transphobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexual http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexual_pornography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexual_sexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexualism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestic_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transvestophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Jacques http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troilism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twink_(gay_slang) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-spirit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwear_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upskirt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urolagnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urophagia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urophagia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampirism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorarephilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyeurism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_and_messy_fetishism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_T-shirt_contest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetlook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoosadism

Research Protocol In this page (and the previous). Links list for the second crawling. Page on the right and following. Steps to build the final network.

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STEP INTO GEPHI The network has been cleaned and spatialized using Gephi, an open-source, interactive visualization and exploration platform for all kind of networks and complex system, dynamic and hierarchical graphs. Using different algorithms, it is possible to shape the graph, as they allow to spatialize the network in order to make it readable. The one used is “Force Atlas 2”, a force directed layout that simulates a physical system.

Nodes repulse each other (like magnets) while edges attract the nodes they

“connect (like springs). These forces create a movement that converges to a bal-

anced state. This final configuration is expected to help the interpretation of the data. The force-directed drawing has the specificity of placing each node depending on the other nodes. This process depends only on the connections between nodes. Eventual attributes of nodes are never taken into account. This strategy has its drawbacks. The result varies depending on the initial state. The process can get stuck in a local minimum. It is not deterministic, and the coordinates of each point do not reflect any specific variable. The result cannot be read as a Cartesian projection. The position of a node cannot be interpreted on its own, it has to be compared to the others. Despite these issues, the technique has the advantage of allowing a visual interpretation of the structure. Its very essence is to turn structural proximities into visual proximities, facilitating the analysis and in particular the analysis of social networks. Noack (2009) has shown that the proximities express communities. Noack relies on the very intuitive approach of Newman (2004 and 2006): actors have more relations inside their community than outside, communities are groups with denser relations. Newman proposes an unbiased measure of this type of collective proximity, called “modularity”. Noack (2009) has shown that force-directed layouts optimize this measure: communities appear as groups of nodes. Force-directed layouts produce visual densities that denote structural densities. (Jacomy, Heymann, Venturini, and Bastian, 2014)

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NETWORK CLEANING WITH GEPHI A series of actions have been performed using Gephi tools, in order to clean the obteined network. I. From Gephi interface, it has been automatically calculated the average degree and it has been deleted (from the data laboratory) all the nodes that have 0 and 1 as degree. II. It has been deleted “Classification of”, “Timeline of”, “Type of”, “List of”, “Category”, “History”, “Criticism of Wikipedia”, “Historical”. III. Resulted Csv downloaded from Gephi. IV. A manual check of the label has been performed as well. All name have been changed in lowercase and it has been cancelled any word after “#” in the label (“#” is a redirect to a page section). It has been created a new column, called label_correct. V. This CSV has been reimported in Gephi. VI. From Gephi interface: it has been automatically merged the not unique objects. VII. Resulted Csv exported from Gephi. VIII. All the links have been manually checked again, to bring out the redirect link. IX. From Gephi interface, the same link redirection objects have been manual merged and links to “list of”, “glossary of” or not existing page have been deleted. X. From Gephi interface self-links have been deleted as well. Finally, the graph has been spatialized in Gephi and it contains 1336 nodes (i.e. 1336 wikipedia articles). [Fig. 38] [Viz. 9 - next pages] The complete nodes list is showed in Part III: Appendix; Chapter D: Detected nodes tags. The question rises spontaneously: what are these articles about?

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[ Fig. 38 ] The final Network, as it is displayed on Gephi.

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[ Viz. 9 ] Network resulted from the see also sections final crawling: “Aphrodite Network�. 151


12. APHRODITE NETWORK

To understand what these article are about,, it has been necessary to manually proceed, reading each article. Wikipedia does not include a truly categorisation for the article content, so it has been made it extracting data from the reading. In this sense, it has been created a table of structured data to allow the contents comparison. Indeed, articles have a text form, not a representable shape based on data. It is necessary to extrapolate information and give them a structured and usable shape.

I personally had had the possibility of testing this “data structuration process” starting from a text in more tha one occasion. The first one was with the Sintesi Laboratory Course at Politecnico in Milano, within Design Density Laboratory. Both the projects, one about languages around the world and the other about Surrogacy in India, have been published. [17] A second occasion was a commissioned project by EFSA Italia to Sciences Po. I’ve taken part to this last within the internship I was doing at Sciences Po Mediala. The publications for the ESFA Italia and Sciences Po project can be found at the following addresses: [18] et [19].

[17] http://www.puffpuffproject.com [18] http://http://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/scientific_output/files/main_documents/4161.pdf [19] http://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/scientific_output/files/main_documents/860e.pdf

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Back to this research subject, for each of the 1336 articles, it has been collected and structured in an Excel Table the following information: I. Page Title (corresponding to the name of the described object and the network node label). II. Link to the page. III. Short definition. IV. Article category. V. Article subject. VI. First page edit (date in which the page has been created). VII. Las edit effectuated (considering the 29th of january as last date). Regarding the category data and the subjects, each article has been tagged with one of the possibilities listed in the following tables.

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Bahaviour As category refers to actual behaviour and adjective or concept that explain a way to behave. Contextualization as category refers to article that describe a category taking into consideration the part of it that handle with a precise subject. Other includes different categories, that otherwise would have appear just one or two times (song, ballad, music band, geologic epoch, community, mythology character, country, experiment, linguistic suffix, paradox, publisher, comedy, coalition, historical period name, hormon, selective inhibitor, dance, hymn -a religious song or poem of praise to God or a god-). Paraphilia as to be considered not as a pejorative terms, but as an experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, or individuals. - Using the definition of paraphilia by John Money: “a sexuoerotic embellishment of, or alternative to the official, ideological norm.� (Money, 1990) Situation as category refers to article that describe the current state of a subject in a precise context.

CATEGORIES

NUMBER OF ARTICLES *

CATEGORIES

NUMBER OF ARTICLES *

Practice Paraphilia Behaviour Concept Act Disorder Person Slang Movement Situation Crime Garment Epithet Ideology Theory Other Feeling Identity Subject Object Robot Event Organization Study Phenomenon Process Contextualization Phobia Culture Condition Place Representation Belief Dysfunction Measurament system Pornography Relationship

119 85 77 74 58 51 49 39 38 30 28 28 27 27 27 26 25 25 25 22 22 20 20 18 17 17 16 16 13 12 10 10 9 9 9 9 9

Rights Role Syndrome View Addiction Art / architecture Body part Book Game Law Rite Sexual orientation Job Norm Classification system Doll History of Magazine Physical characteristic Software Web issue Legal issue Movie Organizational system Performance Project Ability Contest Controversy Festival Pubblication Test Convention Policy Principle Support group Therapy

9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3

* Number of articles tagged with each category

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SUBJECTS

NUMBER OF SUBJECTS ARTICLES *

NUMBER OF ARTICLES *

Sexology Sociology sexuality Art and entertainment Sociology Law and criminology Psychology Psychiatry Religion Engineering Affective psychology Philosophy Literature Zoology Medicine Transversal Information technology Biology Sport

405 153 136 105 92 89 37 36 26 25 23 22 22 20 18 17 13 13

11 11 9 8 7 7 6 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1

Philosophy sexuality Politics Chronicle Genetics Anthropology Ethics Anatomy Pedagogy Physics History Linguistic Physiology Chemistry Genealogy Artificial intelligence Earth science Economics Pseudoscience

Sexology interdisciplinary science that focuses on diverse aspects of human sexual behaviour and sexuality, including sexual development, relationships, intercourse,sexual dysfunction, sexually transmitted diseases, and pathologies such as child sexual abuse or sexual addiction. (Encyclopedia Britannica definition of Sexology) Sexology include: sexual orientations, sexual practices, sexual acts, objects related with sexual practices or acts, gender identities, paraphilias, sexual attractions, fetishisms, sexually transmitted diseases, sexuality related phobias, sexual roles. Tag modality It has been preferred to specify the subjects that are more related with the subject analyzed, without creating sub-categories for each subjects. This choice has been taken to escape from the losing of information regarding the prominent part of the research and at the same time not be lost in the complexity and make the information more readable. Philosophy Sexuality and Sociology sexuality They refer to items that concern these subjects and are at the same time strongly related with someone’s sexuality.

* Number of articles tagged with each subject

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PROFILIG STRUCTURED DATA The first analysis aims to have a fist overview over the data collected. Using the metadata regarding categories, subjects [a] and time [b], it is possible to carry out some initial visualization and better understand all the objects involved.

a. Categories and subjects The first analysis performed is the quantitative one. The following visualizations show how often an individual subject and then an individual category, have been identified within the articles corpus. [Viz. 10 et 11] What it is possible to notice is that there is a clear prevalence of subjects related with sexuality field. Followed by sociological and psychological components. Moreover, the variety in subjects underlines the broad spread of the topic among different life environments. A huge part is play as well by art (entertainment and representation included) and the jurisdictional and normative field. Main categories are clearly linked to the subjects. On the top, beyond paraphilias, it is possible to identify behaviours, concepts, acts, disorders, people, slangs, movements. All these categories have a strong connection with the description of paraphilias.

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To support the idea that prevalent categories are so because they describe the sexuality field (particularly the chosen area of paraphilia), it has been performed a visualization that detects the relations between categories and subjects. On the x axis it has been placed the categories, ordered by typology (see legend). On the y ones and ordered by field (see visualization legend) it has been positioned the subjects. The node size corresponds to the number of articles that meet the particular criteria described by subjects and categories. Thanks to the scatterplot [Viz.12] , it is easier to see that most of the articles within sexology subject belong to paraphilias, practices, acts and identities categories. As so, practices are mainly part of sexology. Behaviours refer to sociology, sociology sexuality, psychology and sexology. Articles categorised as act are principally within sexology field. The majority of the articles are concentrated within the sexology and social sciences field (according to the subject) and within the actual practice and the psyche sphere typology (according to the categories). A second cluster appears to be the one related with sociology and the different cultures, movements and slangs. This underline how much sexuality is critical in our social life and in the relationships with the others. Finally, two other cluster can be detected: the art (and related categories) one, and the jurisdictional and normative one.

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[ Viz. 10 ] Number of articles belonging to each category.

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[ Viz. 11] Number of articles belonging to each subject.

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[ Viz. 12 ] Scatterplot showing the relations between categories and subjects, and the number of articles belonging to each couple of category/ subject (node size).

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b . Time analysis The time trend is an important measurement to consider in the analysis of a dynamic and continuously transforming platform as Wikipedia is. The extractable and analyzable data concern the creation of an article and the the further edits performed by each user. Therefore,it is possible to trace the history of each page (countless researches have been done about this). In this analysis contest, the temporal investigation regards the article creation date and article last modification date, considering a timeline that starts the 2001, january 15th (wikipedia birth) and ends the 2015, january 29th. The purpose is to verify the possible presence of pattern.

Two different visualizations that complete each other have been performed. In the first one, each article has been placed in a timeline first according to its creation date, and then according to its last edit date, independently from the subject or the category it belongs to. [Viz. 13] This summary has been examined more in depth through a second visualization that takes into account each article as individual and draws a time-line using the two dates. [Viz. 14] All articles have been divided according to the subject they belong. At first blush, it is possible to see how articles creation corresponds with an expected trend, considering that Wikipedia was founded in 2001. The number of articles increase with time, it is stronger in the early years (2002-2006) and gradually stabilized in the following years. This trend can be seen similarly in each subject cluster. A dynamic and actual attitude can be seen looking at the last edit of each article: barely the totality of the selected articles has been edited within the last year preceding the data collection date (2015, january 29th).

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[ Viz. 13 ] Timeline showing first and last edit for all the articles (all subjects). 166


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[ Viz. 14 ] Timeline showing each single article timeline (divided per subject). 169


13. DEEPER IN THE CONTENT

After having performed a first overview analysis, it is possible to go deep in the content at the core of this research, particularly proceeding with the network analysis itself. It is always important to always keep in mind the nature of the data collected, strongly related with a free and open platform, not “absolutely true” but “relatively true” and able to describe a sociological profile rather than a scientifical-medical one.

Network analysis it an in-depth analysis on “how to read a network” see Part III: Appendix; Chapter C: “How to read a network”.

The whole analysis is based on the idea that a visualization as it could be a network, is liable to a continuous “zoom in” and “zoom out” movement and that this movement is the precious weapon to deal with complex systems. It is not a “one single way” reading, from the whole to the units, but a non stop changing of view. The network allows to consider the whole and its part (areas), as well as a more focused analysis (macro and micro clusterization), until considering the single unit (node inside a cluster). What allows to detect these different levels, are the shape, the colors, the spacialization and the links of the visualization itself: basically the design of the collected information.

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GET TO KNOW THE NETWORK A first bird’s eye view makes it possible to pinpoint the network center and discover that it is occupied by the nodes “human sexuality” “sociosexual orientation” “sexualization” “gay seual practice” “sexual arousal” “sexology” “sexual education “sexological testing”. And just at the side: “human male sexuality”, “human female sexuality”, “lesbian sexual practices”, “human sexual activity”. [Viz. 15 et 16]

[ Viz. 15 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Zoom Central nodes.

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Some nodes are not connected to the rest of the network. This happen because some of the connections they actually had were too weak and so they have been deleted. See Part II: Aphrodite; Chapter 11: From list to Network. Moreover, nodes (one or more) connected to them had had not a strong preminence and importance compared to the others, so they have been deleted as well, erasing the connection and making nodes connected with nothing but them, floating in the network. It has happened that not only a single node has ended up floating with no connection, but also small clusters (3 nodes): I. Cluster 1: I. I. Pyromania. I. II. Pyrophilia. I. III. Arson. II. Cluster 2: II. I. Gynophobia. II. II. Antrophobia. II. III. Specific social phobia. III. Other floating nodes: III. I. Pederasty. III. II. Pornocracy. III. III. European sexuality leading up to and during World War II. They were linked with History of Human Sexuality article, that has been removed. See Part II: Aphrodite; Chapter 11: From list to Network. All these nodes have not to be removed but reported as “included� in the research, part of it, but not enough connected with the other items. [Viz. 16 - following pages]

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Step to analyzing the farthest periphery of the network, it is easy (and obvious because of the algorithm) to notice the simplicity of the connections. Considering their direction, it is “one way only”. Starting from a single node, if the connection is curved clockwise, the link is outgoing (from the considered node to another). Otherwise, if the connection is curved counter-clockwise, the link is ingoing (to the considered node from another one). Three nodes (and the relative clusters linked to them) are connected to the rest of the network because of a connection that they create themselves, and there are no connections on the other way round. These nodes are: I. Hypoxia (medical) (down on the left). II. Necrophilia (down on the left). III. Tightlacing (up center). The first one is connected as well to a node that represents an article chosen in the first place, and so it is possible to have the connection. The last two are nodes that represent articles of the initial list. Other nodes are connected to the rest of the network on the other way round (from the network center to them). These are: I. Problem grambling (down left). II. Diagnostic and statistical manual of sexual disorder (down left). III. Schizophrenia (down left). IV. Anti-psychiatry (down left). V. Bear-baiting (up left). VI. Psychic vampire (up-middle right). It means that these articles had not been chosen in the first place but the rise up from the “see also” crawling. In the last case, the node is part of a peripheric cluster that include a chosen article. This explain its presence. All the other entirely result from the crawling.

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[ Viz. 16 ] “Aphrodite Network� highlight. Central nodes and not connected nodes. 175


AREAS AND CLUSTERS Helped by the modularity (graphically expressed by using different colors) and the spatialization -both resulted by using Force Atlas 2 algorithm- , the analysis starts with the identification of the microcluster. [Viz. 17 - following pages]

As said, because of the characteristics of the complex and controversial areas and so because of the visualization method used (that responds to the need of representing them exactly as dynamic and fuzzy spaces, without simplifying them). It is impossible to delineate geometrical and static borders for each cluster.

It is possible to combine some microclusters and proceed in the analysis of bigger cluster (macrocluster). Sometimes they correspond to the microclusters, most of the time the actually inglobe more than ones. At this point of zoom, it is as well possible to detect some nodes and cluster that are particulary important as they act as connector between nodes or cluster. These are called “bridges�. As well, they could have different deep of analysis (bridges that act microcluster, between microcluster, between macrocluster or between different area of the network), in this case it has been detected the main bridges that act between macroclusters. [Viz. 18 - following pages]

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[ Viz. 17 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Microcluster.

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[ Viz. 18 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Macrocluster.

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Having detected the clusters it is easier to read through the complexity. This allows to see different areas in which the network is divided.

What starts to emerge is a sort of horizontal reading of the network. Particularly it seems to go from scientific-based topics to pseudoscience. [Viz. 19] Moving from left to right, it has been detected phenomena (more or less fair, accepted, problematic) linked with what it is considered a “sane sexuality”, “normal sexual experience” that become “psychological disease” once they move from “usual sexual activity” to “addiction” without undertake any other uncommon activity (The pleasure object is moved to an unusual object, situation or nonconsenting person. Sexual arousal and pleasure does not go round the penetration idea itself). Everything related to this is findable in the first half and moving to the right part the items show a closer and closer relation with sexuality and sexual behaviour. The central section is a fuzzy line between “usual” and “unusual” behaviour that ends up in the last part (all on the right) of the network with concepts that relate with pseudosciences (vampirism).

To confirm so, the areas analysis has been performed more deeply, as to show clearly the steps from the two fuzzy halfs and the cluster.

A deep one areas have been detected as follow. [Viz. 20 - following pages]. Right after, a deep two areas analysis has been highlighted. [Viz. 21 - following pages] Enhanced the overall view of the network, it is particularly interesting to have a look at the central area composition. It could be perceived as a “double vision” in which there are the society and the social and religious norms on one side, opposite to bdsm area (boundage domination sadism masochism) and activities outside the couple area on the other. As well interesting is the area located up on the left that include zoophilia and ecological anthropology.

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[ Viz. 19 ] “Aphrodite Network� highlight. Overall reading.

These areas have to be considered fuzzy as well, i.e. they do not have static and delimitated borders. The individuated spaces could be more easily seen as a macroscopic and not detailed view of the whole network, its main differences in contents. Having in mind this disposition, it is then achievable a more detailed analysis of the clusters previously detected and the single nodes.

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[ Viz. 20 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Area deep one.

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[ Viz. 21 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Area deep two.

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LEAK IN THE CLUSTERS The analysis possibilities offered by the network are actually a lot, performable at different levels. The personal knowledge already possessed by each person that read through the network, his background, experiences and points of view, surely have a certain role in the visualization reading. Performing the content analysis, I have been as much partial as possible, standing for a neutral point of view, reporting displayed connection (in this action, having a visualization produced by an algorithm helps a lot) and having in mind (again) that this reading it is not a scientific guide, but a possible help in understanding, especially in the sociology and psychology field.

My personal background does not include a deep study in sexology field, not even in sociology or psychology. Surely, having read all the wikipedia articles chosen and some other contextual papers and having had the possibility to speak with a psychologist operant in this field, spotting some connection it is possibly easier for me than for someone that see just the network as it is, without any other knowledge over the topic. If the analysis would have been performed within a team, placed side by side with experts, it would have been possibly more deeper and detailed.

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What it is already possible to conclude is that this tool could have at least two levels of usage: I. to investigate a totally new topic / theme / subject, to have a wide overview about the connections and relations within a topic, to start a research having some possible highlighted areas. II. to increase the knowledge of an already studied topic. To confirm them or to go deeper, fastly perceiving which are the unexpected connections resulted.

I’ve decided to go deeper with some part of the network, having a look at the clusters and the node inside them.

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a. Central area It has been already pointed out a possible interesting observation in the central part of the network. [Viz. 22 et 23 - following pages]

[ Viz. 22 ] “Aphrodite Network� highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Central area).

What it is mainly developed in this area is the description of social life according to sexuality and humans relationships, in terms of norms, regulations, social rules, behaviours. Not only social laic aspects are described, a strong reference to religious norms and views is present too.

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Looking at the cluster from left to right, it can be seen that nodes are spread in the left / central part and more clusterized going towards the right side. Nodes as “sexual norm”, “same sex marriage” “reproductive rights” “sexual orientation” “marriage” are located in this first left part. As well as cluster containing “divorce” “implication of divorce” “child custody” “fear of commitment” “relationship education” (social normative) and “sexual revolution” “birth control” “religion and sexuality” “christian view on contraception” “victimless crime” (social and religion normative). All these nodes trace the sexuality profile from a sociological and normative point of view. Basically how human beings have regulated sexual activity inside the society (keeping in mind that the analysis is performed on the english edition of Wikipedia and that social and religious norms are subjected to different culture). As there are norms, there are as well hostile behaviours that go against them, violating someone else’s freedom. Indeed, a cluster regarding sexual harassment is present as well.

Directly related with norms, there is as well a cluster that describes the usage of sexual activity regardless the emotional and sexual relationship between people. These activities use the sexual and psychological energy produced and grown by the sexual excitement, addressing it to spiritual purposes.This cluster refers therefore to “sex magic” (present nodes are as well “spirit spouse” “sacred prostitution” “eroto-comatose lucidity” “orgasm control”). Blended within this cluster, there are the non-penetrative practices, defined inside a normal sexual activity, with the purpose of incrementing sexual energy, both in sexual love and spiritual practices that use it (nodes are “venus butterfly” “non penetrative sex” “handjob” “erotic massage” “sex position” “masturbation”). The clue of the items in this central part is moving from normative and social aspects to effective practices.

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Indeed, in the network central part, are placed this cluster yet described and nodes as “sex education” “sexology” “human sexuality” “human sexual activity” “sexual arousal”. This section follows through the passage to a more practical side of sexuality and to the description of a sexual activity opposite to the norms. Particularly there is a clear clusterization that regards all the activities performed outside the couple. This cluster is actually varied considering the articles it contains, but “the couple” as social formation is a radicated and strong concept and makes all what is “different to the norm” a unique cluster. The same opposition to normatives stays at the bottom of another cluster, the bdsm (boundage, domination, sadism, masochism) one. Its development is longitudinal, but the aspects it presents more towards the center are related with one of the prominent concept it is based on: the overturning of society, the creation of an opposite situation to what the social reality is. This is translate mainly with “female-led relationship” and “female dominance” (and the nodes near bye) (See BDSM cluster analysis, following pages). Summarizing: we have a subject, that is human sexuality and sexual activities and stays in the center, showing the norms side and related behaviours (left) and the activities that do not meet with these norms (rights). What distinguishes a “normal” behaviour from an “abnormal” ones, varies according to the perceived and/or fixed normative. [Viz. 23 et 24 - following pages]

[ Viz. 23 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Central area).

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[ Viz. 24 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Central area). 192


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b. Androgyny Moving not too far from the center, another big cluster takes place: the one referred to gender studies. Passing over the accurate analysis of it, it is still interesting to observe how actually this part of the network is deeply related with sociology. Indeed, it is possible to notice the prominence of the “androgyny” node. This has clear implication with gender role and gender identity inside the society (reasoning that justify its presence in the gender cluster). Moreover it describes a new social tendence, mainly guided yt fashion and pop culture, that have accepted and popularised the “androgynous” look, with several current pop stars being hailed as creative trendsetters. [Viz. 25 et 26 - following pages]

[20] https: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgyny (18 November 2015).

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[ Viz. 25 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Androgyny).


The rise of the metrosexual in the first decade of the 2000s has also been de-

“scribed as a related phenomenon associated with this trend. Traditional gender

stereotypes have been challenged and reset in recent years dating back to the 1960s, the hippie movement and flower power. Artists in film such as Leonardo DiCaprio sported the “skinny” look in the 1990s, a departure from traditional masculinity which resulted in a fad known as “Leo Mania.” This trend came long after musical superstars such as David Bowie, Boy George, Prince, and Annie Lennox challenged the norms in the 1970s and had elaborate cross gender wardrobes by the 1980s. Musical stars such as Marilyn Manson and the band Placebo have used clothing and makeup to create an androgyny culture throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s. Manson even appeared genderless in the album cover for Mechanical Animals, showing breasts and no reproductive organs. One of the earliest celebrities to challenge gender stereotypes was Elvis Presley in the 1950s, whose wardrobe and use of makeup (particularly eye makeup) incited traditionalists to riot. Presley inspired extraordinary artists such as the Beatles (starting with long hair and progressing to full-fledged androgynous dress in life and on stage), the Rolling Stones (particularly Mick Jagger who strongly worked the androgyny angle) during the 1960s. Many other musicians challenged gender stereotypes such as, Jimi Hendrix who wore women’s shirts, scarves, high-heeled boots, and was famously shy and soft-spoken in interviews. In the 1970s John Travolta made skintight male fashion disco de rigueur. Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant combined a somewhat effeminate physical appearance with a high pitched, flamboyant vocal range coupled with a distinctly masculine sexuality. With this new fashion, celebrities have influenced other males to have an increasing interest in traditional female interests like clothing, fashion accessories, hairstyles, manicures, spa treatments and so on.These trends have arguably gone on to reshape fashion, clothing houses, including Top Man, and designer labels. There has been an increase in sales in relevant “androgynous” merchandise. While the 1990s unrolled and fashion developed an affinity for unisex clothes there was a rise of designers who favored that look, like Helmut Lang, Giorgio Armani and Pierre Cardin, the trends in fashion hit the public mainstream in the 2000s (decade) that featured men sporting different hair styles: longer hair, hairdyes, hair highlights. Men in catalogues started wearing jewellery, make up, visual kei, designer stubble. These styles have become a significant mainstream trend of the 21st century, both in the western world and in Asia.Japanese and Korean cultures have featured the androgynous look as a positive attribute in society, as depicted in both K-pop, J-pop, in anime and manga, as well as the fashion industry. [20]

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[ Viz. 26 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Genders cluster). 196


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b. Grambling Down on the left, it has been identified a cluster that is apparently not related to the research subject. The link with grambling activities is due to the common nature of this disorder with paraphilia ones: they are both obsessive-compulsive disorders, addictions that become the only life aim and exclusive need of the affected person. The psychological energy involved to contrast all the other needs and desire (other than the ones referred to the disorder) and the disposition of oneself entire life in order to achieve the desired object, bring to consequences like panic attacks and other psychological disease. Grambling is linked to the internet sexual disorder node, that emerges from “internet sex addiction” and “pornography addiction” nodes. These cluster underline the presence of another aspect of sexuality and sexual activities: the cybersexuality, related with the growning role of internet in the society and the easy access to information, materials and connections. [Viz. 27, 28 et 29]

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[ Viz. 27 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Grambling cluster). [ Viz. 28 ] Page on the right. “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Internet addiction cluster). [ Viz. 29 ] Page on the right. “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Gramling cluster).


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c. Incest Another cluster easy to identify is the incest one. The articles detected refer to an anthropological research. Incest can be considered an innate behavioural norm for humans, no one teach “not to commit incest”, it is a naturally acquired behaviour (as cannibalism). [Viz. 30]

[ Viz. 30 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Incest cluster)

The incest taboo is and has been one of the most widespread of all cultural taboos, both in present and in many past societies. Most modern societies have laws regarding incest or social restrictions on closely consanguineous marriages (node law regarding incest). The children of incestuous relationships were regarded as illegitimate, and are still so regarded in some societies today. In most cases, the parents did not have the option to marry to remove that status, as incestuous marriages were and are normally also prohibited. The social impact of this topic can be seen through the presence of the nodes incest in popular culture, incest in folklore, incest in the Bible.

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This last node underline the implication of religion as well. To notice that one of the two direct links incoming to incest node is actually from religion and sexuality (The second comes from adultery). A common justification given for the incest taboo is the impact inbreeding may have on children of incestuous sex. Children whose biological parents have a close genetic relationship have an increased risk of congenital disorders, death, and disability due at least in part to genetic diseases caused by the inbreeding. As we can see, inside the incest cluster there is an high presence of articles that describe this biological and genetical possibility.

Offspring of biologically related parents are subject to the possible impact of

“inbreeding. Such offspring have a higher possibility (Coefficient of relationship)

of congenital birth defects because it increases the proportion of zygotes that are homozygous for deleterious recessive alleles that produce such disorders (Inbreeding depression). Because most such alleles are rare in populations, it is unlikely that two unrelated marriage partners will both be heterozygous carriers. However, because close relatives share a large fraction of their alleles, the probability that any such rare deleterious allele present in the common ancestor will be inherited from both related parents is increased dramatically with respect to non-inbred couples. Contrary to common belief, inbreeding does not in itself alter allele frequencies, but rather increases the relative proportion of homozygotes to heterozygotes. However, because the increased proportion of deleterious homozygotes exposes the allele to natural selection, in the long run its frequency decreases more rapidly in inbred population. In the short term, incestuous reproduction is expected to produce increases in spontaneous abortions of zygotes, perinatal deaths, and postnatal offspring with birth defects. This also means that the closer two persons are related, the more severe are the biological costs of inbreeding. This fact likely explains why inbreeding between close relatives, such as siblings, is less common than inbreeding between cousins. There may also be other deleterious effects besides those caused by recessive diseases. Thus, similar immune systems may be more vulnerable to infectious diseases (Major histocompatibility complex and sexual selection). [21]

�

[21] https: / /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest�, 18th november 2015

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On the other hand, most prohibitions on incest extend the categories of prohibited relationships to affinity relationships such as in-law relations, step relations, and relations through adoption, among others. As such, the incest taboo is not solely based on inbreeding, and also applies to sexual activity between relatives (genetically related or otherwise) who cannot have children or to sexual activity between relatives where conception is not likely to occur. It seems more likely that this taboo rises from the concern about the preservation of humankind from a cultural perspective, more than a biological ones. If marriage is an exchange, it is more logical to perform it between different social groups (exogamy), and lead to a mutual improvement under the socio-economical point of view as under the cultural ones, than to establish a relation within oneself society (endogamy). These two nodes, exogamy and endogamy, are as well present in the cluster. Regarding so, Claude Lèvi-Strauss (anthropologist) believes that the incest prohibition is an universal constant that marks the transition from a pure natural status to a human society (even though barely organized). In some ancient societies, combinations of relations (and so, incest) were practiced among royalty as a means of perpetuating the royal lineage (Egyptians, Incas). Other hypotheses regarding this taboo, consider “body odors” as cause for the repulsion between relatives: the high similarity in body odors could both act as a repulsion or have no effects (causing the failure in attract the engaged parts). Following this, the idea that humans tend to look for individuals that have a different body odors is supported, and with that all the chemical and biological implications regarding sexual attraction. This concept is as well present in the network. Its cluster is findable in the area regarding biological studies, as it is related not particularly and only with incest, but more in general with sexual arousal and attraction. Finally, it must be pointed out the presence of the node “genetic sexual attraction”, that describes a form of sexual attraction between relatives. [Viz. 31]

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[ Viz. 31 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Incest cluster). 203


It is interesting to see the connections that this cluster create, which describe a proximity between incest and pedophilia (it is possible to find inside pedophilia cluster, the following nodes: “convert incest” “phaedra complex” “parentification” “jocasta complex”). The linkage between the two cluster occurs as follow: incest node → exogamy node → hypergamy node → age disparity in sexual relationship → cougar (slang) node → phaedra complex → covert incest / parentification / jocasta complex. [Viz. 32 et 33]

[ Viz. 32 ] Page on the right. “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position and links in the network. (Incest, Pedophilia cluster). [ Viz. 33 ] Page on the right. “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Pedophilia related cluster).

Incest is often linked to relation in which there is a high educative aspect. Education establishes a relation between different social classes, different social groups and social roles. It becomes a relationship based on admiration, attachment, attraction but also it strongly identifies roles, where the educator hold a higher position (e.g. Professor vs student, Woman vs teenager). Educate a minor and establish a sexual attachment with him, flow into pedophilia. The primary education is the one inside the family, in this sense, the attachment created is both incestuous and pedophilus. Education has a strong power in setting an attachment and / or in justifying domination. Indeed, incest cluster is connected to the node attachment theory.

Incest between an adult and a child is usually considered a form of child

“sexual abuse and for many years has been the most reported form of incest.

Father–daughter and stepfather–stepdaughter incest is the most commonly reported form of adult-child incest, with most of the remaining involving a mother or stepmother. [...] A study of victims of father–daughter incest in the 1970s showed that there were “common features” within families before the occurrence of incest: estrangement between the mother and the daughter, extreme paternal dominance, and reassignment of some of the mother’s traditional major family responsibility to the daughter. [22]

[22] https: / /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest”, 18th november 2015

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d. Rape Culture The node rape culture is easily spotted as its modularity connects it to a cluster (objectification) that is different from the one the nodes is placed in (gender). This difference can be graphically perceive thanks to the different colors usage to identify modularity. [See Viz. 9] [Viz. 34]

[ Viz. 35 ] Page on the right. “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position and links in the network. (Rape culture, Objectification cluster). [ Viz. 36 ] Page on the right. “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Objectification cluster).

[ Viz. 34 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Rape culture).

Rape culture has the same colour (i.e. the same modularity) as “Sexual objectification”, “Exploitation of women in mass media”, “Sex in advertising”, “Dehumanization”, “Objectification”, “Sexuality in music video”. These nodes rappresent something that is preceived as exploitation, dehumanization. Society recognize that these behaviours involve a lack of respect towards someone. On the contrary, it is not always true that society can recognize unrespectful behaviours that hide themselves in cultures and social norms preceived as corrected. Rape culture is not so visible, even if it is based on the same concepts as these nodes. [Viz. 35 et 36]

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Rape culture can be defined as a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It occurs in a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm. In a rape culture, both men and women assume that sexual violence is a fact of life, inevitable as death or taxes. Sexual rape and other violence acts are not only diffuse and almost part of the daily routine, but are also banalized, justified and encouraged in a more or less explicit way, using mass media and increasing a wrong perception in the society. Women are automatically spur to adopt behaviours that subtend the rape culture, even without being conscious of this because of the deeply-rooted concept of this rape culture. Concept as slut-shaming and victim-blaming describe these behaviours (e.g. a rape victim is questioned with “why did you go out with him?” “Were you drunk?” “What were you wearing?”). The clue is not the person that commits the act, but the victim. Behaviours and verbal modes are not perceived as aggressions or violence, but as normality. Rape culture includes jokes, TV, music, advertising, legal jargon, laws, words and imagery, that make violence against women and sexual coercion seem so normal that people believe that rape is inevitable. Rather than viewing the culture of rape as a problem to change, people in a rape culture think about the persistence of rape as “just the way things are”, so it is not a matter to eradicate rape as behaviour but to prevent being a victim. Rape culture as concept is closer to sexual objectification and women exploitation, but its rooted presence makes it less visible. Indeed, identified as sexist an advertising as “objectifying a woman body” is easier than see it in a claim as “Don’t get raped” (that should actually be “don’t rape”).

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[ Viz. 37 ] “Aphrodite Network� highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Genders cluster, Rape culture position).

Other nodes connected with rape culture and that define it, are: sexism, feminist, separatist feminism, misogyny, misandry, corrective rape. As evidence that rape culture is so deeply established in the society, there is also a report referring to sex crimes (rape): rape is the most recidivist crime, as once released, offenders are re-immersed in a context (the society) that is impregnated with the concepts that brought them to act. [Viz. 37]

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e. Modularity shaped clusters The algorithmical calculation of modularity helps in the network analysis. In this case I’ll shortly take into consideration two groups of clusters having the same modularity. [Viz. 38 et 39] This group of clusters summarily describe sexuality considering the scientific / biological point of view: I. Cluster1: I. I. Human sexuality. I. II. Human female sexuality. I. III. Human male sexuality. I. IV. Human sexual activity. I. V. Mechanism of human sexuality. I. VI. Lesbian sexual practice. I. VII. Homosexuality. II. Cluster2: II. I. Sexual response cycle. II. II. Orgiastic potency. II. III. Body psychotherapy. III. Cluster3: III. I. Libido. III. II. False pleasure. IV. Cluster4: IV. I. Cluster with the sexual physical dysfunctions. V. Cluster5: V. I. Cluster containing medical manuals. This second group of cluster describe sexuality derived behaviours: I. Cluster1: I. I. Cluster sexual harassments. II. Cluster2: II. II. Sex magic cluster. II. III. Masturbation cluster. II. IV. orgasm control. III. Cluster3: III. I. affective psychology (delusion, paranoia, obsessive love…). IV. Cluster4: IV. II. cybersex cluster.

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[ Viz. 38 ] Page on the right. “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (First group of cluster per Modularity). [ Viz. 39 ] Page on the right. “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Second group of cluster per Modularity).


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WHAT ABOUT PARAPHILIAS? Using graphics, it has been highlighted the paraphilias position. Doing so, it is possible to see that they are mainly located on the right side of the network. This is actually what was expected, as that “right side” was the part identified as related with uncommon sexual arousal and practices. The fact that paraphilias are spread in the area, defined in many and different clusters, rises the idea of having a paraphilia related to every single thing (Indeed, paraphilia NOS is the denomination given to all the “non otherwise specified” (acronym: NOS paraphilia). Having performed a previous clusters division, this deeper look at the nodes allows to better define a possible paraphilia categorizations. [Viz. 40] Paraphilias as specified in the tagging action, paraphilia does not have a forced negative connotation and does not reflect the DSM point of view. Paraphilia is considered as a non-pejorative designation for unusual sexual interests (Sexologist John Money).

[ Viz. 40 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Paraphilias)

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Sexual arousal (in behaviour and/or imagination) could be referred to: I. A specific object: I. I. living being - more or less capable to resist as in the case of children, animals, mental or physical disables; people with specific physical condition. It could be in active or passive form (meaning having fantasies about being in the condition of the desire object. I. II. (typically non sexual) part of the body - otherwise defined as “partialism” - and body secretions. I. III. non-living object. This two last categories are often defined as fetishism and linked one to the other.

Fetishism is characterized as a disorder when there is a pathological assign-

“ment of sexual fixation, fantasies or behaviors toward an inanimate object -

frequently an item of clothing, such as underclothing or a high-heeled shoe or to non-genital body parts, such as the foot. Only through use of this object can the individual obtain sexual gratification. The fetishist usually holds, rubs or smells the fetish object for sexual gratification or asks their partner to wear the object during sexual encounters; [..] male fetishists may be unable to get erections without the presence of the objects. [...] Aside from those listed above, other common objects used by fetishists are panties, bras, slips, stockings, other intimate apparel, footwear and gloves. Common materials other than those listed above also include rubber and fur. For some, merely a picture of the fetish object may arise the fetishists, though most prefer or require the actual object. It is not about the person who has worn the object, rather it is about the object itself. Examples of animate fetish objects include hair, legs and buttocks. Inanimate object fetishists often collect the object of their favor. [...] In some cases, the fetishism is severe enough to inspire the fetishist to acquire objects of his desire through theft or assault. [...] There is a degree of fetishistic arousal in most normal individuals who find particular bodily features attractive. However, fetishistic arousal is generally considered a problem when it interferes with normal sexual or social functioning and where sexual arousal is impossible without the fetish object. [22]

[22] https: / /www.psychologytoday.com

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[ Viz. 41 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network and label by cluster (Paraphilias).

II. A specific act and/or situation: II. I. referred to sight (exibitionism, voyerism...). II. II. referred to touch (frotteurism, toucherism, tickling...). II. III. referred to pain (sadism, masochism, spanking, crush…). II. IV. referred to humiliation. II. V. referred to the action of eating / drinking and to food. II. VI. referred to costume / to take on a role that is not of oneself. All these categories are not to be intended as static. Most of the time they are simultaneously present. [Viz. 41 et 42 - following pages]

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[ Viz. 42 ] “Aphrodite Network� highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network and label by node (Paraphilias). 217


Looking at the connection outgoing from paraphilia nodes, it is possible to notice that the most of them link to practices, acts, behaviours and objects, located in the right-half - this support the idea that their presence is so to describe paraphilias in their practal form- and with psychological disorders - direct consequence of obsessive-compulsive disorders and addictions. The psychological energy involved to contrast all the other needs and desires other than the ones referred to the disorder (particularly for the paraphilias, it has to contrast the natural sexual behaviour involving penetration) and the disposition of oneself entire life in order to achieve the desired object, bring to consequences like panic attacks and other psychological complicances and diseases. The other connections point to different objects, belonging to 50 different detected categories, most of the time just one object per category. [Viz. 43 - following pages]

Paraphilia nodes are mainly located in the right part of the network but not only. Indeed, there are some sexual arousals perceived as paraphilia not because of the subject nature itself or the activity, but because of some collateral implications: it is the case of “genetic sexual attraction”, strongly related with the incest taboo. Some others are connected with sexual harassment because of the “non consensus” implication (even though the idea of “non consensual target” could be part of the paraphilia itself).

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Transvestism, tranvestophilia, attraction to transgender people are also considered paraphilias. They are linked to a cluster (the gender ones) that is highly controversial and they are strongly related with a sexual orientation that was perceived as abnormal until 1994 (homosexuality). Having overtaken the idea of homosexuality as paraphilia and psychosexual disorder, activities related to it are no more labelled as mentally ill but they preserve an high debated role inside the society. Homosexuality itself is still blamed and persecuted, as it is widely shown by the cluster violence based on sexuality. It is as well interesting to notice that paraphilias related with “rape” stay in the left side of the network (rape fantasy and biastophilia) This could be linked with the previously described “rape culture” and with a sort of general normalization surrounding the “raping act” in the society (corrective rape and forced seduction nodes). But the most evident paraphilia dis-location is the one regarding zoophilia, that finds its place up-left in the network.

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[ Viz. 43 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes outgoing links (Paraphilias). 221


a. Zoophilia The hypothesis that explains this behaviour stays in the term itself and its connotation. Zoophilia stands for “animals lover”, not exclusively with a sexual meaning. This definition creates a particular cluster surrounding the node. Subjects are varied and they rather refer to an anthropological/ecological research. Two nodes are related with sexology: zoophilia and zoosadism (subject to the general definition of these two terms, that could regard both sexual arousal and particularly kind behaviour towards animals). [Viz. 44, 45 et 46 - following pages]

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[ Viz. 44 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Zoophilia).


[ Fig. 39 ] See also section in the Zoophilia Wikipedia page.

Nevertheless, the Zoophilia wikipedia page mainly regards the sexual connotation of the term. The link with the right-uncommon part of the network is fastly spotted: the nodes animal roleplay, fur fetishism, paraphilia - that are in the right side - are as well connected with zoophilia. The idea of a wider connotation is underlined by the organization of the “see also� section of the page itself. Generally it is presented as a simple list, while in the zoophilia page case this list is detailed and locates different connected pages in different study fields. [Fig. 39]

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[ Viz. 45 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Zoophilia cluster). 224


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[ Viz. 46 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. Nodes Subjects attribute. (Zoophilia cluster). 226


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b. BDSM Performing the same “subjects analysis” to the BDSM cluster, the result is visibly different: there is a clear predominance of sexology pertinent articles. Secondary, there are articles related to sexuality and sociology / psychology, sociology and entertainment. As a whole, a more homogeneous cluster. [Viz. 47 et 48 - following pages] Other information can be detected looking at the articles categories. There is a clear predominance in terms of practices, behaviours and role, more than the four paraphilias (sadomasochism, algolagnia, total enclosure fetishism, uniform fetishism). [Viz. 49 - following pages] Despite colloquial language refers to BDSM both as set of practices and fetishism, it is not the technical term to identify a paraphilia. It is a set of practices, linked - as the acronyms says - to boundage, domination, sadism and masochism.

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[ Viz. 47 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (BDSM cluster).


Paraphilias related to these practices are more than one, the closest it is probably the “sadomasochism” (or better defined as “sexual sadism disorder” and “sexual masochism disorder”). Participants in these activities do not define BDSM as a perversion or a paraphilia, but as a set of sexual practices among consenting adults. An agreement is stipulated in order to take part in this “game”, the participants are aware of what they do and do not act against their will.

The idea of consensus is a cornerstone in BDSM culture. Considering the network, it is highlighted in the central and upper part of the cluster (consent (BDSM), limits (BDSM), Safe, sane and consensual, risk-aware consensual kink). The contract between contractors shows limits and safewords, behavioral terms within the game. This object is actually a strong psychological weapon in the hands of those who asks it to be signed. It guarantees the presence of limits that in the actual moment are not always respected: the situation control is precarious because of the engagement in the situation (there is less lucidity during sexual acts, due to the erotic energy involved). Considering so, it becomes more interesting, psychologically speaking, the individual that is able to keep the control of the situation because of the amount of psychological energy that he is able to use to maintain this detachment. Concept as rational lucidity, submission to someone else will and safety, can be extended to many paraphilias. Internet and all the information that it freely and openly offers, increase the awareness and knowledge over various practices: techniques, methods, instruction about how to prevent not to hurt yourself (and/or someone else). This is, somehow, a possible “good news”. The problem rises when the unsafe action relapses on a person different from oneself. In this case there are mainly two implications: this “other” person is generally psychologically weak, submitted to the one that act. His addictive personality could be the consequence of extreme love and devotion, trust and general strong feeling towards the “actor”. During sexual activity, rational lucidity is less higher than normal. This depends on the personal implication in the activity and on the erotic energy involved. In this scenario, losing control, overtake limits and give rise to dangerous situations is not so difficult.

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[ Viz. 48 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. Nodes Subjects attribute. (BDSM cluster). 231


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[ Viz. 49 ] “Aphrodite Network� highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. Nodes Categories attribute. (BDSM cluster). 233


Looking at the cluster, one node probably arouses curiosity more than other because of its size. Indeed, the female dominance node identifies another feature of these practices. The BDSM world is the “society backstage”, where traditional roles are overturn. The woman, that has a weak role in society (See rape culture node analisys in the previous pages), becomes dominant of a man who is a leader in the society, and becomes a submissive. Not being able to publicly express fragility and weaknesses, the “leader man” finds in bdsm a private and exclusive world to stage his fantasies as a game (comprehensive of rules). To preserve the secret of this “weakness”, participation in these activities is often expensive. In this way, the participants all belong to a high social class and this prevent the possibility of extort each other.

[ Viz. 50 ] Page on the right. “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (BDSM cluster, Erotic Pain, Religious and educational pain). [ Viz. 51 ] Page on the right. “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (BDSM cluster, Erotic Pain, Religious and educational pain).

As well, it is interesting to notice that the only geographical reference in this cluster is towards Japan (Japan, manga, anime, seed and uke, fandom, Japanese bondage, nyotaimori). This geographical and cultural reference can be found in another cluster: the one related with pedophilia. (See pedophilia cluster analysis in the following pages)

Finally, looking at the modularity, it points out another interesting connection. Links (originated by through modularity and “see also”) have been created between the bdsm cluster and erotic spanking one one side, and between the bdsm cluster and flagellant / flagellation on the other. Moreover these two are connected. Looking at the nodes and reading the articles, what emerges is the description of three aspects and situations in which pain and punishments are inflicted (to oneself or towards someone else): erotics situations (erotic spanking, dungeon (BDSM), erotic furniture, barkley horse, dippoldism) religious-spiritual purposes (flagellant, flagellation, mortification of the flash) and education (corporal punishment, spanking). These last two aspects are placed in the same cluster. (A fourth aspect related with punishments can be found in the torture cluster, that has as well, links with erotics articles). This last cluster, precisely with the nodes corporal punishment and spanking is directly connected with the children related cluster, confirmation that it is perceived as a form of educative method. [Viz. 50 et 51]

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c. Pedophilia Taking into account the cluster regarding children and pedophilia, what is possible to notice is that there are reference: I. To adult sexuality towards children (more in general, regarding adults and different ages) II. Towards the development that brings to an “adult sexuality” III. Towards age eligibility IV. Towards abuses V. To child pornography and VI. To cartoon pornography What has been created, even though it speaks about children, it is not a cluster that directly regards children sexuality, symptom of the fact that children sexuality as subject is a rather now field of study. This could rely on the historical and spread belief according to which children have no sexuality. [Viz. 52, 53, 54 et 55 - following pages]

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[ Viz. 52 ] “Aphrodite Network” highlight. Examinated nodes position in the network. (Children related cluster).


Looking at the nodes, it can be seen that in this cluster appears the only support group aim to help people that experience sexual arousal towards children but do not act (do not commit the abuse). Pedophilia is one of the most connotated paraphilias, as it involves a society part (children) that are considered the weakest part, not capable to take decisions and so it has to be protected (However, the idea of protection depends on different societies and cultures). Moreover, the term itself is essentially referred to a crime: pedophiles generally do not define themselves as “pedophiles”, as they perceive their feeling as love towards children. The existence of support groups shows that there is a new consideration with respect to this paraphilia, stressing that such attraction, romantic and/or sexual, can exist even without becoming abuse. Looking at legislation, it has to be pointed out that the a pedophile is impeachable only if he commits the abuse and that texts (books or stories) that refer to pedophilia are legal (They are just fairy tales but it is as well true that they influence social culture).

Part of the same cluster, strongly connected through nodes “child pornography”, “child erotica” and “pedophilia”, but spatially separated, it is possible to find the microclusters “cartoon pornography”. This is a nearly elitist cluster that create connection inside itself. Looking at the nodes, they all refer to Japanese culture as well the connection they have with other nodes outside the cluster (moe (slang), promotional model, bukkake (sexual act), cosplaying). There is just one exception: “Tijuana Bible”, a pornographic comic book from US, that works as bridge from this cluster to the “geek” ones. This elitism could be a synonymous of a different vision over sexuality that Japan has, much more related with androgyny forms, with “eternal teenager” and with “idol” rather than the femme fatale ideal or the macho ones in western societies. This cluster will probably open up and be more and more connected to others, considering the increasing contacts between cultures and the growing trend of western society towards the androgyny (see highlight androgyny). Moreover, it has to be pointed out that cartoon pornography is subjected to different jurisdictions. In some countries it is illegal when it depicts underage characters (which differences according to each country perception); In Japan, pornographic art depicting underage characters (lolicon, shotacon) is legal. However, it remains controversial even within the country.

237


[ Viz. 53 ] “Aphrodite Network� highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Children related cluster). 238


239


[ Viz. 54 ] “Aphrodite Network� highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Children related cluster). 240


241


[ Viz. 55 ] “Aphrodite Network� highlight. Examinated nodes zoom. (Children related cluster). 242


243


14. GOING GLOBAL

Looking at the structure of Wikipedia, it has been noted that each article actually has connections to the others with the “see also” section, as widely shown in the previous chapter, and because of the fact that the same article could be present in other different languages. With over 280 language editions, Wikipedia is a huge repository of diverse world knowledge. Each language edition has been shown to contain a great deal of unique information.

The comparison of a same article in different Wikipedia editions is an analysis that has been already carried out. Zaltic, Božicevic, Štefancic and Domazet (2006) have pointed out that, comparing different linguistic version of the encyclopedia it is possible to see some similarity in the growth, articles distribution and connection. Roger and Sendijarevic (2012) have proposed the study of Wikipedia as a social and cultural reference, selecting the same article (concerning the Srebrenica massacre of July 1995) in different languages (Dutch, English, Bosnian, Croatian,Serbian, Serbo-Croatian). Specifically, their analysis looks at the comparison of titles, the contents index, the discussion page, the main editors and their location, the references and the images used. It turned out that Wikipedia express a more national point of view rather than an universal one, especially when topics are controversial. [Fig. 40]

244


At first glance such an approach to Wikipedia might appear counterintuitive,

“given its principles and its collaborative, consensus-building environment. One

may imagine that the principle of neutral point of view upon which it is founded, and the bureaucracy in place to further it, would make Wikipedia articles universal, or at least increasingly similar, across language versions. It was found that such a presumption does not hold. (Rogers, 2013)

�

[ Fig. 40 ] Sample of the Analysis carried out by Roger and Sendijarevic studio (2012).

245


Therefore, it is interesting to compare the quality of different linguistic wikipedia editions and analyze how knowledge is represented. However, language barriers prevent visitors from accessing most of the information on the site. The study carried out by Collablab Laboratory (The Collaborative Technology Laboratory) of Northwestern University (USA) has as goal the one to remedy at this situation. In particular proposing a tool: Omnipedia. It “provides users with structured access in their native language to over 8 million concepts from up to 25 language editions of Wikipedia. Omnipedia highlights the similarities and differences that exist among the language editions, making salient information that is unique to each language as well as that which is shared more widely.” [23] [Fig. 41 et 42]

[ Fig. 41 ] Example of Omnipedia usage. You begin using Omnipedia by looking something up in your native language, say “conspiracy theory”. These tiny circles represent entities that are mentioned in only one language edition’s article(s) on conspiracy theories. [23]

[23] https: / /omnipedia.northwestern.edu/

246


[ Fig. 42 ] Example of Omnipedia usage. Zooming in and panning all the way to the other end, we can see the entities that are mentioned in all or nearly all language editions’ coverage of conspiracy theories. [23]

Speaking about linguistic analysis, it is not possible to say that to each language corresponds a nation, especially if languages as english, spanish or french are considered. Tough it is clear that each language has a strong connection with the culture (bound that has not to be completely excluded during the analysis), it is as well true that it is not possible to define an exact correspondence language-nation. Nations inside wikipedia are more likely to be intended as abstract places shaped by the people that speak a specific language.

247


LANGUAGE ANALYSIS Having both the content and the languages data, it is possible and interesting to take into consideration the two together and visualize the type of content presents in each languages related with the english Wikipedia edition. Within 1336 articles, 1173 have at least one link with another edition. Using a matrix method in which there are languages on the x axis and articles in the y axis, it is possible to visualized a pattern of presence. This analysis (due to the huge amount of data) has been partially carried out, considering only paraphilias articles, top articles (i.e. articles that has more than 49 languages linked to the english one), and articles that are linked only with languages different from french, spanish, german, portuguese, italian (main european languages). Languages have been divided into continent (excluding french, spanish, german, portuguese), more precisely in this order: french, spanish, german, portuguese, italian, european languages, eurasian, asian (west, centre, mongolian, chinese, east asia south and southeast asia), african, american (north, center, south), oceanian. It is important to always keep in mind that all the relation are based on the presence of the the link in the english Wikipedia article page. It could be that a specific article is actually present in a language (different from the referenced one, english) but no user has created this link between the two pages.

248


a. Languages per article For this first analysis, have been considered the articles that are linked with more than 49 Wikipedia editions from the english ones. Among them, the articles that link at the biggest number of languages are actually “general articles”: “Japan”, “Wikipedia common”, “marriage”. It is interesting to see “marriage” to be in the top three. It seems to reflect a role of cornerstone in the society, a norm that generally shared and accepted: societies have a strong need to give order and regulate relationship. It gives as well another justification to the fact that all the practices “outside the couple” are clusterized in the network it has been previously analyzed. “Divorce” as marriage breakage is present as well in this list of article with more than 49 links to other languages (33rd position). Right after it (40th position) there is the article “samesex marriage”, that underlines the perception of marriage as an agreement between “different-sex people”. [Viz. 56 - following pages]

Regarding sexuality and sexology, twenty articles concerning these subjects have been linked from the english version to the others. These articles are mainly about usual topic related with sexuality: “homosexuality” (position 5th), “Vaginal sex” (position 7th), “masturbation” (11th), “prostitution” (14th), “bisexuality” (22nd), “kamasutra” (24th), “anal sex” (28th), “incest” (29th), “lgbt” (31st), “gender” (34th), “sexual orientation” (37th), “lesbian-identified” (41st), “pedophilia” (43rd), “homophobia” (48th), “sexology” (57th), “sexual dimorphism” (58th), “libido” (59th), “asexuality” (60th), “transexualism” (62th). In this list there are all the officially recognized sexual orientations. However, only one paraphilia is listed: “pedophilia”. This sustains the idea that it is probably the most connotate, discussed and known paraphilia.

249


Thanks to the matrix visualization, it is possible to point out as well which are the languages in which the articles are present and linked with the english Wikipedia version. Having in mind that languages have been ordered by geographic areas (Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Oceania), it is interesting to see the resulted pattern: it keeps repeating for each geographic area , underlining that languages are mainly translated into some languages, that correspond as well at the most extended Wikipedia editions. These are: French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, Finnish, Ukrainian, Czech, Catalan, Norwegian (bokmål), Simple English, Danish, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, Serbian, Croatian, Romanian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Slovak, Estonian, Basque, Galician, Greek, Belarusian, Russian, Turkish, Georgian, Persian, Hebrew, Kazakh, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tamil, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Arabic. Looking at the geographic areas, it can be seen that Europe present a most extended specification of languages (excluding French, Spanish, Portuguese and Simple English, as these languages are actually spread worldwide), followed by Asia. In these areas is concentrated the highest number of articles, while the latters are not that much linked with the African Wikipedia Editions (except for Arabic and Afrikaans) and the American and Oceanian ones.

All these articles (except one, “developmental psychology”) are linked to the Esperado Wikipedia edition (a constructed international auxiliary languages). All article are linked to the German edition, the Italian, the Dutch, the Ukrainian, the Catalan, the Bulgarian, the Russian, the Hebrew, the Chinese and the Japanese edition. [Viz. 57 - following pages]

250


b. Language per article (paraphilias only) A second analysis has been done considering only the paraphilias articles, in order to points out which are the most spread paraphilia and in which languages. The number of links to other editions is visibly lower. Most of the paraphilias articles link to less than 10 other Wikipedia editions. Particularly some of them link to just one languages: “attraction to disability” (Chinese), “rape fantasy” (Japanese), “total enclosure fetishsim” (Spanish), “total enclosure fetishism” (Catalan), “tranvestophilia” (Spanish), “clothing fetishism” (Chinese), “downblouse” (Bulgarian). Even if with a less expansion, the previously descripted pattern rises again in the matrix referred to paraphilias articles only. It is interesting to point out that none of the articles have a link to the American and Oceanian languages. This can be possibly explained by the fact that the terminology used to identify paraphilias is pretty much sectorial and specific, probably these continents use the main language version of the terms (English, Spanish, Portuguese). This probably happens as well in many case in Africa, except for Arabic. In this continent English or French (mainly) are considered first languages (depending on the country) due to the colonialism; many terms do not have a translation into the autoctone languages (Colonialism has probably had the same effect fot the already cited America and Oceania). [Viz. 58 et 59 - following pages]

251


NUMBER OF ARTICLES PER LANGUAGES ID

LABEL

ARTICLES

ID

LABEL

ARTICLES

fr de es ru pt it ja zh pl sv nl ko fi uk ar cs fa he ca no simple da tr bg id sh sr eo hr ro hu lt sk et vi eu gl

French German Spanish Russian Portuguese Italian Japanese Chinese Polish Swedish Dutch Korean Finnish Ukrainian Arabic Czech Persian Hebrew Catalan Norwegian (bokmĂĽl) Simple English Danish Turkish Bulgarian Indonesian Serbo-Croatian Serbian Esperanto Croatian Romanian Hungarian Lithuanian Slovak Estonian Vietnamese Basque Galician

726 704 663 610 586 582 568 510 506 492 479 451 417 393 387 384 372 372 352 326 322 313 297 276 272 272 255 253 246 217 208 206 196 194 189 171 166

tl th el be ka ms cy ta sl br hi la lv mk is ml kk az be-x-old nn hy bn zh-yue af bs ur fy yi te arz ga oc sq ku uz ia si

Tagalog Thai Greek Belarusian Georgian Malay Welsh Tamil Slovenian Breton Hindi Latin Latvian Macedonian Icelandic Malayalam Kazakh Azerbaijani Bielorussian Classic Norwegian Nynorsk Armenian Bengali Cantonese Afrikaans Bosnian Urdu Western Frisian Yiddish Telugu Egyptian Spoken Arabic Irish Occitan Albanian Kurdish Uzbek Interlingua Sinhala

162 152 145 142 142 129 125 125 111 110 110 109 107 103 101 97 92 91 82 82 80 77 73 68 68 67 58 58 53 52 52 52 47 43 40 38 38

252


ID

LABEL

ARTICLES

ID

LABEL

ARTICLES

als ne io mr ky war ckb scn sw bo lb ast zh-min-nan jv my pa gd bar kn tt an qu sc mzn sco tg diq new lo fo ht mn wuu ba ceb gu pnb sn ilo sah

Alemannisch Nepali Ido Marathi Kyrgyz Waray Sorani Kurdish Sicilian Swahili Tibetan Luxembourgish Asturian Chinese (Min Nan) Javanese Burmese Punjabi Scottish Gaelic Bavarian Kannada Tatar Aragonese Quechua Sardinian Mazanderani Scots Tajik Zazaki Newari Lao Faroese Haitian Mongolian Wu Bashkir Cebuano Gujarati Western Punjabi Shona Iloko Sakha

37 37 36 36 35 34 33 33 33 32 32 30 30 28 28 25 23 22 22 22 20 20 19 18 18 17 16 16 15 14 14 14 14 13 13 13 13 13 12 12

nds nds-NL rue su szl bat-smg li wa ang cv ext ln zh-classical as hif ksh pms ps xmf bjn cdo eml gan gn nah fiu-vro lmo mg mwl nrm pdc so vec am gv ie or tk ug vls

Low German Low Saxon (Netherlands) Rusyn Sundanese Silesian Samogitian Limburgish Walloon Old English Chuvash Extremaduran Lingala Classical Chinese Assamese Fiji Hindi Colognian Piedmontese Pashto Mingrelian Banjar Min Dong Chinese Emiliano-Romagnolo Gan Guarani Nāhuatl Võro Lombard Malagasy Mirandese Nouormand Pennsylvania German Somali Venetian Amharic Manx Interlingue Oriya Turkmen Uyghur West Flemish

11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

253


ID

LABEL

ARTICLES

ID

LABEL

ARTICLES

yo arc ay ce hak iu jbo nap sa vep zea bpy bxr dv frp fur hsb ik kaa kbd kl km krc lez lij mhr mrj mt os pam udm za ace av bh frr glk ig kab kg

Yoruba Aramaic Aymara Chechen Hakka Inuktitut Lojban Neapolitan Sanskrit Veps Zeeuws Bishnupuriya Manipuri Buryat Divehi Franco-Provençal Friulian Upper Sorbian Inupiaq Kara-Kalpak Kabardian Kalaallisut Khmer Karachay-Balkar Lezghian Ligurian Eastern Mari Hill Mari Maltese Ossetic Pampanga Udmurt Zhuang Achinese Avaric Bihari Northern Frisian Gilaki Igbo Kabyle Kongo

5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

koi lbe ltg mai mi mo nov pap pcd rm rmy rw se stq tet tpi vo zu ab bcl bi bug cbk-zam ch chr chy crh csb cu dsb dz ee en ff gag ha haw ki kv kw

Komi-Permyak Lak Latgalian Maithili Maori Moldavian Novial Papiamento Picard Romansh Romani Kinyarwanda Northern Sami Saterland Frisian Tetum Tok Pisin Volapük Zulu Abkhazian Bikol Central Bislama Buginese Chavacano de Zamboanga Chamorro Cherokee Cheyenne Crimean Turkish Kashubian Church Slavic Lower Sorbian Dzongkha Ewe Ménage à trois - inglese Fulah Gagauz Hausa Hawaiian Kikuyu Komi Cornish

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

254


ID

LABEL

ARTICLES

lad mdf min myv na nso nv om pfl pih rn roa-Tara sd sm srn ss ti tw ty wo xal

Ladino Moksha Minangkabau Erzya Nauru Northern Sotho Navajo Oromo Palatine German Norfuk / Pitkern Rundi tarandĂ­ne Sindhi Samoan Sranan Tongo Swati Tigrinya Twi Tahitian Wolof Kalmyk

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

255


256


257

[ Viz. 56 ] Barplot, number of languages per articles (Articles with more than 49 languages linked witht he english version of the article).


258


[ Viz. 57 ] Matrix, languages per article (Articles with more than 49 languages linked with the article english version). 259


260


[ Viz. 58 ] Barplot, number of languages per articles (Paraphilias articles). 261


262


[ Viz. 59 ] Matrix, languages per article (Paraphilias articles).

263


c. Articles per language It has been as well pointed out the number of articles present in each languages (languages with at least 100 articles connected with the selected in the english wikipedia) and it has been compared these information with data regarding the wikipedia editions overall. Some findings are that Japan (JA), that is not present in the top ten for total amount of pages and total number of articles (it is respectively at the 16th and at the 13th place), and that occupies the 10th place considering the active users, jumps out at the 7th position in the selected articles barplot. Polish (PL) is the 9th languages in the barplot, but 18th for number of wikipedia pages, 11th for number of articles and 14th for number of active users. Arabic (AR), is 9th if it is considered the number of active users, 15th in the research barplot, 21th in the rank for total number of articles and 17th in the ones of total pages number.

This could be a possible starting point for the linguistic analysis of these cited edition, as they seem particularly interested to the topic. Some languages have a great total number of pages (Serbian-Croatian) or a great total number of articles (Cebuano and Warey-Warary) if considering the overall wikipedia. but have as well less than 100 articles linked to the selected. This could be both a sign of interest lack in these languages Potrebbe or a link lack (i.e. the page does actually exist in the other language but it is not linked to the english version). [Viz. 60 - following pages]

264


d. Escluding main european languages As last analysis, it has been decided to investigate which articles are linked from the English Wikipedia to the other languages, excluding the articles that are linked witht the main european languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Simple English). Looking at the matrix, the pattern turns out to be the same as the previous matrices. Articles are mainly linked to some principal languages, even if their number is drastically lower. The articles that escape this rule are clearly visible: “culture war” (linked to Icelandic), “genderism” (Lativian), “Internet censorship circumvention” (Latin, Cantonese), “delusion and dream in Jensen’s gradiva” (Latin), “shadow hand” (Latin, UR), “lipstick lesbian” (Scottish Gaelic), “narcissistic leadership” (Slovenian), “drag (clothing)” (Macedonian), “gender inequality” (Tatar), “Madonna-whore complex” (Armenian), “wisdom of repugnance” (Cantonese), “great ape personhood” (Sinhala), “committed relationship” (Urdu), “sexual norm” (Tagalog), “uniform fetishsim” (Thai), “somatoparaphrenia” (Thai), “dogging (sexual act)”, “public sex” and “contact magazine” (Malay), and finally “eve teasing” (Hindi, Bengali, Telugu). The latter is particularly interesting as the article refers to a South Asia euphemism and it is actually linked with South Asia languages (Eve-teasing is a euphemism used throughout South Asia, which includes (but is not limited to) India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh,for public sexual harassment or molestation (often known as “street harassment”) of women by men, where Eve alludes to the very first woman, according to the Biblical creation story). In this list of articles, there are also some paraphilias, which are as well not linked to any of the european main languages Wikipedia editions. These are: “wet and messy fetishsim” (Swedish, Bulgarian; Hungarian, Russian, Japanese), “uniform fetishsim” (Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Thai), “autosadism” (Russian, Korean), “glove fetishism” (Czech, Catalan), “Jocasta complex” (Polish, Serbian), “attraction to disability” (Chinese), “rape fantasy” (Japanese), “total enclosure fetishism” (Catalan), “clothing fetish” (Chinese), “downblouse” (Bulgarian). [Viz. 61 et 61b - following pages]

265


266


267

[ Viz. 60 ] Barplot, number of articles per languages (languages with more than 100 articles linked witht he english version of the article).


268


269

[ Viz. 61a - 61b next page] Matrix, languages per article (Articles not present in the main european languages - linked with the english version).


270


271

[ Viz. 61b ] (see previous page).


15 ANALYSIS CONCLUSION

With this last analysis over the different Wikipedia editions, I’m going to conclude my research. The idea is not to consider the analysis possibilities concluded and complete, on the contrary, this is nothing but a small percentage of the possibles duable investigations.

What I wanted to verify was the possibility of getting through a controversial topic without having a sound background about it (or without having it) but having and using the information design as a strategic skill. Although the analysis can not be defined as complete, it is still possible to point out some general consideration about the paraphilias and more generally the sexuality topic. The idea is not to propose a solution in the definition of “sexual orientation” , “paraphilia” , “disease”. Rather the intention is to frame the topic and show it as much objectively as possible, in its different parties, trying to present clearly the controversial situation.

272


First of all, it is clear that the topic is composed by sociological and psychological components. The first ones draw the background where the different behaviors take place, in compliance or disobedience to the norms (and the action - reaction that society and culture have about them). In this sense, actors and critical are pointed out by the network. The psychological components are mostly related to the phenomenon itself, its implications, and as well to the phenomenon perception. Wikipedia seems to carry out a description of the phenomenon which is generally the result of social norms. These are the same that decree if a point of view is scientific, reliable, neutral, “true”, as they stay at the base of our way of thinking and influence it. The fact that Wikipedia is an open encyclopedia also in terms of content management, allows, at the same time, to have different point of view (especially pointed out in the talk pages), whose action effectively guarantees on average a neutral point of view in the main article. Paraphilias and related articles take a significant space and not just a simple “dictionary description”. They have a proper area of discussion.

The presence of this “proper space” is itself index of interest and denote the dynamicity over this subject as all the contents are created and expanded by the users. The increasing interest and studies performed over this subject have given the possibility of release this subject from the “taboo” and “prohibition” that have characterized in the past ages, contributing to a more open debate and to a greater education over the whole sexuality, its practices and dignity. In this sense and just as a personal and debatable opinion, I recognize in Internet itself a major role in sexual education, despite of the fact that its incredible extension become as well a possibility of going too far in the opposite direction of taboo and prohibitionism.

273


16 CONCLUSION

The research carried out for this thesis is far from being a finish point. Definitely a step forward on a personal level and regarding my personal knowledge, both in the information design field and in the sexology ones. On the basis of the work done, lots of improvements could be done, other analysis and visualization based on the collected data.

Particularly interesting could be to investigate and then compare different Wikipedia editions (i.e. Languages), in order to point out possible similarities and differences, as well as link between the editions (opening a comparison between the cultures that subtend each languages). To do so, the most proper way should be to identify which of the articles selected in the English Wikipedia actually appear in the other editions (even if not linked to the english ones), determining in a first place if the “lack” pointed out using the matrix visualization exists because of a “wikipedia missing link” or because the page itself does not exist (in this last case the interesting question could be why it is missing). Each language network should be build using the same protocol used for the english ones, following with related analysis and descriptions. It is clear that a similar research is rather substantial and elaborated and require a considerable multilingualism! But it is actually possible and probably interesting to perform, especially on a sociological level.

274


Proposing as possible futuristic action the one of “rebuild the network in the same way as it was done with the English edition”, I implicitly referred to a work protocol. This is now fully deducible and describable as a “meta-method” applicable to other issues. The idea is to individuate a controversy (action in which the talk pages of Wikipedia might be useful) and organize a list of articles related to the controversial topic. It is clear that such articles have to belong to Wikipedia, considering that the following action is to use the “seealsology” tool to create a network among these items. More than this, which is the cornerstone of research, a number of more quantitative analysis could be performed, depending on the disposition and / or the need of manually tagging each article. Finally,languages data should be crawled as well to proceed, as seen, in the analysis of the wikipedia editions links.

It must be recognized as well the Wikipedia potential: the largest knowledge categorization ever done, updatable in real time, a space of exchange and discussion where the concept of a web in which users create content and actuate a collaborative writing are implemented with surprising effectiveness. Because of its nature and the fact that in it informations can be collected and stored over time ( edit, threads ... ) Wikipedia becomes a subject of sociological studies with an incredible potential, and a possible digital learning tool, not yet fully capitalize on its possibilities.

275


The potential that this research has tried to take advantage of, is the the connections between articles that Wikipedia offers. Doing so, it had to come to terms with the limits due to the timing and the necessary translation of the whole research in a writing and static form. Wikipedia is a dynamic platform, and this is definitely one of its best qualities. The need to put produce a written and static output to describe this research has somehow a limit in showing update results. On one hand the results are “already old” and it would be probably more interesting in terms of research over the topic itself, to have them always updated and to work with this dynamic. However, it is necessary to establish a method and test it. This implicates losing the dynamic aspect in a first moment to restore it when the methodology is more stabilized. Furthermore whether the type of research undertaken aims to fully explore the topic quickly, it is necessary to perform it with an expert over the investigated subject, otherwise it is clear that reading the network and extricating between a new argument would take more time. In any case, this thesis does not aim to produce a complete and comprehensive report over the analyzed issue, to fully explain human sexuality or to come to a “always true” conclusion over the definition of sexual orientation and paraphilias. Rather it wants to explore the possibilities to tell, describe, see and learn about a situation, a particularly complex and controversial theme that implies and involves different views and to test information design capability in doing so.

What is emerged is that this method could have at least two levels of usage. Firstly to investigate a totally new topic / theme / subject, to have a wide overview about the connections and relations within a topic, to start a research having some possible highlighted areas. Secondly to increase the knowledge of an already studied topic. To confirm them or to go deeper, fastly perceiving which are the unexpected connections resulted.

276


Finally, an interesting feedback about the potential use of the network has been pointed out by the psychologist with which I have discussed over my thesis. She has seen the networks as a tool to investigate the cognitive and symbolic matrix of the patient . And this has turned out to be possible because the space analyzed was Wikipedia.

What was happening before internet was that the patient possibly suffering of a paraphilia, looked tirelessly and repeatedly at this paraphilia definition on the dictionary, as it was the only information it could had had regarding it. Internet has incredibly revolutionized these possibilities. It is possible to find a variety of information, connect with other people, attend forums and blogs. In short, the knowledge and the discussion about paraphilias broadens its possibilities. What has replaced the dictionary is exactly Wikipedia: free, easy to consult, open. It is plausible to think that those who wrote the articles (in this case referred to the paraphilias) has browsed in forums, blogs, internet in general, looking for information. As well they could has been personally involved in what is the object of the article (this has been shown in the talk pages dialogues, see Chapter 9:Investigating the dark side). The world that these people have as reference is possibly similar to that of any subject who suffers from a paraphilia and looks for information about it. This reference world produces information and knowledge (cognitive matrix) that are listed in Wikipedia as text. There are also references to other and different realities (at first glance perceived as far away from the object of the article) that are reported in Wikipedia as links to other pages (i.e. see also section) and that, investigated, represent the symbolic and contact matrix of the patient, the symbols to which the knowledge is built. Their importance lies in the fact that the paraphilia is not investigated - by the psychologist, to meet the needs of his patient - looking within the paraphilia itself, but examining possible reasons and consequences, links with other life aspects, connections with other practices and behaviors, and working over these.

277



III Appendix

279


A. SEXUAL ORIENTATION

Sexual orientation refers to an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic and/or sexual attractions to men, women or both sexes. Sexual orientation also refers to a person’s sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors and membership in a community of others who share those attractions. Research over several decades has demonstrated that sexual orientation ranges along a continuum, from exclusive attraction to the other sex to exclusive attraction to the same sex. However, sexual orientation is usually discussed in terms of three categories: heterosexual (having emotional, romantic or sexual attractions to members of the other sex), gay/lesbian (having emotional, romantic or sexual attractions to members of one’s own sex) and bisexual (having emotional, romantic or sexual attractions to both men and women). A fourth category can be identify in asexuality, lack of sexual attraction.

Sexual orientation is distinct from

these two polarities. When one’s

other components of sex and gender.

gender identity and biological sex are

“Sex” (biological sex) refers to a

not congruent, the individual may

person’s biological status and is typi-

identify as transsexual or as another

cally categorized as male, female, or

transgender categor.

intersex (i.e., atypical combinations of features that usually distinguish male

Social Gender Role refers to the

from female). There are a number of

attitudes, feelings, and behaviors

indicators of biological sex, including

that a given culture associates with a

sex chromosomes, gonads, internal

person’s biological sex. Behavior that

reproductive organs, and external

is compatible with cultural expecta-

genitalia. Various conditions that lead

tions is referred to as gender-nor-

to atypical development of physical

mative; behaviors that are viewed as

sex characteristics are collectively

incompatible with these expectations

referred to as intersex conditions.

constitute gender non-conformity. These influence the ways people act,

Gender identity is how an individual

interact, and feel about themselves.

psychologically perceives himself apart from his genetic sex: man,

Gender expression refers to the “...way

female or something different from

in which a person acts to communi-

280


cate gender within a given culture; for

FTM). Conversely, people who were

example, in terms of clothing, commu-

assigned male but identify and live as

nication patterns and interests. A per-

female and alter or wish to alter their

son’s gender expression may or may

bodies through medical intervention

not be consistent with socially pre-

to more closely resemble their gender

scribed gender roles, and may or may

identity are known as transsexual

not reflect his or her gender identity”

women or transwomen (also known

(American Psychological Association,

as male-to-female or MTF). Some

2008). While aspects of biological sex

individuals who transition from one

are similar across different cultures,

gender to another prefer to be referred

aspects of gender may differ.

to as a man or a woman rather than as transgender.

Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender

Genderqueer is a term that some peo-

expression, or behavior does not con-

ple use who identify their gender as

form to that typically associated with

falling outside the binary constructs

the sex to which they were assigned at

of “male” and “female.” They may de-

birth. Transgender persons have been

fine their gender as falling somewhere

documented in many indigenous,

on a continuum between male and

Western, and Eastern cultures and

female, or they may define it as wholly

societies from antiquity to the present

different from these terms.

day. However, the meaning of gender nonconformity may vary from culture

Other categories of transgender peo-

to culture.

ple include androgynous, multigendered, gender nonconforming, third

The term transsexual refers to people

gender, and two-spirit. Exact defini-

whose gender identity is different

tions of these terms vary from person

from their assigned sex. Often, trans-

to person and may change over time

sexual people alter or wish to alter

but often include a sense of blending

their bodies through hormones, sur-

or alternating genders. Some people

gery, and other means to make their

who use these terms to describe them-

bodies as congruent as possible with

selves see traditional, binary concepts

their gender identities. This process of

of gender as restrictive.

transition through medical intervention is often referred to as sex or gen-

People who cross-dress wear clothing

der reassignment, but more recently is

that is traditionally or stereotypi-

also referred to as gender affirmation.

cally worn by another gender in their

People who were assigned female

culture. They vary in how completely

but identify and live as male and alter

they cross-dress, from one article of

or wish to alter their bodies through

clothing to fully cross-dressing. Those

medical intervention to more closely

who cross-dress are usually comfort-

resemble their gender identity are

able with their assigned sex and do

known as transsexual men or trans-

not wish to change it. Cross-dressing

men (also known as female-to-male or

is a form of gender expression and is

281


not necessarily tied to erotic activity.

gender dysphoria. Some contend that

Cross-dressing is not indicative of

the diagnosis inappropriately patholo-

sexual orientation. The degree of

gizes gender noncongruence and

societal acceptance for cross-dressing

should be eliminated. Others argue

varies for male and females.

it is essential to retain the diagnosis to ensure access to care. The Inter-

The term drag queens generally refers

national Classification of Diseases

to men who dress as women for the

(ICD) is under revision, and there may

purpose of entertaining others at bars,

be changes to its current classification

clubs, or other events. The term drag

of intense persistent gender incongru-

kings refers to women who dress as

ence as gender identity disorder.

men for the purpose of entertaining others at bars, clubs, or other events.

Sexual orientation is clearly related with humans sexuality, the capacity of

A psychological state is considered

human beings to have erotic experi-

a mental disorder only if it causes

ences and responses. According to

significant distress or disability. Many

this, it’s important to distinguis Sexual

transgender people do not experience

orientation from sexual identity. The

their gender as distressing or disa-

first encompasses relationships with

bling, which implies that identifying

others, while sexual identity is a con-

as transgender does not constitute a

cept of self.

mental disorder. For these individuals, the significant problem is finding af-

Sexual identity is how one thinks

fordable resources, such as counseling,

of oneself in terms of whom one is

hormone therapy, medical procedures,

romantically or sexually attracted to.

and the social support necessary to

It’s a choice a person does, as it is a

freely express their gender identity

choice the sexual behavior he decides

and minimize discrimination. Many

to adopt.

other obstacles may lead to distress, including a lack of acceptance within

Sexual behavior refers to the actual

society, direct or indirect experiences

sexual act performed by the individ-

with discrimination, or assault. These

ual. It is not biological but a choice, a

experiences may lead many transgen-

preference in the sexual activity itself.

der people to suffer with anxiety,

All those definition are closely related

depression, or related disorders at

each other, but they are distinguished,

higher rates than nontransgender

with sexual identity referring to an

persons. Many transgender people are

individual’s conception of themselves,

the targets of hate crimes.

behavior referring to actual sexual

According to the Diagnostic and Sta-

acts and practices performed by the

tistical Manual of Mental Disorders

individual, and orientation referring

(5th ed.; American Psychiatric Asso-

to “fantasies, attachments and long-

ciation, 2013), people who experience

ings.” Individuals may or may not

intense, persistent gender incongru-

express their sexual orientation in

ence can be given the diagnosis of

their behaviors.

282



B. CONTROPEDIA CASE STUDY

In june 2014 I had the possibility of taking part to one of the Contropedia hackathon during my internship at Fundacion Barcelona Media (Barcelona). Keeping Wikipedia and Contropedia as privilegiate field of analysis and research, I had investigated their structures and manually labeled substantive discussion present in the talk page, with the goal of find out which are the most important to read to get a sense of what really happened in the story of the article and to test the algorithm used by Contropedia platform in order to improve and/or fix it. I’ve tested this method on the “global warming” article previously, and then I’ve executed the same analysis on the “sexual orientation” article. Here there are the results for both the researches.

Project description: manually labeling substantive discussions in discussion threads. The goal was to find out what it is more important to read to get a sense of what really happened in the story of the article, to understand why the article is in that way why something is controversial etc. Basically, which threads you would recommend somebody to read, if they want to understand the most important discussions and moments in the story of the article. The first case study regards the article “global worming”, while the second concerns the article “sexual orientation”.

284


285


[ Fig. 43 ] Users citing each other without link and without following the replay back structure.

Findings | Consideration Interactions

in contact, the second and the third

between users: sometimes answers do

are central speaking about level of dis-

not follow the structural rules. Users

cussion, more comments on a single

cite each other (both, with or without

thread could easily be synonymous

link), or just answer with a new com-

with more discussion. It might be in-

ment. In this way, the algorithm looses

teresting evaluate the level of “debate

the connections. [Fig. 43]

willingness” of each user, looking at

The interactions are mainly discus-

the rapport between the number of

sions between users. In a few cases

comments each user does and the

there is a simple agreement about the

number of conversations in which he

edits done, in other cases there is a

participates. However, sometimes the

request of more explanations.

same user writes many comments in

“Central” users: Nieglj appeared in dif-

the same thread but with the specific

ferent discussions (15) in which had

purpose of explaining what has al-

taken part different users (12/15 of

ready said. In this sense the number of

the main users). However, he did not

participants per thread should be also

comment a lot in each conversation

to consider.

(mainly 1, 23 comments overall).

Users could be divided into factions

NewsAndEventGuy appeared in

according to two different parameters:

many discussions (20) in which had

1. Depending on their position on

taken part different users (9/15). He

the article’s topic (In this case, if they

commented a lot and in four discus-

think global worming is or is not a

sions he did more than five com-

conspiracy)

ments, fourteen in one (58 comments

2. Dependign on the opinion they sup-

overall). Dmcq appeared in different

port in a particular thread.

discussions (13) in which had taken

In the first case, all users try not to

part different users, that are almost

overexpose their opinion about the

the same co-present in the discussion

topic, saying they are acting in order

in which NewsAndEventsGuy had

to “have an article with a neutral POV

taken part (8/15). He commented a

and respectful of wikipedia policy”.

lot. In five discussion he did more

Someone’s position is more easy to

than five comments. (42 comments

understand from what they support

overall). While the first seems to be

and the way they act. Some others’

more central from the point of view of

are less clear. These users sometimes

potential users with which he comes

enter the discussion trying “to bring

286


[ Fig. 44 ] Example of links to wikipedia policies and rules

order�, they agree partially with both,

to the general topic of the wikipedia

used as example or arguments.

or just with one but with a more quiet

article. It might be interesting if it

attitude. Generally, they have a third

could be understanded. The problem

position on the threads but their opin-

is that some users do not show their

ion around the topic lies more hidden.

position that much and its evaluation

In the second case, the position of

can always be contested. Even the

each user depends on the threads.

assignment of a position for the most

It is not possible to put them into a

explicit users is risky, since they do not

specific faction because of the threads’

say it with absolute clarity. Everyone

diversity (even if they mainly revolve

(and especially users themselves)

around PVO and article neutrality).

could question this assumption.

Quite often, links to wikipedia poli-

From the readings of some threads, I

cies and rules are used as example or

could assigned to a position approxi-

arguments. [Fig. 44]

mately true NewsAndEventsGuy,

Regarding the assignment of colors,

Phase Theory, 86 ** IP. Assign faction

neither of the two cases can justify the

colors according to the threads, I think

colors assigned by the algorithm.

is rather difficult. Each threads has a

In my opinion, an overall position

different topic and is not that same us-

could makes sense only if it is related

ers always stay in the same faction.

[ Viz. 62 ] Network considering the users position in the discussion threads analyzed - using manually collected data.

287


288


Findings | Consideration After hav-

discussion were the ones that lead me

ing read through the page of “sexual

to the next research steps

orientation”, I stepped in the talk page,

- Discussion over Wikipedia policy,

and started the threads analysis.

interesting because of the aim of Con-

It consisted in reading the threads and

tropedia project itself. See appendix

manually collect data from them.

for more details. Discussion over a

The total threads number was 177.

specific topic.

I have analyzed 16 threads, Chosen

Threads expecically regard the article

according to the number of comments

topic itself, whether there is some-

they had: equal or more than ten com-

thing to add / change / delete / rewrite.

ments.

Those discussions are the best ones to investigate the topic, its controversy

Each of these 16 threads have been

level and the society knowledge level

tagged, extracting information about:

and position. Users present their point

thread title, user that had taken part

of view trying to make it as much ob-

to it, number of user’s comments,

jective as possible using reference and

relation between users (replay back

quote, providing evidences, proofs

to whom, link, quote from one user

and examples of their own thesis.

to the others), wikipedia pages link

Sometimes is right the “Neutral Point

(pages that explain how to write in

Of View” needing that it is used as a

Wikipedia and what is the platform

sort of excuse to start the discussion,

policy), user position in the single

saying for example, “this part of the

thread discussion, controversy level

topic is missed, so it is necessarily to

(based on a subjective perception).

add it and give the whole article a real

Particular attention has been taken at

neutral point of view”. It is actually

the replay back structure, the tone of

clearly that the user want to propose

voice and the discussions content.

an editing not thinking rst at the NPOV but at the topic itself. In those

Having these data, I proceed in the

cases, it is explicit the users’ point of

construction of the networks, not

view over the subject. It is possible to

based on the wikipedia reply back

divide those kind of threads in differ-

structure (as the contropedia algo-

ent subgroups, according to the nal

rithm does) but on the content manu-

status of the discussion: - Resolved:

ally analyzed (real replay back, quotes,

the discussion end with a common

link to other users, topics)

decision taken or the edit is accepted with no oppositions. - Open: the

The analysis regards especially the

discussion doesn’t not come to an end

content itself, looking at those qualita-

with a decision, the parties remain

tive data that are more difficult to col-

with different opinion with no solu-

lect as simple number. Concerning the

tion (Sometimes, the same discussion

content, it is possible to distinguish

is propose again later in the talk page).

two kind of threads: - Discussion over a specific topic (con-

Those threads are particularly inter-

tent of the Wikipedia’s article). These

esting when the discussed topic does

289


not appear in the Wikipedia article

the article as they would like it to be.

page. For example, taking the sexual

Other comments regarding Wikipedia

orientation article and talk page: many

itself are clearly super parties, and look

discussion regards paedophilia and

at the goodness of editing.

zoophile but this controversy is not shown in the article page. From the

Those considerations are strongly

sociologic point of view, it could be

connected with the “users types”:

interesting to investigate over those.

- Users that act the goodness of Wiki-

Discussion over Wikipedia policy.

pedia (They generally do not stand for

Threads regarding Wikipedia struc-

a position “regarding the topic itself”

ture and policy itself. How to edit

and modifies more than one Wikipe-

inside Wikipedia, how and when add

dia article. Their “personal page” has

contents, what is a “Neutral Point Of

information regarding their action

View”, hot to preserve it, what could

around Wikipedia and about their

be the best way to write “encyclope-

identity itself)

dically”. Some examples: is it better

- Users that use Wikipedia as a way

to give the same weight to all the

to arise their opinions (Less expert

opinions over a topic or to give them

around Wikipedia policy. Usually, they

weight according to their presence in

do not have a “personal page” and use

the society / references? What kind

“the need of neutral point of view”

of “writing way” tends to be a point of

in the direction of “supporting their

view and what could be considered as

opinions”)

neutral? Which could be considered reliable sources which not? What is

Because of this “different intent” and

easily understandable from those

the nature of discussion involving

discussions is that it is not clear how

many users, it is sometimes difficult

Wikipedia should be edited and

to identify different positions in a

emerges the nature of the platform.

thread. Sometimes there are not even

To underline this problem and try to

two different positions, but just a

solve it inside the threads, users use to

misunderstanding that ends up with

link at the “Wikipedia policy pages”.

a solution. Other times, there are

Than sometimes create even more

more than two opinions, discussion

confusion. Some discussions over the

over topic and Wikipedia policy are

Wikipedia policy hide different users

mixed in the same threads. “NPOV”

points of view, differently from the

and “Wikipedia Policy” are used to

previous ones, in those the users tend

support or go against someone and, as

not to say explicitly their opinion and

said, the real user’s opinion could be

stand for “it is not neutral”. It is not

only “guess” by the reader, as long as it

possible to say objectively that “a user

is not explicit (and so, objective).

have a definite position” but this position could be read between the lines.

There are also some limitations in con-

They declare itself as “neutral” but, in

sidering these discussions and their

fact they are using the “neutral need”

result as “good” and in the capability

to vehicular the opinions and edit

to edit the article. These regard mainly

290


the language used, the gender of the

be strongly related with sexual and

users and their “real life background”.

gender nature. Last, the users’ identity.

For this research, we have consider

Who edit Wikipedia and how those

the English Wikipedia and so the

people could be considered in relation

English article. If it is true that English

with the “internet population”? What

could be considered the main “web

kind of positions do they occupy and

language”, it is also to consider that

what is its weight?

not everyone are English mother tongue and not even English experts.

Looking at the Wikipedia talk page

Moreover, English (and internet

structure, what is important to notice

itself) it is used by rich country and

is that not all the users respect the “re-

middle rich people. Not even people

play back structure”. Some users reply

among all country can understand

to others quoting them, others use the

English. It could be interesting to

reply back structure and they are not

spread this kind of research looking

actually answer to the previous user.

at different language, as mirror of dif-

The replay back is not always “nega-

ferent culture too. Gender is another

tive” or in contrast, there are some

great point. Is it known that Wikipe-

cases of “agreement” between users or

dia is “masculine” but in some topics

“thanks” for the edits.

as sexuality, the point of view could

291


C. HOW TO READ A NETWORK

Tommaso Venturini, Mathieu Jacomy, Débora Pereira individuate three visual variables and through five analytical steps that constitute the framework for visual network analysis: A. Visualizing node positions 1. Read the variations of density. 2. Read the size and density of clusters. 3. Read centers and bridges. B. Risualizing node sizes: 4. Read the hierarchy of connectivity. C. Visualizing node colors: 5. Read the distribution of colored categories.

Visualizing node positions In most

important is to be able to distinguish

networks, spatialization reveals

the clusters and identify the empty

regions where numerous nodes are

zones between them.” (Venturini,

assembled and regions that are empty

Jacomy, Pereira)

or almost. These zones are called

Finally, we can remark that large clus-

“structural holes”. The larger they are,

ters are often composed by smaller

the more these holes denote the ab-

(and less distinct) sub-clusters. A

sence of connection between clusters.

set of questions could guide in the

These differences of density (deter-

analysis:

mined by the uneven distribution of

Ǧ N § © ¢ £ ¡ª¨© §¨ǫ

links among nodes) are revealed by

Ǧ N § © ¢ £ ¨©§ª ©ª§ ¡ ¤¡ ¨

the force-directed algorithm that it

that separate them?

has been previously descripted and

Ǧ N § © ¨ª Ƿ ¡ª¨© §¨ ¬ © £

translate the mathematical properties

each cluster?

of the network.

Ǧ N § © ¨¢ ¡¡ § ¨©§ª ©ª§ ¡

“The advantage of the visual tech-

holes separating them?

niques is their fuzziness that allows

Network clusters have two main ob-

negotiating the frontiers of clusters.

servable properties: size and density.

These frontiers are naturally blurred,

The size of clusters is defined by the

since clusters are not exclusive cat-

number of nodes they contain. The

egories, but shades of density. What is

bigger clusters are, the more visible

292


they will be on the Web and it is

indegree or outdegree. Projecting this

interesting to investigate offline

ranking on the spatialized networks,

counterparts of such online signifi-

however, is

cance. The density, on the other hand,

allows identifying where most hubs

measures the cohesion of networks.

and authorities are located. Following

Clusters are tight when they contain

the tradition of network analysis, the

many edges and loose when few edges

nodes that are the destination of many

connect their nodes: the actors know

edges are considered “authorities”

and acknowledge each other through

while “hub” are nodes that are the

their citations. A low density is also

origins of many edges. Authorities are

interesting. It may denote that the

cited a lot while hubs cite

nodes do not know their neighbors or

Both authorities and hubs tend to be

that actively disregard them (because

influential nodes in the corpus.

interesting as it

a lot.

of competition or controversy). Having identified cluster, it is possible

Visualizing node colours The color

to use them as landmarks to analyze

is applied to the categories to which

two remarkable positions in spatial-

each node belongs. It is possible to

ized networks: centers and bridges.

examine how the colors are distrib-

Centrality can be global (referred to

uted in the different regions of the

the whole network) or local (referred

network. “In particular, it is interest-

to a single cluster). These two types

ing to observe if the nodes of the same

of centrality are different. While the

color tend to be closer than nodes of

elements that are globally central are

different colors – creating a corre-

driven in this position by the fact of

spondence between the typology and

being evenly linked to all the regions

the topology of the network. When

of the network, the element that

such correspondence is observed it

are locally central tend to be linked

can be used as a basis to explain the

predominantly within one cluster.

patterns observed in the network. Of

Central position could be empty too.

course, the correspondence between

Bridges are nodes or clusters that have

categories and clusters is not always

connections with several clusters.

bijective: one category does not

Bridges can be located outside or

always correspond to one cluster. One

inside the clusters, depending on

category may colonize more than one

their stronger connections with other

cluster and two or more categories

nodes. (Venturini, Jacomy, Pereira)

can associate to form a single cluster. Still, if the nodes of the same color

Visualizing node size The size

tend to be closer than others, there is

of each node is determined by the

ground for interpretation.” (Venturini,

number of edges arriving to or leav-

Jacomy, Pereira) Finally, when differ-

ing from it. It is possible to detect

ent layers of classification are present,

incoming links (the indegree) and

it is interesting to compare them and

the number of outgoing links (the

observe whether the different clas-

outdegree). It would be interesting to

sifications produce the same borders

look at the list of nodes sorted by their

in the network.

293


D. DETECTED NODES ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

-phil1960s in fashion 1999 South Dakota Learjet crash 2000 Australia Beechcraft King Air crash 69 (sex position) Abasiophilia Abstinence Abuse Accidental incest Accountability software Acrotomophilia Actroid Ad filtering Addictive personality Adolescent sexuality Adult movie theater Adultcentrism Adultery Adultism Affectional bond Affective computing Affirmative action Agalmatophilia Age disparity in sexual relationships Age of consent Ageism Ageplay AIBO Airline sex discrimination policy controversy Akiba-kei Algolagnia Alimony Allophilia Allport’s Scale Altruism in animals Alvinolagnia Amazon feminism Amber Hollibaugh

other history of event event act psychosexual attraction practice crime event software psychosexual attraction robot process condition subject place ideology act behaviour behaviour study policy psychosexual attraction situation concept behaviour practice robot policy slang psychosexual attraction legal issue behaviour measurament system behaviour psychosexual attraction movement person

linguistic art and entertainment chronicle chronicle sexology sexology transversal law and criminology sexology information technology sexology engineering information technology psychiatry sexology art and entertainment philosophy sexology sociology affective psychology artificial intelligence sociology sexology sexology law and criminology sociology sexology engineering law and criminology sociology sexology law and criminology sociology sociology zoology sexology sociology sexuality politics

294


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Ambivalence Anal eroticism Anal masturbation Anal sex Anarchism Anasyrma Anatta Androcentrism Androcide Androgyny Android (robot) Android science Androphilia and gynephilia Androphobia Anilingus Anima and animus Animal cognition Animal communication Animal consciousness Animal marriage Animal rights Animal roleplay Animal sexual behaviour Animal welfare Animal welfare science Animal-baiting anime anne desclos Anne Rice Anorak (slang) Anorgasmia Anthropic principle Anthropocene Anthropocentrism Anthropomorphism Anthrozoology Anti-discrimination law Anti-fat bias Anti-LGBT slogans Anti-pornography movement in the United Kingdom

condition practice practice practice ideology behaviour concept ideology crime physical characteristic robot study sexual orientation phobia practice concept subject subject subject act rights practice subject subject study practice rappresentation person person slang dysfunction concept other ideology concept study law belief act movement

psychology sexology sexology sexology politics sexology religion philosophy sexuality law and criminology sexology engineering engineering sexology sexology sexology psychology zoology zoology zoology sociology law and criminology sexology zoology zoology zoology sport art and entertainment literature literature sociology sexology physics earth science philosophy art and entertainment zoology law and criminology sociology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality

295


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Anti-pornography movement in the United States Anti-psychiatry Antifeminism Antihumanism Antinaturalism (politics) Antisexualism Apotemnophilia Aquaphilia (fetish) Archetype Argument from incredulity Armpit fetishism Arson Arthur Adamov Artificial vagina Asceticism Asexuality ASIMO Asociality Asphyxia Ass to mouth Attachment in adults Attachment parenting Attachment theory Attention seeking Attraction to disability Attraction to transgender people Autodidactism Autoeroticism Autosadism Autovampirism Avoidant personality disorder Bacchanalia Bachelor Bachelorette Ball-jointed doll Balloon fetish Barefoot and pregnant Bash Back! BDSM BDSM in culture and media

movement movement ideology theory movement ideology psychosexual attraction psychosexual attraction concept other psychosexual attraction crime person object behaviour sexual orientation robot behaviour phenomenon practice theory theory theory behaviour psychosexual attraction psychosexual attraction practice practice behaviour psychosexual attraction disorder festival epithet epithet doll psychosexual attraction belief movement practice contestualization

sociology sexuality ethics sexology philosophy politics sexology sexology sexology transversal philosophy sexology law and criminology art and entertainment sexology philosophy sexology engineering psychology medicine sexology affective psychology affective psychology affective psychology psychology sexology sexology pedagogy sexology sexology sexology psychiatry religion sociology sociology art and entertainment sexology sociology sexuality politics sexology sociology sexuality

296


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Bear (gay culture) Bear flag (gay culture) Bearbaiting Beard (companion) Bearforce 1 Behavior Belly dance Bem Sex-Role Inventory Berkley Horse Biastophilia Big Beautiful Woman Bigender Bikini Bikini competition biocentrism (ethics) Biphobia Birth control movement in the United States Bisexual community Bisexual erasure Bisexuality Bishonen Blanchard’s transsexualism typology Bloodsport Body dysmorphic disorder Body image Body inflation Body integrity identity disorder Body modification Body odor Body odor and subconscious human sexual attraction Body psychotherapy Body shape Body worship Bodystocking Boffin Boi (sexual slang) Bondage (BDSM) Bondage cover Bondage cuffs Bondage model

slang object practice slang person concept other measurament system object psychosexual attraction slang identity garment contest ideology phobia movement other behaviour sexual orientation epithet classification system practice disorder feeling practice disorder practice physical characteristic theory therapy physical characteristic practice garment slang slang practice rappresentation object job

sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sport sociology sexuality art and entertainment transversal art and entertainment sexology sexology sexology sociology sexuality sexology art and entertainment art and entertainment ethics sexology sociology sexuality sociology sociology sexuality sexology sociology sexuality sexology sport psychiatry psychology sexology psychiatry anthropology biology sexology psychology anatomy sexology art and entertainment sociology sociology sexuality sexology art and entertainment sexology art and entertainment

297


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Bondage pornography Bondage rigger Boot fetishism Boot worship Borderline personality disorder Bottom (BDSM) Boxing Helena Brandon Teena Breast fetishism Breeches role Breeching (boys) Bugchasing Bukkake (sex act) Bulimia nervosa Bullying Bunraku Butch and Femme Cabin pressurization Candaulism CandyGirl Canine reproduction Carbon chauvinism Cartoon pornography Castro clone Casual sex Cat-burning Catfight Catholicism and sexuality Catsuit Catsuits and bodysuits in popular media Causes of sexual violence Cecilia Tan Cerebral hypoxia Chastity belt Child custody Child development Child discipline Child erotica Child grooming Child laundering

pornography role psychosexual attraction practice disorder role movie person psychosexual attraction role rite practice act disorder behaviour place identity practice practice object process theory pornography slang practice practice practice view garment contestualization behaviour person condition object concept subject act object crime crime

art and entertainment sexology sexology sexology psychiatry sexology art and entertainment chronicle sexology art and entertainment sociology sexology sexology psychiatry sociology art and entertainment sexology engineering sexology sexology zoology chemistry art and entertainment sociology sexuality sexology art and entertainment sport religion art and entertainment art and entertainment sociology sexuality politics medicine sexology law and criminology transversal pedagogy law and criminology law and criminology law and criminology

298


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

Child modeling Child pornography Child sexuality Child trafficking Childhood gender nonconformity Chinese Classification* Choke hold Choking game Christian views of marriage Christian views on contraception Chronophilia Chub (gay slang) CIRCAMP Circles of Support and Accountability Civil and political rights Cleo Dubois Clinical coder Clinical lycanthropy Clinical vampirism Closeted Clothed female, naked male Clothed male, naked female Clothing fetish Cock and ball torture Cock ring Cockfight Coefficient of relationship Cogender Cognitive dissonance Cognitive ethology Coitus reservatus Collar (BDSM) Collection condom Commercial sexual exploitation of children Committed relationship Comparison of content-control software and providers Complementarianism Compulsory heterosexuality Computer and network surveillance Computer-mediated communication

job pornography subject crime disorder classification system act game view view psychosexual attraction slang project support group rights person job syndrome syndrome slang behaviour behaviour psychosexual attraction practice object practice measurament system identity condition study act object object crime relationship web issue ideology ideology practice act

* Chinese Classification and Diagnostic Criteria of Mental Disorders 299

SUBJECT art and entertainment law and criminology sexology law and criminology sexology psychiatry transversal art and entertainment religion religion sexology sociology sexuality law and criminology sexology law and criminology sexology medicine psychiatry psychiatry sociology sexuality sexology sexology sexology sexology sexology sport genealogy sexology psychology zoology sexology sexology medicine law and criminology sociology information technology religion sexology information technology sociology


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Conception device Conflict of marriage laws Conformity Consanguinity Consent (BDSM) Contact magazine Content-control software Convention on the Elimination* Convention on the Rights of the Child COPINE scale Coprophilia Corporal punishment Corrective rape Corset controversy Cosmetics Cosplay Cottaging Cougar (slang) Counterculture Counterdependency Counterphobic attitude Courtship Courtship disorder Courtship display Cousin marriage Covert incest Crash (1996 film) Creampie (sexual act) Crime of passion Criminal transmission of HIV Crop top Cross-dressing Cross-dressing in film and television Cross-dressing in literature Cross-gender acting Cruelty to animals Crush fetish Cuckold Cuckquean Cultural appropriation

object law behaviour concept act magazine software convention convention measurament system psychosexual attraction practice crime controversy object performance slang slang culture disorder behaviour behaviour disorder behaviour rite behaviour movie act crime crime garment act contestualization contestualization job act psychosexual attraction psychosexual attraction psychosexual attraction behaviour

medicine law and criminology sociology genealogy sexology sociology information technology law and criminology law and criminology sexology sexology sociology law and criminology art and entertainment art and entertainment art and entertainment sexology sociology sexuality sociology psychology psychology sociology sexuality sexology zoology anthropology affective psychology art and entertainment sexology law and criminology law and criminology art and entertainment art and entertainment art and entertainment literature art and entertainment sociology sexology sexology sexology sociology

* Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 300


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Cultural assimilation Cultural history of the buttocks Culture war Cum shot Cunnilingus Curiosity Cyber sex Daddy (gay slang) Daedalus Publishing Dance belt Dapoxetine Darlexx David Burt (filtering advocate) Death during consensual sex Death from laughter Deception in animals Deep content inspection Deep ecology Deep packet inspection Deformity Dehumanization Delayed ejaculation Delayed puberty Delusion Delusion and Dream in Jensen’s Gradiva Delusional disorder Dev Null Developmental psychology Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Diaosi Die groĂ&#x;e Nacht im Eimer Digital addict Digital Age Digital detox Digital Native Digital rights Dippoldism Dirty Sanchez (sexual act) Dirty talk Disability

process history of phenomenon act act feeling practice slang other garment other object person event event behaviour software study software condition process dysfunction dysfunction feeling pubblication disorder other study pubblication slang art / architecture addiction other behaviour epithet rights psychosexual attraction act act condition

sociology sexology sociology sexology sexology psychology sexology sociology sexuality literature art and entertainment chemistry art and entertainment law and criminology sexology medicine zoology information technology biology information technology biology psychology sexology sexology psychology psychology psychiatry art and entertainment psychology psychiatry sociology art and entertainment psychology history sociology anthropology law and criminology sexology sexology sexology medicine

301


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SUBJECT

Disability pretenders Discrimination Discrimination towards non-binary gender persons Divorce Dog fighting Dogging (sexual slang) DĹ?jinshi Doll fetish Dominance and submission Dominance hierarchy Dominatrix Dorian Gray syndrome Dorothy Allison Dossie Easton Downblouse Drag (clothing) Drag king Drag queen Dry suit DSM-IV Codes Dungeon (BDSM) Dunning–Kruger_effect E.L. James ECHELON Ecocentrism Ecocriticism Ecofeminism Edible underwear Effeminacy Egalitarianism Ego ideal Ego-dystonic sexual orientation Egotism Electronic Frontier Foundation Elfriede Jelinek Eligible bachelor Elmer Batters Elvira Kurt Embodied energy Emetophilia

disorder behaviour behaviour concept practice act magazine psychosexual attraction practice organizational system role syndrome person person psychosexual attraction garment performance performance garment classification system place disorder person process ideology study movement garment behaviour ideology concept disorder behaviour organisation person epithet person person measurament system psychosexual attraction

psychiatry sociology sociology sexuality law and criminology sport sexology art and entertainment sexology sexology zoology sexology psychiatry politics sexology sexology sociology sexuality art and entertainment art and entertainment art and entertainment psychiatry sexology psychology literature information technology philosophy sociology sociology sexuality sexology sexology philosophy psychology sexology psychology law and criminology literature sociology art and entertainment art and entertainment physics sexology

302


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Emotion in animals Employment discrimination Empowerment En femme Enculturation Endogamy Enjo KĹ?sai Ephebophilia Epicenity Equal opportunity Equality before the law Equity and gender feminism Erich Neumann (psychologist) Ero kawaii Erogenous zone Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum Erotic asphyxiation Erotic furniture Erotic humiliation Erotic hypnosis Erotic lactation Erotic massage Erotic plasticity Erotic sexual denial Erotic Spanking Erotic target location error Eroto-comatose lucidity Erotomania Erotophilia Erotophobia Eternal feminine Ethical egoism Ethnic stereotype Ethology Eunuch European sexuality leading up to and during World War II Eve teasing EveR-1 Evil eye Exhibitionism

feeling behaviour process act process practice practice psychosexual attraction epithet concept principle book person culture body part art / architecture psychosexual attraction object act practice act act behaviour practice act concept rite disorder concept phobia concept concept belief study epithet history of act robot belief psychosexual attraction

zoology sociology transversal sociology sexuality sociology sociology sociology sexuality sexology sexology sociology law and criminology philosophy sexuality psychology sociology sexuality sexology art and entertainment sexology sexology sexology sexology sexology sexology sexology sexology sexology sexology sexology affective psychology sexology sexology philosophy sexuality ethics sociology zoology sexology sexology sexology engineering religion sexology

303


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Existentialism Exogamy Exploitation of women in mass media Extraversion and introversion Eye contact Face-ism Facesitting Facial (sex act) Fag hag Fag stag Faggot (slang) Fakir Musafar False dilemma False pleasure Family economics Family therapy Family values Family: the web series fandom Fantasy prone personality Fashion Fat acceptance movement Fat fetishism Fat tax Fear of commitment Fear of youth (Ephebiphobia) Felching Fellatio Female body shape Female cosmetic coalitions Female dominance Female promiscuity Female sexual arousal disorder Female submission Female-led relationship Femicide Femininity Feminism Feminist sex wars Feminist sexology

movement practice practice behaviour behaviour rappresentation act act slang slang slang person other concept theory therapy belief web issue culture behaviour concept movement psychosexual attraction legal issue phobia phobia act act physical characteristic theory practice behaviour disorder practice relationship crime concept ideology controversy subject

philosophy sociology sociology psychology philosophy art and entertainment sexology sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality art and entertainment philosophy philosophy economy affective psychology sociology art and entertainment sociology psychology art and entertainment sociology sexology law and criminology affective psychology sociology sexology sexology anatomy anthropology sexology sexology sexology sexology affective psychology law and criminology sexology philosophy sexuality philosophy sexuality sexology

304


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SUBJECT

Feminist theology Feminist theory Feminist views on sexuality Feminization Feminization (activity) Feminization (sociology) Femme fatale femminiello Fetish club Fetish fashion Fetish magazine Fetish photography FetLife Fifty Shades of Grey Figging Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography Fingering (sexual act) Fission-fusion society Fisting Fixed fantasy Flagellant Flagellation Folsom Street Fair Food play Foot fetishism Footjob Forced seduction Fornication Foxy boxing Frankenstein complex Freedom of speech French feminism Fritz Peterson Frotteurism Fursuit Futanari Galatea (mythology) Gambler’s Lament Gambling Commission GamCare

subject theory view practice practice behaviour behaviour slang place culture magazine art / architecture web issue book practice other practice phenomenon practice concept role practice festival practice psychosexual attraction practice act act practice phobia concept movement person psychosexual attraction garment epithet other other norm organisation

sociology sexuality philosophy sexuality sociology sexuality sexology sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality art and entertainment sociology sexuality art and entertainment art and entertainment art and entertainment literature sexology law and criminology sexology zoology sexology psychology religion sexology art and entertainment sexology sexology sexology sociology sexuality sexology sport psychology sociology sociology sexuality sport sexology art and entertainment sexology religion literature law and criminology psychology

305


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SUBJECT

Gaming Control Board Gaming law Gang bang Gang bang pornography Gay bashing Gay bathhouse Gay panic defense Gay pornography Gay sexual practices Gayle Rubin Geek Geek Code Geek girl Geekcorps Gender Gender advertisement Gender apartheid Gender bender Gender bias on Wikipedia Gender binary Gender equality Gender identities in Thailand Gender identity Gender identity disorder Gender in Bugis society Gender inequality Gender mainstreaming Gender neutrality Gender polarization Gender role Gender sensitization Gender studies Gender variance Gender-blind Gender-identity/role Genderism Genderqueer Generosity Genetic purging Genetic sexual attraction

norm law act pornography behaviour place legal issue pornography practice person slang web issue slang organisation concept rappresentation behaviour epithet situation classification system ideology situation concept disorder situation behaviour concept ideology concept norm theory study behaviour epithet concept belief identity behaviour process psychosexual attraction

law and criminology law and criminology sexology art and entertainment sociology sexuality sexology law and criminology art and entertainment sexology politics sociology information technology sociology information technology sexology art and entertainment sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sexology sociology sexuality sexology sexology sexology sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality philosophy sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality transversal sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sexology sexology psychology genetics sexology

306


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SUBJECT

Genital modification and mutilation Genital play Genital tattooing Genocide Genophobia Gerontophilia Gingering Giovanni Coda Girl Geek Dinners Girly girl Gishiri cutting Glass cliff Glasses fetishism Global Action for Trans Equality Global Assessment of Functioning Global Internet Freedom Consortium Gloria G. Brame Glove fetishism Go-go boot Goat throwing Goddess Goddess movement Going Dutch Gokkun Goldbricking Golden Shield Project Gonochorism Good Wife’s Guide Gothic fashion Grammatical gender Grandiosity Gravure idol Great ape personhood Great Ape Project Great chain of being Groin attack Groping Group sex Gynandromorph Gynocentrism

practice behaviour practice crime phobia psychosexual attraction practice person organisation slang practice phenomenon psychosexual attraction organisation measurament system organisation person psychosexual attraction garment festival identity movement act act behaviour project phenomenon magazine culture classification system feeling job movement organisation theory act act practice physical characteristic ideology

sexology sexology art and entertainment law and criminology sexology sexology zoology art and entertainment information technology sociology sexuality sexology sociology sexuality sexology sociology sexuality psychiatry information technology sexology sexology art and entertainment art and entertainment religion religion sociology sexology sociology politics biology art and entertainment sociology linguistic psychology art and entertainment sociology sociology religion transversal sexology sexology zoology philosophy sexuality

307


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Gynoid Gynophobia Hair fetishism Hair theft Hairstyle Hand fetishism Handjob Hanky code Harassment Harm reduction Hate crime Hate mail Hate speech Heart Attack Grill Heavy metal fashion Hebephilia Helios Flight 522 Hentai Herbivore men Hermaphrodite Hermit Heteroflexibility Heteronormativity Heterosexism Heterosexuality Heterosociality Hidden camera Hierarchical organization Highly sensitive person Hijra (South Asia) Hikikomori Hip-huggers Histrionic personality disorder Hogging (sexual practice) Homelessness among LGBT Youth in the United States Homophobia Homophobia in the African American community Homophobia in the Asian American community Homophobia in the Black British community Homophobic propaganda

concept phobia psychosexual attraction crime concept psychosexual attraction act behaviour crime policy crime crime act place culture psychosexual attraction event psychosexual attraction epithet physical characteristic epithet sexual orientation ideology ideology sexual orientation behaviour object organizational system epithet identity epithet garment disorder practice situation phobia situation situation situation movement

transversal sexology sexology law and criminology art and entertainment sexology sexology sociology sexuality law and criminology law and criminology law and criminology law and criminology sociology art and entertainment sociology sexology chronicle sexology sociology sexuality sexology religion sexology sexology sociology sexuality sexology sociology sexuality engineering transversal psychology sexology psychology art and entertainment psychiatry sexology sociology sexuality sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality

308


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CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Homosexual agenda Homosexual panic Homosexual recruitment Homosexuality Homosexuality and Christianity Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida Homosexuality in ancient Greece Homosexuality in India Honor killing Hostile environment sexual harassment Hot cognition Hot Karl (slang) Hourglass corset HRP-4C HUBO Hubris Human bonding Human female sexuality Human furniture Human male sexuality Human rights in India Human sexual activity Human sexual response cycle Human sexuality Human variability Humanoid robot Humanzee Hypercapnia Hypergamy Hypermasculinity Hypersexual disorder Hypersexuality Hypoactive sexual desire disorder Hypoventilation training Hypoxia (medical) I’ll show you mine if you show me yours iCub IdÊe fixe (psychology) Identity (social science) Identity politics

slang disorder practice sexual orientation view situation history of situation crime crime concept act garment robot robot concept theory subject psychosexual attraction subject situation subject process subject concept robot other condition practice behaviour disorder disorder disorder practice condition game robot concept concept concept

sociology sexuality psychiatry sociology sexuality sexology religion law and criminology sexology sociology sexuality law and criminology law and criminology psychology sexology art and entertainment engineering engineering literature affective psychology sexology sexology sexology law and criminology sexology sexology sexology sexology engineering genetics medicine sociology sexology sexology sexology sexology sport medicine sexology engineering psychology transversal politics

309


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Il Rosa Nudo (Naked Rose) Illegal sports Illusory superiority Implications of divorce Inbreeding Inbreeding depression Incest Incest in folklore Incest in popular culture Incest in the Bible Incest taboo Incidents of necrophilia Indecent exposure Infatuation Inferiority complex Insular dwarfism Intercultural competence International child abduction International Mister Leather International Statistical Classification* Internet addiction disorder Internet censorship Internet censorship circumvention Internet pornography Internet safety Internet sex addiction Internet Watch Foundation and Wikipedia Interpersonal relationship Interpersonal ties Intersectionality Intersex Intimate parts Intimate parts (Islam) Intrinsic value (animal ethics) Jack Fritscher Jackboot Jacqueline Carey Jailbait Jailbait images Janet Hardy

movie practice feeling other practice dysfunction practice contestualization contestualization contestualization norm event act feeling disorder process ability crime contest classification system addiction practice practice pornography concept addiction controversy relationship relationship theory condition body part view concept person garment person slang rappresentation person

art and entertainment sport psychology sociology genetics genetics sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality religion sociology sexuality chronicle ethics affective psychology psychology biology anthropology law and criminology art and entertainment medicine psychology law and criminology information technology art and entertainment information technology sexology chronicle affective psychology affective psychology sociology sexology sexology religion ethics sociology art and entertainment literature sociology sexuality art and entertainment sexology

* International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 310


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Japan Japanese bondage Jay Wiseman Jerusalem syndrome Joan Nestle Jocasta complex John Norman Joint attention Jointness (psychodynamics) Jonathon Sharkey Judith Butler Judith Halberstam Junior idol Justin (robot) Kama Sutra Kamashastra Katawa Shoujo Kathoey Kazuhide Uekusa Kigurumi Killing Us Softly Kin recognition Kin selection Kink (sexual) Kink Aware Professionals Kink.com Kinky boots Kinsey Scale Kismet (robot) Klismaphilia Knee-high boot Koinophilia Lad culture Lammily Larry Townsend Latex and PVC fetishism Laughter Laura Antoniou Lavender scare Laws regarding incest

other practice person syndrome person psychosexual attraction person concept concept person person person epithet robot book book game identity person epithet rappresentation ability phenomenon slang organisation pornography garment measurament system robot psychosexual attraction garment theory culture doll person psychosexual attraction phenomenon person event law

transversal sexology literature psychology sociology sexuality sexology philosophy psychology psychology politics philosophy sociology sexuality art and entertainment engineering sexology sexology art and entertainment sexology chronicle art and entertainment sociology sexuality zoology biology sexology sexology art and entertainment sexology sexology engineering sexology art and entertainment biology sociology art and entertainment sexology sexology physiology sexology sociology sexuality law and criminology

311


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SUBJECT

Leather Archives and Museum Leather Pride flag Leather subculture Leblouh Legal aspects of transsexualism Legal status of cartoon pornography depicting minors Legal status of Internet pornography Legal status of polygamy Legality of recording by civilians Leggings Leopold von Sacher-Masoch Leotard Lesbian sexual practices Lesbian-identified Lesbianism in erotica Lesbophobia Leslie Feinberg LGBT LGBT culture LGBT people in prison LGBT retirement issues LGBT rights by country or territory LGBT rights in Italy LGBT rights opposition LGBT social movements LGBT stereotypes Libido Lillian Faderman Limbic resonance Limerence Limits (BDSM) Lingam Lipstick lesbian Living statue Lolicon Lolita fashion Love addiction Love-hate relationship Lovemap Low-rise jeans

place object culture practice legal issue situation situation situation legal issue garment person garment practice sexual orientation contestualization phobia person epithet culture situation situation rights situation movement movement belief feeling person theory feeling norm rappresentation slang performance psychosexual attraction culture addiction relationship concept garment

sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology law and criminology law and criminology law and criminology law and criminology law and criminology art and entertainment literature art and entertainment sexology sexology literature sexology sociology sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality law and criminology law and criminology sociology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sexology literature psychology affective psychology sexology religion sociology sexuality art and entertainment sexology sociology affective psychology affective psychology sexology art and entertainment

312


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SUBJECT

Macrophilia Madonna–whore complex Magician (paranormal) Mahram Maithuna Major histocompatibility complex and sexual selection MakeHuman Making out Male dominance (BDSM) Male privilege Male Studies in the Caribbean Male submission Malignant narcissism Mammary intercourse manga Marianismo Marquis de Sade Marriage Marriage gap Marriageable age Masculinity Masculism Mass hysteria Master/slave (BDSM) Masturbation Mating system Matriarchal religion Matriarchy Matthew Shepard Mature minor doctrine Mechanics of human sexuality Mechanophilia Media portrayal of bisexuality Medical fetishism Meg Meeker Megalomania Meganekko Meinü_robot Men and feminism Men’s liberation

psychosexual attraction disorder role epithet rite body part software act practice condition situation practice disorder act book ideology person rite concept law concept ideology disorder practice practice organizational system belief organizational system person norm subject psychosexual attraction contestualization psychosexual attraction person disorder slang robot situation movement

sexology sexology pseudoscience sociology sexuality religion genetics information technology sexology sexology transversal sociology sexuality sexology psychology sexology literature sociology sexuality literature sociology sociology law and criminology sexology philosophy sexuality psychiatry sexology sexology sexology religion sociology sexuality chronicle law and criminology sexology sexology art and entertainment sexology medicine psychology art and entertainment engineering sociology sexuality sociology sexuality

313


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SUBJECT

Men’s movement Men’s rights movement Men’s studies Ménage à trois Menstrual cycle Midriff MILF (slang) Mimicry Minority group Minority influence Minority rights Minority Rights Group International Misandry Misogyny Missing women of Asia Mister Leather Europe Mobbing Moe (slang) Monogamy Monomania Monothematic delusion Moral panic More danico Morphological freedom Mortification of the flesh Mother goddess Multiculturalism Mummification (BDSM) Munchausen by Internet Munchausen syndrome Muscle worship Muxe Nao (robot) Narcissism Narcissism of small differences Narcissistic abuse Narcissistic defences Narcissistic elation Narcissistic leadership Narcissistic mortification

movement movement study practice phenomenon body part slang phenomenon concept concept rights organisation behaviour behaviour phenomenon contest behaviour slang behaviour disorder disorder feeling practice concept practice identity concept practice disorder syndrome practice identity robot disorder phenomenon behaviour behaviour behaviour behaviour disorder

sociology sexuality sociology sexuality transversal sexology anatomy anatomy sociology sexuality biology sociology sociology law and criminology sociology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality art and entertainment sociology art and entertainment sociology sexuality psychology psychology sociology law and criminology law and criminology religion religion sociology sexology psychology psychiatry sexology sexology engineering psychology psychology psychology psychology psychology psychology psychology

314


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SUBJECT

Narcissistic rage and narcissistic injury Narcissistic supply Narcissistic withdrawal National Coalition for Sexual Freedom National Leather Association International National Organization for Women National Youth Rights Association Naturism Navel Navel fetishism Navel in human culture Necrophilia Necrophilia in popular culture Neuroethology Nice guy Noble savage Nocturnal clitoral tumescence Nocturnal emission Nocturnal penile tumescence Non-monogamy Non-paternity event Non-penetrative sex Norm (social) Normality (behavior) Nu Fetish Nyotaimori Obesity Object sexuality Object-oriented ontology Objectification Obscene phone call Obsessive love Olfactophilia Omorashi On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog Online identity Open marriage Open relationship Operation Protect Our Children Opposition to pornography

behaviour behaviour behaviour organisation organisation organisation organisation movement body part psychosexual attraction contestualization psychosexual attraction contestualization study slang epithet event event event behaviour event practice concept behaviour psychosexual attraction practice condition psychosexual attraction ideology act psychosexual attraction feeling psychosexual attraction psychosexual attraction rappresentation identity relationship relationship act ideology

psychology psychology psychology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sociology anatomy sexology sociology sexology sociology sexuality zoology sociology sexuality literature sexology sexology sexology sociology sexuality genetics sexology sociology sociology sexology sexology medicine sexology philosophy sociology sexology affective psychology sexology sexology sociology sociology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality law and criminology sociology sexuality

315


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SUBJECT

Oppositional defiant disorder Ordination of women Orgasm control Orgastic potency Otaku Other Specified Paraphilic Disorder Other World Kingdom Otokonoko Outbreeding depression Over-the-knee boot Overweight Pain in animals Panchira Pangender Pansexuality Paradox of hedonism Paranoia Paraphilia Paraphilic infantilism Parental controls Parentification Partialism Passing (gender) Passing (sociology) Passive-aggressive behavior Paternity fraud Paternity test Patriarchy Patrick Califia Peacefire Pearl necklace (sexuality) Pederasty Pediophobia Pedophilia Pegging (sexual practice) Penetrative sex Penile plethysmograph Permissive society Persistent genital arousal disorder Personality psychology

disorder practice practice ability epithet concept place epithet phenomenon garment condition feeling slang identity sexual orientation other feeling concept psychosexual attraction practice phenomenon psychosexual attraction identity ability disorder crime test organizational system person web issue act relationship phobia psychosexual attraction practice act measurament system concept disorder study

psychiatry religion sexology sexology psychology sexology sexology sexology genetics art and entertainment medicine zoology sociology sexuality sexology sexology philosophy psychology sexology sexology pedagogy pedagogy sexology sexology sociology psychiatry law and criminology genetics sociology sexuality literature sociology sexology sexology psychology sexology sexology sexology sexology sociology sexology psychology

316


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SUBJECT

Perversion Phaedra complex Phallic architecture Phallus Phallus paintings in Bhutan Pheromone Philistinism Philosophy of sex Phone sex physical attractiveness Pierre Seel Pinafore eroticism Pink Pistols Platonic love Playing doctor Plushophilia Poison pen letter Political correctness Polo neck Polyamory Polyandry Polygamy Polygynandry Polygyny Polygyny threshold model Pornocracy Pornography addiction Pornography by region Pornography in Japan Pornophobia Portrayal of women in video games Postfeminism Postgenderism Posthumous sperm retrieval Postmodernism Postorgasmic illness syndrome Prank call Precocious puberty Prefrontal cortex Pregnancy fetishism

disorder psychosexual attraction art / architecture body part art / architecture other behaviour subject practice feeling person practice organisation feeling game psychosexual attraction crime concept garment behaviour behaviour behaviour behaviour relationship theory other addiction law situation phobia contestualization movement movement process movement syndrome game dysfunction body part psychosexual attraction

sexology sexology art and entertainment sexology art and entertainment biology philosophy philosophy sexuality sexology sexology history sexology politics affective psychology sexology sexology law and criminology sociology art and entertainment sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality zoology sociology sexuality biology history sexology law and criminology art and entertainment sexology art and entertainment sociology sexuality sociology sexuality medicine art and entertainment medicine art and entertainment sexology anatomy sexology

317


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Premature ejaculation Prevention Project Dunkelfeld Priapism Primal scene Prison rape Problem gambling Procrastination Prohibited degree of kinship Promiscuity Promotional model Propinquity Prostate massage Prostitution Psychic vampire Psychoanalytic concepts of love and hate Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual Psychological manipulation Psychological projection Psychosexual development Psychosis Puberty Pubic hair fetishism Public nudity Public sex Public Sex (film) Punk fashion Puppy love PVC Clothing Pygmalion (mythology) Pyromania Pyrophilia QRIO Queer Queer migration Queer studies Queer theology Queer theory Quid Pro Quo (film) Rada (fiqh) Rape culture

dysfunction project dysfunction event crime addiction practice concept practice job concept practice practice epithet concept pubblication practice theory theory disorder process psychosexual attraction act act movie movement feeling garment other disorder psychosexual attraction robot epithet movement study subject theory movie concept concept

sexology sexology sexology sexology law and criminology psychology psychology law and criminology sexology art and entertainment affective psychology sexology sociology sexuality literature psychology psychology psychology psychology sexology psychiatry sexology sexology sociology sexology art and entertainment sociology affective psychology art and entertainment religion psychiatry sexology engineering sexology sociology sexuality transversal sociology sexuality philosophy sexuality art and entertainment law and criminology sociology sexuality

318


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SUBJECT

Rape fantasy Rape statistics Rational egoism Reaction formation RealDoll Reappropriation Reborn doll REEM Relational disorder Relationship breakup Relationship counseling Relationship education Religion and homosexuality Religion and sexuality Religious views on pornography Reporting of child pornography* Reproductive rights Research Domain Criteria Retrograde ejaculation Rhaphanidosis Richard von Krafft-Ebing Riddle scale Right to pornography Risk-aware consensual kink Rivethead Robonaut Roboraptor RoboSapien Robosapien v2 Robot fetishism Ron Suresha Rope bondage Rosenhan experiment Roxxxy Russian roulette Russian State Duma Bill 89417-6 S. Bear Bergman S&M (song) Sacred prostitution Sadism and masochism in fiction

psychosexual attraction event concept process doll process doll robot disorder event process subject view view view event rights project dysfunction act person measurament system rights concept culture robot robot robot robot psychosexual attraction person object other doll game law person other rite contestualization

sexology law and criminology psychology psychology sexology sociology art and entertainment engineering psychiatry affective psychology affective psychology affective psychology religion religion religion chronicle law and criminology psychiatry sexology sexology sexology sexology law and criminology sexology art and entertainment engineering engineering engineering engineering sexology sociology sexuality sexology psychiatry sexology art and entertainment law and criminology art and entertainment art and entertainment religion art and entertainment

* Reporting of child pornography images on Wikimedia Commons 319


ARTICLE TITLE

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SUBJECT

Sadistic personality disorder Sadomasochism Safe, sane and consensual Salirophilia Salvius (robot) Sam Vaknin Same-sex marriage Samson (magazine) Savage Love Scarification Scatology Schadenfreude Schizoid personality disorder Schizophrenia SchrÜdinger’s cat Scopophilia Scopophobia Scrotal inflation Second-class citizen Secondary sex characteristic Secret photography Selective mutism Self-defeating personality disorder Self-denial Self-destructive behaviour self-harm Self-hating Jew Selfishness Seme and uke Semen analysis Semen collection Sentiocentrism Separatist feminism Servitude (BDSM) Session wrestler Sex Addicts Anonymous Sex and gender distinction Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous Sex and the law Sex club

disorder psychosexual attraction principle psychosexual attraction robot person rite magazine magazine practice study feeling disorder disorder other psychosexual attraction phobia practice epithet body part practice disorder disorder practice behaviour act epithet feeling rappresentation test process ideology movement practice job organisation concept organisation situation place

psychiatry sexology sexology sexology engineering psychology sociology sexuality art and entertainment art and entertainment anthropology biology psychology psychiatry psychiatry physics sexology psychology sexology sociology sexology art and entertainment psychiatry psychiatry psychology psychiatry psychiatry sociology psychology art and entertainment medicine medicine philosophy sociology sexuality sexology art and entertainment sexology sexology sexology law and criminology sexology

320


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CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Sex difference in religion Sex differences in humans Sex differences in psychology Sex doll Sex education Sex in advertising Sex magic Sex position Sex Roles (journal) Sex segregation Sex toy Sex-positive feminism Sex-positive movement Sexaholics Anonymous Sexism Sexism in India Sexism in the technology industry Sexless marriage Sexological testing Sexology sexting Sexual abstinence Sexual abuse Sexual addiction Sexual arousal Sexual arousal disorder Sexual attraction Sexual bullying Sexual capital Sexual Compulsives Anonymous Sexual dimorphism Sexual dysfunction Sexual ethics Sexual fetishism Sexual function Sexual harassment Sexual imprinting Sexual inversion (sexology) Sexual motivation and hormones Sexual norm

situation subject subject doll subject contestualization practice act pubblication concept object movement movement organisation ideology situation situation behaviour test study practice practice crime addiction phenomenon disorder feeling behaviour concept organisation concept dysfunction subject psychosexual attraction therapy crime concept identity phenomenon norm

religion sexology sexology sexology sexology art and entertainment sexology sexology sexology sociology sexuality sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sexology sexology sexology sexology law and criminology sexology sexology sexology sexology sociology sexuality sexology sexology sexology sexology ethics sexology sexology law and criminology psychology sexology sexology sociology sexuality

321


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CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Sexual objectification Sexual obsessions Sexual orientation Sexual orientation hypothesis Sexual repression Sexual revolution Sexual revolution in 1960s America Sexual roleplay Sexual script Sexual selection Sexual slang Sexual slavery (BDSM) Sexual violence in South Africa Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures Sexuality in ancient Rome Sexuality in music videos Sexualization Shadow Hand Shared Earning/Shared Parenting Marriage Shared parenting Sheela na Gig Shemale Shoe fetishism Shotacon Shyness Significant acts of violence against LGBT People Sissy Sissy (transgender) Sizeism Skin-tight garment Skoptic syndrome Slapstick Sleep apnea Sleep sex Snowballing (sexual practice) Social anxiety Social exclusion Social isolation Social phobia Societal attitudes toward homosexuality

act disorder concept theory behaviour movement history of practice theory theory concept practice situation culture history of contestualization process robot practice practice art / architecture slang psychosexual attraction slang feeling crime slang slang behaviour garment syndrome practice disorder disorder practice feeling concept behaviour phobia behaviour

sexology sexology sexology sexology sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sexology sociology sexuality biology linguistic sexology law and criminology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality art and entertainment sexology engineering law and criminology law and criminology art and entertainment sociology sexuality sexology sexology psychology law and criminology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sociology art and entertainment psychiatry art and entertainment medicine sexology sexology psychology sociology psychology psychiatry sociology sexuality

322


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CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Society of Janus Sociology of gender Sociology of the family Sociosexual orientation Sodomy Sodomy law Soft addiction Soft butch Somatoparaphrenia Somnophilia Soring Southeast Leatherfest Space exposure Spandex Spandex fetishism Spanking Spanking literature Spawn (biology) Species dysphoria Speciesism Specific social phobia Sperm donation Spinser Spirit spouse Split britches Splitting (psychology) Spoiled child Stalking Stay-at-home dad Stereotyping Stigma management Stimulation of nipples Stockholm syndrome Stockings Stone butch Stone femme Stop Murder Music Story of O Straight Pride

organisation organisation subject subject concept practice law addiction identity disorder psychosexual attraction practice festival event object psychosexual attraction act contestualization behaviour disorder ideology phobia practice slang phenomenon person disorder behaviour crime practice concept behaviour act syndrome garment identity identity movement book movement

sociology sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexology sexology law and criminology psychology sexology psychiatry sexology sport art and entertainment physics art and entertainment sexology sociology literature biology sexology philosophy psychology medicine sociology religion art and entertainment psychology affective psychology law and criminology sociology sociology sociology sexology psychology art and entertainment sexology sexology sociology sexuality literature sociology sexuality

323


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SUBJECT

Street photography Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters Structural functionalism Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Stylite Succubus Suicide among LGBT youth Superhero erotica Superiority complex Surveillance Susanna Paasonen Swimsuit Swinging (sexual practice) Switch (BDSM) Symbolic interactionism Tableau vivant Taboo Takarazuka Revue Tamakeri Tattoo Technocentrism Technosexual Teledildonics Temperance (virtue) Tenga (masturbation toy) Text roulette The Bible and homosexuality The Famous Flower of Serving-Men The Gaze Thealogy Theocentricism Thigh-high boots Third gender Thong (clothing) Thoughtcrime Tickle torture Tickling Tickling game Tightlacing Tijuana bible

art / architecture book theory test role identity event object disorder practice person garment practice practice theory performance concept person psychosexual attraction rappresentation ideology epithet object behaviour object game controversy other concept study ideology garment identity garment concept practice act game practice pornography

art and entertainment psychology anthropology psychiatry religion religion sociology sexuality art and entertainment psychology law and criminology information technology art and entertainment sexology sexology sociology art and entertainment sociology art and entertainment sexology transversal philosophy sociology sexuality sexology ethics sexology art and entertainment religion art and entertainment psychology religion philosophy art and entertainment sexology art and entertainment psychology law and criminology physiology art and entertainment art and entertainment art and entertainment

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CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Time of useful consciousness Toleration Tomboy Top (BDSM) Top and bottom in sex and BDSM Topfreedom TOPIO Toplessness Total enclosure fetishism Totem and taboo Toucherism Trampling Trans bashing Transcending Boundaries Conference Transgender Transgender Day of Remembrance Transgender Europe Transgender Rights in Tamil Nadu Transgender youth Transgenderism (social movement) Transhumanism Transphobia Transsexual pornography Transsexual sexuality Transsexualism Transvestic fetishism Transvestism Transvestophilia Traumatic bonding Travesti Travesti (theatre) Tri-Ess Trigender Triple oppression Troilism Trophy wife True self and false self Twelfth Night Twink (gay slang) Two-Spirit

concept behaviour slang role practice movement robot act psychosexual attraction book psychosexual attraction practice act convention identity event movement situation identity identity movement phobia pornography subject identity psychosexual attraction practice psychosexual attraction feeling identity role support group identity theory psychosexual attraction slang concept other slang identity

medicine transversal sociology sexuality sexology sexology sociology sexuality engineering sociology sexology psychology sexology sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality sexology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality law and criminology sexology sexology sociology sexology art and entertainment sexology sexology sexology sexology sexology affective psychology sexology art and entertainment sexology sexology sociology sexology sociology sexuality psychology literature sociology sexuality sexology

325


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Ulwaluko Uncanny Valley Uncontrolled decompression Underwear fetishism Uniform fetishism Upskirt Urination Urolagnia Vaginal sex Vaginismus Vampire lifestyle Vanity Venus Butterfly Venus figurines Victim blaming Victimless crime Violence against LGBT people Virtual Woman Virtuous Pedophiles Vorarephilia Voyeurism James Giles (philosopher) Vulvodynia Weightism Westboro Baptist Church Western stereotype of the male ballet dancer Wet and messy fetishism Wet T-shirt contest Wetlook Wetsuit Wife selling Wigger Wikimedia Commons Wisdom of repugnance Women Against Pornography Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media Women in Christianity Women in Islam Women’s movement Women’s rights

rite theory event psychosexual attraction psychosexual attraction practice phenomenon psychosexual attraction practice disorder culture behaviour act art / architecture concept crime crime software support group psychosexual attraction psychosexual attraction person syndrome behaviour other belief psychosexual attraction contest act garment practice slang project theory movement movement situation situation movement rights

sociology sexuality philosophy engineering sexology sexology sexology physiology sexology sexology sexology sociology psychology sexology art and entertainment law and criminology law and criminology law and criminology art and entertainment sexology sexology sexology philosophy sexology sociology religion sociology sexology art and entertainment art and entertainment sport sociology sociology law and criminology psychology sociology sexuality sociology sexuality religion religion sociology sexuality law and criminology

326


ARTICLE TITLE

CATEGORY

SUBJECT

Women’s rights in Pakistan Women’s studies Wordfilter Work aversion Workaholic Workplace stress Wrestling Xenocentrism Xenophily XXL (club) Yogyakarta Principles Yogyakarta Principles in Action Youth rights Youth voice Zentai Zoophilia Zoophilia and the law Zoosadism

situation study web issue feeling epithet feeling practice ideology feeling place principle movement rights concept garment psychosexual attraction situation psychosexual attraction

law and criminology transversal information technology psychology psychology psychology sport philosophy psychology art and entertainment law and criminology sociology sexuality law and criminology sociology art and entertainment sexology law and criminology sexology

The link for each article is: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARTICLE_TITLE (title of each article)

327


PARAPHILIA

DEFINITION

Abasiophilia

Psychosexual attraction to people with impaired mobility, especially those who use orthopaedic appliances.

Acrotomophilia

Strong sexual interest in amputees.

Agalmatophilia

Sexual attraction to a statue, doll, mannequin or other similar figurative object.

Algolagnia

Deriving sexual pleasure and stimulation from physicsal pain often involving an erogenous zone.

Alvinolagnia

(or belly fetish). It is a partialism in which an individual is sexually attracted to the stomach or belly.

Apotemnophilia

Sexual arousal based on the image or fantasy of one’s self as an amputee.

Aquaphilia (fetish)

A form of sexual fetishism that involves images of people swimming or posing underwater, and sexual activity in or under water.

Armpit fetishism

A partialism in which an individual is sexually attracted to armpits - something which may lead to axillism, or armpit intercourse (sexual activity with one or both armpits).

Attraction to disability

Sexualised interest of people in the appearance, sensation and experience of disability.

Att. to transgender people *

Romantic or sexual attraction toward transgender people.

Autovampirism

Sexual arousal that depends on imagining one’s self as or adopting an identity or role of a vampire.

Balloon fetish

Sexual fetish that involves balloons

Biastophilia

Paraphilia in which sexual arousal is dependent on, or is responsive to, the act of assaulting an unconsenting person, especially a stranger, also raptophilia or paraphilic rape.

Boot fetishism

Sexual fetish dedicated to boots.

Breast fetishism

Highly atypical sexual interest focused on female breasts. The term is also used in the non-paraphilic sense, to refer to cultural attention to female breasts and the sexuality they represent, with debate existing as to whether the modern widespread fascination with breasts among heterosexual males in western societies is a sexual fetish.

* Attraction to transgender people

328


PARAPHILIA

DEFINITION

Chronophilia

Sexual attraction limited to individuals of particular age ranges.

Clothing fetish

Sexual fetish that revolves around a fixation upon a particular article or type of clothing, a collection of garments that appear as part of a fashion or uniform, or a person dressed in such a garment. The clinical definition of a sexual fetish would require that a person be fixated on a specific garment to the extent that it exists as a recurrent (or exclusive) stimulus for sexual gratification.

Coprophilia

(also scatophilia or scat). It is the paraphilia involving sexual arousal and pleasure from feces.

Crush fetish

A fetish and a paraphilia in which one is sexually aroused when someone crushes objects, food, and sometimes small animals with their body, usually under their foot, or when crushed oneself.

Cuckold

Historically referred to a husband with an adulterous wife. It is still often used with this meaning. In fetish usage a cuckold is complicit in his (or her) partner’s sexual “infidelity” and takes masochistic sexual pleasure in it.

Cuckquean

Refers to a woman with an adulterous husband. In modern English it generally refers to the sexual fetish in which sexual gratification is gained from maintenance or observation of sexual relations by a man with a woman or a number of women besides his girlfriend, wife or long-term female sex partner, and therefore, the reversed gender roles of a cuckold relationship.

Dippoldism

In psychiatry, the term is used to refer to the spanking (or other corporal punishment) of minors for sexual motives. Dippoldism is the paraphilia of sexual arousal from spanking or otherwise applying corporal punishment to children.

Doll fetish

Sexual fetish in which an individual is attracted to dolls and doll like objects such as figurines. The attraction may include the desire for actual sexual contact with a doll, a fantasy of a sexual encounter with an animate or inanimate doll, encounters between dolls themselves, or sexual pleasure gained from thoughts of being transformed or transforming another into a doll.

Downblouse

Sexual fetishism or voyeurism involving watching female breasts looking down a woman’s dress. It may take the form of making unauthorized photographs down the top of a female’s dress, blouse or other garment, capturing an image of her breasts or cleavage.

329


PARAPHILIA

DEFINITION

Emetophilia

A paraphilia in which an individual is sexually aroused by vomiting or observing others vomit, also referred to as a vomit fetish.

Ephebophilia

It is the primary or exclusive adult sexual interest in mid-to-late adolescents, generally ages 15 to 19.

Erotic asphyxiation

The intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for the purposes of sexual arousal.

Exhibitionism

The act of exposing in a public or semi-public context those parts of one’s body that are not normally exposed – for example, the breasts, genitals or buttocks.

Fat fetishism

The strong or exclusive sexual attraction to overweight or obese people.

Foot fetishism

Foot fetishism, foot partialism, foot worship, or podophilia is a pronounced sexual interest in feet.

Frotteurism

Frotteurism is a paraphilic interest in rubbing, usually one’s pelvic area or erect penis, against a non-consenting person for sexual pleasure. It may involve touching any part of the body, including the genital area.

Genetic sexual attraction

Sexual attraction between close relatives, such as siblings or half-siblings, a parent and offspring, or first and second cousins, who first meet as adults,

Gerontophilia

The sexual preference for the elderly.

Glasses fetishism

Fetishistic attraction to people wearing prescription glasses.

Glove fetishism

Sexual fetishism where an individual is sexually stimulated, often to the point of obsession, by another person or oneself wearing gloves on their hands. In some cases, the fetish is enhanced by the material of the glove (e. g., leather, cotton, latex, PVC, satin or nylon).

Hair fetishism

Also known as hair partialism and trichophilia, is a partialism in which a person sees hair – most commonly, head hair – as particularly erotic and sexually arousing.

Hand fetishism

Also hand partialism, it is the sexual fetish for hands.

Hebephilia

Primary or exclusive adult sexual interest in pubescent individuals approximately 11–14 years old, and is one of several types of chronophilia.

330


PARAPHILIA

DEFINITION

Hentai

A word of Japanese origin: a perverse sexual desire. In Japanese, the term describes any type of perverse or bizarre sexual desire or act; it does not represent a genre of work. Internationally, hentai is a catch-all term to describe a genre of anime and manga pornography. English adopts and uses hentai as a genre of pornography by the commercial sale and marketing of explicit works under this label.

Human furniture

A form of bondage and sexual objectification in which a person’s body is incorporated into a chair, table, cabinet or other piece of furniture.

Jocasta complex

Incestuous sexual desire of a mother towards her son.

Klismaphilia

Receiving sexual arousal from introducing liquids into the rectum and colon via the anus. It is a paraphilia that often involves the use of enemas.

Latex and PVC fetishism

The fetishistic attraction to people wearing latex clothing or, in certain cases, to the garments themselves. PVC fetishism and rubber fetishism are closely related to latex fetish, with the former referring to shiny clothes made of the synthetic plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and the latter referring to clothes made of rubber, which is generally thicker, less shiny, and more matte than latex. PVC is sometimes confused with the similarly shiny patent leather, which is also a fetish material.

Lolicon

Japanese discourse or media focusing on the attraction to young or prepubescent girls. The term lolicon is a portmanteau of the phrase “Lolita complex”; it describes an attraction to young or prepubescent girls, an individual with such an attraction, or lolicon manga or lolicon anime, a genre of manga and anime wherein childlike female characters are often depicted in an “erotic-cute” manner (also known as ero kawaii), in an art style reminiscent of the shōjo manga (girls’ comics) style.

Macrophilia

A fascination with or a sexual fantasy involving giants, more commonly expressed as giantesses (female giants). The fantasy typically involves one or more larger beings dominating a smaller being. Many fantasies include the macrophile shrinking before a normal sized woman or keeping his or her normal height while the partner grows in size.

Mechanophilia

A paraphilia involving a sexual attraction to machines such as bicycles, motor vehicles, helicopters and aeroplanes.

Medical fetishism

Sexual fetishes involving objects, practices, environments, and situations of a medical or clinical nature. In sexual roleplay a hospital or medical scene involves the sex partners assuming the roles of doctors, nurses, surgeons and patients to act out specific or general medical fetishes.

331


PARAPHILIA

DEFINITION

Navel fetishism

Also belly button fetishism, or alvinophilia. It is a partialism in which an individual is sexually attracted to the human navel. Navel fetishism often co-exists with stomach fetishism or alvinolagnia.

Necrophilia

Also called thanatophilia. It is a sexual attraction or sexual act involving corpses. The attraction is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association. The term was coined by the Belgian alienist Joseph Guislain, who first used it in a lecture in 1850.

Nu Fetish

Nu Fetish is a unique and rather young genre of erotica. It is a form of amateur pornographic film which creatively cycles around the individual’s desire.

Object sexuality

Also objectum sexuality. It is a sexual fetish focused on particular inanimate objects. Those individuals with this expressed preference may feel strong feelings of attraction, love, and commitment to certain items or structures of their fixation. For some, sexual or even close emotional relationships with humans are incomprehensible. Some object-sexual individuals also often believe in animism, and sense reciprocation based on the belief that objects have souls, intelligence, and feelings, and are able to communicate.

Obscene phone call

Unsolicited telephone call where a person derives sexual pleasure by using sexual or foul language to an unknown person. (There are many varieties of consensual sexual phone calls.) Making obscene telephone calls for sexual pleasure is known as telephone scatologia and is considered a form of exhibitionism. It is usually classed as a paraphilia from a medical viewpoint, in the DSM under the heading “Paraphilias Not Otherwise Specified”, although from the viewpoint of the recipient of the calls, it is generally considered to be both a form of sexual harassment and a form of stalking.

Olfactophilia

Also osmolagnia. It is a paraphilia for, or sexual arousal by, smells and odors emanating from the body, especially the sexual areas.

Omorashi

A fetish subculture recognized predominantly in Japan, in which participants experience arousal from having a full bladder or a sexual attraction to someone else experiencing the feeling of a full bladder.

Paraphilic infantilism

Paraphilic infantilism, also known as autonepiophilia and adult baby syndrome can be a sexual fetish for some that involves role-playing a regression to an infant-like state. Behaviors may include drinking from a bottle or wearing diapers. Individuals may engage in gentle and nurturing experiences (an adult who only engages in infantilistic play is known as an adult baby) or be attracted to masochistic, coercive, punishing or humiliating experiences. Diaper fetishism involves “diaper lovers” wearing diapers for sexual

332


PARAPHILIA

DEFINITION or erotic reasons but may not involve infant-like behavior. Individuals who experience both of these things are referred to as adult baby/diaper lovers (AB/DL). When wearing diapers, infantilists may urinate or defecate in them.

Partialism

Partialism is sexual interest with an exclusive focus on a specific part of the body. Partialism is categorized as a fetishistic disorder in the DSM-5 of the American Psychiatric Association if it is not focused on genitals and causes significant psychosocial distress for the person or has detrimental effects on important areas of their life.

Pedophilia

A psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children, generally age 11 years or younger. As a medical diagnosis, specific criteria for the disorder extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13. A person who is diagnosed with pedophilia must be at least 16 years of age, but adolescents must be at least five years older than the prepubescent child for the attraction to be diagnosed as pedophilia.

Phaedra complex

The Phaedra complex is primarily the sexual desire of a stepmother for her stepson, though the term has been extended to cover difficult relationships between step-parents and step-children in general.

Plushophilia

A paraphilia involving stuffed animals. Plushophiles are sometimes called plushies, although this term (plushies) can also refer to non-sexual stuffed animal enthusiasts, and to stuffed animals in general.

Pregnancy fetishism

A context where pregnancy is seen by individuals or cultures as an erotic phenomenon. It may involve sexual attraction to women who are pregnant or appear pregnant, attraction to lactation, or attraction to particular stages of pregnancy such as impregnation or childbirth.

Pubic hair fetishism

Pubic hair fetishism, or pubephilia, is a partialism in which a person is sexually attracted to, or becomes sexually aroused by the sight or feel of human pubic hair, whether male or female.

Pyrophilia

A relatively uncommon paraphilia in which the patient derives gratification from fire and fire-starting activity. It is distinguished from pyromania by the gratification being of a sexual nature.

Rape fantasy

Sexual fantasy involving imagining or pretending being coerced or coercing another into sexual activity. In sexual roleplay, it involves acting out roles of coercive sex. Rape pornography is literature or images associated with rape as a means of sexual arousal.

333


PARAPHILIA

DEFINITION

Robot fetishism

A fetishistic attraction to humanoid robots; also to people acting like robots or people dressed in robot costumes. A less common fantasy involves transformation into a robot. In these ways it is similar to agalmatophilia, which involves attraction to or transformation into statues or mannequins.

Sadomasochism

A subset of BDSM, is the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual gratification from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer respectively to one who enjoys giving or receiving pain, practitioners of sadomasochism may switch between activity and passivity.

Salirophilia

A sexual fetish or paraphilia that involves deriving erotic pleasure from soiling or disheveling the object of one’s desire, usually an attractive person. It may involve tearing or damaging their clothing, covering them in mud or filth, or messing their hair or makeup. The fetish does not involve harming or injuring the subject, only their appearance. It is related to wet and messy fetishism, bukkake, omorashi, mysophilia, urolagnia and coprophilia, but extends to other areas such a forcing the partner to wear torn or poorly fitting clothing and other actions which would render them normally unattractive.

Scopophilia

Also scoptophilia. Deriving pleasure from looking. As an expression of sexuality, it refers to sexual pleasure derived from looking at erotic objects: erotic photographs, pornography, naked bodies, etc.

Sexual fetishism

Also erotic fetishism. It is a sexual focus on a nonliving object or nongenital body part. The object of interest is called the fetish; the person who has a fetish for that object is a fetishist. A sexual fetish may be regarded as a non-pathological aid to sexual excitement, or as a mental disorder if it causes significant psychosocial distress for the person or has detrimental effects on important areas of their life. Sexual arousal from a particular body part can be further classified as partialism.

Shoe fetishism

Shoe fetishism is the attribution of attractive sexual qualities to shoes or other footwear as a matter of sexual preference, or an alternative or complement to a relationship with a partner. Individuals with shoe fetishism can be erotically interested in women’s shoes.

Somnophilia

Also known as sleeping princess syndrome and sleeping beauty syndrome is a paraphilia in which an individual becomes sexually aroused by someone who is unconscious.

Spandex fetishism

A fetishistic attraction to people wearing form fitting stretch fabrics or to the wearing of items of clothing made of such material.

334


PARAPHILIA

DEFINITION

Tamakeri

A sexual fetish and subgenre of pornography within which a man’s testicles are abused. The genre is also referred to as ballbusting (“bb” for short).

Total enclosure fetishism

A form of sexual fetishism whereby a person becomes aroused when having entire body enclosed in a certain way.

Toucherism

Toucherism is sexual arousal based on grabbing or rubbing one’s hands against an unexpecting (and non-consenting) person. It usually involves touching breasts, buttocks or genital areas, often while quickly walking across the victim’s path. Some psychologists consider toucherism a manifestation of frotteurism, while others distinguish the two.

Transvestic fetishism

A psychiatric diagnosis applied to those who are thought to have an excessive sexual or erotic interest in cross-dressing; this interest is often expressed in autoerotic behavior. It differs from cross-dressing for entertainment or other purposes that do not involve sexual arousal, and is categorized as a paraphilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (Sexual arousal in response to donning sex-typical clothing is homeovestism.).

Transvestophilia

Attraction to transgender people is romantic or sexual attraction toward transgender people. Attraction to transgender people can be toward trans men, trans women, nonbinary people, or a combination of these. This attraction can be a person’s occasional, preferred, primary, or exclusive interes.

Troilism

Sexual activity in which three persons take part simultaneously.

Underwear fetishism

Sexual fetishism relating to undergarments, and refers to the sexual excitement which some people experience from observing or handling certain types of underwear, including panties, stockings, pantyhose, bras, or other items.

Uniform fetishism

Sexual fetishism where an individual is obsessed and fixated by another or oneself wearing a uniform.

Urolagnia

Form of salirophilia (which is a form of paraphilia) in which sexual excitement is associated with the sight or thought of urine or urination. The term has origins in the Greek language (from ouron, urine, and lagneia, lust).

Vorarephilia

Paraphilia characterized by the erotic desire to be consumed by, or sometimes to personally consume, another person or creature. Since vorarephilic fantasies cannot be acted out in reality, they are often expressed in stories or drawings shared on the Internet.

335


PARAPHILIA

DEFINITION

Voyeurism

Observing but may also involve the making of a secret photograph or video of the subject during an intimate activity.

Wet and messy fetishism

Also known as sploshing. It is a form of sexual fetishism whereby a person becomes aroused when copious amounts of a substance are applied to the naked skin, face, or to clothing.

Zoophilia

Paraphilia involving a sexual fixation on animals. Bestiality is cross-species sexual activity between human and non-human animals. The terms are often used interchangeably, but some researchers make a distinction between the attraction (zoophilia) and the act (bestiality).

Zoosadism

Pleasure derived from cruelty to animals. Zoosadism is part of the Macdonald triad, a set of three behaviors that are a precursor to sociopathic behavior.

All the definitions are taken from each relative Wikipedia page

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IV

Bibiography


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My biggest thanks and all my love goes to my father, Luciano, and my brother, William, for their support, their encouragement and their smiles. To my grandparents, Livio, Giulia, Gianna and to Patrizia and Marco. Thanks to Donato, relator of this thesis, for this opportunity and many others he has offered to me and for his trust. To David and Andreas (ex-colleagues at Barcelona Media), for having accepted my internship last minute giving me the possibility of having a precious experience. To my ex-colleagues at Sciences Po, particularly to Guillaume, Paul and Mathieu, for their help. To Alberto and Matteo for the IT tips. To Alberta for the quick but efficient support.

To the girls of the Tassel Tease Company, as paillettes are always a good relief from thesis stress. To my coaches, as athlete attitude is a way of life that has helped me in every circumstance. To Alessia, Anna, Arianna, Chiara, Cristina, Cristina, Elena, Giulia, Giulia, Ilaria, Jessica, Silvia, Eleonora, Serena and all those friends (Italians and not) that have been always by my side, despite geographical distances. And finally, even if she can not read it anymore, thanks to my mother, if I’m here is also because of all she did.

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RELATORE Donato Ricci Politecnico di Milano Scuola del Design Tesi di Laurea Magistrale Design della Comunicazione Matricola: 798727 A.A. 2014 / 2015


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