Jennifer Power brings s extensive research, academic rigor and life experience to the discussion around LGBTI issues. Inviting us to question and look beyond societal norms, Power is committed to opening up the dialogue around sex, sexuality, and same-sex family structures.
In a period of isolation, during which we’ve faced new challenges around intimacy and connectivity, Power shares her views on how technology could influence the relationships we forge with others.
Q > As a sociologist, what drew you to research sexuality and sexual health?
A > Prior to working in academia, I was a youth worker and I had a job that involved running a sexual health education and HIV prevention program for young people who were homeless. In that job, I became quite interested in the politics and complexities of sexual health education. It’s tricky delivering sexual health education to young people in a politically palatable way, but also in a way that is effective and doesn’t give young people the message that sex is always risky or dangerous.
At the same time, I was involved in a lot of political activism and was really motivated to read and think a lot about whether organised political action can actually change the world. I think I wanted some proof that political activism made a difference. I was scared that I would expend all this time and emotion on activism and trying to change the world only to get old and stop caring and decide that it was all for nothing.
In the end, I combined these two interests and did a PhD on the HIV/AIDS movement. I could see how effective HIV activists had been. These activists made sure the world took notice and took a stance and didn’t let HIV become an excuse to let homophobia reign. And they did this while many of them were incredibly unwell and with the literal fear of death handing over them. The political activist history of HIV is incredible. There were some amazing people involved. So by studying this, I managed to explore the impact of social movements while also learning about effective sexual health policy and practice. My career has continued along this trajectory, although I have moved more into general sexuality research.
Q > How do you challenge or question convention — in your work or personal life?
A > As a queer person, and queer parent, I am conscious that I have to challenge convention just by being in my everyday life. It’s not always a radical or very noisy challenge, but it is enough of a challenge to provoke a small sense of anxiety. I am often the only queer parent in one of my children’s classes and my family configuration – which includes a network of my ex-partners and their new families – is complicated and people are curious. Being open to people’s questions, [and] being present are part of challenging this even though I do often feel separate or alienated from the culture of the school community. I like not being at the centre of convention, but it can get tiring.
In my professional life, the whole point of what I do is to draw attention to narratives that are often marginalised or demonised. A simple example is the narrative in sexual health that sex is a ‘problem’ that needs to be fixed by health interventions (because of sexually transmitted infections and fertility and so forth). There are so many other experiences of sex, pleasure and human intimacy that matter more to people’s lives than the ‘problems’ associated with sex. Yet it is often politically contentious to speak about this. People would rather we spoke about disease than pleasure. Doing research on sexual intimacy and pleasure, which is such an everyday thing, is a form of challenging convention (which is weird, it shouldn’t be so challenging, but it is).
Q > What has been your biggest source of learning?
A > That’s a hard question and I am not sure of the answer. Experience to some extent. Reading. And a willingness to listen and be curious. I think learning is a bit like the frog in the boiling pot metaphor (is that the right metaphor?). You don’t really realise how much you absorb until you look back and realise how much your thoughts and ideas have progressed over the years.
Q > What patterns, routines or rituals help to shape your life and its rhythms?
A > I wish I was better at routines and patterns. I would love to be someone who happily wrote into the night, or who got up early every morning to write before the sun (and the children) come up. That sounds so romantic and so productive. That is not me. I tend to be consumed with a piece of writing for a while and let everything else slide. Then I race to pick up all the loose ends when I have finished that piece of writing. It’s hectic. I think hectic routines shape my life. I often say I am driven by coffee and chaos and not much more.
Q > Amidst the current pandemic, what are the biggest benefits and most concerning pitfalls that technology is bringing to ‘sex in isolation’/connections in quarantine?
A > Well, it is all speculation. I think we will learn more about what people have been doing in lockdown now that we are all starting to emerge from it. But I do think that it is inevitable that more people have had to communicate via digital technologies due to social isolation/lockdown measures. It’s also likely that more people have been lonely and have had to use technologies to reach out. So perhaps people will have a new confidence to use tech in their social, intimate or sexual lives in ways they didn’t think to before.
We hear a lot about the pitfalls or risks of digital technology when it comes to sex and dating. There are definitely risks — probably the biggest being scams or catfishing, and people pretending to be someone they aren’t to steal money. Some people can be vulnerable looking for love online, particularly those who are isolated or lonely (and let’s face it, that is all of us at some points in our lives). However, I think the high profile of dating scams has contributed to this idea that people present some sort of inauthentic version of themselves when online. I am not sure that is true. People may present a curated version of themselves, but that’s not the same as being inauthentic. I wonder if people will develop more trust in online connections through the COVID experience?
Q > Do you think the pandemic will lead to lasting changes to the way humans conduct sex and relationships? If so, what do you think some of these lasting changes will be?
A > As said, people might be more comfortable using digital technology to connect. Tech will be more normalised. Maybe it could throw us back to more traditional forms of courtship. Instead of just swiping right or left, perhaps people will be more in the mode of chatting and connecting for a longer period online.
A new level of comfort in connecting with other humans online might change the world forever. This is true in many areas. I suspect working from home using digital infrastructure will be more normalised because of COVID-19. Talking to people online might forever more be a more normal part of our everyday lives (at least in high income settings). This is kinda space aged if you think about it. We once imagined the future would involve hoverboards and flying cars. No-one was thinking about the telephone… and who really imagined the network that is the internet!? The future actually involves encyclopedias in our pocket (aka Google on your phone), cameras everywhere (aka that phone in your pocket) and face-to-face chatting to your mother from the other side of the world (via the phone in your pocket). Who really knows what is next?
Q > Which topics do you find yourself debating, pondering or questioning these days?
A > I have just been writing about sex robots, which has left me pondering how we should imagine human/machine relationships in a way that doesn’t lead us into a sex-negative space. Thinking through the ethics of sex involving humans and non-human machines or objects is complicated and potentially confronting, but not necessarily because of the mechanics (pun intended) of the sex, but because it forces us to confront what it means to be human and the ethics of human sexual and gendered relationships. How do we approach issues of sexual consent when the sex involves a non-sentient being, such as a sex robot? This seems ridiculous when we look at the blow-up-doll version of a sex bot that we have right now. But what if AI and other technologies emerge to the point where these bots are highly human-like and more diverse in their appearance (so they didn’t just look like the standard sex doll, but reflect a human with its own identity and agency)? Is it possible to ‘rape’ a non-sentient machine? Is it different when the non-sentient being looks human? The ethics, and the cultural and social implications, of all this are a minefield and completely fascinating.
Q > What are your hopes or dreams when it comes to support for LGTBQ relationships and family diversity — and which key changes (by government or society) are needed to achieve these?
A > I went to school in the 1980s and 1990s and I am astounded sometimes at how much change has happened since those years. Being ‘out’ at my school would have been impossible. I don’t think that would be so anymore. It’s amazing. Also, I think back to the late 1990s. I was very much involved in the lesbian community in Australia, and I look back now and realise how much we excluded trans and gender diverse people. Trans people were not visible in that community, most likely actively excluded in many cases, and the politics was not inclusive. We had no awareness. It is so important that this is changing and the whole community has a responsibility to recognise the past harm that was done.
We have a genuine problem with racism in Australia, as do many other countries. This has to change. The LGBTQ community has been built through a willingness to challenge convention and be politically active; we need to pay attention to racism. This isn’t just a queer community responsibility, this is much bigger than us. But I think queers can play an important role in bringing fire to the struggle.
Jennifer Power is a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University.
A sociologist who specialises in research related to sexuality and sexual health, Powerrecently received funding from the Australian Research Council to study the impact of new biomedical, biodigital and biomechanical technologies on sexual lives and sexual intimacies among Australian adults. She also has ongoing projects exploring quality of life among people living with HIV, the social and ethical implications of research toward a cure for HIV, LGBTI health and wellbeing, and fertility and reproductive choices among LGBT communities.
Power also currently manages the HIV Futures study, a major ongoing study of people living with HIV in Australia.
