‘Prepare your lube, cockring, and put the sound on high volume’: How Music and Sounds are used in inducing a Masturbatory Trance within online Male-to-Male Poppers Training

Abstract

The industry of online pornography has become one with great influence, and academic interest in this field has gradually increased. However, the academic field of porn studies has generally neglected the role of music and sounds within pornography. Pornography is seen as a predominantly visual genre that relies on ‘witnessing’ sex and creating a real presence of sexuality. According to Linda Williams, removing music would intensify the (sexual) sounds and the sense of proximity and immediacy - bringing the spectator ‘close’. However, in this thesis I argue that this depends on the type of pornography, of music, and on the type of sounds that are used. Music and sounds can intensify the experience of watching online pornography. To support this claim, I focus on the role of music and sounds within (male-to-male) poppers training. These are online (instructional, montage) videos that guide viewers in the use of poppers: a recreational drug that is inhaled through the nostrils and may cause mild euphoria and a heightened state of sexual arousal. Within the genre of poppers training, music and sounds play a significant role in stretching and enhancing the so-called masturbatory trance - a concept from Paul Morris and Susanna Paasonen. Using Ruth Herbert’s theories on the concept trancing, I explain what exactly is a masturbatory trance and how music and sounds can play a role in inducing or influencing this type of trancing. I do this by analysing the most viewed poppers trainer on Pornhub: ‘POPPERS TRAINER - MEGA POPPERBATOR’. With this thesis, I should also like to encourage other scholars to step outside of the taboo on pornography, and contribute to the fields of porn studies, be it from a musicological perspective or from within a different academic field. The range of pornographic genres seems to be infinite and is constantly changing, just as the music and sounds that can play a role in it.