Sunday, March 28, 2010

Second Life Sex...Really?

Second Life, the name of a virtual reality I am yet to ever experience and after this chapter, hesitant to visit. The idea of sex in Second Life is flat out strange. People purchase body parts and use them in sexual acts with their avatars. Is that weird to anyone else?
Two issues come to mind, though I'm sure there are many more, when I read this chapter. Many people use the internet to escape reality and its limit, in doing so, some people switch genders. This makes it entirely possible that one's avatar could be doing sexual acts with a female avatar of a male user. Just food for thought. What does this mean for users and people on Second Life? Is there a concern or screening to prevent that?
Secondly, if your avatar gets with another avatar, are you cheating? I'm sure this question will get a variety of answers and explanations. In my book, yes. But I'm curious to hear others opinions. So please voice them.

3 comments:

  1. I agree- anyone who has gone out of their way into a virtual world to buy body parts, communicate with another avatar, and plan sexual acts with them is certainly cheating. It's also extremely creepy. I view this social network, at least in regards to the sexual habits seen on it, as a haven for sexual predators, who can seemingly get away with almost anything.

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  2. I couldn't agree more. The fact that people are actually engaging in these virtual, sexual acts is disturbing and actually concerning. I would consider virtual cheating, actual cheating. There must be some motive or thought process behind such an act, virtual or not. I also agree with Kim that Second Life gives people the liberty to prey on others without any consequence which is a sickening thought.

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  3. I agree with the point about cheating, but again this isn't unique to Second Life, but has been around since going online got hot (no pun intended) in the early 90s. And the ambiguity about gender has always been there. I find it introduced that the was folks used to inquire if they weren't sure was to type, "MorF" which stands for Male or Female, but also reads as morph, which alludes to the inherent changeability. But I've heard it said, and I believe it's true, that when it comes to sex, the most important sexual organ is the brain.

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