Most of us, second life main grid residents, feels pretty familiar with all kind of cybersex activities going on around us, whether we participate or not. Colorful and diverse surroundings introduced to us some things we hardly believed some people can dream of. But, every once in a while story leaks out of the grid to the real world like in Future and Virtual Rapists found lately on feministing.com. In short, article is about opportunity of role-playing a rape scene, right here on the streets of the second life.
You know… the “virtual you” can get a job, attend some social events, go to the supermarket, and then rape someone in an alley. This is a game that people get so absorbed in that they use it to help kids overcome social anxiety disorders. Now it’s normalizing the idea of rape. I’m disgusted.
It needs two to play the rape game and author missed the fact that those balls work the same way as all the other all over the world: for the animation to be started each of the participants must choose to participate, and each can get out of it any time he or she wants. (Freezing the client due to lagging is not considered here.)
Though it is understandable that idea of virtual rape can be disgusting for many people whether they are familiar with role-playing, pose balls and all the other mechanics of virtual worlds, things are much different than might seem in the first place. According to wikipedia sexual fantasies that include rape are more common that we might want to admit:
It is estimated that 24% of men and 36% of women have had a rape fantasy, and 10% of women report this is their favorite type of fantasy.
But some questions remain. Is virtual rape way to promote it in real life is a question for Avalon Birke, who is running The Counseling Center on Nexus Island (190, 176, 26):
That’s a very important question, one I can’t answer. Some might say acting it out virtually can prevent it, by giving the person a “safe” outlet. Others will say it creates a mindset where that behavior is acceptable and can then bleed into RL. I haven’t seen enough studies either way.
I wonder the same about age play. The question there being is it all in fun, or does it promote pedophilia? It’s impossible to say. Same argument about violence on TV and movies – does it breed violence in RL? No definite answers, but something for all of us to just be aware of and in tune with because these new environments impact our culture.
But, staying out of pose balls doesn’t mean one cannot be raped in SL. In this case we speak of real virtual rape.
I don’t know as much about the male experience here, but as a female when I talk to other females here, there is a common understanding of harassment from griefers, much of it aggressively sexual. It is damaging to you, whether or not it is physical. We have had to redefine what we call sexual assault. We handle it differently, but most women I have spoken to (socially, not as a counselor) say it affected them deeply in a negative way.
We can’t equate RL rape with what happens here. But there is a real element of damage to the psyche here from being griefed or assaulted in a violent or sexual way here.
It is not animation or name what counts. Whether we call our world virtual, metaverse, or second life, whether it is a game, a platform or a community, it reflects us and influences us. And while some games we play can be rough they are not necessarily violent. Vice versa, some behavior we lack to point to as violent can be far more damaging.
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