Guess What! There’s Sex In SL!
The fact that somebody tries to bring in a “real life”, serious group and use Second Life for communicating serious matters, and then feels responsible and even guilty for not telling the others that were brought in that there is… OMG!… sex in Second Life sort of makes you wonder how some people actually survive in the real world, at all.
There is no more sex in Second Life than there is in real life. The fact that somebody “freaks out” about sex in a virtual world shows how bad the real problem is. If you turn on the TV or watch a movie in real life, what are you “probably” going to see? Violence and killing! Usually lots of it.
Here’s what Karl Tyson said about not “warning” people about sex in SL:
“One member of the circle emailed me some of the problems he is facing getting around in Second Life, and one of those problems hit a sensitive nerve, and I wanted to share these thoughts with everyone, and invite further discussion.
I am particularly sorry about the “red light district” effect. I feel a responsibility and even guilt for not warning more clearly that ubiquitous pornography and acting out is a well-known and very distasteful problem for the unwary on Second Life. I should have posted more and clearer warnings about this aspect of the virtual world.
It boils down to (1) adults are basically free to do whatever they choose in SL, and (2) not everyone is more interested in philosophy than sex. This was such a worry for me, because I had previously encountered it, that I looked around for alternatives - alas, the main competitors, if anything, are less family friendly.”
Here’s an idea! How about you realize that sex is good… violence is bad. Talk about that philosophy. Why are some people so offended by sex, yet violence doesn’t seem to phase them? Something is really wrong with people’s brains if they think like this, in my opinion. There’s a lot of people that have things wrong with their way of thinking.
Quit apologizing for stuff that’s beyond your control… “good stuff” that’s beyond your control. If people are so scared about sex, head over to WoW are start the killing. Play Grand Theft Auto for a while, so you can beat the prostitutes to death, since sex is a bad thing. Don’t you dare try that old “Hot Coffee” mod that lets you have simulated sex, though!! Makes sense, huh?
Malignant Narcissist @ January 21, 2008
I am entertained and encouraged by your youthful zest for, well, sex. The species is in no danger of changing on that score!
The farthest thing from my mind was bothering you about sex on second life - I was worried about your mother.
If *she* took a course at the local university, and had to walk through the sex mall on the way to class, and I hadn’t warned her about the possibility of copulation on the sidewalk, I’d feel guilty.
But at least let me repeat here what I wrote in a followup to the post you snipped my guilt and apologetics from:
To clarify: the apology was made for not warning blog readers strongly enough about content readily seen as immoral and distasteful that they might encounter if they choose to meet in Second Life.
It was not an apology for that content, or even for the philosophy that resonates with it, which I am certainly not accountable for, and therefore cannot apologize for.
I went on to encourage discussion of sexuality in second life.
I stand condemned.
I can definitely understand the apology for the lack of warning people of what they might encounter. The point that I was really trying to make was the contrast of sex/killing and how something good can be made to seem bad, yet something bad is usually taken as “normal”.
Sex is normal - murder is not, yet it always seems that people are trying to hide (or apologize for) the good and normal while accepting violence.
No need to worry about my mother. I’m sure she’d be more offended by violence than a couple people getting freaky on the sidewalk.
There are people on SL into pedophilia play (they call it age play but let’s not put lipstick on a pig), beastiality, rape and incest.
Why aren’t people up in arms about that?
Sex between consenting adults shouldn’t be the issue. The kinds of sex that people are engaging in should be.