Cyborg sex: Real or Hyperreal?

Online chatrooms, pornography and cybersex. Have you secretly delved into this world? Have you accidentally clicked on a link that takes you places you otherwise might not have ventured? Did it excite you or disgust you? Were your eyes were drawn to the images like a moth to a flame. Perhaps your fingers were unable to stop clicking from one image to the next.

Have you experienced cybersex?
Is cybersex the domain of men or are women equally represented in the world of cybersex?

Pornography, chatrooms, MUDs and sex in cyberspace are big business. It is accessibility 24/7, it is affordable and it is completely anonymous. Cybersex is the safest sex possible in a world where fear and anxiety increasingly permeate our lives. But, if you are in a monogamous relationship, is cybersex cheating? Mmm... perhaps this is dependent upon your own moral values. Then you have to ask yourself: Does my partner share the same moral values? Yes.. then it's all good. No... and perhaps there are more questions raised about this delicate issue. There is little doubt however, that the world of cybersex normalises infidelity.

I was surprised to find that women are over-represented among those deemed cybersex-complusive Women and the web: cybersex activity and implications. Perhaps this is due to the easy of access. No need to take a trip to the local sex shop to get your dose of XXX materials. Just a mouse click away from a smorgasbord of safe hyperreal porn.

Jean Baudrillard explores simulation from a postmodern perspective. He regards first order simulation as a reflection of basic reality. Second order simulation masks and perverts basic reality. Third order simulation masks the absence of basic reality and fourth order simulation is pure simulation where reality does not exist. This he calls hyperreality. Baudrillard believes that hyperreality will become the dominant way of experiencing and understanding the world. Perhaps cybersex will become the 'normal' sex of the future?

Ok, time to get down and dirty in the MUD! Multi User Domain that is. In the MUD you can become whoever you want and do almost whatever you please within the boundaries of the specific domain.

So, it was with trepidation and a little hesitation I set out to visit the hyperreal, graphical MUD, social avatar world of Second Life. Hi ho, hi ho, it's off for sex we go... Want to come up to my place for a bit of hyperreal cybersex baby?

I was amazed by the large percentage of sex related businesses in operation in Second Life. I was also intrigued by the representations of women in these sites. All the women I encountered were slim, large breasted and beautiful. Dressed in overtly sexualised clothing. It wasn't hard to understand why all the women in second life were similar. The social ideal of a women is obviously firmly indoctrinated in our psyche. I wondered just what these women looked like in real life ('RL').

Perhaps the RL person might be a rotund and balding old man. There is no way to know.

The sexual offerings in Second Life were on par to RL offerings. Businesses and/or brothels, offered a wide range of services from lap dances to the most bizarre and unusual. Your sexual fantasies can be played out in Second Life without ever having to leave the comfort of your own home.

Sadly, it was obvious that I was a novice to Second Life. Therefore, it was impossible for me to interact (relative to this topic) with other Avatars in Second Life. In Second Life you need time and money to build up the characteristics of your avatar. You can buy, not only the usual accoutrements of life, but also body parts!! I also found it a little frustrating not being familiar with second life etiquette and this also hampered my ability to interact. Therefore, I was ignored for most of my visit. :(

Todays coupling between humans and machine create what Donna Haraway regards as the cyborg. Haraway regards our constant interaction with machines as an extension of ourselves. Mobile phones clamped to our ear, fingers tapping away on a keyboard, our eyes locked on a computer screen. It seems that our moderns lives are now inextricably linked to machine. I don't think I could go for more than a few days without access to a compter, my MSN pals and my email account.

All hail the cyborg!