What, if anything, is sex in SL?

Discuss.

(I'm staying out of this one.)

Ooops... I see you started a new thread for this in a
better (more appropriate) forum... Sorry for my
repost, but yes.. it DOES belong here instead:

First, I don't doubt there is a policy about not selling sex services,
however, I wanted to look at it more closely and couldn't find it.
Could someone tell me exactly what URL and paragraph that is?

The reason I wanted to look it over is because I have a feeling it
might be talking about talking to someone in SL about setting up
a meeting in First (real) life... for the purpose of selling REAL sex.

I don't see any possible way they could actually be talking about
trying to stop one persons avatar from joining with anothers on
some seductive looking pose-ball. That is NOT sex! If anyone
here really thinks two avatars doing a bump and grind animation
is real sex, then I feel sad for you.

The closest thing outside of SL we have to this now is "phone sex"
and "hot chat" (cybersex)... neither of which is illegal. I seriously
doubt that adding a pixel animation to either of those is going to
put that under a new LAW !

I'm sure what LL is trying to avoid is people using SL to set up
real life meetings... selling real sex... and THAT would be in
violation of ToS... and is a far cry from "Hot Chat" with pixels.

I could be wrong... but that is why I want to read the ToS
statement on this myself... and perhaps if it's rather vague
we need to get further Linden clarification.

Gabrielle

Its not as gooey as the sex in RL and doesn't leave stains!

I think pixel sex is pretty lame. I would be lmao irl if I actually tried it. I am a proud SL Virgin and plan on staying that way To each his/her own tho...whatever floats your boat.



"Welcome to Second Life...where your hair is made of wood and sex comes in balls"

To put it in Frostie language:

Its a bunch of Bitmapping and Textured human shaped 3D images meshing together to make in what our brains and what we see either on a regular basis or on television in a horribley made James bond movie,

Floating Text and noises are a additional feature, its like reading a Story and watching a movie exept you can't flip back a page and you can't rewind,

I can hardly say even Real is Real anymore, its one image that flashes over 100 billion times in front of our Iris's,


But in the end SL secks is just a buncha shapes moulded into the human shape Textured, with animations and other shapes and attachments,

Thats hot.

yes pixel sex is just animated human shapes using light to cast them on a screen. you can look at any pornography that way. any xxx movie is just animated human shapes..etc. its a simple fact that sex is in sl. its a fact that it was brought here by people who like it. some obviously have a better time with this particular suspension of disbelief than others. i have people tell me they enjoy boat rides in sl. why is that? does the expereince of watching your avatar ride in a boat please you? why? people say they enjoy dancing in sl. why is that? here again, its just watching your avatar gyrate.

the entire sl experience is some level of belief. a person allows themselves to believe that what they have made or built has some meaning or value. then others see it or use it with their avatars and believe with the creator it has some value. its a shared suspension of disbelief structure.

i think its sad for people to pretend to enjoy one sort of suspension of disbelief, and then look down their noses at another form and claim some moral high ground and pronounce those people sad. its my understanding cybersex is way older than sl. i have talked to people who had cybersex in chat rooms and in games like wow. i think those that want to claim that moral high ground are shoveling water uphill.

to quote myself.

You: yeah av sex is rather chilling
You: its all in out in out in out
You: no shaking it all about!

Here is the TOS link from what I have read in other post you have made you need to look it over good.
http://secondlife.com/tos.php

I couldn't agree with you more, Marilyn. SL sex is no different than doing anything else in SL.

Boy do I have a notecard to SHOW YOU! IM me. Then we'll see how you feel.

I, as a rule, do not make snap judgements, so in observing that policy, I choose to exhaust all possible avenues in compiling as much experience as I can before even beginning to form an opinion.

It takes time, it takes experience, it takes a few curves and it take an outfit. It also takes a good script and an animation or two.

Sex is like blue cheese, you like it or you don't

or not, I shall be back after more research

perhaps sex is like hamburgers, ever get tired of a good hamburger?

The Professor

If we're going to define SL "sex" as sex because it boils down to what happens between the ears, what about things like rape? Is it really rape if some griefer pins your avatar in a corner and starts having "sex" with you?

I think that LL may interpret that as sexual harrassment, but rape, no. Rape, and actual sex requires physical touching of human beings, not virtual representations thereof. Harrassment, in both RL and VR only requires the verbal component. Sure, you can be physically harrased as well, but only the spoken word is necessary to make it stick, if you can provide evidence.

This is part of the reason I think sex needs to be defined as when two humans (or other animals) are involved in intimate, physical contact.

For example, if I look an attractive man or woman and become stimulated in my mind, yet I haven't laid a finger on them, have I just had sex because I fantasized about having sex with them?

If I fantasize about murdering someone, and get some mental satisfaction from that, am I guilty of murder? Guilty of having a warped mind? Yes. Murder? I don't think so.

A Clockwork Orange meets The Hokey Pokey? I must not be doing it right.



You have gone a very strange direction with this, Nolan.

There have been several attempts to define 'sex' in this thread--I imagine there will be one definition per individual. The mind or imagination component, as has been said, is truly powerful. For some, it supersedes the physical components of sexual connection. The result of a sexual interaction, however, is physiological but otherwise intangible. So, yes, you just had sex. Woo hoo!

Murder? I think there is a physical, tangible result of murder--a corpse.

Note to self: Don't make Nolan mad, ever.

Well, you know what they say. The mind is the most erotic organ!

... I think you are my new favorite poster.

Why? I am expanding on the claim that all it takes to have had sex is to be mentally stimulated. An assertion I disagree with, as do courts of law, at least in the country I live in.

I disagree, if I had a fantasy about sex, whether or not I was stimulated mentally is moot, there was no physical contact, physicality must exist for it to truly be sex. What about the partner who just has sex to make their lover happy? Lays there like a cold fish, not mentally stimulated in the least, thinking about the next episode of Law & Order? Did they not have sex because they were not mentally stimulated?

Here is another example - if some sicko sneaks (or hospital staffer) into a hospital and rapes a brain dead patient incaple of mental stimulation, did only the rapist have sex? I think a court of law would say no.

What this is all about for me is this: just because some folks think it's sex when there is no actual physical contact does not make it so in my mind, nor does its make it so in a legal sense. To claim otherwise is to impose ones own beliefs on others, and to ignore reality.

So in essence, I agree wholeheartedly with you that it's different things for different people, just don't expect mainstream society or the legal system to accept it when you say that sex has taken place because you have been bumping and grinding on the net with cartoons, and were mentally stimulated. I get a mental high when I play online, aircraft dogfighter games, does that make me a real life pilot?

As is there a physical, tangible result from sex. Sweat, and other bodily fluids, and not least of all, a warm body (hopefully ) laying next to you as you both try and catch your breath.

Not sure what you are referring to here, I am not mad. I am a little perplexed that people (not you) would take VR so seriously as to try and impose a new definition for sex onto others.

Barbie dolls rubbing together... sometimes in exchange for monopoly money.

My intent was not to 'impose' beliefs on any individual. Nor was my intent to 'redefine' sex or sexuality. If anying, I would like to see boundries pushed and taboos erased. In fact, part of the reason I, personally, enjoy SL so much is the unabashed and uncensored (often) expression of creativity, intellect, ingenuity, and, yes, sexuality in a 'safe' environment.

You make some very relevant points--some of which I would do well to consider much more carefully.

Just to look at one of your examples, I do not equate rape with sex. Rape is violence. This notion does not 'undo' or invalidate your points. In fact, you might make many of the same arguments (as you have) regarding violence in SL. Is it possible to do violence to another human being without ever touching him or her? What, then, is verbal abuse in RL or in SL, for that matter?

Just to pose a question that is, I think, at the heart of my objections--do you see a difference between 'sex' and 'intercourse'? I do not intend to stand on semantics here; I stand on the 'mind' side of the mind/body dichotomy. I understand that taking such a stand is absurd, but, for argument's sake, here I stand.

When I wrote,"Note to self: Don't make Nolan mad, ever," (apart from making a very lame attempt at a joke ) I was making reference to your words, "If I fantasize about murdering someone, and get some mental satisfaction from that, am I guilty of murder? Guilty of having a warped mind? Yes. Murder? I don't think so." Who the heck would step to that?

Good points, and worth pondering.

As far as rape goes, to me, it's a violent and sexual act. This is why rapists are called sexual predators.

I still stand by my belief that there must be physical contact. I respect that you feel differently.

I didn't mean you in particular about the imposition of beliefs, that was more aimed at the thread author's apparent take on the situation, sorry for not making that more clear.

And sorry for missing your humor, I guess 2+ years on the forums has left me a little stunted in that area..

Sex in SL is an erotic love affair with your imagination. What a wonderful encounter when you let go..

I think the article in The Escapist covered it already.

You are twisted and make me laugh.

Why thank you that is in nicest thing anyone has said to me all week haha

Rape is a crime and deos have very specific definitions. Sex is a concept that involves, for many who engage in it, some level of intimacy and emotional exchange, beyond just wbiological whalining away until you squirt sticky white tomato juice. I think the analogy you made to argue that pixel sex is not sex was pretty tasteless. Rape, harassment and sexual harassment are all crimes and are beyond the scope of the intended discussion in this thread.