does anyone know the LL position on depictions of sexual violence?

According to that article, there are other things more vital.
"During a recession, laxatives go up..."

I thought that was pessaries?

(Besides, if you're laughing hard enough... no... we won't go there...)

That's a fun article though. I wonder how that relates to some of the content decisions/debates in Second Life, though.

The fashion-economy correlation in the article seems to me a matter of fashion following functionality. When you have money for fewer clothes, you buy clothes that you can wear for a variety of occasions (it's not so much the hemlines going down as it is buying less luxury clothes, with short hemlines often in the luxury clothes category). Short hairstyles are easier to maintain than longer ones generally.

Song popularity seems to be a good reflection of move. It makes since that the silly, carefree songs are hits when times are carefree, while the serious, reflective songs are more popular in somber times.

Now how would all that relate to sexual values? My guess would be that people generally are more interested in breaking inhibitions and taboos when the economy is bad.

First, one is more likely to respect society's norms for its own sake when they feel society has treated them fairly well. If society is treating one poorly, one usually starts caring less and less about soceity's norms.

Second, it's easier to refrain from one's darker desires if one has plenty of alternatives to those darker desires. If a poor economy means less of an ability to go see PG movies and take the family to Disneyland for a week, then one has more time to think about one's sexual fantasies of being dressed up in a diaper, and exploring those in a free virtual world.

On the other hand, authorities (such as government, but in certain circumstances perhaps corporations as well) often feel a need to get more strict in bad economic times. Authorities fear the potential anarchy of citizens (employees? customers?) losing face in the social fabric. To authorites, laws and regulations seem to be a way of asserting control and establishing order.

You see this playing out in the Great Depression. More people turned to the vice of drinking because they had no better alternatives to make them happy, and because they cared less about social norms against drinking. But while the people embraced drinking, the government acted completely opposite to the people and came up with Prohibition.

Within the virtual life of Second Life, Linden Lab acts something like a government. Is the regulation of vice in Second Life the response of an authority figure to the fear that its subjects are losing faith in the community? And do the bad economic times provide an excuse for more people to turn to those vices that are being regulated? Fun questions, for sure.

Except that prohibition went into effect 9 years before the stock market crash that lead to the depression.

i'd hope their position is that anyone wanting to engage in such deviant activities needs serious mental therapy. your IP is traceable in RL and any RL forceable sexual offenses might lead right back to your SL shenanigans.

me? i just want to punch you right in the eye for even asking.

Only if they'll let me claim another Birth year! Preferably younger

Well you'd better shut down the Gor folks then.......cuz that's how some of them punish certain slaves.

Give LL time. They're working on it.

I personally feel if someone wants to RP rape while I may not understand the desire for that and really would hope that that person or persons examines their need, I do not see anything inherently wrong in it.

There are many things we do not understand - does not detract from their import. I for one cannot imagine RP'ing a pregnancy, but some want that on many levels. Child av- I figured I got out of my childhood relatively sane - let's leave it at that! Many find value in these experiences. And before anyone claims those are wholesome RP and rape RP isn't, one scenario that crosses my mind could be a woman who really has gone thru such a horror and wants to relive it to put the demon to rest. Or she has a masochistic streak, or she wants to explore different degrees of her sexuality. The man wanting to RP it don't know 'cause I can't figure men out on a good day! (Not that I would want to- ruins the mystery!)

Briana said in another thread about seeing her first slave in SL and wanting to knock some sense into her and him just knock across the room. Little did I know I would ever wear a collar, but Hera happily wears Damien's collar and sits at his feet- could not do that in a milion years in RL- for all sorts of reasons beyond the obvious. So here we have a gateway to our innermost dreams and desires and darkest monsters - who is anyone to say what is 'right' or 'wrong'?

All the time I spend watching the History Channel, and I make that mistake. Well, I picked a bad example.

That will be 3500L ...

by all standards, rape is not consensual.

"me? i just want to punch you right in the eye for even asking"

Any particular reason for the violent thoughts? Apart from the fact that this is a forum where users are supposed to be able to ask other forum users for information/assistance, I'm looking for clarification on the Linden stance on this issue because it's not clear to me - or anyone else going by the responses here.

My perspective is that the content in question is problematic.
Propogation, promotion, fetishizing and eroticising sexual violence against women reinforces rape myths (she asked for it, they all want it, blah de blah), conflates sex with sexual violence - making them almost interchangeable - and contributes generally to the shaping of misogynistic attitudes toward women. I'm not talking about what happens in the virtual bedrooms of pose ball jumpers of all persuasions btw - neither is linden lab - but there are innumerable sims, dedicated to rape and 'force' rp, which are covered wall to wall with depictions of sexual violence and sexualised torture of women. They're also of course provided with the rape pose balls to enact these scenarios. I'd just like to know the official position on their existence. Presumably there is no problem given how long some of these places have been around and the fact that the lab continue to take their money, including classified ads dosh for some, but I'd like to know officially.

any particular reason for the violent sexual thoughts you started this thread with?

Honestly, I think that LL isn't too worried about it. They're more concerned with corralling all adult content into one place than censoring/judging actual adult content.

I agree......they're just dumping all the adult stuff into a huge landfill errrr continent.......for all to live and die by the leather whips........lol

We are talking RP here- if it is not consensual turn the damn thing off-

Explain then how "rape" in SL, as in the roleplay of it, could be anything BUT completely 100% consensual....

*taps foot and waits*


You can't.. because it's not real, not truly forced, and it bears NONE of the consequenses or crime status of the RL equivalent. Your emotional reaction is based on the real thing from the real world. Seperate that from the voluntary roleplay actions you are commenting on and what remains is a baseless stance. SL isn't the real world, and in it.. ALL things of this or any related nature are consensual. You may not "like" such a thing, which is fine, but if you insist on making RL correlations then you should probably go stomp your feet in protest of every other RL tragedy portrayed in SL as well. I'm sure the Goreans, the BDSM community, and every sub with a collar would love to hear how they can't do what they do because.. well gosh darnit, that's a crime in the real world.

It's illegal to wear a collar IRL? Hmm... -grabs his handcuffs and runs off to the nearest Hot Topic to make some "citizen's arrests"-

Seriously though, good post and I agree with you. (I'll also point out that after yesterday's thread it didn't take long for the slippery slope to kick in.)

I can only think of one way it could be non consensual.

Guy with exposed genitals "bumps" into your avatar, maybe making their genitals do something in the process. Meanwhile, said avatar also emotes text consistent with a rape scene.

Now what happens after that point is another story - but in tat instant, it would seem to be (virtual) sexual assault, no?

if those images are RL images that is already banned..
i haven't seen anything like those kinds of pictures or videos in a lot of places as of yet..


not that i go there for that kind of thing..i just like looking at the alley builds and things..something about all those hidden passages and things that are fun to find..

but if you do find images showing rl things like rape or violent sexual things they are not supposed to be in here..
i just don't ever recall the rp being banned..or places the hosted that kind of rp..

Got to love the thought police approach by some on here.

Sl rape is fantasy, play rape. And there are women who not only like it rough, but do indeed like "play rape" in real life too. They are consenting to role play an act that represents something about as abhorrent as you can get, but the key words there are consent, and represents.

The constant hang ups people have over others sexual *consenting* kinks never fails to irritate me. I really have no interest in play rape, fantasy rape, etc - I tried and failed in an RP sim devoted to that theme as I found I simply couldn't draw upon any inner desires or dark thoughts to go through with it. I was annoyed at myself for wasting the "victims" time, but not half as annoyed as she seemed to be at me for not being up to abusing her pixels. But I wonder, if I decided to find a Star Wars sim, and felt I wanted to be on the dark side, torturing, murdering, abusing mystical powers for my own ends... Would I be publically condemned, and perceived as someone who truly harbours feelings of evil desire and ruthlessness?

I've met more than one person in SL that has suggested I "own" them, and I've had to refuse as to me the concept of collaring someone and being some kind of dominant makes my flesh crawl. But these people are happy with the "owners" they've found, as are the thousands of others who RP in this way. However *I* may feel about that kind of thing, it is not my place to try and prevent it happening. SL is a fantasy land, and if we start to censor fantasy we're really going to be in the shit. You can't remove thoughts and desires, but the more you shove them underground the more likely something will go bang in the long run.

Especially considering there are places in the world where oral and anal sex are banned. As are sexual aides/toys.

Plus in some places women can only wear clothing that hides all their skin and hair...

So should all SL females be wearing shapeless sheets for clothing .. available only in white and black (depending on what is needed based on your cultural norms... )

After all I guarantee... in many places the clothing you wear immy is grounds for a caning or worse.


(and I was too lazy to scroll back up before bed and quote the bs about it being illegal in some countries to depict violent sex)

well put..

there is nothing wrong with having a little kink in our lives..
there is a big difference between fantasy and reality ..if anyone thinks one has something to do with the other or it's gonna make someone go out and start commiting these kinds of acts then they need to put down the remote and shut Oprah off for awhile..

if anything i would see it curbing someones urge to go out and do this rather than inspire it..

i see a lot of people that have came into SL just doing everything they could sexually letting their imaginations run wild..then a year or two later building or designing or in a total other direction because of feeling virtually over sexed or bored..
i've even talked to people that said SL was such a fantasy stream for them that it took away some of their sexual urges in RL..

nobody is twisted for having fantasies..
it is twisted to think someone is twisted for having certain fantasies that they may never think of having themselves..there is always someone that is a little more holier than them that could look at them and say..wow they are twisted..it all comes down to who programmed you when you were growing up and how close you came to exposure of it or were sheltered from it..
nobody is innocent and nobody is better than anyone else..
we are all twisted to someone somewhere..


i'd rather see a place that people could release their curiosities and expressions instead of letting them build into some realities..
it's no fun being on the receiving end of that reality..

i don't worry about people trying it out in SL ..

i worry about the certain ones NOT in some chat room or SL or some other release just letting it build up in their minds until the one day they can't take it anymore and have to go out and do it..

people have tried to tell me they have actually been raped online before..
and people came along to defend them saying it was the same thing as it being real..
there is no a fine line between the two..

it's a big fat huge flashing bulging ugly line that says..this side over here..this is real.this is rape with no way out..
this side over here ..this is your brain on the net with an off button less than 24" away from your hands at all times in a room where you are all by yourself and free to run away with a huge head start on the attacker..

sorry i am ranting a little here..i just hate that the rp of it all is being judged and looked at as the real thing when it is nothing close to it and nothing more than a form bondage or restraint in a sense..it is insulting and degrades someone even more that has had it happen to them for real..

this asshole from illinois is clogging up the line of reality and fantasy...i hope one day he runs for president so the whole country gets a good look at his skellies in his closet..

Oooh I think I need a sexual aide... "positions available!"

(Sorry, couldn't resist!)

I think that's the point here - when it comes to poseballs and animations, everything in SL is consensual, because you can tp away, and mute someone. OK they can harass you and grief you, but that's ARable. I think that a lot of people bring their opinions from RL into SL in a knee-jerk sort of way.

I mean that sort of thing does absolutely nothing for me and I would laugh if and when someone tried that on with me, but if that's a fantasy that some people want to live out, for whatever reason they have, then it's fine by me.