Sexuality and Role play

If a man (or woman) secretly uses a female (or male) avatar in sl, is he male or female?

if the man (or woman) secretly uses a female (or male) av to have a sl lesbian (or gay) relationship in sl, is he a straight male or gay woman?

if the man's (or woman's) sl lesbian relationship is with a secretly rl man (or woman), does that make them straight men, gay women, or gay men?

and what if it's not a secret at all?

How intertwined is our real life sexuality with our behavior(s) online?

Jessica

Do we really need drawers and labels to sort every single one of our actions? *ponders*

i think you are making an intrisic mistake by even pre-hypothesizing 'does that make them' anything. just a thought...

There is no definitive answer to your question, there are so many wonderful variables~

You've never heard of In Character vs. Out of Character?

Gender and Sexuality are two different things to me.
My sexuality doesn't rezz here so its sort of irrelevant.
But I have been told sexuality is all in the mind.
I think Gender is social/society brainwashing construct of mind of
too but that my opinion for what its worth.
Gender wise I am both but I identify as male irl and here I am just a
Asexual guy who some times has blue sense of humor.
If I am looking at pixel butt and cleavage its only for design purposes.

I take avatars at face value. What you see is what you get. Well, you only 'get' if the avatar wants to 'give', but you know what I mean!

If you try to work out the RL/avatar relationships, the permutations are endless.

Would a man, for instance:
A) Create a male avatar in order to go after pretty female ones?
B) Create a pretty female as a virtual girlfriend?
C) If they are gay, create a pretty female avatar in order to go after hunky male ones?
D) If they are gay, create a nice male avatar as a virtual boyfriend?

The same permutations could be applied the other way round for women.

As far as heterosexual sex goes in SL, if you have a same-gender avatar as RL , it will end up having sex with a member of its opposite sex. If you have a different gender avatar the same will true. So whichever you choose, SL sex will boil down to the same thing to an RL observer - watching a male and female avatar having sex!!!! Hey ho!

And what if I'm a Robot, is it a Lesbian thing to have a relationship with a Fridge?
Is it wrong to wear a Robot suit in RL while playing SL?

No

As I don't undertake any 'sexual activity' in SL, it's a "non issue" as far as I am concerned what the gender - or species for that matter - of the avatar or player behind it is.

Broccoli

I want to know what if a transgender male, from Nova Scotia, secretly has a bisexual female avatar and has sex with a heterosexual female using a furry male avatar during a full moon on the 8th of December during a leap year and...AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life is just too short to worry about catagorizing people.

Live and let live.

I don't think it matters.

It's just too much fun to switch to the opposite gender and RP what you'd like that gender to do, or just try to think from their perspective.

As far as I'm concerned role-play is role-play, the details of the scene may change, but playing it out is the fun part. Reacting "in-character" to what the other says/does is the fun for me. Sexual or not btw.

Brings to mind a conversationI had with a friend of a friend while playing WoW last night.

He had a (guy) friend with a female character and had, himself, a male character. When they were out in the world they were asked a few times if they were a couple in real life which really freaked him out. He couldn't understand why people thought he was gay- and couldn't stand the perception that his male character and his friends female character could be linked in peoples minds because they were both guys and certainly not gay.

He then went on to express how gay it was for guys to play a female character and asked another person (who he'd only met through voice) to confirm that gender bending was an indication of homosexuality.

Sadly, the guy he asked- despite being married for many years and even playing with his wife in the same game- stated flatly that *all* of his characters were female.

I think it depends on perception. It depends on what you identify with, and how you identify with it. Do you think of the avatar as a virtual representation of the "real" you? Is it the digital equivalent of a doll- a toy that you play with and discard? Is your avatar the equivalent of an actor in a movie that you direct?

What gender bending "means" in terms of actual sexuality is more an indication why you chose to gender bend and how you perceive it.

The first guy perceived his characters as digital representations of himself. He couldn't understand why a guy would play a female unless he wanted to *be* a female. The husband perceived his characters as actors in a play- the females were prettier to watch and direct and utterly unrelated to his notions of "self" and "sexuality".

That would make you robosexual. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends are femmebots.

IRL I am and have been a lesbian since my sexuality started to bloom. Mostly I wear a female avatar.

My SL partner is a transgendered individual IRL who mostly wears a male avatar.

Occasionally, I will wear a male avatar while my partner is also wearing a male avatar.

Sometimes, my partner will wear a female avatar when I am wearing a male avatar.

We also both like to wear female avatars once in a while.

This is no secret at all to our friends, who just sort of giggle at us for being so confusing

What does that "Make me"?

Answer: A lesbian with a really good imagination.

really not sure about SL since i avoid that type of stuff here... but in other places I've gone to do roleplay it did not matter the gender or sexuality of the real life person, what you were as your avatar was accepted as who you were reguardless, some did it because they always wished they were the opposite gender in real life, others because they couldn't openly admit they were gay / lesbian real life... and some did it just for a challenge, to see if they could convincingly play someone of opposite gender in roleplay setting. as a small example of the acceptance in other worlds, I knew a man who started playing a game as a woman, had everyone convinced he was a woman, and entered into a lesbian relationship, his first partner was also a man in real life, and his second partner accepted he was a man, so when he created a new alt that was a man they moved from being a lesbian couple, to a straight couple.....

i'm sure i've lost and boggled a few minds now

Personally for MMORPG's I prefer to make female characters, not so i can gender bend or cuz i'm gay, but because females in MMORPGS are always stacked, and if i'm gunna spend hours watching myself fight monsters, i'd rather be looking at something pleasing to the eyes.

I am interested in the mind, if interested at all.

The one woman I am close to in that way, and the one man, I am happy are the gender they claim to be.

Unless I am very very closely involved I don't actually care who or what people are rl - so long as they are decent people. I dislike being LIED to, as distinct from someone is in a role (I never ask what the truth is - I know a fair few women whom I am very convinced are not really women and again, as I am not "involved" with them, I couldn't care less).

Where do the Goreans fit into all this?

This forum isn't for general discussion; there are many Resident Sites where this discussion is appropriate — Resident Answers is for Resident-to-Resident help. I'll close this thread...

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Does it really matter? If it's voluntary and nobody gets hurt should we care? The common terms for classifying sexuality are antiquated memes; they are too general and vague.