Why people think SL is only for sex....

Well, there's a bit of a difference between the "sex industry" and sex in general. A zoning approach to the sex industry might be plausible, but forbidding people from having sex on a picnic blanket in a M sim seems impossibly restrictive.

If I did that with this post there would be no further discussion!



That's really not relevant since there are the "mature" markers you are supposed to have on your land and how people can choose not to search mature listings.

It's not an issue of LL's control so much as it's an issue of where many of SL's residents' heads are at. A socialist mommy-state isn't the answer in this situation.

Just like there were many casinos and they were heavily populated and a lot of money flowed through them there are many sex places that are heavily populated and have similar amounts of money flowing through them.

Greed and Lust are similar vices. It's just that Greed in the form of gambling has actual laws against it that LL finally decided to enforce.

That's not to say that I think anyone who gambles is overtly greedy and that anyone who's into fake computer sex is overtly lustfull. They're both based on natural instincts of procreation and survival that we all have (or should have but repressed them).

However, some argue that these aspects of our natural instincts are being exploited for profit by people with a lack of creativity or originality. Why else would there be that "SexGen" lawsuit going on? Why else do so much of the sex products in SL look the same and do the same things?

If it was out of any sort of creative idea and not personal profit of the creators then you'd see a lot more originality and variety in that industry and not nearly as much saturation of the market as we deal with today.

Ahh so me accepting your concern not to see it everywhere isnt relevant.

You dont want further controls or enforcement to come from Linden Labs - but somehow you want less sexual content to be visible on a daily business.

How do you propose to do that?

Besides making speeches?

*sigh Get over yourself, Colette. If you don't have anything relevant to add to the discussion then wait until you come up with something instead of trying to dissect people's posts and nitpick semantics.

I don't want anything. I am able to enjoy myself exploring and building in SL without seeing anything I don't want to see. Just like a city, I know what goes on in what parts of town. I know where to get crack and hookers in my RL city and I know where to get fake crack and computer game hookers in SL. I don't care for any of those so I don't go to those parts of town in either L.

I know there's nothing that can be done for peoples' lack of imagination and desire for sex, real or simulated, in whatever form they can get it. It's not my fight and it's not LL's fight so long as it doesn't get out of hand.

The whole discussion was about the general public's perception that this is what SL is all about...not about how to change it. It won't be changed anytime soon.

Hey, no offense was taken and I frankly could have worded it better myself, Object.

My 'issues' with pixel sex or cybering are actually not moral/religious nor do I find it repulsive in concept - so I guess I do 'get it.' It's just simply not my kind of thing because of who I am. I put the disclaimer in so that people can decide whether or not to take my opinion seriously. I haven't experienced it, so that would probably lessen it's credibility with certain parties.

You won't find me saying that it should be banned and I do think the current PG/Mature system is just fine the way it is. I'm adult and I can make my own decisions about what I want to see or do. If it bothers me and isn't a violation of the ToS, I'll just teleport out. No fuss, not fight. Life goes on.

For the record: I didn't come into SL thinking, "ZOMG, I CAN HAS SECHS!!!111" Nope, I came into SL thinking, "ZOMG, BUILD TOOLZ!!!" I apparently managed to miss the whole "SL is about Sex," thing on the front of the official website

I'm with you, Raudf. I found out about the sex thing after my first week being in SL. I thought it was hilarious and went and tried to have fake computer sex with as many female avs as I could in as many weird situations as I could. My roommates and I watched and laughed. I had crazy tattoos and a giant steel helmet and boots on every time. The other person would be going off like their into it and it was hilarious!

Then by the 10th day I was in SL I got into streaming music and started my own "club" which was just an area for people to hang out while I played music. Then came combat...then came RP...then building...the list goes on.

What's interesting is that this whole arguement about what the "majority" thinks shows that people tend to think THEY'RE in the majority if the people around them feel the same way...even though we tend to gravitate towards people with similar interests which makes that "majority" feelin irrelevant.

The fake sex enthusiasts are pretty sure they're in the majority in SL. Yet I come into contact with a good 10-20 different people OTHER THAN my friends in any given week that aren't into it at all.

I'm not doubting that there is a large number of sex0rz in SL but if it was possible to do a truly scientific census of SL I bet the numbers would be quite interesting and would surprise us all.

I don't think such a census is possible, though.

Do you not think laughing at someone who is acting out a intimate scene with you is a bit immature?

The sex in SL is no more "fake" than anything else. Using the word "fake" is inherently pejorative, as are expressions like "peoples' lack of imagination and desire for sex". I fully support your entitlement to your opinion, but please can't you see how these word choices are going to tick other people off?

For what its worth:

I think he chose his words carefully, and knows exactly how they will effect people.

I have absolutely nothing against people who enjoy cybering here, at all. In fact I think one of SL's biggest strengths is the freedom people have to RP pretty much anything they want and to find communities that share their interests, no matter how far from the mainstream they may be. What really pisses me off about articles like that is that there's so much more to SL than pixel sex, and those that have no interest in it have an endless list of other interesting and creative things to see and do here. That people at the Register can't see anything in SL beyond furries and kink says far more about them than it says about SL as a whole, but how is someone who's never been here going to know that?

I know the register is intended to be humorous, but I don't find their brand of humor funny at all. It's the kind of stuff that gets written by puerile jerks who have no business passing judgement on anyone else. As for the guy being a lawyer, I think Marc Bragg has already amply demonstrated how intelligence and lawyering don't necessarily go hand in hand.

Sex is a real thing in RL but not in SL. Being a furry isn't. Being a robot that can fly isn't. Therefore it would be redundant to say "being a fake robot that can fly" when discussing a subject that spans both RL and SL.

Sex in SL is fake since you aren't actually having sex. Apparently I'm one of the few that haven't lost sight of that fact.

Now I don't have a problem with people wanting to have fake sex and I'm pretty sure I've said that numerous times on this thread. But people will get what they want about anything they read if their mind is already made up...

I agree completely.

It is not really incorrect to call SL cyber sex "Fake Sex"

It will however affect people in a certain way that I am sure you are well aware of.

That was Victorria's point.

Indeed, but that's not really my problem if people are affected by my choices of words. Especially when they aren't actually negative or hurtful words.

I tend to put my words in plain terms which may come across blunt, but I have never been rightfully accused of not meaning what I say!

Exactly, you basically invited the reaction that goes hand in hand with calling it "Fake Sex"

This is correct legally but not psychologically. Legally, sex generally refers to physical contact.

But psychologically, sex includes an entire range of both sensual and emotional experiences. It's true that many people focus almost entirely on the physical contact, but that's not what everyone does. The emotional contact is what separates love making from people masturbating against each other.

There's nothing that prevents people from having those emotional experiences within SL. It's not as common, many people having SL cybersex don't understand it let alone try for it, but it does happen. And when it does, those sexual emotions are real.

Aside: I just read a blurb in a magazine that reminded me of a survey of young people in which the majority (or maybe just a plurality) felt that oral sex wasn't real sex. I guess a certain former president was telling the truth, after all. But it does show how much people differ on the meaning of sex.

"Fake Sex" as you put it, is what I refer to as eroticism. And it is not synonymous with the RL act known as intercourse. Many people have intercourse in RL and it's not erotic at all, just a biological function really.(too bad for them ) Eroticism emanates from the imagination, which is very much involved in all forms of cyber sex.

I'm not assuming anything about anyone. There happen to be a lot of people shouting out there Alexander the Great type visions of what SL should be and what it should not be, in their narrow little opinion. Maybe you aren't one of them.

I believe Colette pointed out to you the original topic of this thread, so that is all cleared up too.

When this thread gets locked for being off topic, or what ever the reason the mod that locks it gives...I'll be being erotic, or downright dirty as I wanna be over on my very own message board. Which I created because I felt these boards weren't filling a certain need. Instead of sitting here and "protesting" I did something to fill that need. Censorship, and those who call for it are wrong! Change the station if you don't like what's playing.

Perhaps someday people will stop making everything out to be us against them. Don’t like voice? Let’s set aside places for them people to go. Don’t think pixel sex is for them…and trust me it has more to do with the person on the other side of the keyboard then watching two avatars do the bump and bump (but there are some very impressive animations) send them to the other side of the world. It’s called Segregation and it was tried here in the US and it didn’t work. Oh and if it wasn’t for people thinking of sex we would all be driving square cars.
Hey and could some of you regular flamers go over to Second Citizen. At least there it’s entertaining and doesn’t potentially get threads closed.

I haven't indulged in sex in SL since I was relatively new and was persuaded to give it a go once or twice and was vaguely curious to see what the animations were like.
But I no longer feel the urge LOL!

However, I think SL would be incomplete without at least the possibility of sex if one wants it.

I do like to sit down to a good meal at my animated dining chairs, eating my home-made pizza which is exactly the same each time. However I only do this occasionally while my RL 'agent' is doing admin work on inventory etc!

I think the problem with this is that no matter how much you play with the slider, you end up with a darker white person.

I don't think there are many left who are not aware of how big a difference there is between providing a truly ethnic avatar and providing ways to modify an avatar with white structure and features.

This is no different than when friends any of us have that happen to be Black look at Black movie stars or whatnot as no longer representing them because they've modded their appearances to look white - ie: straight hair, nose jobs, skin bleaching, etc, and start hanging out and emulating 'White Folks'.

It would have been fairly easy to provide a base avatar with Black features. The rub I guess is that it either never occurred to LL to do it, or was deemed insignificant; which alienates an entire segment of the population.

*remembers "flesh" colored crayolas with a chuckle*

I just darkened the skin, hair and eyes of the default avatar, and I don't know...I think he looks like kinda Portuguese...after an extra-long nap on the sunbed.


Sounds like a good cue for a feature request. Ethnic avatars aren't lost on LL because Japanese stock avatars are available at signup (the tallest, skinniest Japanese people you ever saw, but Japanese all the same), but after reading your views on this, I concur. This is about more than skin colour and it does seem absurd that four years down the line, you need to pay good money for an authentic black appearance.

If anybody on a budget is looking for a black skin by the way, I recall a fairly good male and female at the Gnubie Store last year for L$1. The underwear is tattooed on.. but other than that I remember being impressed.

Except that you don't consistently apply that definition of "fake" to things *you* consider to be worthwhile.

Building is one of the strengths of SL, but it's still as "fake" as sex is. You don't build a house in SL, you build a fake house. You also run a fake store in SL since you're not a registered business in RL (or at least you can't just open up a store here without the necessary paperwork), etc.

And this was precisely my point. Why not refer to "fake design enthusiasts" or "fake building enthusiasts" or "fake real estate enthusiasts". All of these things are every bit as fake as the sex in SL, empirically. Why single out sex as "fake"?

Don't you think there's a reason SL isn't billed as "Fake Life", SqueezeOne? Sorry, but word choice matters, and you don't get a free pass for the impact of your chosen words by describing yourself as "direct" and then walking off.

Sex isn't totally and solely about flesh bones muscles and sweat. Sex is about imagination and erogenous zones and arousal as well. If you close your eyes and imagine a sexual encounter, your body will respond, without any visual, aural or other stimuli other than your imagination.

If it doesn't, thats rather sad, in my opinion, because its very enjoyable to do, and is probably why some people say that sex in SL isn't of interest to them.

I do know at least one person among my rl friends who says he has never fantasised about sex... I find that hard to get my head around (entendres, double or otherwise, not intended, but enjoyable now i think about it)

imogen