Sex in Second Life
Part I:
Skirting the tactility deficiency of standard desktop interfaces
Click me. Oh, yeah. C’mon, baby. Just click me! Faster! Harder! Hover that beautiful mouse arrow all over my virtual body. Use your hand icon, too. Oh my god, now spin your mouse wheel back and forth, aiming it right toward me. And do it forcefully. Do it like you mean it. Do it! Oh my god, now click me again. Click again!
Now hover it! Just hover it! Oh, fuckin’ hover it!! Oooh, now right that click, baby. Right that click! Right it! Right it! Right it! Click it! Harder! Harder!! You wanna see me clicked on full screen, baby? Huh? You wanna see me get clicked all over a full screen? Select that full screen and click me! Just click me!
Part II:
WILL LINDEN LAB EVER CONSIDER NOOKIE?
Synthetic curves and how they can rouse an online libido
For all of its emphasis on worldliness, eccentricity and knockout looks, Second Life can really present some uncertain territory when it comes to sex. This personal observation of mine was underscored when I found myself in an awkward situation the other night after roaming a user-created shopping mall looking for a new pair of stylish shoes for my avatar.
No luck on the shoes, but I did catch a considerable rap with an industrious male standing in his newly leased storefront property sipping a drink. He was clean-cut, nicely dressed, polite and handsome. Needless to say, him and I — err, I mean our avatars — got to talking about this and that, and soon enough I agreed to have a look around inside his nearby abode.
It was a pretty humble quarters, still in its infancy like his retail space, and so far had contained a sofa, a coffee table, a chair or two, and a beckoning king-size bed, which sat a mere few feet away from where our avatars were conversing.
The bed was what jumped out at me once I really digested the fact that I was experiencing one of my most intimate moments yet in this adult metaworld. Things grew even more discomforting as my virtual lust object demonstrated a privacy feature that he had built into his lair’s windows, namely that the glass becomes darkened to prevent any would-be peeping Toms from peering inside.
I was plagued with uncertainty about what to do next. A few more moments elapsed and the conversation stumbled, and before I knew it I was excusing myself so that I may continue my quest for pretty footwear. I typed out a message on my way out that I would like to come and visit his new store once it was completed. The two of us exchanged brief glances of regret as I made my way across the road to visit more stores.
This episode seems worthy of some analyzing. One relevant point to bear in mind is that most Second Life avatars are fashioned by their owners to exude luxuriant sexuality, many of them scantily or otherwise provocatively clad as they strut around their pseudo environment.
The alter ego in Second Life can be modeled
to exhibit some captivating curves.
The digital personae also have the ability to disrobe entirely, exhibiting tight bodies and sensuous curves, albeit the vaginal area of the virtual female in SL does not go into any biological detail. It basically takes on the appearance of the groin of a naked Barbie doll. The fairer sex in SL, however, is indeed endowed with breasts that can be quite shapely and evocative, comparatively speaking.
As far as the male sexual organs, I have not yet ventured beneath the hood to assess their appearance. I genuinely wonder if SL’s fabricated guys are actually equipped with penises and testicles. That remains to be seen, I imagine.
At any rate, given the feigned physical attributes that Second Life avatars can be outfitted with, as well as the relaxed attitudes about sexuality that seem to prevail in this simulated environment, one has to wonder why there are not yet any options provided to users that would help them express their virtual feelings of desire for other consenting avatars, or even themselves. Options that Second Life creators Linden Lab can consider could include “make out” or “fornicate” or even “fellatio” or “masturbate,” perhaps.
– Noche Kandora
UPDATE — Oct. 29, 2005: Apparently, there are ways one can engage sexually in Second Life. It seems it’s just a matter of purchasing the necessary virtual apparatus as well employing certain animations. Needless to say there is more to come on this topic…
UPDATE 2 — Oct. 31, 2005: Read follow-up post here.
No Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
