CYBERSEX: State of “Affairs” in Sexual Cyber Space

It is well-known that while such technologies of freedom were first promoted by the state for politico-economic or military purposes, the widespread usage of the French MINITEL and the American ARPANET, both credited as forerunners of the Internet, was to a great extent facilitated by none other than their appropriation for purposes of erotic self-expression and interpersonal sexual contact by the population (Castells 343-345). It has been estimated that already more than 250 million people have joined the e-population which, growing by more than 10 million every month, is expected to multiply to one billion by the year 2005. The significant fact here is that as fast as this demography expands, a new sexual revolution  is also raging on the virtual frontier of the internet, where personal anonymity and global access provide seemingly unlimited opportunities for sexual exploration. Erotic uses of the email, on-line chat rooms, interactive webcams, or the newest haptic (sense of touch) technologies have created a kaleidoscope of  choices and channels through which our deepest wishes, our darkest desires, and our universal need to connect with others are constantly negotiated and played out in this virtual space, transcending boundaries  of gender, age, nation, physical form, etc. Youths in particular are seeking whatever sexual knowledge or experiences that have long been denied them in the “real” world, and the internet proves to be a powerful tool for them to experiment with their dreams and desires.

Many have defined “cyber sex” as a combination of communication and masturbation, as one net citizen puts it, “nothing more than phone sex typed out on the internet,” nothing more than a selfish act of egoistic gratification. Yet cyber sex has never been limited to such rudimentary acts that quench simple biological urges. Sex in cyber space has always included various forms of flirtation, role-playing, fantasy enactment, etc., which may or may not culminate in heterosexual cyber sex but definitely calls for intense interaction among the parties involved. And while the combination of the internet with the cell phone has made it all the more convenient for the individual to establish as well as manage multiple relationships, webcams and broadband services have helped make cyber sex an increasingly stimulating activity that increasingly approximates real-life relationships. Yet, sex in cyber space is not necessarily a paired activity, as evidenced by erotic activities in the multi-user dungeons/domains (better known as MUDs). Nor is it a simple imagined experience. Recent cyber sex toys promise to enrich cyber sexual experience by letting the person on the other end stimulate some of their net-mate's body parts. Special cyber-sex commodities—including the “virtual sex machine” that allows a remote party to manipulate sex toys attached to the home party, or the “all body cyber sex suit” with multiple sensation sensors, or the computer controlled life-like sex dolls with special motor-driven organs—are all creating new dimensions for cyber sex that may transform our commonsensical understanding of the erotic act. The sensorial channel can feel surfaces, edges, and even temperatures; and promises to compliment the sound and feedback modalities already widely used in current virtual simulations. Even though these devices may not have been created particularly with cyber sex in mind, most likely they will be adapted for erotic purposes as soon as they become available.

One important force that has made cyber sex all the more palatable to the young net citizens is the fast changing sexual attitudes of today’s youths. A survey done in 2000 reveals that 60% of Taiwanese college co-eds get on the internet mainly because they want to make friends, in particular, to develop net romances. About 40% of them actively pursue one-night stands on the net—among them, women number just as many as if not more than men. About 24% express interest in conducting or having already conducted the increasingly popular form of compensated companionships (or what is better known in Japan as enjo-kosai). In 2001, the same trend still holds, with women’s interest in net romance rising steadily. A 2002 survey reveals that almost 30% net users have had “real-life” sex with their internet acquaintances. Those who approve one-night stands have also risen to 46%. In the meantime, new forms of intimate relationships, such as net marriages, are also developing. It is estimated that in Taiwan alone,  50,000 net citizens have established some sort of net marriages, helped especially by role-playing internet games that provide the marriage function. Mainland China is reported to have more than 100,000 net couples who have registered their net marriages with various websites (source: China Times  2002-10-14). As internet liaisons are increasingly used to compensate for the restrictions and repressions of erotic life in the real world, a new sex revolution is obviously in the air.

Source:

Cyber Sex: Sexuality, Youth, and Cyber Space
Josephine Ho
Center for the Study of Sexualities
National Central University
Chungli, Taiwan 320
sex@ncu.edu.tw
http://sex.ncu.edu.tw