Inbal Nachman October 24, 2010 Rough Draft Paper #2 Avatars and Sexuality: Embodiment in the Virtual World

Designers of the virtual world have one goal in mind: make it look like the real thing. They fill cyberspace with items and spaces, physical properties and behaviors that mimic real life. Sometimes they opt for the fantastical- the world one day we may discover in some far-off galaxy. But whatever the case may be, these spaces are made for the gamer, and so it is the real-life relationships and interactions between people that are practiced through the avatar. Avatars form relationships with other avatars, discuss realworld (and virtual world) problems, purchase real estate, and even engage in sexual activities in cyberspace. The avatar is not only a tool through which these behaviors can be practiced, but it is a critical site in identity representation and recreation. This state of body modification in the avatar is maintained through an influx of material objects through which notions of identity and sexuality can be explored and expressed. This state of consumption perpetuates instances where free sexual behavior can be expressed, and so in the virtual world, sex becomes decoupled from its biological impulse to become purely pleasurable. Through this view, cybersex becomes an act of wasteful consumption; the biological imperative of sex does not exist in the virtual world. In this essay I will explore the social construct of gender in the virtual world through the concept of wasteful consumerism on Second Life. The expectations and stereotypes attributed to each gender appear to be amplified significantly in the virtual world, and therefore they can be studied as primary sites where notions of sexuality and identity can be apprehended.

The virtual environment I will focus this paper on is Second Life, which is accessible through the Internet. The avatars on Second Life are no different from those found in other virtual worlds; the females have busty chests, a thin physique, and a plump back. Males have that threatening macho look- most of the avatars appear to be on a heavy dose of steroids. Through these avatars, sexuality in real life appears to be much more ambiguous in comparison to the virtual world. Second Life is the optimal medium to study the interplay between sexuality in the virtual world and the real world since it has an active virtual economy, including an internal currency. The Linden currency maintains the stability of Second Life, as any user can sell virtual goods, including buildings, cars, clothing, and even hair, skin and various services. All of these products are made to increase social interaction in the virtual world. The gamer becomes engrossed in this alternate world, through which it can buy and produce an identity. The options are limitless. Essentially, one can become whoever he desires to be without fear of retribution. That is why on Second Life there are many sites that practice sexual behavior in exchange for money. In order to perform a certain action, there are action balls one must touch and subsequently the avatar does the act. These can be purchased and exchanged, or they exist in certain clubs avatars must pay to access. Cybersex is not a subject commonly explored, nor is it a behavior people often admit to. Yet I argue that this is the main site where forms of sexuality are honestly expressed, as people can modify their real life bodies through the avatar and perform their actions freely. In Body Projects and the Regulation of Normative Masculinity, the authors claim that high modernity has led to sense of heightened individualism. A secure sense of identity and self-confidence is no longer drawn from ones social status or

position in the group, yet it is formed through the body. And so, in consumer society, a sense of identity is formed less because of what the body is able to do than because f how it looks (pp. 40). This is their explanation for why some men have entered a state of fetishization of muscles and muscularity. This can be applied to the creation of the body of avatars. The body of the avatar does not reflects what the gamer is capable of doing, only what it wants to be perceived as by his online community.

Batiste- consumption buying/ using things Other definition- spending money wastefully

Sex becomes decoupled from its biological aspect