Fashioning the Body: Versions of the Citizen, the Self, and the Subject

    Due to time constraits earlier today I feel I was unable to talk about one of the interesting facets of second life: sexuality and gender in a world where physical and moral limitation are thrown out.  Starting in second life your are asexual, although you have a gender (as being defined my whether your character appears masculine or femine not by the relationship dynamic) you are incapable of sexual activities and in fact lack genitilia.  It was residents who eventually began the business of designing and selling genitilia, sexual gestures and movements, along with objects lke beds which came with linked sex animations.  Genitilia ranges in price form the basic unmoving free object to the higher-end male genitilia (which can change from hard to flacid, urinate, and enjaculate) which reach up to 16,000L (~about 60$)(female genitilia tops off at 3500L).  In a world where feminine appearal outweight masculine appearal  3 to 1 it is interseting that there is twice as many male genitilia as female.  
    

    The ability of self-representation of gender is alive in Second Life (at least in terms of De Lauretis indeas of gender) by the prevailance of non-traditional sexual practices, one's which lack physical or moral constraints.  The large furry / beastiality (prominent animal include horses, dogs, and dragons, along with the occasianaol monster) community, along with numerous problems highlighted by he media having to do with "age play" (http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2007/02/dutch_to_prosec.html) causing some countries to not allow their residents to enter Second Life.  I question the effects that this has on ones real-life sexual practices, would a man have to be gay to practice (and find sexual enjoyment) from homosexual activities in second life or could it stem from some form of Uranian gender?  What about a women playing as a man without the physical sense of being, only the avatar representation can having virtual sex with a man confine her to being lesbian or is she disconnected from the gender of her avatar?  
    

I would recommend that if you have the time check out the bodies for sale on the SL Exchange, it's facinating to see what sells when your buying another you.