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Assault in Second Life is still Assault.
I write in response to the following report from the Second Life Herald: Same Offender, Different Alt
It astounds me that describing someone who attacked her friend as a kind of rape or assault should result in not support — attacking someone in their own home, virtual or otherwise, is just not defensible — but instead condemnation, mostly along the lines of “suck it up, it’s only pixels!”
My response to that was — and still is — as follows:
I think a lot of the scornful and downright despicable commentary — which is starting up again for this post, I note — is because, for the majority of the respondents, the virtual nature of Second Life trumps any sense of immersion or participation.
My SL avatar is, of course, at a certain remove from my real self, but there is still an emotional investment in his creation and nurturing; he is, in effect, a part of me. Idealised, undoubtedly, but a part of me.
And I bitterly resent any part of me being abused in any fashion, which the dissociated seem to think is just fine; “Awww, it’s just pixels.”
NO. There is a living, breathing human being animating those pixels, and who takes pride in them, and is naturally affronted when some imbecile, incapable of differentiating twixt regular computer game and MUSE, decides to frustrate their enjoyment of this environment.
“Sticks and stones will break my bones,” the old saw goes, but broken bones and flesh wounds heal over time. Well-chosen and well-timed words, on the other hand, can inflict far more enduring – and profound – wounds.
Second Life is no longer a protean chaos of do-as-you-please. There are rules of behaviour now, and Ms Eales’ detractors would do well to remember that. If they must go on sprees, there are better places for them to do so than some random victim’s private property.
I do not see why I should have to live my Second Life in fear. Nor do I see why anyone else should have to do so.
Posted in Second Life (News,Op-Ed) by Martien Pontecorvo 03/11/07 04:30 PM
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