Virtual sex issexual activity where two or more people (or one person and avirtual character) gather together via some form of communications equipment to arouse each other, often by the means of transmitting sexually explicit messages. Virtual sex describes the phenomenon, no matter the communications equipment used.
These terms and practices continuously evolve as technologies and methods of communication change.[3]
Increases in Internet connectivity, bandwidth availability, and the proliferation ofwebcams have also had implications for virtual sex enthusiasts. It is increasingly common for these activities to include the exchange of pictures or motion video. There are companies which allow paying customers to watch people have live sex or masturbate and at the same time allow themselves to be watched as well. Recently, devices have been introduced and marketed to allow remote-controlled stimulation.[citation needed]
An important part of taking part in virtual sex, or sexual acts, would beconsent.[4] Theethics of sexting are already being established by young people for whom consent figures as a critical concept. Distinctions between positive and negative experiences of sexting are mostly dependent on whether consent was given to make and share the images. As of 2015[update], it is illegal for any person under the age of 18 to consent to any form of virtual sex (only if nude pictures are sent), because images of minors are consideredchild pornography.[5]
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There are approximately one half to 2 millionsex addicts[6] in the world that have access to theInternet and the prospectives of virtualsex on the Internet are appealing to them. The internet opens up a world where people can reinvent themselves and try on a completely different online persona; they can freely experiment with and explore a variety of new, hidden or repressed sexual behaviors,fetishes andsexual fantasies.[7] This can feel liberating, but can also be extremely dangerous as it has the potential of becoming addicting and have adverse effects on cybernauts' other aspects of life. What attracts people to sex via the Internet can be explained by the “Triple A”[8] engine of Affordability, Accessibility, and Anonymity. The "Triple A" engine represents the risk factors for people that are already susceptible to sexual compulsivity or psychological vulnerability related to sexual compulsivity.
Affordability is about the cheap price of virtual sex.Pornography magazines and videos used to have a price of $20 or more per individual piece, while today anyone can have access to unlimited amount of pornographic content at the price of a $20 monthly subscription to the internet. Accessibility is a person's capacity to have access to the Internet - a service that is virtually accessible to anyone in the world. Finally, Anonymity references the ability to have access to sexual content without disclosing your true identity; this can feel empowering and make it that much easier to have sex, as one would not have to risk being seen by someone they know and feel ashamed or worried of possiblegossips andrumors about them.[8]
When does healthy virtual sex become apathology?Addiction[9] is defined by 3 main characteristics: compulsivity (not being able to freely choose when to stop or continue a behavior), continuation of the behavior despite adverse consequences, and obsession with the activity. When one losses control and lets virtual sex impact negatively at least one aspect of their life, this is when it stops beinghealthy. According toclinical studies, the main adverse consequences of virtual sex addiction are about the damage it causes inmarital and otherromantic relationships, disrupted due to online affairs and online sexual compulsivity.[10] In aresearch study,[10] it was found that online affairs and sexual compulsivity were reported by 53% of the virtual sex addicts interviewed to be the cause of disruption of their romantic relationships.
Virtual sex can become acoping mechanism to temporarily escape real life problems.[10] However, it is not an effective one and even potentially harmful, as the underlying issues will go on unaddressed and only become more complex with time. Generally, there are a couple of patterns explaining why one can become addicted to virtual sex and the ways one can use it as a coping mechanism. Often, it is used to cope withemotional problems.[10] Virtual sex can serve as a distraction from painful emotions, such asloneliness,stress, andanxiety, as consuming online pornographic content makes the addict feel moreconfident, desirable, and excited, creating a numbing effect. Another pattern involves young,insecure,socially awkward or emotionally troubled people who use internet to interact with others online rather than in person in order to avoid rejection from a real person. In the Internet they can find a virtually unlimited number of people who seem interesting and interested in them. They find the online world more comforting and safe, as it is harder to pick up on social cues of disapproval or judgement. Gradually, online friends can become more "real" than offline friends and an online friend can become an opportunity for online affair andcybersex. Partners that are cheated on through online affairs feel that online affairs are just as painful as offline ones - it is a significant source of stress, makes them feel betrayed as they were lied to, and feel insecure as they will negatively compare themselves with the online women or men. Virtual sex can become an escape and a new addiction for recovering sex addicts that are going through a stressful period in their life. Feeling triggered by life problems, prior sex addicts can find themselves using online pornographic content as a quick and easy, but temporary fix to help them soothe themselves, forget about life's problems, and feel better about themselves. Another pattern is when an individual takes advantage of the online sexual content to explore forbidden, hidden, and repressed sexual fantasies, which can become addicting and completely absorb the person into this virtual space.[10]
Approximately 14 million people in theUnited States are in along distance relationship.[11] Among young adults, 40% to 50%[12] are in along distance relationship at any given time, as well as 75% of college students at least at one given moment during their studies.[13] It is expected that the number oflong distance relationships will be increasing due to the globalized nature of today's world.[14] Hence, theinternet might be a useful tool to makelong distance relationships work. One way couples in long distance relationships engage in a sexual activity online is throughsexting. Self-expression throughsexting between partners can create a feeling ofintimacy and closeness between partners even at a distance.[15]Long distance relationships may be more susceptible to sexual boredom,[15] hencesexting can be an effective way of keeping partners sexually engaged at a distance.[11] In a study,[11] the associations betweensexting and feelings of closeness were studied. It was found that moresexting more often in along distance relationship was not predictive of higher interpersonal closeness between the partners. However, there was found a correlation between sexting and sexual satisfaction, as well as relationship satisfaction.
Cindy Hinant's telephone sculptures tease out the sexually suggestive language of telephone services that insist on denying the separation of the speakers...Here the objects of communication-the now outdated landline telephones-take on the physicality of human relationships, not against technology's domination but by and through it. As we shift over to cellular phones, Hinant's sculptures are both nostalgic for the materiality of older devices and instructive as to the ways in which we might preserve for our modern age what Jean Baudrillard called the 'ecstasy of communication.'
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