Is cybersex cheating? As sex tech writer Regina Lynn (who recently left her Wired column “Sex Drive,” btdubs) points out, it’s a question we’ve asked again, and again, and again in the media. Well, be prepared to hear it asked one more time, this time by The Mike and Juliette Show, a national morning show that should sound familiar to Heroine Sheik readers. Why? Because I was on it last summer talking about sex in Second Life for a whopping 12 minutes. Yes, I’d like to thank the academy.
In my experience, the producers at the M&J show — as it’s called by the cool and lazy — put together segments super last minute. Thus it was that last Monday I got a phone call suggesting I hop on a red-eye and fly across the country to New York to appear on another twelve-minute spot re: something to do with relationships in online worlds. To be honest, I can’t say I was bummed when I got another call the next morning (a whole 20 hours before I would’ve had to be dolled up and on set) saying they weren’t going to need me after all.
So who did they end up with? Kevin Alderman, the self-proclaiming Hugh Heffner of Second Life. He’s interesting enough (for anyone who’s ever used a pose ball, the man does impressive things with a mocap suit) but, well check out the clip yourself.
Basically, after running through a veritable list of goofy words for online sex — “whoopy” and “nooky” seemed particularly second grade — they interview Alderman, some perky little tech reporter from CNET (calm, Bonnie, calm), and an expert on the dangers of games. Alderman comes off as very composed and intelligent, but that doesn’t stop the general brow-knitting about the future of sex and cheating. My favorite is when Juliette says, “It’s becoming so realistic, you’re going to want to spend all your time in cyberland, which is happy land” and the psychological expert says, “That’s absolutely right.”
Should I have cared more? Should I have sounded more honored to fly across the country and set the record straight? My instinct is a resounding “meh,”but it is fun to have someone apply seven layers of make-up to your face…
[Image: Alderman in his Second Life persona]
