Dibbell Article
I finally got around to reading the Dibbell article (“A Rape in Cyberspace”), and I have to admit it was a little alarming. Although it was obviously upsetting to the ‘victims,’ I have a hard time feeling the degree of shock and empathy for these people in relation to the terrible reality of a rape in the material world. The author stresses rape as an “emotional act” and quotes a few of the MOO members in their “attempts to fine-tune the differences between real and virtual violence. ‘Is not the mind a part of the body?’ ‘In MOO, the body IS the mind.” Yet, “rape” is a horrible act that has seriously negative effects on the mind and body and it is hard for me to compare “cyber-rape” to real life.
ON the other hand, Dibbell brings up an interesting issue in regards to identity and how far it extends beyond our physical body. If we see these virtual identities/communities as extensions of ourselves, then at what point can we (should we) censor or punish (in Bungles case, banish), a member who steps outside of the “boundaries” of proprieties, cultural values, etc. And what are these boundaries? An extension of the cultural that exists in the material world? This article raises a lot of questions that are seemingly impossible to answer.
Something that was particularly odd to me was the community discussion to toad or not to toad Bungles, and the obvious factor that he could easily make up another character and continue to do the same things.
