Julian Dibbell's "A Rape In Cyberspace"
Did Bungle commit rape?
This question initially invokes the question of whether or not Bungle is just a made-up character or and actual extension of the author. From there, we must move on to the fact the while it is a choice to be online, it is definitely not a choice to be raped. Even so, the made-up setting makes us think that these are all made-up actions, so the victims are not physically "real." And yet, even if it's not "real" the emotional investment is very similar. You can very well be traumatized by what you read and what you see. They can very well be life-altering. Additionally traumatizing is imagining the kinds of minds that come up with such material...
Furthermore, there is an emotional investment in being a character (an avatar). And when that emotional investment increases in intensity, real life and virtual reality begin to overlap and interact. Authors control the lives of characters; this is related to coming to terms with emotional investments in the virtual world
There are some things that are the same between cyber-rape and real rape, such as psychological ramifications, the emotional investment, instituting some form of punishment, and the traumatizing encounter with the human imagination (and the monstrosity of it).
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