Cyber Rape: Acts of Imagination
or Malice?
Individuals or the participants in the
MOOs or MUDs collaborate
to shape and create language. The collaborative narration shows how
individuals
communicate through written text. In
cyberspace “rape can occur without any physical pain or damage" (Dibbell).
Actions are conducted through words.
"A virtual "rape", also known as "MOOrape", is defined within LambdaMOO as a sexually-related act of a violent or acutely debasing or profoundly humiliating nature against a character who has not explicitly consented to the interaction. Any act which explicitly references the non-consensual, involuntary exposure, manipulation, or touching of sexual organs of or by a character is considered an act of this nature".
The individuals who manipulate and partake in the
sexually related acts of violence can use "special
“verbs” or Moo code, on their characters that allow people to “do”
things to them, producing amusing output" (Cherney).
According
to Jennifer Mnookin in "Virtual(ly) Law: The
Emergence of Law in LambdaMOO", she contends that violence is commonplace,
but the actions are constructed of mere words:
“In Abaxas vs. lucifuge2, for example, a player initiated a dispute against a character who was frequently insulting and using "violent" verbs against other players; repeatedly moving them without their permission to places within LambdaMOO such as "the cinder pile" and "Hell." In this case, nearly everyone agreed that lucifuge2's behavior was obnoxious”.
The redundant acts of violence are not consensual in nature, thus become detrimental to the victims because the acts of violence may be seen by other on the MOO or MUD. The essay "Cyberspace, Or, The Unbearable Closure of Being" by Slavoj Zizek affirms that these acts of violence are conducted on a basis of regularity because there are no limitations or repercussion for the reenactment of violence in virtual worlds or Virtual Reality. The VR activity of victimizing a woman (for example) is performed because the are no real life anxieties (punishment/jail) to deal with:
“Acting out a fantasy scene in VR allows to bypass the deadlock of the dialectic of desire and its inherent rejection: when a man bombards a woman with flirtatious promises about sexual favors he would like to bestow on her...In VR, I can do it, act it out, without really doing it, and thus avoid the anxiety connected with RL activity...the inhibition or shame is suspended(136)
Cyberspace-MOOs and MUDs are a free for all for violent acts. Violence in cyberspace follows with in the continuum of rape as seen in "Building a World with Words: The Narrative Reality of Virtual Communities" by Beth E. Kolko. Kolko asserts that a random act of violence "would most likely look something like the following: Marin walks over to Reina and slaps her. Reina has several choices at this point in the narrative. She can ignore the action and continue as if it did not occur. However, the action was witnessed by every one in the room". The question remains "Are these acts of Virtual Misconduct formed through the imagination or of malice intent?" The violent acts that occur in cyberspace like virtual rape and violence are a combination of both the extreme imagination and malice for those who want to violate others without consent.
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