Feminist views of cybersex:: Victimization, liberation, and empowerment

Cybersex can be defined as a social interaction between at least two persons who are exchanging real-time digital messages in order to become sexually aroused and satisfied. This article first describes video- and text-based cybersex as a new kind of sexual encounter with its own particularities. Then the feminist literature on cybersex is reviewed revealing two basic perspectives: The victimization perspective interprets cybersex as a heterosexist practice, and focuses on how women and girls as individuals and as a group are harmed by online harassment, virtual rape, and cyberprostitution. From this viewpoint it is the (heterosexual) male who seeks cybersex and forces it on the female, who is supposed to be online for all kinds of reasons but surely not for sexual ones. The liberation perspective, in contrast, focuses on the options computer-mediated communication offers women and girls who actively seek sexual pleasure online: Looks don't matter, it's easy to find mates, anonymity minimizes social control, the physical distance between the parties, and the computer's off switch prevent dangerous or harmful situations. From that viewpoint, cybersex frees females to explore their sexualities more safely and to enjoy more sex, better sex, and different sex. This article criticizes both the victimization and the liberation perspective and offers an integrative empowerment perspective that acknowledges power discourse as an essential sexual issue online and offline.