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There have been vast implications cited as effects of online communications and virtual representation. Most commonly, the question of ethics has dominated discussions and represents an important aspect of the Internet society.
In particular reference to sexual identity online, ethics are regularly brought into the public forum, with the redefinition of sexuality, gender and sexual behaviour causing a blurring of traditional responses. Presenting opportunities that are only available in the virtual world, behaviours such as having sex with an animal; being a 60 year old man whose online persona is a 20 year old lesbian; and participating in voyeuristic behaviour without the consent of those you are watching; all raise ethical issues that are difficult to define or even address. Herein raises the validity and consequence of the online experience – if the action is not happening in the physical world, does that reduce its impact?
All about Joan
To examine this further, a case study can be examined. In the early 1980s, the emergence of an online user called Joan attracted much attention in the online world. Having suffered a horrific car accident, the one time [http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology neuropsychologist] was mute, confined to a wheelchair and in frequent pain (Van Gelder, 1985, p. 533). Over the years, Joan became somewhat of a celebrity in the online world, giving hope to almost everyone she met through her wisdom, inspiration and advice. With a huge following and the respect of a large online community, Joan was a regular presence in forums and established a number of self-help and activist groups to help people.
Truth about Joan
In 1985, however, as Van Gelder (1985, p. 34) Joan’s true identity was revealed. After some four years online,
“ Joan was revealed as being not disabled at all. More to the point, Joan, in fact, was not a woman. She was really a man…a prominent New York psychiatrist in his early fifties who was engaged in a bizarre, all-consuming experiment to see what it felt like to be female, and to experience the intimacy of female friendship �.
The result of this revelation was a steady shock throughout the online world. Feeling betrayed and extremely hurt, some users reactions were so strong that they resulted in grief, mourning and extreme confusion. This elaborate act poses the ethical dilemma of whether the psychiatrist should be ostracised for betraying such a welcoming and trusting community, or whether, indeed, the community themselves are to blame for falling victim in a world that prides itself on its identity fluidity.
Westfall (2000, p. 160) argues that gender is not relevant in online communications and rather states
“communication in cyberspace is free of both the physiological and social elements which…make a woman. Cyberperson, not woman, is not man either…persons in cyberspace are not gendered like their real-world counterparts�. With this in mind, the case of Joan and the idea of obscuring one’s identity to fulfil personal desire is not perhaps the great ethical dilemma some argue. However, when real emotions and real feelings are hurt, exploited and mistreated, the boundaries once again come into question.
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