Psychology of Cyberspace – Gender Swapping

Stumbleupon Review of :
http://www.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/genderswap.html

From the page: “The beauty, and sometimes misfortune, of the internet is that it offers the opportunity for people to experiment with their identity. One way to do that is to switch one’s gender to see how the other half lives. In a text-only chat room the first step is simply to change one’s online name. In the visual “habitats” such as the Palace, there is the added challenge of creating an opposite sex “avatar” or “prop” to visually represent one’s new self. The choice of name or avatar can greatly influence the image one wishes to cast – Bambi wearing skimpy lingerie, Rocky with sunglasses, Sheila in leather and chains, Lyle playing guitar, Hera in a long, white robe. After selecting a new name and appearance comes the even more challenging task of trying to play the role of the opposite sex person one has chosen. It’s not an easy thing to d”