BDSM RTV NEWS!!!!

18 december 2008


Modern sex swings many ways


Source: www.iol.co.za Independent Online - Cape Town,South Africa


After watching Blade Runner recently on late-night television, I wondered: whatever happened to all those scientists' predictions that humans would be having sex with robots by now - or at least in the very near future? After all, Ridley Scott's film is only set in 2019.


Some people are fast becoming accustomed to using technology to take things a step further: men already go online to purchase custom-made "real dolls", which are like silicon Stepford Wives without the vocal cords, and cost thousands of rands.

Fans claim they are a viable alternative for the lonely and socially awkward. But can it really be healthy to seek out intimacy with an inanimate object?

At the same time that technology is causing some people to withdraw from the dating game - preferring online porn and virtual sex to the real thing - the sheer volume of specialised websites means that huge numbers of people are now connecting in ways that they never have before.

Though most deviant sexual behaviours have been around for ages (the Romans were having orgies, after all) the Noughties have ushered in the normalisation of fetishes - and made it vastly more easy to find others with similar tastes. These days, BDSM (bondage, domination and sado-masochism) has gone from underground fringe clubs to housewives browsing for spanking paddles online and in sex shops.

Sex parties, too, have shed their image of dumpy, middle-aged couples circling a bowl of car keys, and now upmarket swinging events, such as Fever and Killing Kittens, cater to young and more conventionally attractive couples by using their website to vet applicants. These days, more and more single women are taking the plunge.

Technology has also made casual hook-ups - and infidelity - simpler than ever: a well-placed digital photo and a reasonably witty online profile can bring dozens of responses within a few hours.

But what a friend of mine calls "the crack cocaine of online dating" does have its risks. Ultimately, it's much easier to hide one's true intentions behind the anonymity of a keyboard, and to lie. I've met men who happily crop out years of their life (and children) as easily as the woman standing next to them in their profile picture.

Of course, not everyone online is a cheater. Some people are completely open about their alter egos, and use their "avatars" to have cybersex on sites such as Second Life. And many see it purely as a form of escapism, and have no intention of actually meeting in person.

The Internet does, of course, provide people with fetishes with an easy way of finding each other. I personally would not want to change an adult baby's nappy, but it seems there are people out there who want to breast-feed and role-play a nanny scenario.

And it's much easier to send an email through a website than to mention the subject casually on a first date.

Modern sex, to me, is about easy connectivity, and open-mindedness - whether your sexual soulmate wants to be spanked over a desk or likes to dress up as a giant squirrel.

Today, there really is something for everyone. - Foreign Service