The electronic cloak: secret sexual deviance in cybersociety

Given the opportunities the Internet provides for secrecy and anonymity it is of little surprise that many users are increasingly exploring aspects of their sexual identities and experimenting with their sexuality in ways that may be precluded in 'real' life by a variety of social and personal impediments, constraints and repressions. It is the very anonymity of the Net that raises the question of what constitutes 'normal' and 'deviant' conduct and blurs the lines between the two. Many have argued that in a society dominated by the socially constructed norms that accompany a heterosexual paradigm, any behaviour that falls outside the confines of the heterosexual 'norm' is deviant and is open to sanction (Plummer 1975; Epstein 1997; Ault 1999). But the growth of the Internet and the spaces it provides - email discussion lists, newsgroups, chat rooms, websites and so on - have allowed individuals to experiment privately with their sexuality in the relative safety of their own environment and away from the prying eyes of those who might censure such behaviour. As the identity of the user is concealed, his or her 'real world' social position is maintained and his or her deviance remains secret for as long as the user chooses to keep it that way. With no fear of exposing themselves to stigma, ridicule or physical harm, Internet users can negotiate new sexual identities, engage in secret sexual deviancy and acquire numerous sexual partners, while all the time protected by the 'electronic cloak' that is virtual reality. Furthermore, evidence suggests that our lives in cyberspace are encouraging us to become comfortable with new ways of thinking about relationships, sexuality, politics and identity (Turkle 1996). This chapter addresses these issues and calls for society and sociology to recognise and respond to the influence of new computer-mediated modes of communication when discussing the concepts of presentation of self, sexual identity and deviance.