Yes, Sex Sells — But At What Price?
by Keara22hi, HSM team writer
“Sex sells.”
This is a common phrase. I’ve heard it for sixty years now; it seems to be a popular concept.
And watching it evolve on Home over the past two years has been interesting. When I first came into Home, the most risqué outfit available was light-years away from the Amazon bikini. And even that’s starting to look tame.
Females appearing in Central Plaza in bikinis and spike heels were fairly rare in those days. When they did come on to the scene, the ones who did venture forth, scantily clad, knew in advance what they would get in response – or they were in for a rude shock.
There were still skirts and dresses in Threads of modest length. And Costumes even had a women’s Pilgrim outfit! A few of the stores offered some jeans so tight they looked like spray paint, and some of the other clothes were obviously aimed at young teens who still had a rear end which was not heading south.
These were clothes that some women (and men using female avatars) loved to buy and sashay out in, because these were clothes they would never dare to wear on the street in real life – unless they were looking for a ‘date’ who had money in hand. It was fantasy unbound – anonymity unleashed – and a chance to live out some pent-up fantasies of what it would be like to actually look like that.
Even though no formal market research was done, the buyers voted with real dollars and the developers watched closely. Judging from the virtual apparel that’s been released over the last twelve months, it would seem to indicate that developers think Home’s population wants ‘sexy’, wants ‘fantasy’, and wants ‘tattoos’. At least a sizable portion of the ones in Home who spend money do. So the developers decide to push the envelope. How outrageous can we go and still have them buying it?
I don’t begrudge the developers this. They’re out to generate revenue. That’s their job.
There’s one question that probably ought to be asked, though: in real life, fashion choices are held in check by social repercussions. In virtual reality, with a veil of anonymity, where does one person’s personal liberty end and another’s begin?
Any question of what impact this would have on thirteen-year-olds went unasked. After all, they see it on television all the time – especially in Victoria’s Secret ads. Nubile teens in fantasy settings selling clothes no man will ever see in real life, unless his wife or girlfriend is feeling ‘affectionate’ or wants something. Not to mention what is in those “R” rated movies that teens are known for sneaking into – or renting. So: do we get a Walt Disney version of Home – or does it become ‘anything goes’? Because, right now, the dichotomy is becoming more and more pronounced.
For the perverts and fetishists, this was a dream come true: not only could they find plenty of female avatars dressed like something out of a Nabokov novel, they could find leather festishists, bondage models, naughty nurses, and French maids if they looked far enough. They could even dress up themselves to look like their most secret fantasy and act it out!
There’s a wonderful line from Jurassic Park (which I’m paraphrasing from memory): “They got so caught up in whether or not they could that they never stopped to think if they should.”
But, as always happens, there will be those who want to see just how far you can really go with this. So along came the first tattoos – modest little things appearing on a shoulder as part of an outfit. Nothing to outrage the few people in Home who would slap a scarlet “A” on bare female bosoms and harumph their disapproval. No, that was the toe in the water to see what kind of response it would bring.
Well, guess what – the ‘ink’ sells, too! And now the rush is on. It has a lot of appeal – especially to those older folks who would feel foolish going into a tattoo parlor and rubbing elbows with their kids’ school friends. But, in Home, why not be nineteen again – and cover your body with tattoos that you can explain someday to your grandchildren after the ‘ink’ fad is long gone?
Now, combine the ‘ink’ with a deliberately sexy outfit and add an exaggerated hip-swinging walk to personify the ‘pin-up’ girls remembered from World War II aircraft decorations and centerfolds in men’s magazines. Voila – a new opportunity to try something guaranteed to be controversial. The dresses are modest by Home standards, but the thrust-out buttocks and chest make it very clear what these ‘pin-ups’ have on their mind: “Buy More War Bonds!”
Obviously, this young lady is having a ball going out in outfits her mother would never let her out of the house in. Or, this is a fifty-three-year-old male garage mechanic who is living out a cherished fantasy. Take your pick.
And that’s the whole point, isn’t it? That Home is a place where you can act out a fantasy and get away with it. The problem is, how do you get the thirteen-year-olds to understand that this is not normal, real-life behavior? That women in real life do not want to be considered ‘sex objects’ and treated like second-class citizens. That “NO” means NO.
This is where society as a whole is giving out mixed messages to the young. What is acceptable behavior and what is not. If none of the girls in middle school will talk to me or even look interested, how do I approach them? And, if constantly rejected in real life and in Home by girls and avatars who look enticing, how to handle that rejection.
That’s where the whole “sex sells” idea runs into trouble. When expectations and desires have been kindled repeatedly and then rebuffed and derided, does the angry male hate himself – or the unattainable object that has been dangled in front of him?
Just how much bottled up anger, hostility, and frustration does it take to turn a teenager (or someone older) into a criminal? Violating a woman is not about sex – everyone who has read enough ‘pop psychology’ in the magazines or heard about it on Oprah knows that. It is about the need to control, to hurt, to diminish, to punish women for all that perceived rejection.
This is not to in any way suggest that Home’s developers are responsible for someone going off the deep end. One might as well blame all advertising and marketing companies across every form of media. It simply suggests that many of Home’s users aren’t emotionally mature enough to handle the kind of overwhelming freedom that virtual reality can provide. And perhaps this should be taken into account when commodities are developed for Home. A sort of self-regulation, if you will.
So where do the developers in Home go with all this? Let’s see – how about complete nudity with all the ‘naughty bits’ covered with blurry checkerboard patterns? Except, instead of being sexy – it actually is hysterically funny. Or how about combining the skimpy bikini with the all-over tattooing? Wow – that’s a real attention-getter.
Have the adolescent males learned yet that it is, “Look but don’t try to touch. And don’t try to talk to me, you perv?”
And what message is this sending to pre-teen girls – and yes, there are girls younger than thirteen wandering around in here – whose hormones are already raging and the fights with their mothers about what they want to wear are already at a fever pitch.
“No, you are not wearing a thong and a skirt so short it barely covers the water line!” is a typical rant by the mothers of newly pubescent teen girls.
“But Brandie’s mom lets her wear it!”
“All the girls in Home are wearing a lot less!”
“You’re just jealous because you are over 30 and OLD!”
Plus all that male attention can be really mind-boggling to the plain-Jane who is overweight, has bad skin, and stringy hair. Now she can feel like a prom queen. The problem is, most of the time they cannot differentiate between good attention and bad attention.
Try explaining to a thirteen-year-old girl what goes in the mind of a teenage boy. Just try.
Ironically, take the theory to the street (in this case, Central Plaza, Irem Beach, and other public places in Home) and you get a very different picture. Talking to the people who are wearing the outfits that would send their parents into hissy fits, these folks, for example, were more interested in showing off their collection of wings than in trying to look sexy.
It’s like the lyrics in an old song by Cole Porter: “In days of old a hint of stocking was thought of as something shocking. Now – heaven knows – anything goes!”
The more public displays of ‘sexy’ there are in Home the more banal they become until almost no one cares anymore. In many cases, the level of blasé acceptance results in two ‘pinup girls’ in the Mall discussing stretch marks from multiple pregnancies while the usual wide-eyed young teen boys mill around them like blow flies. The gaping stares and the stupid remarks are ignored and life goes on.
So, be a responsible parent. Talk to your child. Tell them the truth about what they are seeing everywhere and set the standards you want them to follow. Keep the lines of communication open no matter how big a chasm there might be between what you want for them and what the peer pressure of their friends is dictating. You do the best you can and hope you raised a kid who is smart enough to stay out of trouble.
June 28th, 2011 by keara22hi | 15 comments
Keara is also known in Home as DarthGranny. She is a wicked little old lady with a wild sense of humor.
US Home has become one of the most unpleasant places on the Internet. The reason -- 90% of users coarse louts, uneducated etc. And you cant report almost all users in Home, better choice is never go to this place. + weak moderation
Sex sells. Sony doesn’t want PSN Home to become a perv magnet, nor a teletubby-rated babysitter. Its business, they want to maximize profits. I, for one, do not want my options limited by easily offended, phony, misguided evangelical hypocrites. Think of a doable solution.
I have no children but I really think your last paragraph sends the point Home. Much like a video game these are just pixels. Some are pretty and others revealing but still pixels. Kids see more on TV, Movies and other places and we can only hope they have parents who pay attention and check up on them regularly.
Hope that their parents have instilled in them enough to understand that Home does not imitate life nor should it be a model to go by. Not much we can do about it in real life but if you think home goes to far then let them know how you feel. Home General forums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5wcLl13a8s
Anything Goes song Cole Porter as referenced in article with Bogart, Bergman and Astaire. Song was used in Fallout 3 video game.
As a mother myself, I think we just need to be responsible parents and make sure we intervene when necessary and make sure we instill the proper values and understanding in our children. Funny I was just saying this same thing yesterday when I found out that the Supreme Court rejected the California law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors (article here: http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/713985/ca-violent-video-game-ban-struck-down/)
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
It may sound a bit extreme to use such a phrase in this context, but I don’t think so.
I have a son, and I have a few years before I have to really talk to him about such topics. And I intend to, but I also intend to talk to him about the fact that other children may not receive the same information and supervision he has, and may behave differently as a result.
I cannot control what values or lessons other parents choose or (choose not) to impart upon their kids. Yes, I’d love it if other parents also took the time to talk with their children -- responsible parenting makes everyone’s life a little easier -- but I am also aware that we do not live in an ideal world. Some parents just think they are too busy, others just don’t care or think it’s isn’t that big of a deal. I don’t agree with that mindset, but it’s not going to stop me from doing what I believe is right by my child.
And as an aside, I have mentioned in the past that I used to get on Home with my son at my side. Nowadays, in light of these outfits, unless I have magazine business that *needs* tending to, I wait until he is in bed. Nevermind the fact that I just want to spend more quality time with my son now that he’s in school full time, but I just don’t want to expose my three year old who is already becoming cognizant of these things. Kids grow up fast enough as it is.
Comment posted
Kids these days …
Not like in the 80’s
And that’s good.
Keara wrote: “The problem is, how do you get the thirteen-year-olds to understand that this is not normal, real-life behavior?”
Well I hope the same way that the plethora of FPS games that saturate and dominate the video gaming market has me believing most don’t think it’s normal, real-life behavior to be firing weapons at people and killing them.
I really tend to side with those who wonder why sex or sexuality is so problematic or even so seemingly frightening to so many Americans. There truly seems to be more concern on what pixelated pixies look like than the ultra-violence so prevalent in the gaming world. I’ll just never understand how the two are seen as somehow equal.
With the myriad of serious issues our real world has, these questions just don’t hold all that much relevancy to me.
I just think and hope we’d all rather have more love than death in either worlds.
It’s always easier for parents to blame outside sources like video games,movies,books,w/e than it is to admit they didn’t do a very good job of teaching young “johnny”or”jane” the difference between reality and fantasy.For the most part ppl are not very honest with themselves when it comes to their failings and even less so with others.Probably many different reasons for this but it’s 1 thing to bury your head in the sand about certain topics and quite another to blame others for your failings.The biggest problem I see with parents not dealing with their children with these topics is that the kids can become confused and then behave badly which then leads to ppl in power to start limiting the freedoms of ppl that never harmed or offended anyone.I probably will never see why I,someone who rarely wears anything as skimpy as swim shorts,should be told I can’t wear something just because someone else can’t or won’t control their kids.
I completely agree with you, sure parents can’t be there 100% of the time but if you really do care you will make the effort. like the woman who is suing apple for letting her child make purchases in-game, she should have moderated that better herself instead of brushing off her own parental responsibility and blaming apple. children can work a smartphone by 2 or 3 years old, wouldn’t you make sure they could not mistakenly dial a foreign number or have access to calling? I have no kids but have common sense around them whoever they belong to, why should I miss out on something because somebody else lack’s common sense?
Remember these are real people controlling avatars that can bee really close you true human form we carry our thoughts desires and dreams with us fantasy are included. With the rise of developers like heavy water and others we havent seen anything yet, Parents soon will see a M rateing on home. It’s really for mature people not kids Sony. Sex sells and it makes the most profit sad but true.
As a parent I agree wholeheartedly with the fact that it is up to us as individuals to teach our kids right from wrong in every sense of the words. When it comes to sexy outfits in Home, I think that they have been pushing the envelope a bit lately, that is if they are still claiming this to be a PG environment. It is true that kids will see a lot of things they shouldn’t before the age of 5 nowadays. Between games, movies and television they are bound to see stuff that confuses them, and it is up to us to set them straight.
I have a couple of friends who have raised their children this way, they are very strict in what kinds of movies and games and TV they are allowed to watch, even into their teens, and the kids seem very happy and well adjusted to the situation. Peer pressure always plays a big role in how they react to things, but with a good sense of self worth, kids will usually make the right decisions.
Sex does and always will sell in Home and elsewhere and unfortunately that is the bottom line with companies. As long as it continues to sell, it is going to be around, we may as well get used to it and any concerns we have should be alleviated through educating our youngsters.
The way I see it is that Sony has, in many ways, let the situation get out of hand. Nothing they have done in any way acts as any kinf if deterrent to the nasty doings going on… I suspect they don’t deal with it because those same pervs may very well generate most of the revenue Sony gets.
The sense I get from both articles is raising a question whether “sexy clothing” encourages such behavior… and honestly that is the wrong question to ask. Sony, by their inactions, has been a factor in almost creating the current Home culture. And that culture is people have free reign to act out their fantasies as pervs & harassers… because they know there are NO REAL CONSEQUENCES to such behavior.
Although I have no way of knowing how much these perverts spend on games, I do know that when I am “perved” on Home the guy is almost always wearing default clothes. This seems to indicate that they are not a great revenue source. I have been on Home for about a year now, so my experience is fairly extensive.
I agree and I have said that Sony needs to regulate what they sell as they are ultimately responsible for it… and not only what they sell, but how they sell it or allow it to be sold on Home. I am referring to the names of the games in Midway II and the current Axe ad campaign in CP.
As a guy, there’s a great deal of fun in dressing in female and “schooling” perverts who hit on you. I like to make them feel stupid. “Dood… I’m a guy. Most females on Home are GUYS!” I like to ask them “Would you treat your sister or mother like this?” You’d be surprised how some of these noobs react when they discover for the first time that there are 5 girls in a circle and all 5 of them are guys in real life, and that they just made sexual advances to 5 guys. I’ve literally watched them leave without another word. I’ve saw them back up and start apologizing. I’ve seen them say “wow I never considered that”. I’ve also seen them try to get an attitude back and seen 5 guys dressed as females slam them so badly that they left with their head between their legs. Call it harassment if you want, but a female SHOULD be able to dress any way they dang well please in a virtual world. Not all guys are perverts and disrespectful. Some of us simply enjoy slamming those who are.