Why Cybersex Instead of the “Real Thing”?
In and of itself, says Dr. Maheu, cybersex is not necessarily a bad thing. As an example, she points out that most heterosexuals who have a homosexual relationship in prison aren’t homosexuals. They take what they can get, given the circumstances. The same holds true for cybersex, says Gerald Melchoide, MD, a clinical professor of psychology at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. According to Sandy Stone at the University of Texas, “Reality is wide-bandwidth because people who communicate face-to-face in real time use multiple modes of communication simultaneously—speech, gestures, facial expression, the entire gamut of semiotics. Computer conferencing is narrow-bandwidth because communication is restricted to lines of text on a screen.” In narrow-bandwidth computer mediated communications, important information is missing. Smiles, frowns, tones of voice, posture, and dress tell us more about the social contexts we are placed in than do the statements of the
