Violation: Rape in Gaming

Book excerpt: How does it feel to be virtually raped? Who would decide to commit rape in a game? Should we, as a society, worry about people who pretend to rape software? What does "rape in gaming" even mean, and why does it happen? In this groundbreaking volume, the technology writer Julian Dibbell and the feminist S&M writer Clarisse Thorn have selected ten pieces that discuss, debate, and explore the concept of rape in gaming. From the classic 1974 roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons to the video games of 2012, rape has come up in every type of game imaginable. How best can we deal with it? Nobody knows for sure, but we have a lot of ideas. 10% of the profits from this volume will benefit the Electronic Frontier Foundation! * * * JULIAN DIBBELL has published widely about online life. He is the author, most recently, of "Play Money: Or How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot." CLARISSE THORN is a feminist S&M writer who has lectured from Berlin to San Francisco and written from The Guardian to Jezebel. She's published a lot of stuff lately, including an investigation of the 'seduction subculture' called "Confessions of a Pickup Artist Chaser."