Sex, the Internet and Amercian Suburbia
"Cheating online is Adultery."
-- Headline from La Stampa, a popular Italian newspaper
"My wife doesnt care if I have relationships (even sexual) on the Internet. Its like its not real ...I can get away with it. But, Im sure shed get upset if we were to meet for a drink or something."
-- Anonymous Dateable.com Survey Respondent, 41-year old married male from Oklahoma City
A recent survey by Dateable.com, one of the first Internet romance communities, has revealed the results from a four-month survey of Internet sex and morality. The bottom line: You can talk, but you cant look.
Dateable.com picked a good time to release these results. The Italian public is having the same debate this week. A recent poll of Italians, where 97% of the population is Roman Catholic, said that 40% of Italian women interviewed said they feared that "their husbands might find a woman more fascinating than them while surfing the Web."
How do Americans compare?
When Dateable.com visitors were asked where they would draw the line when their significant other commits cyber-contact with a member of the opposite sex, their responses were a little surprising.
According to the survey, conducted by Dateable.com in the first half of 2000, here is what IS OK:
- 79.7% of their viewers stated that it IS OK to reply to an instant message or ICQ.
- The same percent of viewers even went as far as to say it IS OK to have an online IM or ICQ conversation with a member of the opposite sex whom they dont even know.
- An astonishing 75.2% of their visitors stated that it IS OK for their significant other to visit an adult site.
And heres whats NOT OK:
- Photo exchange. 54% of Dateable.coms visitors say it is NOT OK to exchange photos with a person of the opposite sex whom they dont know.
- 77.4% visitors polled that it is NOT OK for their significant other to participate in an adult one-on-one online video conversation with a member of the opposite sex whom they dont know.
- 80.6% of Dateable.coms visitors feel that it is NOT OK for their significant other to give his or her phone number to a member of the opposite sex whom they do not know, but met online.
Nobody knows the true number of -marital affairs occurring online, but Elizabeth Field, founder of Infidelitybusters.com, said she knows increasing numbers of people who have been burned by this kind of cheating. "To me, it's a sign of the times ... I don't agree with (cyber-cheating) at all," said Field.
Want to learn more about the survey? Go to www.dateable.com to participate in the sex and morality survey and read the results.
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