Relationships and the Metaverse

I-Fen Yang

The reality

Of Relationships In The Metaverse

Have you ever made friends online before? Or used a dating app? Building relationships on the internet is a common thing now. But what if you can just put on a VR headset at home, be an avatar and immerse yourself in a creative world?

In the Metaverse, we can connect with people worldwide by using sensory experience. We can touch and feel. More importantly, we will have so much more freedom to express ourselves in this world and we can have a second life here!

What about relationships in the Metaverse? Is there any possibility we can find good friends or a partner in this world? I think the answer is positive.

In the Metaverse society, we are not restricted by the social norms of the real world, I guess we can be more ourselves without caring so much about our appearances, facial expressions and behaviours. Imagine - we can talk to our dates’ avatar with their real voice, we can hold hands before we actually meet, we can “hang out” inside of the Metaverse. It sounds exciting to build a life in the Metaverse with someone. You can live the life you want without worrying so much about realistic conditions like long-distance challenges and judgements from your family and friends. Your avatar can have perfect hair, body shape and overcome the insecurities with your real body. However, with the disguise of our avatars, a lot of people will probably fall in love or trust people too easily. We only know what people want us to know, only see what people want us to see. No matter how real we feel in the Metaverse, it still is not the real world. If we fall in love with the someone’s avatar, perhaps we just fall in love with the

We shouldn’t devote all of ourselves to the Metaverse and neglect the real world. Eventually, people need to spend more time in the real world. It is another challenge to develop our Metaverse relationship in the real world, we may have expectations before we meet virtual friends and have disappointments when we finally meet them. But who knows! What if we are so lucky to meet our life partner and best friend in the Metaverse? The Metaverse can be a great escape from reality and a brilliant tool to develop relationships and friendships, but we should still value the connections we have in the real world and not get lost in the fantasy of the Metaverse!

But the fact is that these are all concerns which already affect those who can get pregnant and take pill contraceptives to prevent that, so although I imagine the vast majority of men will find condoms more convenient as I do, it’s important that we are open to conversations with significant others regarding the division of responsibility in a relationship. The pill has the potential to chip away at the preconception that women are responsible for their contraception in a relationship in pill form. Couples would have more options to divide contraceptive responsibility in a way that ensures that everyone is comfortable and can enjoy sex without stress. Some might prefer sex without barrier method contraceptives, couples would be able to enjoy sex their way whilst maintaining two layers of protection for peace of mind.

Men

Welcome A Contraceptive Pill

More options for men and couples can only be a good thing, and men should universally welcome a contraceptive pill even if they personally don’t plan on pursuing that method. If one does come out in the near future, the key to approaching the topic is, as always, healthy and honest discussion. If you have concerns, if you would rather switch to that method from the one you currently use, whatever the case, talk to your partner and inform them of how you are feeling. If your partner approaches you and asks to talk about the current division of contraception, be open, it is not an attack on condoms, simply another option that can provide extra comfort to couples.