One of My Many Gripes About Alone Together

In the chapter of Alone Together by Sherry Turkle titled "Always On," Turkle speaks about a man named Pete who spends a large amount of time on the online social game called Second Life. In second life, anyone can create their own character, go to work, maintain relationships, and even earn real money. The Second Life player that Turkle is speaking about has an entirely different life on this online game. Pete uses it as an escape from his real world struggles, and it makes him happier, which I did not see a problem with. What stuck out for me was when he talked about how he has a wife on Second Life named Jade who his real world wife does not know about. They had an actual in game wedding and they engage in virtual sex when they play Second Life together. I understand that Second Life makes Pete happy and lets him forget his problems, but when it comes to his virtual wife, I have to draw the line. I consider that cheating in every sense of the word, and when Pete said that having a relationship with Jade makes him able to stay in his own marriage, I could not help but cringe. It disgusts me that he is able to blatantly have an intimate relationship with another woman and claim that it helps to stay with his actual wife, and not only does Turkle condone this, she almost seems to praise Pete for "keeping himself happy" by having virtual sex with another person. That was just unbelievable to me.