Regina Lynn
Encyclopedia
Regina Lynn is a columnist, blog
ger, author, and sex-tech expert. Her work discusses the convergence of sex and technology, touching on subjects ranging from teledildonics
and online dating to social media
, video games, and cybersex
.
She wrote the Sex Drive column weekly from 2003–2007 and biweekly in 2008. Sex Drive was an opinion column that used humor and a personal voice to make sex-tech more accessible to a mainstream audience. In her chapter of the anthology Naked Ambition: Women Who Are Changing Porn, she described her mission to provide a counterpoint to the fear of sex and technology emphasized in the mainstream media:
The mainstream media seems to focus on the fear. I’ve seen so much written about Internet infidelity, pedophiles using chat rooms to lure kids out to piers, CEOs and priests with porn on their hard drives. I don’t ignore this, nor do I pretend it’s not happening. People do bad stuff with sex-tech. Yet we have so many ways in which technology enhances our relationships. That’s where I go with Sex Drive. I like to focus on the individual even if I’m writing about society-wide implications. Here’s how I use a particular technology, or here’s how so-and-so uses it. And here’s how you can use it, too.
The Sex Drive column began as a companion to the 13 episodes in the Wired for Sex
documentary series on TechTV
, and then continued on TechTV.com for a year before moving to Wired.com in August 2004.
Sex Drive commented on current events such as obscenity lawsuits, teachers losing their jobs due to their online sexual expression, and the impact of webcam-savvy women on traditional porn studios. The column also profiled engineers, inventors, and other people who were driving the technology of sex in new ways. Subjects ranged from the prototype of the OhMiBod
vibrator, the motors of which react to the sound waves coming from an MP3 player, to the rudiments of artificial intelligence in sex toys, to art installations such as The Human Body Project, which chronicled what human beings look like in natural and unnatural permutations.
Robert Bloomfield and Benjamin Duranske cited two of Regina's columns in their paper "Protecting Children in Virtual Worlds Without Undermining Their Economic, Educational, and Social Benefits," published in the Washington and Lee Law Review volume 66-3. The columns referenced are "Motion-Capture Suits Will Spice Up Virtual Sex" and "Second Life Gets Sexier".
Regina often wrapped her social commentary in humor. In "The 10 Real Reasons Why Geeks Make Better Lovers", Regina Lynn countered the stereotype that "computer nerds" were too socially inept to have relationships. This column made a big impact on Wired readers and was plagiarized on hundreds of technology-related blogs and websites. In "The 10 Reasons I'd Rather Marry a Robot", she provided a counterpoint to the assertions about the future of artificial intelligence and human relationships made by author David Levy
in his book Love + Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships (Harper, 2007).
One of the themes that runs through her work is that technology offers people the opportunity to explore sexuality and to learn about themselves at their own pace, without the shame or fear imposed by cultural inhibitions or standards. In "You Duly Have My Permission", she reframed the argument that technology lowers sexual inhibitions as a benefit, not a danger. She opened the column with "You're the perfect person to grant permission," my friend tells me, "for the exact reason that you don't get why people ask for it." She went on to write ...it occurred to me with new clarity that most sex columns are also advice columns. Mine is not....But [radio and television] hosts are used to the idea of standard sex advice columnists. They book me on the show because they like the tech angle, but they don't always know quite what to do with me... Finally, she observed that Usually, what [people are] looking for is not really advice, but permission. She concludes that while permission has to come from within, she was willing to provide "external guidelines" for people who want outside permission until the "develop the confidence to create their own internal framework."
Not all Sex Drive columns were funny or personal. In "Don't Dismiss Online Relationships As Fantasy", Regina used three disparate news stories to make a serious point. One story was about a man who committed murder out of jealousy over his online lover, reported in Wired magazine. Another was about a marriage endangered by disagreements over the husband's involvement in the virtual world Second Life
, reported in the Wall Street Journal. Another was about an MIT study that contrasted the precautions women took before their first date with someone they met online, such as meeting in a public place and arranging a check-in call with a friend, with the high percentage of women who had sexual intercourse on that first date but did not use a condom, reported in the Houston Chronicle.
After commenting on each news story, Regina wrote:
"For all that I have broadened my horizons since the first Sex Drive column more than four years ago, I have yet to encounter anything that challenges my core belief: Relationships are real wherever they form. That's why we're so desperate to pretend it's all fantasy if it's online, so we can make the hard, painful, life-crushing parts go away. And that's why I get my panties in a bunch when people try to dismiss the reality of sex in virtual spaces. I'm all for cybersex, of course, but let's not pretend it doesn't have real consequences."
In addition to writing the Sex Drive column, Regina blogged about sex and technology for almost two years for Wired Blogs Sex Drive Daily and briefly recorded a weekly Sex Drive podcast for Wired podcasts. In 2008, she appeared weekly on Playboy Radio's Afternoon Advice with Tiffany Granath, discussing current sex-tech news with host Tiffany Granath
.
Regina won a Maggie award from the Western Publications Association for "Best Regularly Featured Web Column." She has appeared several documentaries about sex and technology, including Vanguard: Porn 2.0 by Christof Putzel
and Wired for Sex
on G4TV. She participated in the "open source" online documentary Digital Tipping Point by Christian Einfeldt. Her column "Rude People, Not Tech, Cause Bad Manners" was reprinted as "The New Communication Technology: A Challenge to Modern Relationships?" in the college textbook America Now: Short Readings from Recent Periodicals, Eighth Edition, edited by Robert Atwan
. The America Now textbook series compiles "the best writing on today’s hottest issues" as models for college students in composition, journalism, creative writing, and English courses.
Marie Claire named Regina one of the top five leading sex experts in the United States
.
Regina is the author of The Sexual Revolution 2.0, which analyzes how the information age is changing courtship, romance, and sex. She also authored Sexier Sex: Lessons from a Brave New Sexual Frontier, a collection of ideas intended to inspire people to explore their sexuality though technology. The suggestions range from solo activities to role-playing in virtual worlds to ways to deepen intimacy and connection for partners who are already dating, living together, or in a long-distance relationship. She also contributed an essay to the anthology Naked Ambition: Women Who Are Changing Pornography, edited by Carly Milne
. She describes her feature story "The History of Vibrators" (Adult Video News, July 2009)as "one of the best features I've ever written."
Regina's first published erotica short story, A Game of Passion, was published in an e-book anthology called Tentacle Dreams.. This story continues the sex-tech theme by portraying two people who became lovers via motion-capture suits and an online role-playing game, who are now meeting in person for the first time.
While writing Sex Drive and her two books, she divided her time between Los Angeles
and San Francisco. In 2008, Regina retired Sex Drive and moved out of the city. She now resides in Nevada County
, California
. She blogs about sex-tech and continues to speak on the subject at conferences and in the media.
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger, author, and sex-tech expert. Her work discusses the convergence of sex and technology, touching on subjects ranging from teledildonics
Teledildonics
Teledildonics are electronic sex toys that can be controlled by a computer to reach orgasm. Promoters of these devices have claimed since the 1980s they are the "next big thing" in cybersex technology...
and online dating to social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
, video games, and cybersex
Cybersex
Cybersex, also called computer sex, Internet sex, netsex, mudsex, TinySex and, colloquially, cybering, is a virtual sex encounter in which two or more persons connected remotely via computer network send each other sexually explicit messages describing a sexual experience...
.
She wrote the Sex Drive column weekly from 2003–2007 and biweekly in 2008. Sex Drive was an opinion column that used humor and a personal voice to make sex-tech more accessible to a mainstream audience. In her chapter of the anthology Naked Ambition: Women Who Are Changing Porn, she described her mission to provide a counterpoint to the fear of sex and technology emphasized in the mainstream media:
The mainstream media seems to focus on the fear. I’ve seen so much written about Internet infidelity, pedophiles using chat rooms to lure kids out to piers, CEOs and priests with porn on their hard drives. I don’t ignore this, nor do I pretend it’s not happening. People do bad stuff with sex-tech. Yet we have so many ways in which technology enhances our relationships. That’s where I go with Sex Drive. I like to focus on the individual even if I’m writing about society-wide implications. Here’s how I use a particular technology, or here’s how so-and-so uses it. And here’s how you can use it, too.
The Sex Drive column began as a companion to the 13 episodes in the Wired for Sex
Wired For Sex
Wired For Sex is a television program on the former TechTV network showcasing how technology and the Internet have affected sex, including topics ranging from pornography to cyber sex. It was cancelled shortly before TechTV was bought by G4 Media in May 2004 and merged with G4 to form G4techTV...
documentary series on TechTV
TechTV
TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming...
, and then continued on TechTV.com for a year before moving to Wired.com in August 2004.
Sex Drive commented on current events such as obscenity lawsuits, teachers losing their jobs due to their online sexual expression, and the impact of webcam-savvy women on traditional porn studios. The column also profiled engineers, inventors, and other people who were driving the technology of sex in new ways. Subjects ranged from the prototype of the OhMiBod
OhMiBod
OhMiBod is a musically-powered vibrating sex toy. The device translates an electronic music output into vibrations. The volume and beat of the music determines the strength of the vibrations...
vibrator, the motors of which react to the sound waves coming from an MP3 player, to the rudiments of artificial intelligence in sex toys, to art installations such as The Human Body Project, which chronicled what human beings look like in natural and unnatural permutations.
Robert Bloomfield and Benjamin Duranske cited two of Regina's columns in their paper "Protecting Children in Virtual Worlds Without Undermining Their Economic, Educational, and Social Benefits," published in the Washington and Lee Law Review volume 66-3. The columns referenced are "Motion-Capture Suits Will Spice Up Virtual Sex" and "Second Life Gets Sexier".
Regina often wrapped her social commentary in humor. In "The 10 Real Reasons Why Geeks Make Better Lovers", Regina Lynn countered the stereotype that "computer nerds" were too socially inept to have relationships. This column made a big impact on Wired readers and was plagiarized on hundreds of technology-related blogs and websites. In "The 10 Reasons I'd Rather Marry a Robot", she provided a counterpoint to the assertions about the future of artificial intelligence and human relationships made by author David Levy
David Levy
David Levy may refer to:* David A. Levy , U.S. Representative from New York* David Benjamin Levy , American musicologist** 3673 Levy, an asteroid named in his honour* David H. Levy , Canadian astronomer and science writer...
in his book Love + Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships (Harper, 2007).
One of the themes that runs through her work is that technology offers people the opportunity to explore sexuality and to learn about themselves at their own pace, without the shame or fear imposed by cultural inhibitions or standards. In "You Duly Have My Permission", she reframed the argument that technology lowers sexual inhibitions as a benefit, not a danger. She opened the column with "You're the perfect person to grant permission," my friend tells me, "for the exact reason that you don't get why people ask for it." She went on to write ...it occurred to me with new clarity that most sex columns are also advice columns. Mine is not....But [radio and television] hosts are used to the idea of standard sex advice columnists. They book me on the show because they like the tech angle, but they don't always know quite what to do with me... Finally, she observed that Usually, what [people are] looking for is not really advice, but permission. She concludes that while permission has to come from within, she was willing to provide "external guidelines" for people who want outside permission until the "develop the confidence to create their own internal framework."
Not all Sex Drive columns were funny or personal. In "Don't Dismiss Online Relationships As Fantasy", Regina used three disparate news stories to make a serious point. One story was about a man who committed murder out of jealousy over his online lover, reported in Wired magazine. Another was about a marriage endangered by disagreements over the husband's involvement in the virtual world Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
, reported in the Wall Street Journal. Another was about an MIT study that contrasted the precautions women took before their first date with someone they met online, such as meeting in a public place and arranging a check-in call with a friend, with the high percentage of women who had sexual intercourse on that first date but did not use a condom, reported in the Houston Chronicle.
After commenting on each news story, Regina wrote:
"For all that I have broadened my horizons since the first Sex Drive column more than four years ago, I have yet to encounter anything that challenges my core belief: Relationships are real wherever they form. That's why we're so desperate to pretend it's all fantasy if it's online, so we can make the hard, painful, life-crushing parts go away. And that's why I get my panties in a bunch when people try to dismiss the reality of sex in virtual spaces. I'm all for cybersex, of course, but let's not pretend it doesn't have real consequences."
In addition to writing the Sex Drive column, Regina blogged about sex and technology for almost two years for Wired Blogs Sex Drive Daily and briefly recorded a weekly Sex Drive podcast for Wired podcasts. In 2008, she appeared weekly on Playboy Radio's Afternoon Advice with Tiffany Granath, discussing current sex-tech news with host Tiffany Granath
Tiffany Granath
Tiffany Granath is an actress and satellite radio personality. She currently has her own afternoon talk show three days a week on Playboy Radio Sirius/XM radio channel 102.-External links:**...
.
Regina won a Maggie award from the Western Publications Association for "Best Regularly Featured Web Column." She has appeared several documentaries about sex and technology, including Vanguard: Porn 2.0 by Christof Putzel
Christof Putzel
Christof Putzel, is an award-winning journalist and correspondent for Vanguard, Current TV's investigative documentary series. In addition to Current TV, his work has appeared on ABC’s Nightline, Good Morning America, PBS, CBC, and the Sundance Channel....
and Wired for Sex
Wired For Sex
Wired For Sex is a television program on the former TechTV network showcasing how technology and the Internet have affected sex, including topics ranging from pornography to cyber sex. It was cancelled shortly before TechTV was bought by G4 Media in May 2004 and merged with G4 to form G4techTV...
on G4TV. She participated in the "open source" online documentary Digital Tipping Point by Christian Einfeldt. Her column "Rude People, Not Tech, Cause Bad Manners" was reprinted as "The New Communication Technology: A Challenge to Modern Relationships?" in the college textbook America Now: Short Readings from Recent Periodicals, Eighth Edition, edited by Robert Atwan
Robert Atwan
Robert Atwan is an essayist and editor of several anthologies of literature. He attended Seton Hall University and Rutgers University....
. The America Now textbook series compiles "the best writing on today’s hottest issues" as models for college students in composition, journalism, creative writing, and English courses.
Marie Claire named Regina one of the top five leading sex experts in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Regina is the author of The Sexual Revolution 2.0, which analyzes how the information age is changing courtship, romance, and sex. She also authored Sexier Sex: Lessons from a Brave New Sexual Frontier, a collection of ideas intended to inspire people to explore their sexuality though technology. The suggestions range from solo activities to role-playing in virtual worlds to ways to deepen intimacy and connection for partners who are already dating, living together, or in a long-distance relationship. She also contributed an essay to the anthology Naked Ambition: Women Who Are Changing Pornography, edited by Carly Milne
Carly Milne
Carly Milne is a Canadian writer.Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Milne started writing professionally at age 14. Two years later, she was hired by The Calgary Herald, as a columnist for "20 Below", which was geared to discussing teen issues...
. She describes her feature story "The History of Vibrators" (Adult Video News, July 2009)as "one of the best features I've ever written."
Regina's first published erotica short story, A Game of Passion, was published in an e-book anthology called Tentacle Dreams.. This story continues the sex-tech theme by portraying two people who became lovers via motion-capture suits and an online role-playing game, who are now meeting in person for the first time.
While writing Sex Drive and her two books, she divided her time between Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and San Francisco. In 2008, Regina retired Sex Drive and moved out of the city. She now resides in Nevada County
Nevada County
Nevada County is the name of two counties in the United States:* Nevada County, Arkansas* Nevada County, California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. She blogs about sex-tech and continues to speak on the subject at conferences and in the media.
External links
- Regina Lynn's SexRev2.0 - Regina Lynn's website
- Sex Drive Forum - Email forum for those interested in discussing sex-tech, hosted by Regina Lynn
- Sex Drive Podcasts -