Lisa Nakamura's "Race in/for Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on the Internet" explains how cultural background becomes, whether consciously or unconsciously, an issue in cyberspace. On the Internet a person is able to become someone different by changing his or her identity, modifying characteristics such as eye color, height, sex, or race. Nakamura refers specifically to a virtual community called Lambdamoo (443), in which a virtual citizen is required to create an identity before participating. This identity gives other citizens a character with whom to react. Gender is a necessity in the options from which a person must choose, and, in addition to male and female, neuter is an option.

Race is neither a requirement nor an option in Lambdamoo. "Race," Nakamura explains, "is still being evoked" (444), despite it not being an obligation. In the United States, where Internet users are mostly "white, male, highly-educated, [and] middle class" (444), with no racial description, all others in a MUD or MOO are expected to have the same real life identities. In my lurking experiences in several chatrooms, I unconsciously assumed that everyone was white even though I am not. I became aware how withholding race implies race

Nakamura studies the identities taken on the Internet and explores why white, middle-class males, and other non-Asians, choose the characters they do. Nakamura specifically expresses interest in why Asian characters are predominantly used, and why people use this form of exoticism, all the while typecasting the culture for recreational purposes. She discusses how Asians are exploited; males are stereotypically seen as sword-wielding samurai warriors, while females are seen as submissive geishas. We have all played, or at least seen, these stereotypes in video games. Some of us own such games. I have played the fighter game Mortal Kombat and others like it, and there are always variations of these characters.

Taking on an exotic character, such as a samurai or geisha, in Lambdamoo or any other MOO is called identity tourism (445). By virtual "cross-dressing" (442), we are able to live out vicarious fantasies and live through others. We can change our real life identities and become who we want to be. I do not believe that people who participate in MUDs and MOOs are purposefully abusing the identity of a certain race, though it is highly likely that they are using other characteristics, genders, and races as a form of escapism. We are allowed to leave behind the characters that we are unable to mask in the outside world, and this, even for a few moments in a day, is comforting.

Nakamura, Lisa. "Race In/For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on the Internet." CyberReader. 2nd ed. Ed. Victor J. Vitanza. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1999. 442-451.