When the news broke that VICE reporter Cecilia D’Anastasio was looking to hear from Second Life residents regarding avatar identity I was somewhat sceptical. My concerns were largely due to the way the wider media have reported on Second Life in the past and the way the wider media seem to like to be economic with the truth all too often these days. A glaring example of this is the current nonsense going on with the Hugo awards, which has left me despairing about how the media seem more interested in sensationalist clickbait than the actual issues.
However, my scepticism was definitely misplaced as Cecilia’s article is actually quite touching and respectful. The article, simply titled, Avatar IRL, looks into what Lisa Nakamura called, Identity tourism. However as we see from Cecilia’s article, avatars are not merely a mirror of ourselves, they can also be taken away from the keyboards with us.
In the article, Cecilia talks to Veronica Sidwell and we learn that Veronica has adopted the name of her avatar outside of Second Life, and by this I mean that Veronica has legally changed her name. Does this suggest that Veronica was so encompassed by her avatar that her real self became her avatar? Not at all, the article explains that the name change was due to Veronica transitioning from male to female in real life and the name change was a mark of respect for the sim that had given Veronica the confidence to make that transition :
Originally, Veronica was merely an avatar. Now, Veronica Sidwell is a 37 year-old transwoman working as a picture framer in Atlanta, Georgia. Veronica, who would not disclose the name she lived most of her life under, changed her legal name to match her Second Life avatar. It was a gesture of respect to the sim who lent her the confidence to transition IRL from male to female. Veronica’s experience as a female-bodied avatar in a virtual world, she told me, convinced her that she would live a fuller, happier life in womanly form.
The issue of avatar identity and roleplaying are well covered here and it’s not just about Second Life either, World Of Warcraft also gets a mention with regards to the story of Laura Kate Dale : How World of Warcraft helped me come out as transgender.
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