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.
The issues here are not, as some suspect, of people hiding in virtual worlds, the issues are related to people being able to experiment with identity in the sort of safe spaces that virtual worlds offer. This is a subject matter that does not get covered very often and unfortunately at times we see sensationalist posts such as : Second Life Divorce: Woman Catches Husband In Virtual Gay Affair :
I saw John’s little person having it off with another man in a dungeon on the screen,” said horrified Lisa, 28.
The issue there was reported to be Internet addiction, but was it, or was John exploring an area of himself that he was struggling to come to terms with? We’ll never know because the story wasn’t explored beyond the shock headline angle. Obviously, we don’t want to read about virtual worlds or MMO’s leading to divorce but there may be something else behind people’s actions in these scenarios.
The article also covers issues such as Facebook logins and why they may not be ideal for people who want to explore their identity in virtual space. This is because Facebook have their real name policy, so people may feel exposed when they use a Facebook login. The article mentions the now defunct Cloud Party with regards to this but it should be pointed out that eventually, Cloud Party removed the Facebook login requirement and allowed people to signup and login by other means.
The article also includes input from Tom Boellstorff, who has experience of Second Life and virtual worlds, having penned Coming Of Age In Second Life and has recently received funding for a project to explore how people with disabilities engage with virtual worlds.
We have seen examples of projects that are inclusive of people with disabilities in Second Life such as Baylor College Of Medicine Utilising Second Life To Aid Women With Physical Limitations Lose Weight and Breakthru – Helping Students With Disabilities Embrace Stem Via Second Life. There are quite a few more examples of how virtual worlds can be inclusive of people with disabilities.
Virtual Worlds Survey Report: A Trans-World Study of Non-Game Virtual Worlds—Demographics, Attitudes, and Preferences had some interesting statistics about how many people who identify as transgender or having a disability embrace virtual worlds.
2.3% of those who responded identified themselves as transgender. This may not sound high, indeed it’s very low but when you compare it to a US Census figure of 0.3% people identifying as transgender it does suggest that virtual worlds do allow people a safe space.
20.1% of those who responded said they have a disability, this compared to 14.7% on the US census. Again this suggests that the sort of safe spaces that virtual worlds can create allow people to explore and experiment.
Cecilia’s article ends with Veronica, with whom it started, and we see something interesting, Veronica no longer needs her digital identity to feel her best self, although she most definitely found the experience positive. This doesn’t mean that Veronica has left her digital self behind, but it does mean that Veronica has a new found confidence with her identity outside the virtual world.
Cecilia’s article is well worth a read, it covers the issues raised with dignity and respect, I linked to the article earlier but I’ll post it again here at the end.
Avatar IRL written by Cecilia D’Anastasio : http://motherboard.vice.com/read/avatar-irl
Great post, tks.
Glad you enjoyed it.
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