In exploring the work of Second Life and creating an avatar to live in-world, a few questions arise about gender and even gender benders.
In Ross Horsley’s “Masculinities on the Web”, author Sherry Turkle discusses that allowing people to create an avatar of the opposite sex allows a person to reflect on what ideas regarding gender shape our expectations. When roaming in Second Life, it became apparent that females (which is the avatar I created) are definitely more at risk to be seen as not only inferior but also frequently approached with inappropriate or bizarre questions.
Although I have never created a male avatar for SL, I believe those people that blur gender lines do have to bring forth some type of reflection in order to participate in the game. Those who choose to be the opposite sex in world must recall what their ideas and expectations of that gender so they can portray them while playing. Never having been male, in order for me to play as a male, I would have to call on how I think males should act.
In some cases, the role that we take on may be transparent. I am not sure how well I could sell the fact that I am a male in world; I think some of my actions would give away the fact that I am a female. In some cases, I think even men who create male avatars heighten their masculinity in world. Often you see men with swords, or wearing hyper-masculine clothing.
This again makes one reflect on the ideas that make up our views of each gender. In the same respect, I have never come across a woman in SL that was unattractive. I think that also feeds into the way women think as well. Women have an ideal to be very feminine and attractive. So switching gender does allow for each of us to see how the other half, or rather how we think the other half lives.
Changing genders for your avatar does take on a whole new world of exposing what we see as stereotypical gender traits. I agree that it would be difficult to channel my inner woman and accurately convince the rest of Second Life that I was in fact female. In doing so we would undoubtedly make choices that are shaped not only by our own stereotypes of that gender, but also choices that have been shaped by our own genders judgments and impressions.
By: chasewolf on February 27, 2009
at 3:55 pm
Hi Jen. I picked the same quote that you did and though I didn’t say it as eloquently as you did I agree with your observations.
By: memenner on February 27, 2009
at 3:57 pm
I agree that females are more likely to be approached with bizarre sexual comments, but I think that it says more about the supercharged male sex drive that emerges under the anonymity of an avatar than it does about the inferiority of women.
Women don’t usually approach men, but I think this is not because they feel inferior, etc. but simply because they don’t have a desire to make imaginative sexual advances.
By: maeganreinhardt on February 27, 2009
at 3:58 pm
I think you make some valid points. I think if we do change our gender in the game we do look to those around us for characteristics so we can accurately portray the other gender. I think we do this because we do not want to be looked at in a bad light so we do justice to people.
By: staceybaugher on February 27, 2009
at 3:58 pm