ok, your av vs. your gender

My two cents:

If you are a male playing a female OR a female playing a male...it is VITALLY IMPORTANT that you make this fact BLATANTLY OBVIOUS in your profile and/or interaction with others.

Not doing so places many people in positions that they may be FUNDAMENTALLY OPPOSED.

Would you give heroine to a 5 year old and tell them it was candy?

And YES...the comparison is VERY accurate.

no it is not

you are going on the basis that everyone is looking for intimate relations on SL. If you are not looking for intimate relations on SL than it should not matter one way or another if they are male or female. But I also do not think it should be like a top secret kinda thing either..

Just to add. One cannot force the general population of SL to put their real genders on their profiles. LL further has no idea who is what gender in the first place, so even if you do require it, how can you check? Who is going to be able to verify? This is also true for nearly everything else on the internet, from chatrooms to email services.

We don't have control over the other avatar's true gender and if at all it will be revealed. However, we have full control over how we act and react. That's why I advocated being careful, it's something in our control.

Some people just don't WANT to be the gender they were born. If you're making arrangements to meet someone outside of the game, yes you should know their gender, and more information, but during the game, it's for fun, not a life-threatening issue. Nobody is going to die because some guy wants to be a girl, or because some girl wants to be a guy. In SL, unless you want to meet in RL, you should just deal with people as if they were what they appear to be. It's their CHOICE. Everything is choice.

I find this issue endlessly fascinating despite the extent to which it is brought up and the same old arguments get repeated in one forum thread after another. I've gone through a lot of gyrations on how much disclosure is necessary, while at the same time allowing me the freedom to be my ideal self.

Lately I've taken the approach of just placing a subtle reminder that the av generally does not match a person's RL body by placing pictures such as this in my 1st Life profile:

Oh I completely agree with both of you. I just want ppl to understand that they have no right to demand information from another. But also for the other side to see that them whithholding information after a point in a friendship is just silly.. /shrug

In otherwords no one has a right to even know if i walk backwards instead of forward, but.. if I established a friendship, I would tell this person because they are a friend and there is a trust built. So not everything has to be upfront or forever withheld

Darnit, my head hurts with trying to see both sides..

LOL

But Ananda, you're just a hottie...

I thought that was what was meant; I read it as an equivalent to racism.

On the whole though, I find it a little odd that people are so tied up on what someone really is behind the keyboard. I have always seen SL as an environment that is great for roleplay of all kinds. Forcing things to match between RL and SL seems to undermine some of the privacy and anonymity that we currently enjoy.

Personally I tend to think of my AV as a character in a book or a movie; I can control him in the same way that an author or director can, but that doesn't make him the same person as me. My wife takes the same approach to any even greater extent; you would never believe the RL lady is the same as the SL one.

yes i think it should be displayed in your profile, and your avatar's shape should be locked to your RL gender.

that way you won't end up cybering with the wrong person and get "homo germs".

I also think there should be flags that keep baptists and methodists from accidentally mixing.

People in sales versus those in customer service should also be alerted to eachother's celestial alignment.

This would be the best. Anything less would be like sharing horse with a 12 year old.

Not as far as I've ever heard, no.

i completely agree, where is the petiton to sign for that? the methodists and the baptists one.. heck can u imagine what would happen?

I know you're being sarcastic, but I have to add...

You should also be locked to your rl race, appearance and age. None of these custom skins and hairdos... And no clothes you wouldn't be able to afford in rl... And you shouldn't be allowed more land than you own in rl either...

Now you are going to far on the hair, I thorughly enjoy my long pink hair! I refust to give it up!!! Well unless it clashes with an outfit

yes, I am all for a tab like this:

[OWNS]

( )PRADA NASCAR LICENSED MERCHANDISE

[FANCIES]

( ) FRENCH CUISINE CRAFTSMAN TOOLS ( )THE LADIES ( )FELLAS

I agree with all of the above, but I also wish to add that I really don't think Shirts should sleep with Skins, either.

Just make sure you tell everyone you meet that you don't really have long pink hair though.

thats just because we owned your ass in dodgeball in third period phys-ed.

Well I guess I HAVE to put it in my profile now or ppl will be up in arms saying I am purposely misrepensting myself..

oooh, can I get a turn at owning Belaya's ass?

Sorry, I disagree. If someone is playing a role, they are entitled to immerse themselves in it. If you dont like the anonymity that SL affords, not only in gender but in orientation, age, ethnicity, disability, wealth, social class, and/or attractiveness, you should either confine yourself to socialising with people who meet your requirements, or go somewhere else. And I dont see how you can discriminate against one aspect or RL in isolation from the others.
And I'm a guy playing a guy. My AV is younger, fitter, better looking than me, and a much better dancer .

All things cycle like the seasons. In time, your moment will arrive.

My Male avatar is an ugly little Bastard.. so I use a female avatar bout 40% of the time.

Of course, if SL could also hide rudeness and stupidity, life would be so much more pleasant for all.

If that could happen I think I would be in heaven. Can you imagine ppl actually having a logical conversation and not getting opnions confused with fact? Would be a dream