Don't judge a book by it's cover

Why do many here decide how to react to a person based on how their AV looks?

Seriously......this is a brave new world......and I can, and will, be whatever I can or will be

Why the mean comments like 'Barbie Doll'? That's the biggie insult in my book

So if a persons AV has HUGE tits, a tiny waist, long legs and heels you assume they have nothing going on upstairs?

If that is so, you assume way too much

I suspect that the majority of comments I see here like 'Barbie Doll' and 'Hoochie Hair' are rather generic, because if folks would talk to people and meet them face to face it wouldn't be so easy to trash talk or hack on them, but that wouldn't be much fun now would it?

Disclaimer: This post was spawned by another remark on another thread but it still needed saying

My 16 yr old niece has a small waist and a big booty... and we call her J-lo... I think it's cute...
and I would love to have the kind of shape she does...

My husband prefers big tits and a big ass... sadly I don't have the big tits lol
My brother prefers slender women with no tits or ass lol
My oldest sister prefers tall skinny men...
My second to the oldest sister prefers muscluar men with tans lol
My younger sister prefers losers with no jobs and still live with thier mothers... lmfao
I prefer... well my husband, he is perfect for me... and aside from my husband it would have to be MSo Lambert because irl he looks exactly like my husband except a lighter skin tone
It is all a matter of preference and to each thier own

You say people are judging you by the way you look.... however if you look like a 'barbie doll hoochie mama' and someone calls you that, it seems they are simply judging how you look.... How can you get offended if you DO look like a barbie doll?

Please REread what I posted, that may help

i'm a tall skinny man

Not to be unpopular here but I think it is part of human nature to judge people by first appearances and there isn't really much we can do about it.

and there is some truth in being able to tell what a person is like by how they present themselves, especially in a medium such as second life where we can control what we look like to the smallest degree. Some people (myself included) make their avatars look just like themselves (only for me it's with bigger boobs,a smaller butt and less unruly hair), whereas others use sl to fulfill fantasies, either way how we present our avatars are a representation of who we are in real life so there is some justification in judging a person by how they look.

I'm not saying "deal with it" or "it sucks" I'm just saying "meh" it happens in real life and so naturally it happens in second life. I'm guilty of it here in second life and in real life too. It is the middle of winter here in New Zealand so am freezing proverbial bollocks off, if I see a girl walking down the street in a mini skirt in this weather I immediatly think "what a dumb arse", she may be a phd, a member of mensa yadda yadda but the initial reaction was that she is an idiot and as we all have been told over and over again, first impressions last. Here in sl I've made an occassional bitchy comment about the number of clones I see walking around, but I'm a bitch and I know that

I've also been on the receiving end of it too in real life and in second life... am asian so the immediate reaction I get from most people I meet is that I don't speak english when infact I don't speak anything but english. In sl I've been asked "why do you make your avatar so fat and ugly? You're a lesbian right?" Which made me pee myself laughing.

I find that the best way to break the perceived stereotypes that people have is to talk to them and just carry about the way you normally would. Let them think what they want because at the end of the day as long as you're happy with how you look that's all that matters.

but but but... you aren't a Barbie doll - your av is MUCH hawter than that

(and so's your personality )

Oh god, just re-read my post... sorry it's so long and kinda goes around in circles.

here's a picture of a kitten to make up for it

I was going to post a reply to this thread, but I don't like the look of the OP, so I won't.

lmao

First, I don't think comments like "Barbie Doll" are intended to insult. It's probably just at attempt at being playful and clever, and to me does not imply that you are stupid in RL or SL.

Second, IMO the AV does actually give away some information about the person behind it, or at the very least, how they want to be in SL. I.e. if you make your AV a Barbie clone it shouldn't be surprising that people interact with you that way, at least initially.

Third, in RL there are statistical correlations between appearance and intelligence, so while it may be prejudicial, it's at least understandable.

Oh my, you really must share those statistics with us...do tell

If I were a barbie doll.. I'd want to be this one )

Hmm Nyx you may want to look at this hun... "barbie Doll" seems like quite the compliment

Sensual, I'm glad you had your fun, but my main point still stands

Am going to sleep now, to dream my Barbie dreams....zzzzzzzz

Aww Nyx... I really think you are just taking things wrong, I never thought the term Barbie doll meant, no brains... *hugs* Barbie means HOT and "you can be anything you want to be"... thats what it means... sorry if you weren't understanding what I meant by the post of the Barbie slogan =/

Your appearance says volumes about you.

This is news?

The only study I've heard of on that matter is that people think that attractive people are smarter, more capable, etc. Not that they are. Or that they aren't, although having that kind of built in approval from society is certainly going to help a person get ahead in life or feel more confident in themselves, so it's self-fulfilling. Also, that men think women with big tits are dumb, and that has given rise to the comeback that it's the man's IQ that drops around big boobs not the other way around!

I speak from experience on that score. What is funny is I DO have a real life "hourglass" shape, and bigger than average boobs. But in SL, I enjoy having smaller girls for once. First, because I don't want to look like I'm fantasizing about having the body I already do, lol, and second because when you have 'em, you understand they ain't all that. I think small breasts are sexy, myself, but I guess that's because they are different to me.

I did give myself the nice ass I always wished I had, and enjoy watching my virtual self walk around with that great booty, hee.

I would feel weird with a human avatar that looked radically different than myself. I guess there are two camps on that one. Although I am very temped to buy that butterfly avie or the little warthog. I love warthogs.

I'm not being sarcastic, seriously I'm very interested to know the source of this. Thanks.

the only impression i will have from someone that has an avatar made using the "randomize feature clicked a few time" is of someone that hasn't takent the time to create an interesting avatar.

In sl its also deeply linked to griefer avatars

to me it just insult my aesthetic sense

however i have nothing agains an ulgy avatar, as long as it has been made with taste

I agree with that, a lot of people take time to create interesting, different and unsual avatars. The ones who create what people consider really unattractive avatars, using only the sliders in my experienceg give you trouble. The ones I have experienced have been usually naked and using offensive language in PG areas.

What I take to be a 'barbie doll' av is one that has various characteristics so emphasised that they look like a parody of a human shape. There are quite a few around, and certainly on meeting one, my expectations of what I might find intellectually would be coloured by the fact that the owner of the av considered this shape to be attractive.

Am i the only person who finds this followed by the signiture

"If someone shows you who they are.....believe them!"

Very ironic???
and btw i do understand it refers to charactor not appearance..just found it funny!

Regarding OP:

There is also the issue of language interpretation.

Ask a hundred men, preferably from different racial origins, what it would mean to them if they called someone a "Barbie Doll." You will not get a unanimous answer. Some would as you suspect mean it to include "no brains," some won't. Some will mean it to be "cute," others "pretty," others "ideal," others "unrealistic," others "kiddie like (attitude)."

Too many possibilities.

Even just the description "cute" causes trouble already. Some consider it an insult to their maturity, others love it and revel in being called "cute."

If you asked me what I would mean if I called someone a "Barbie Doll" it will be literal, as in the person resembled a barbie doll, longish legs, hourglass figure, breasts that aren't silicone watermelons, classically pretty face, wavy blonde hair and blue eyes, and maybe dressed in something that Barbie herself might wear. Nothing more, nothing less.