Powerful Women in Second Life

After much thought, the most powerful women in SL are the ones that have all those slaves... Now that power

I nominate LillyBeth Filth, Owner of Textures 'R' Us. Her talent to create textures that have a nice realistic feel to them is amazing. I can't imagine doing anything in SL without using her textures!

Has anyone mentioned Jesrad Seraph...She certainly has the power over Animals...Weather...Flowers...She is like a scripting Mother Nature...

I nominate Texture World, Crimson Valentino. She is bending over backwards to please her customers and she is a good teacher too on giving lessons on how to do tgas. Thru her store with other partners, us builders can be the Artisit we are today. She probably won't see this either as she and many others who we can list don't visit the forums.

Megz Xavious for her passion in her builds. She is not afraid to teach what she knows. Her skills and lessons have brought quality builds too Sl.

Although property and influence could be construed as indicators of what could make a person Ideal for this list, I prefer to view this from a different perspective. Powerful can also be defined as effective or potent and the most effective person I know in game is Vivienne Harrington. Never heard of her? She is not a wealthy land baroness, nor the Queen of many sims. She is the most well rounded person I have met in SL.

She Mentors, is a member of Live Help, and an Instructor. She and I run a successful home building business on our own sim. Ok, anyone can tell that from her profile, but I know from first hand experience, she goes out of her way on a daily basis to help newcomers acclimate and grow within SL. Nothing made this more apparent when I saw her starting to do service calls for newcomers trying to put up our homes. She is truly a friendly ambassador to the inexperienced, one whos patience and dedication i have seldom seen here.

I know her personally, as my SL partner and RL best friend, and although my opinion may be biased, I can honestly say there is no one person I have personally run into who does more to further SL without compensation. No unterior motives, no hidden agendas, no aspirations of becoming the next SL Billionairess. Just simple caring, nurturing and enjoying this world and sharing that enjoyment with others.

So If power be defined as how many Linden in your wallet, or how many sims you own, then I sadly withdraw my nomination. I can not enumerate Vivienne's successes in the same way as I can measure some other. But if you measure power as an ability to influence, teach and nurture newcomers that join us here in this world, then Vivienne is truly a powerhouse. Isn't that the tru goal here? To grow the size and diversity of our community, ever enriching and enlarging its base and resources?

Thank You for allowing this nomination.

Although property and influence could be construed as indicators of what could make a person Ideal for this list, I prefer to view this from a different perspective. Powerful can also be defined as effective or potent and the most effective person I know in game is Vivienne Harrington. Never heard of her? She is not a wealthy land baroness, nor the Queen of many sims. She is the most well rounded person I have met in SL.

She Mentors, is a member of Live Help, and an Instructor. She and I run a successful home building business on our own sim. Ok, anyone can tell that from her profile, but I know from first hand experience, she goes out of her way on a daily basis to help newcomers acclimate and grow within SL. Nothing made this more apparent when I saw her starting to do service calls for newcomers trying to put up our homes. She is truly a friendly ambassador to the inexperienced, one whos patience and dedication i have seldom seen here.

I know her personally, as my SL partner and RL best friend, and although my opinion may be biased, I can honestly say there is no one person I have personally run into who does more to further SL without compensation. No unterior motives, no hidden agendas, no aspirations of becoming the next SL Billionairess. Just simple caring, nurturing and enjoying this world and sharing that enjoyment with others.

So If power be defined as how many Linden in your wallet, or how many sims you own, then I sadly withdraw my nomination. I can not enumerate Vivienne's successes in the same way as I can measure some other. But if you measure power as an ability to influence, teach and nurture newcomers that join us here in this world, then Vivienne is truly a powerhouse. Isn't that the tru goal here? To grow the size and diversity of our community, ever enriching and enlarging its base and resources?

Thank You for allowing this nomination.

Based on their ability to influence others, unfailing devotion towards their SL "family", willingness to teach and mentor, as well as their sought after ability to aid others in finding their own solutions to problems ..... I nominate ( in alphabetical order), Arkailia Absolute and Kyren Neva.

The grid was down so I decided to rummage through the forums for a change!

Wow, what an interesting topic this one is. I read everybody's posts!! The only thing I know for sure is that without women, SL would have a lot (more) males dressed up in female avies pole dancing. *grin*

Where do you even start with women's power in SL? I don't even know. Seems like folks here are already off in the right direction. For what it's worth, what came to my blonde head was...

Given that "power" is a uniquely male concept, as a woman what does "power" in SL mean to me?

Just like in life, I guess "power" in SL often ends up meaning "mastery" in a particular area, or skill, don't you think? I see folks here referring to this through things like business success, creativity and design, and even a few in networking and people skills. An SL'er on the front of Business Week, (playboy for capitalists), must surely count for something powerful, right? Hrm.

For me, as a total virgin to online worlds before SL, this place has become really unexpected and special to me -- when I log in, I hang out with my friends, who are artists, builders, scripters, gun-shooters, wanderers, dancers, you name it. At a micro level, if you asked me who I thought my most powerful friend is, I might offhandedly suggest it's the one who's "doing the most stuff". And yet... I don't think that would really cover it.

After thinking about this for a bit, I personally think the ultimate power in this world, in life, and in SL, is the amount of inspiration and light one brings to other people. The strongest legacies are often left by those who feel as if they accomplished so little in their own times -- or even failed. They don't even realize the depth of change they've created for others. The impacts they've had. Success doesn't even need to be a measure of power, when you think about it.

So for me, I would pick those in SL who have inspired me to learn, to do more, and to enjoy myself. Who represent everything SL is supposed to be. Those who created special places for people to come, and then filled them with people who arrived not because they were going to get money, or fame, but just to be with each other. Those who bought land, built a dance club because they enjoyed dancing, and then learned how to send their own music so we could all enjoy it -- for no financial gain. Those who made a group where people could come together and share experiences and learn from each other -- donating so much of their time and self to others. Those who created art galleries to share with SL, and ended up filling the sim with people interested to see.

If men are the great builders of the world, perhaps women are the glue, the rope, the fabric that keeps it all together. In which case, "power" comes from the strength of the bonds created for others, the web and the nest that holds everyone there, and the care and creativity nurtured into the whole.

The most powerful people in SL are the ones who have helped you the most, the ones you always count on and never asked for anything in return, the ones whose friendships you couldn't imagine not having and yet never need any maintenance. The ones you may not speak to every day, but always make you smile when their name is "bold" in your Friends list and you think to yourself "there they are."

So the next time you're on, go take another look at your friends list since you probably didn't even realize you already know many of SL's most powerful women. Most of them don't even realize how much "power" they really have. So come back and nominate them, they deserve it.

xoxo

-Lana

I was reading thru everyone's choices this morning..and I may have missed it but not once was *Janie Marlowe* brought up. I first met Janie in a little game called There. She was a HUGE designer over in that game, she some how made a way to make those pre-made templates cute. Anyways, everyone always waited to see her designs and when I ventured over into SL, I was extatic to see her store! I couldn't buy enough!! Not only are her designs beautiful and very well made...she does not over price. If you have a special occasion, or just looking for something cute, you know you can always stop by Mischief and find something. I've IM'd her so many times telling her what a great job she does but with the loads of fans she has....I think this is the best way to pay her back. There are alot of amazing designers in SL..and I cannot think of a more powerful woman.

Keep up the great work Janie and helping make all of us girlie avies in SL so darn cute!!

-Addi

Why do we have this thread like that women are the underclass in SL so we need to show positive role models for women like they are in an business environment that is a struggle, not that I have a problem with role models but where are all the postive role models for young men? Demographically SL is dominated by women, marketed towards women, women are the biggest clients and from what I can see the largest group of business people, and the richest female avatar from the game is used as a promo tool for the whole organization.

In reality its the male business men in SL have to work harder as they are trying to market most of their products to the opposite gender, apart from Land and we know who owns most of that.

So that Male businessmen are ones that need to be looked at for promoting equally as women for the organization as SL is not a game, its a tertiary industry or fee for service . Given the length of time SL has been running, I have we ever seen a male successful business man on the homepage of SL???
or a successful teen as well??

This begs the question, Why is that???
Maybe a policy change is in order?

LillyBeth Filth is a quietly powerful SL woman! If you just take a glimps into 2nd life you see her textures spring to life everywhere. She is amazing with her customer service, and a very gracious person on top of it all.

If you are a builder in SL you have heard of her, seen her texture work, or like myself, own tons of her textures!! I don't think I can honestly walk in a single sim without saying, yep that's a TRU texture. Someone who dedicates so much time to making beuatiful images that we all use in builds daily, is a truely powerful person.

She is a master at textures and has helped paint a beautiful world in 2nd life!

Thank you LillyBeth for the amazing textures you contribute.

**wishes she had seen this post sooner**

I hadn't, until this thread. Been building for nearly 3 years in SL and never bought her textures. No idea if I've seen any though, maybe, maybe not...

Me either, I dont buy textures in bulk. Never heard of her.. but good that she is doing great things for SL and is someone that inspire others.

To tell you the truth there are many here that have been mentioned and I have never heard of them .... shame I guess....

That's true, and also many who should be on the list that are never mentioned in these lists, or who's influence is ignored. Being a good [builder, scripter, texturer, landbaron] doesn't make you powerful, influence does. And, the top 10 most influential people in SL right now are probably on Help Island right now, influencing new residents.

Other than them, let's see some names for past influence (trying to avoid those already listed):
Marilyn Murphy (First Successful Club, First Successful SL Magazine)
Jelin Pico (First Successful Club... see above)
Taessa Weaver (For good or for bad, at the end of '03 and early '04, EVERYONE knew her)
Jhanniss Fairlight (See above)
Pituca Chang (of Fairchang Enterprises)
Jeska Linden (The Red Pen of the Forums)
Angel Leviathan (you may have heard her name in passing)

I could go on, but I have to get off to work. Think of the first private sim owners, the first inworld televisions, the first dance machines, the first player-owned malls... in short, not who's work do you like, but who has affected your SL, for good OR for bad? Otherwise, people just name friends and partners, and it just muddies the water.

That was exactly my point when I posted earlier that the "real powerful" women are out in the "real world," everyday in the trenches whether it is raising a family as a single parent; playing hardball in a profession that has been traditionally dominated by men; or even being the first female secretary of state!

No offense to the ladies mentioned in this thread, but having some talent to play with paint tools in photoshop while sitting at your desk, or spin around naked using an animation, or grabbing textures from the internet, is NOT power.

I find the premise of the article to be offensive, divisive, and NOT a tribute to powerful women whatsoever.

I was waiting for a posting like this! Finally! Thanks alot, Neph!
You're bitchy, eh? Stay that way!

And another great posting! Thanks Lash!

I know, no lists for you and Neph...but your postings make me want to start a list of the "Women in SL who know what REALLY matters".

Here goes:

Neph
Lash
Jennyfur
Ingrid
DarkDharma

So... what really matters and how do I know it?

Wow katy..don't you think that's a bit harsh? How do you know what these women do in their real lives? What about the women that take care of their families by using their abilities in Second Life, you degrade that to "playing with paint tools"? I can't say I've ever thought of Neph like that. I for one work in real life AND in my second, I think people are being a tad judgemental in this thread.

Why assume that everyone is just naming a friend or someone that just makes something they like? I'm sure everyone had their reasons for naming who they did and everyone's definition of "power" is different obviously. I swear these types of threads always take a turn for the worst, nothing good seems to come out of them, regardless of what the original intent was.

Do a forum's search for your own postings for the past 2 years....that should tell you!

..hahah the only thing that will tell me is that I am bloody insane and prone to violent acts of randomness

And do we really need to look at old posts to tell that?

There are many great ladies who 'make' things and 'do' things in SL. They know who they are.... I am one, I can make things that astound ME!

But a list such as this only serves to divide people. And make the 'havenots' feel lacking.

We all know that there are many who have skills that far surpass most of us...but why rub our noses in it?

I would suggest that, as an almighty Linden, you have a pretty good clue as to who, and who doesn't, have the pulse of the community, with regards to clothing, land and services.

If you have an overwhelming need to hail them....maybe do it w/out the fanfair.

Otherwise it feels like a schoolyard pick for 'RedRover' where the jocks are chosen first and the poor snotty nerds are left for last.

Think about it

Ya, that too... and that insanity (among others) defines people who know what matters, IMO!

Im' sure I don't need to point this out but virtual life reflects the real life and as in RL we do have a fasination for the rich and famous...we love them and hate them but what ever the reason we cant help but want to know about them.

Look at any magazine or TV show all about the ' hit girls' The super rich and famous...we always want to get a feeling of what goes on in their life, how they got there...what makes them tick etc..

Why should it be any diferent here?

Yeah this post made me feel a little down initialy and in hindsight I look back to how I felt and feel a little shallow but then again.. I still see this thread as a very hot topic for what ever the reason and as it was designed for press release I think the reaction this post has had proves that the end result with be a very interesting and well read one.

Lastly..regards to the ' why cant we live in a world were competition and money doesnt divides us and we all live in peace & harmony ' ( words to that effect ) for the same reason we cant live in the real world w/o those factors.

Because we're human not angels and this is earth not Heaven and as SL reflects RL always.

Further more and I cant speak for everyone who is considered powerful in SL but I know I get a mention here but the only reason I am able to dedicate the time & effort into what I do is because I am at home 24/7 due to health reasons. I cant go out to work in the RL so if some-one is virtually powerful and is popular in SL 'fair play to them!' because I believe some of those very same ppl are possibly unfortunate in RL