SL5B - No Kid Avatars, please!

Tristing: http://www.massively.com/2008/05/30/calling-all-cultures-not-any-more/

it's not an LL source, but it includes just about all the same information I was given yesterday from a LL source.

Mari

You're assuming the lion's share of us don't understand your feelings. I do, and I know others do too. This isn't an issue of personal offense, however.

(And now, as much as I want to keep refreshing about 5-6 pages on a continual basis, the borin' place woudl kinda like meto do real work stuffs)

Mari

I'll just point to my "Comfortable" thread for my own explanation.

/327/f0/257641/1.html

... And add that recent personal and public events have made me feel even more connected than ever to my avatar as a representation of the "me" that I feel that I am. (^_^)y

anyone who is so immersed in the virtual world that they consider the appearance of AVs as meaningful, as carrying the same weight of reality as a real person, seriously needs to turn off their PC and go smell the flowers.

An avatar is by definition a plaything, a puppet, and whatever it's appearance, it is just a plaything, not reality. So If I choose to appear as a purple spinning sphere, will the brown cubes community ban me from their land?

People who get so attached to their AV's appearance that they project their RL concerns, beliefs, worries and actions into them need to take the blue pill (or the red one, I can't remember which).

No wonder I left SL for Openlife Grid, no drama there.

IMO see post #78 for a good summary

If this happened to me - seeing child avatars in x-rated places - I would find it upsetting also. But I don't think it would make me not want to accept child avatars in wholesome g-rated places.

That is ssooo true..
If someone thinks a child av is a child GAWD they gotta be dumb.. or rl kids to belive that

Post #78In my universe encouraging discrimination is the opposite of political correctness.

I don't have a child avatar and don't want one, and I care as much about RL children and their welfare as anyone, but I also have an instinct for when a line has been crossed that should not be crossed. LL has crossed such a line.

I do not intend to participate in this SL5B event or attend it as long as it excludes from participation any Resident in good standing no matter what form their avatar takes.

I'm not a big believer in boycotts, but a person has to stand up, and this action by LL really pisses me off. I urge everyone to cancel their participation and avoid attending the event unless they are there to make a very loud and visible protest against this stupid and discriminatory action by LL.

Pass it on.

Am I a body or do I "have" a body? I view my own RL body as an avatar as well. People use their RL bodies as playthings as well and treat themselves with the same shallow consideration in their every day life.

So... I still say I have as much a connection with my virtual avatar as much as I do with my physical avatar. My mind and soul pass through them in the same way. The difference being, I'm forced to accept my physical avatar as is and adjust my behaviors around "social norms" to depict it correctly. My virtual avatar is in my choice of form and it allows me to behave more like the "myself" that I feel to be in RL. (^_^)

I'm definitely a lurker. Now some might call me a troll. I'm definitely not a Republican. But, this has to be one of the most stupid comments I've seen on these forums.

I despise the fact that LL demands tolerance in their TOS and Community Standards and then proceeds to discriminate against child avatars. This makes them just as bad, if not worse, than the two-faced, condescending politicians WE continue to elect.

But

a) your real body can get sick and die, taking your soul along with it, an avi in SL doesn't work like that

b) your real body can feel pain, is more personal and anything happening to it will be more crucial than to an avi

c) your avi doesn't grow old and age and you don't need to take special precautions to keep the body in good shape

d) your avi doesn't send sensory stimuli to your brain while your real body does.

Those 4 points are very very crucial.

Yes, "it scares some people." I think that part is clear. And humanity is inherently limited by its fears, but fortunately with time and struggle the race lifts the fears and pushes aside the phobics. It can't be pleasant for them, and they resent being marginalized.

In the meantime, there are those (politicians, clergy, media) who benefit by exploiting these fears, and by agitating for support from the marginalized groups. The ploy is very effective for a time.

The problem in this case is knowing how to counter the phobics without making the situation worse. My first reaction would be to attend SL5B as an especially slutty androgynous child AV wearing an "I F*CKED REP. MARK KIRK AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY S.T.D." t-shirt, but somehow I don't think that would advance the cause.

-----

Brenda: Yes, Chuck Schumer is an embarrassment to all primates. And you're right: the GOP has no monopoly on hysteria-mongering, by any means.

Those 4 points are only truly valid if you limit yourself to believe that your body is merely a meat-sack that just happens to think. (^_^)

I would like to make a statement, "if I could be I would be a sexually active man in the Real World, with a woman who is old enough and mature enough to have a satisfying intellectual life with too (presently it's not active but only because there is the Atlantic between us) But I have never had sex in Second Life and I haven't seen a lot of it around, if I stumble on it, I might have a quick glance, but that's about it, in my eyes Second Life is nothing to do with sex at all, and i think those who complain about it being so, must go out of their way to see it, so more fool them."

Well that's what a body is, really. I don't believe in a soul either - anyone with brain damage can become a totally different person so it's obvious that who we are is tied to our brain make-up & chemistry.

Interesting that just the other day someone mentioned to me a shop that sells not just CHILD Avatars but BABY Avatars. Well I was mightily curious what the difference was so I looked it up in search. I have NEVER been one to descriminate against anyone and have no problem with Child Avatars but I gotta tell you these Baby Avatars are just creepy (In a Chucky sort of way). I mean they really do have faces that look like Chucky dolls. For the first time I have to say that if I saw one of these running around I would probably TP out of the location immediately.

Now notice I am NOT saying people don't have the right to Make, Sell or wear these Avatars. I am saying I personally don't want to look at them. Is it descrimination? Well maybe. But it isn't banning them from my land, or saying anything nasty to em. I will just leave. It's my problem not thiers.

LL has taken to the hills in banning kid AVs from this celebration. Personally I find it reprehensible. If a kid AV offends someone by just being there odds are its the problem of the person being offended (me and the Chucky AVs as an example) and NOT the fault of the kid AV.

Yes, you are correct, that would not help the cause at all.
However, it is absolutely hilarious. LOL

Also, as several have pointed out this a not a Republican vs. Demcrat type of issue. Part of the problem with the two party system in the US is the fact that in reality it's a one party system. Two parts of a common group, just wearing different labels.

.... Which goes to show that we all have something to believe in, even though it's not common with everyone. So, while you and others don't understand the connection, there are many people who feel it deeply and do take things to heart when a situation like this comes up. (^_^)

I find what you're saying to be perfectly valid.

It would be more shocking to see a child exploited in rl than to see a depiction of it in SL but I wold be very disturbed to see either.

And I don't want to see you discriminated against unnecessarily either.

No, but it's fun to think about for a few minutes, isn't it?

QFT

They can attend, they just won't be represented in the exhibits like so many other subcultures in SL aren't either.

No offense to anyone, but I don't get what's so special about child avies that they *have* to be included because otherwise it's not a representation of what SL is all about and "discrimination"?

If there are no neko exhibits (to pick a random subculture), would you call that discrimination? I see dozens of nekos every day, *everywhere* compared to maybe 6 child avies total in 2 years and most of those have been at office hours.

hmm I am jogauni air female right now am 4'4" tall and am not a child av. does this mean they wont let me in too? So being the correct height for your species is now illegal. hm

QFT. Very well said!