Melting Pot

I don't hide the fact that, in reality, I am part-black and part-white. I am proud of my genes. But why is everybody I meet extremelly "white" here? I know, I know - I own several Goth skins and am Neko etc. etc. But for people with my racial background there are very few choices in hair and skin colours. I think I have everything that is offered in this world for people of my racial background. There are some great places which I frequent but can you help? Or comment upon our racial diversity?

Which part of you is black?

It might be the places you are hanging out - though yeah, there are a lot of people who portray themselves as caucasian. Maybe they simply are, maybe they want to see what it's like - who knows. It goes both ways though.

I'd like to see some more diversity myself. Makes the world interesting.

Even if you were green, or purple, I would still love you the same...color means nothing, its the heart inside that counts, and yours is beautiful...keep being who you are. Peace...

I think most avatars look Latino or Mediterranean. True though, I rarely see black skinned avatars.



LOL

You can be whatever you like in SL - and change as often as you like. I'd like a little black pony avatar. But some of my friends are dragons and dolphins and robots and all colours of humans - red, blue - and yes, black.

There was a discussion about this in the past and what it mostly came down to was a dearth of really good black skins - because they were very hard to make in SL. Chip can provide more insight.

Also I reckon a lot has to do with our perception of colour in SL; I mean, there aren't too many avatars with typically white skin either, so perhaps the most common skin colours in SL do closely resemble that of a melting pot.

That is what I have heard and the fact that people dont know they exist. They should probably be made available when a person first comes in as a noobie skin. I don't recall seeing any when I first came in, but it has been awhile.

I believe that the options for new avatars do include one black-skinned male and female couple, but that is a fairly recent development.

Using the sliders it is possible to get a dark skin, but not one that looks all that much like a real life dark skinned complexion. The lack of any sort of gloss or selective area shading in areas like the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet makes it pretty poor, and the sliders do not work that well for making facial features that are dark-skinned races.

At the better skin shops that I have been to, the dark end of the spectrum is fairly sparse, but it does exist. I know Robin Sojurner has several very nice skins for both adults and kids that make a good moderately dark skin. But a really dark skin, like a Nigerian or some of the darker possibilities, is very rare.

Sadly, the less expensive shops tend to only have a few light-colored skins and no dark ones, and several of the "black" skin and shape bundles that I have seen were so stereotyped (big afro hair, dark glasses, etc...) that it would probably be an insult to most blacks...

OMG

My favorite guy in SL is very dark skinned - he says he's more cuban though.

My avatar is much paler than I would have liked but I have grown used to it.

I won't deny that racial prejudice plays a role in the predominantly european looks, but don't forget this is an atristic medium of a sort. The tanned caucasian skin is easier to draw and retain a higher level of detail than dark skins. very white goth sinks suffer from the same problems. While a dark skin become shadows, the goth skins tend to look flat like a paper doll.

but I have pale skin and ... i never said .. i was cuban ...

I meant, um..... my second favorite guy - yeah, that's what I really meant.

For a while I used a fairly good dark brown skin and tried to make my av look African-American via the shape sliders, though in RL, you can't get much whiter than me without having your blood drained. I just wanted to try being lots of different people. The hair was the hardest. I found a store with lots of dreadlocks, but the shorter hairstyles look fake unless they have about 7000 prims. It was just an experiment for me, I haven't used this av in a long time.

The weird thing is, I was wearing this skin while shopping for another skin. One store I entered while the proprietor was present. She said, "May I help you find something? -- Oh. We don't have any dark skins. Sorry."

It seems we still take avatars at face value. At least that's what I'm hoping was the implication of that statement. I'm sure if she thought about it a moment she would have realized I could be anything I want. But if I'd glided in with my tiny robot av looking for a skin, she wouldn't have had to inform me she didn't have robot skins. Is there an underlying assumption that no one would choose to be black unless you are already black in RL?

For the record, I got a lot more positive attention in that av than I ever do in the white suburban geek av I consider the normal me.

That's funny, I keep thinking every other avatar I meet in SL looks totally sun tanned....
In RL, I am really really pale and I just went for that in SL, too. I spent years as a kid to come to grips with the fact that I will never get a tan (only turn red and prolly eventually get skin cancer...), so I naturally stuck with that in SL. Today, I really like my pale looks in RL. It represents ME. on the other hand, I have an alt who is a black gal, because I like her looks, it just didn't really fit my main. She's more like an rpg character for me. Funny enough, my quadruped cat avatars, furry cat avatar and Tiny cat (either grey or black) don't feel so out of synch with my pale-skinned self.

I'm told my avatar looks Latin though I am white. My partners av is black, which he also is in RL. It was hard to come up with a black av, however. Most black skins in SL are horrible.

One thing that I find hysterical is the black av that is an option when first signing up comes with "African American" hair? Uh, is that what they call it in Africa too? I met a man from Africa who found this extremely offensive. My partner finds it offensive too since he considers himself black since he says he's never been to Africa, but he's learned to live with it. He wasn't nearly as upset as the African man, however, who had every right to be offended.

Like those guys in that Star Trek episode? Black on one side, white on the other?

There is one part of me that is VERY VERY pink.

Down there? He he he he he......

I've seen some realistic black or mixed-race guys around so there must be some good skins about. I've no idea where they can be obtained though.

Brenda, I KNEW that would come back to haunt me!

Nora's has some decent skin in many different shades.

I would GUESS it's your tongue....
*blinks innocently*