Are Virtual Worlds the new place to discrminate in?

I do? Actually I'm pretty libratarian on that. If it's your property, the government should collect your taxes and then leave you alone.



I'm sure someone has been killed over a simple traffic ticket by men with guns, but there is also a law that says it's wrong too.



One mans gang, is another mans tribe. And one mans law enforcment agency, is another mans rival tribe.




I forgot to mention that I also tolerate the right of people to be intolerant, didn't I? The laws that force me to tolerate that which I might be morally or socially opposed to are fascist.

Again, that's my libratarian side speaking.



I am intolerant of slavery in all forms as well as the degradation of women, so I ban slaves and their masters from my property in SL and in RL!

Tolerate that!

Body Integrity Identity Disorder

So they named it already. Oh well, but people who have a disorder and only mutilate themselves, just because their defective brain tells them to, need help, that's already given, and named.

Just keep these people away from playgrounds would you please? For all you know they start chopping off legs from your children. Because they also think you should be wheel-chaired as well.

Seems you are the one with no tolerance they only do it to themselves not others and there is a few ppl in SL i know who play with only part of their leg

Wow.. Aren't you the rabid badger today.. Did you actually read what I wrote or are you just getting all worked up because it's monday or something?

The typical exchange goes:
me: hiya. i've got a strict adults-only rule here and you look like you might be a little young. how old are you supposed to look, hon?
shortie: i'm short in RL
me: don't care about RL. how old are you trying to look here?
shortie: why are you hassling me?
me: i'm not. i just asked how old you're trying to look
shortie: here's a script that tells you i'm as tall here as i am in rl
me: again, i don't care about RL. and meters don't really match up well between rl and sl. it's better to go by how you think you look instead of listening to a script
me: how old are you trying to look with that avatar?
shortie: why do you hate me?
me: er.. i'm just asking how old you're trying to look
shortie: i'm going to report you

Although this is paraphrased, I'm really not making it up. I literally go though this about once a week, sometimes more. And it goes on and on and on when all they really have to say is "no worries, i'm 18+ in RL and SL". I also frequently point people to the LL blog post about ageplay and can almost quote the important section to them with my eyes closed.

And yes, I do always read profiles first, and go through groups, and keep good notes about who I've talked to before.

And yes, I have had people tell me that they're trying to look 15 while they're on the sexgen bed with somebody in a horse avatar. And I've found people who look like Marianne (using her only as a well-known example - not bringing her into this AT ALL) wandering around and watching the adults play.

If you think tolerance is free, you haven't thought about it or are horribly naive.

We deal with something similar to this, (not exactly the same though) in my disabled groups. The people are called 'devotees' and are there only to have perceived sexual relationships with someone disabled, whether is a rl or sl disability,usually go after amputees. The missing limb, or whatever it is, is sexually arousing to them. That would be fine IF the disabled person, or amputee knew it. Usually they don't, only find out later, that that is the only reason they were sought out, and then are hurt, emotionally. Many are homebound in rl and are naive, and unaware of these types of predators.

How about "I'm old enough." huh? (^_^)

In one culture "old enough" is 16, in another it's 18, in another it's 21, in another it's 9 and only with her uncle. (=_=)

You ask me how old I'm intending to look... I say "Old enough"... You can freely pick your age of legality from there. I won't give an age to my avatar anymore, because, she doesn't exist.

I'm not 18 and ready to sex you up.

I'm not 5 and still pooping diapers because I developed slowly.

What I ~AM~ is "old enough". If age verification ever goes beyond the data-mining outsourcing that it is today, I'll gladly verify with LL. But, until then you don't know me. Give this the unimportance it deserves or be consistent and join the international campaign against masturbation. (=_=)y

No, I don't even have a badger avatar.
Are you or are you not actually claiming that someone who has a 5'6" tall adult avatar is unnaturally short, and should simply because of their size be assumed to be a child? Because that's what you seemed to be saying.

And, yes, meters in RL and SL DO match up. Precisely. By definition. Buildings have to be physically larger because of limitations of the camera, if you don't use something like Tinycam, but that does NOT mean that avatars are really "smaller". It means buildings are larger.

Not sure what you mean. As a matter of fact the average height for a female in SL is around 6 ft 5, for males somewhere around 7 ft (which is way more than 2 meters). This is probably because of the height arms race going on. Everyone wants to be the tallest around so they all become taller and taller...

My human ava is 5 ft 10, like myself in RL (which is tall for a female), and when standing with a crowd she does look like a teenager. But I simply don't care. I won't make her taller.

My main ava, a furry, is not more than 5 ft 2, and yeah, I have been asked questions like if I am a child ava and other things, some not so pleasant. I muted them. Why people cannot mind their own business?

Uh huh.


If I ask your apparent age and you mute me, you'll probably not be staying long.

edit: and some of the posts in this thread are why I always have to add my L$0.02 in these threads. Far too many people assuming that ALL club owners are complete jerks and unfair to everybody who 'doesn't fit the norm.' The short-but-adult avatars are welcome at my place but if they don't state their age in their profile, they should expect to get asked and should expect to get booted if the give the owner crap for asking. Anybody who can't see this either has another agenda or really hasn't put any thought into it.

Is assuming that every club owner will be hostile to you worse than assuming that short always means young?

I'm not Tolerant enough? Wow, why don't you tolerate that?

I won't let the mentally ill near my kids. No exceptions.
I don't tolerate that, indeed. These people need to be locked up in an asylum, to protect them from themselves and others.

But you can let your kids play with people who tell them stories about cutting your limbs off, and how cool that is. I'll watch from a safe distance and watch the children fully understand this person, wanting to cut off their limbs too.

I tolerate enough. But you must tolerate I don't tolerate things to happen to me or people I care about or tolerate.

Do you even know what the word means?

"I've got the keys to paradise, but I've got too many legs!"

lolz

I did an experiment for a year with an alt running a scripted attachment that kept a running average of the heights of everyone around him. That average never got over 6'2" and was usually below 6'. This guy was not a "furry" and camped out in welcome areas and clubs most of the time.

In addition, with normal proportions and the height slider maxed he was 7' tall, so I don't see how the "average" could be 7'.

So I am pretty sure the "conventional wisdom" average height figures that people talk about are simply made up.

Just about everything else in sl is made up, why shouldn't the average height figures be?

Pep (71% of statistics are made up; like this one)

Is that "uh-huh" yes or "uh-huh" no?
I guess that's "uh-huh" yes.

I can't see this and I don't believe I have an agenda, so why don't you explain it again for the rabid ferret here?

Who's assuming that every club owner will be hostile? I'm assuming that they won't, and have rarely been harassed for my size, and I'm usually shorter than most adult humans.

Well, umm, no. If you ask because you are curious, you will get a nice answer. I might explain that furries are a shorter species, and that my avatar is supposed to be matured.

I was talking about the kind of people who spot a shortish person and go dig in their profile just to find something objectable.

If you're, say, 5 feet tall and 25 years old, should you expect to be asked for ID if you go to a real life bar? Do you think it would be unacceptable for them to ask for ID?

If I look like I'm under-aged, I should expect to be asked for ID regardless of my height. If I'm under-height, but don't look under-aged, I do not imagine why I should be asked how old I am.

Well, I'd ask because LL has made it the responsiblity of land owners to enforce the rules and I take those rules seriously while trying to keep the place friendly to anybody who wants to be there.

I'll say it again, not nesessarily to you directly but in general, if you just say "18+ in RL and SL" most club owners who aren't jerks will go away. They don't use SL and own a club to spend all their time inspecting everybody. It's a hassle and they want to get back to doing their thing. That said, if you want to chat about the rules in SL and how various land owners interpret them, that's fine but it should come AFTER the bit where they're convinced you're not breaking the rules. Believe me, doing it before will sound like you're evading the question regardless of if that's what you're doing.


Any time I see somebody who might be a minor, I'll look at their profile. I may have notes in there from having talked to them before. Or they may come out and state their age in their profile, saving me the need to ask them. Or, and this is not at all uncommon, they may belong to a whole bunch of groups, 1/2 with names like "daddy's little girl" and 1/2 with names like "rape me."

My avatar is about 5 foot 4 in SL, my real height. I've never been asked if I'm a child, or teenage, avatar in SL. Real life is different. I was still being asked for my ID when I turned 40. I'm lucky, I guess, in that I have never looked my age. At 25 I looked like I was a teenager, and bouncers wouldn't let me into some bars because they said my ID was fake. At 34 when I had a child less than a year old, I had complete strangers walking up to me wanting to know what my parents thought about their teenage daughter having a baby. RL in that regard has been different for me than SL, but I never spend time in adult areas in SL so maybe that's why.

This is why I'm glad you're posting again, Chris. Not that I agree or disagree with your post, just that I always find your opinions thought provoking.

And you think you're good enough at judging avatars that are trying to look 18 before asking them how old they're trying to look? Your graphics settings much be far higher than mine. I find that anybody trying to look 18 could easily pass for between anywhere between 14 and 22.


For that avatar, the most you'd probably get from me is a "that's an adult avatar, right argent?" Maybe not even that unless your behaviour (AO, speech, etc) made me think you might be trying to act young.

I'm 6'3 in RL and around 18'7 in SL..it's a pain because I get stuck every time I try to enter a doorway.. maybe I should just try the back passage instead.

I think Randy Newman put this whole debate to bed when he wrote so poetically;

Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
To love

They got little baby legs
And they stand so low
You got to pick 'em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That go beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin' peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They're gonna get you every time
Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
'Round here

Don't even get me started on fatties!

Although I do still wear nappies and suck a lollipop now and again, is that wong of widdle me??

If they're not wearing something like a school uniform, I'll assume they're an adult.
But I'm only 4' tall, so I guess it's not a matter of height after all, and that was what I was being a "rabid ferret" about.

Interesting. So an avatar with a shape & skin that could easily pass for 10 years old but was all dressed in leather would be ok?


Height is a factor. Of course it is - all animals I know of (including humans) start small and get bigger. If somebody is the height of a 'normal' adult, they're less likely to appear childlike. It's just one factor, though.

You asked about someone who looked about 18, not one who looked about 10.
I think there was an exception in an episode of Star Trek.
5'6" is a normal height for an adult human.