Linden Lab! Please do NOT ever implement any kind of gender verification in SL!

But if people MIGHT want to verify it...and other people MIGHT want to verify it to others--should they have the right to do so?


And Suzy: Your refined lumping in is accepted

I don't mind if they add an optional gender verification for those who want it. I wouldn't use it, if someone wants to know who the person behind the avatar is then they have to ask me and see what kind of mood I'm in or if I like them or not

Then they can verify it amongst themselves. In whatever manner is accepatable to them.

Actually, what most seem to be saying is while they accept to YOU they are MUST and MUST NOT items, it does not make it MUST and MUST NOT items to them. To me, it is a MUST accept item that I am allowed to do what I want with MY life as long as it does not hurt another person, but I am in no way foolish enough to say that is a MUST ACCEPT item to anyone else. It's my perception of the world, not anyone elses.

As a group humans will tend to accept publically certain items as MUST or MUST NOT items - doesn't mean they accept that privately, but will at least accept them publically. By Tink's Chocolate tits, you can't even get any religion to have everyone thinking the same way, how do you expect them to think the same way on anything else?

These views of course are MY perceptions only, and not valid any in other perception other than mine, and I reserver the right to change them based on completely random impulses, up to and including the lack of chocolate.

I'm thinking that some people on this thread are confusing "voluntary" with "obligatory" gender verification.

If it is optional, someone can ask LL to publicly endorse their own gender.

ie: I'm male. Someone else has doubts about my claim. (it happens more often than you'd think!).

I could dispell those doubts by asking LL to certify they've confirmed both my identity and gender, and that I am, in reality, male.

Such a service/feature would be very silly... and likely a huge waste of linden lab time and effort.... but I would have a difficult time arguing against it for any other reasons.

It's the "obligatory/involuntary" aspect that I object to.

I think you are missing the argument that people have raised here. "Why haven't you verified your gender? You're lying about it, aren't you?" It becomes a duty, and thus not optional unless you want to be considered a liar.

But given Robin's comment I don't think it will actually happen in any case.

No. It's not needed for anything that has to do with SL or LL.

Seems pretty obvious that voice chat is already going to have that effect. :-/

Both are going to harm the "escort business" in secondlife, which amuses me
honestly. People that worry themselves over the real gender of someone
being paid to "entertain them" should worry about more significant things...

like is that person a child... or a cop.

Thank you for imposing your ideas upon me. I appreciate your rejection of tools and capabilities due to moral close-mindedness and an unwillingness to allow others to take advantage of possibilities offered them.

Robin,

Thank you for this clarification, it means a lot to have your personal reply here in the forum. I fully agree that some form of age verification is needed on the grid.

If the optional gender verification had been just a speculative idea it would have helped if it had been presented as such, with room for feedback, which we are now producing. It was not presented that way, and I'm not in a position to know what's discussed inside the loop. I apologize if I have overreacted.

However, as the founder of the large group Bisexuals in Second Life, I am in a position to know many female, transgendered and bisexual residents in Second Life. The people who are now in Second Life came here with the expectation of a high degree of privacy. Any talk of changing that is alarming.

If gender verification was a Friends list option like "show on map" it would be much less of an issue, though still problematic. The greatest hazards would come from putting it on the Profile, where there is no control of who gets to know whether a particular woman was willing or able to prove her gender. Again, opting out is then also a visible choice, and will lead to accusations, because the general public is both sexist and homophobic.

Most women are not prepared to be the front line of a struggle for a genderless society; that's a difficult role even for well-informed activists such as myself. If gender verification is visible, they will be pressured to use it, and that part of their freedom in Second Life will be gone.

To see why we're reacting this way, consider what it would mean if there was a place on the Profile to put your verified race or religion. This sort of arbitrary sorting belongs on a dating site, and Second Life is far more than just that for most of us.

Singling out gender is just as discriminatory as singling out race, and it also introduces RL risk, and puts women in an incredibly difficult social position in SL. I cannot think of any argument for requiring strangers to display it publicly that is not sexist or homophobic.

Please let it go.

I haven't imposed anything on you but you're welcome anyway.

I do have a closed mindedness about others taking advantage of my RL information. Like stalkers, creditors, identity thieves, local government authorities, new media, and weirdos in general.

If people want it to be seen then they can use all those glorious "about me" sections. There's a WONDERFUL "first life" tab for that kind of information.

Want it verified, then they can do something like post pictures.

Personally, I use my avatar as a creative outlet. Its actions, fashion, and appearance are all an extension of my creative self, and in its own right, is a work of art. I have created an entire alternate persona. My avatar is not me.
When people interact with my avatar, they are not interacting with me; they are interacting with Hobo Saramago.

Second Life is nothing more than an experiment for me. It allows me to explore the creative side of myself without being bound by petty laws that censor and restrict the artist from truly exploring their soul.

To that effect, no one needs to know my real gender. It's entirely up to me whether they should know or not. Hobo could be male one day and female the next. It all depends on where my mind is going. I use Second Life for myself, not for others, so if someone wants to know my real gender, my real name, or anything of that sort, I just ignore them. I'm not here to please. I'm here to explore. Second Life is an amazing social experiment, and that's all it is to me.

My avatar is my canvas.

Which amazingly are either blank or say things to the effect of " none of your business" in a lot of cases.

Very very often. Or, "if you want to know ask me" which is still selective.

Which, gasp, gives you an idea of how many people are willing to share.

Indeed it does. I have a dear friend who has a picture of a rabbit in his First Life profile. If he is indeed a rabbit, playing SL, that would be quite an achievement.

Or maybe it's his pet rabbit having a case of nunyo.

I think I put one of my commisioned pieces there. If I didn't, I should.

I had a snapshot of my avatar in there for a while: the version that was closest to my RL appearance.

I actually answer most of the time, and always truthfully, when I am asked about my gender. I get asked quite a lot, because I make a line of clothes for crossdressers (to my knowledge the only line of flexi dresses designed specifically for male avies). Naturally some people assume I am a crossdresser in RL myself instead of a genetic girl. Especially when I go around in a male shape and female skin sometimes, wearing one of my crossdresser designs. To some people the multiple gender switching seems mind boggling: but in SL it is all possible, and frankly it is just a whole lot of fun to design clothes for such a rewarding niche market.

If asked nicely, I will probably share my gender with you. But that doesn't mean anybody has a right to know. Just as I may share other details about my personal life, while that doesn't mean anybody has a right to know who I am, where I live, what I do professionally, what I am wearing and what cup size I have.

Maybe I'll put a pic of my crossdresser avie in my 1st life tab just to fuck with people's minds...

Most awesome and well said.

Someone who thinks verifying before cybering is going to protect him from fakers should remember it could be a husband playing with his wife's account and having a huge laugh. Voice will verify only for as long as the voice changing programs are not very good. I think since we can't prove anything, we might as well have our privacy.

Even though Im okay with gender verification personally.

I think this is pretty well said -

Plenty of people who are determined to fake their gender will find a way to do so, even with voice or verification.

I suppose the Mom's basement kids can steal Mom's drivers license .. though Freud would have a field day with this one.

And the voice change stuff will work good enough to confuse everyone , and as Neil sugests will surely get better at fooling people.

If someone's really paranoid they are being lied to - they should spend longer getting to know the person first.

If 100% verification is required , buy a plane ticket.

Next up on the verification list:

Marital status.

IQ & Myers-Briggs personality type.

Breast/Phallus size & 'alteration' status.

Height & Weight

Pigment level & eye color.

STD status and medical history.

Limb count & disability disclosure.

Educational Level & Net worth.

Planet of origin.

Marital status: Not applicable, Neptunians reproduce using a series of tubes

IQ & Myers-Briggs personality type. IQ:1138, Hostile to all humans

Breast/Phallus size & 'alteration' status: N/A

Height & Weight: 256 NP (neptune pounds)

Pigment level & eye color: Eyes:0033CC (blue)

STD status and medical history: STD Status negative

Limb count & disability disclosure: 16 limbs (8 arms, 8 legs), no disabilities

Educational Level & Net worth: University of Neptune Graduate, 500k Quatloos/year

Planet of origin: Neptune

We're going to own any Ningi?