Unhappy tall

[495060]

In world and in edit shape, I'm 6 ft tall O.O  I am VERY unhappy with this. It makes me feel unfeminine every time I just see the numbers. Does anybody else feel like that considering if you're a "real" height everyone's waist hits your head.

[Marigold Devin]

I personally do not feel at all unhappy or unfeminine to be 6'8" tall in Second Life and female.  I am neither the tallest nor the shortest female inworld either. Some of my friends are taller, and some come up to the height of my breasts. My SL partner comes up to my shoulders. I do not feel less feminine than her.

There are a lot of people in Second Life who do feel quite strongly about the height of avatars, about dimensions generally. And there are those of us who could not give two hoots; it is a virtual world after all, and if we were aiming for 100% real, then our avatars would have to go through the other real life processes, such as being born, growing old, getting illnesses, eating, bathing, going to the toilet, and that would be no fun at all.

All you can do is be true to yourself. If you feel unhappy, then change your appearance to how you like it, and find some friends with whom you also feel happy.  There might even be groups inworld for 'real'-sized avatars.

I would prefer people to have names that are names and not numbers. It makes me moderately unhappy when I cannot call someone by a name because it is hard to know what to call them.  What do people call you? "Four"?  Obviously if you have a display name in use, it does not show up here on the forums.

[Ariel Vuissent]

Well, first off, don't trust the numbers in the viewer. Instead, stand on a pose stand. Rez a prim, and stretch that prim from the very bottoms of your feet up to the very top of your head. Then look at how tall that prim is. (Remember to take off your shoes, and your hair.) THAT is your true height. The official viewer tends to be pretty far off in this.

I'm 6'2", personally, and I like my avatar. I'm actually shorter than a lot of other females I see in SL. I like my avatar's proportions, and her height doesn't bother me. It used to, and every so often when I go places with a bunch of much shorter avatars I feel a little awkwardly tall, but...well, I like my avi, and it's not so important to me that I'm willing to change that for a number.

There are some people who feel very strongly about height. Primarily, this is a proportion issue, but I've always felt that as long as the owner of the avi is happy, it really shouldn't matter how tall or short they are, how long their arms and legs are, how big their hands and feet are, etc. Are some shapes more attractive in my eyes? Sure. But if someone wants to be 8 feet tall with a proportionally small head and short arms, that's their business, not mine.

If you want to be realistically proportioned, including height, there are guides for that. But really, don't worry about it too much unless it really bothers you. It's just a number on a screen, and probably not a terribly accurate one, at that. You can always adjust your height and make yourself shorter, if it really does bother you that much.

 

 

[Lucretia Brandenburg]

It depends on where you go and who you hang out with. At 7 feet, 2 inches  tall, my avatar is actually shorter than most of my male friends, and some of my female friends. When I do where a more realistic RL shape (5'5") I'm the height of a child in comparison to those with whom I spend time.

So, unless you are hanging around alot with mostly "short" avatars, you are going to stand out and look a bit freakish and possibly creep out those around you if you go shorter than 6'.

Best bet is to get a correctly proportioned shape and edit it to your liking. Penny Patton has some well proportioned realistic sized shapes that can be modified to suit your tastes ... https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Vitruvian-Shapes-Full-Perm-Set-12/4426725 I find it FAR easier to tweak her shapes than attempt to scale down an oversized shape.

[Madeline Blackbart]

my avatar is 5' 4" in sl and I am shorter then most. To be fair because of how the original avatars in sl were made everyone and everything is proportionally taller then real life. There's nothing wrong with that as long as your body is proportionate in general. I just happen to like haveing a shorter avie.

[Morgaine Christensen]

No, I am quite happy with my size.  Rather than look at the numbers, how tall are you in comparison to your friends and others around?  If too tall then, adjust via according to visual ques not the numbers.  If you are a similar size, stop reading the numbers...numbers are just someone else's standard.  

Not sure why you equate "tall" with being unfeminine when that is so far from the truth in my book.  *shrugs* to each their own.

[Perrie Juran]

I was born in 2007 and as I am getting older some of my memory is getting fuzzy.  If I am wrong about this someone with a better memory than me can correct me.  But as I remember and as I understand it, at one time there was no height listed in the edit window.  All people saw were the sliders.

That said, I do have a clear memory of an incident shortly after I started.  I was out shopping for clothes and i saw an object with a description over it.  "Touch to find out your Avatar's height."  I touched the object and it tells me that I am Seven Foot, Something Inches tall.

Standing there I think to myself, bull dinkies (well, actually another word the Forum censors).  But I think to myself "no way I am Seven Foot Plus tall."  Because proportionately speaking compared to other Avatars, furniture, other builds, I "look" pretty normal.  I don't see myself towering two feet over everyone else.  Girls don't have to stand on my knee caps to kiss me.

So a lot is a simple matter of proportions.

Today there is a movement (which I support) to bring greater accuracy into SL.  Central to this is Avatar height.  I do see a trend toward this happening in SL but it's slow going.  Eventually we may get there.  But in the meantime I say to people, "don't be so dogmatic about it that you don't enjoy what is available in SL."  There is lots of fun to be had.

 

 

eta: shpelling

[Penny Patton]

I definitely agree that people should enjoy SL and be the height they are most comfortable with. It's SL! There's nothing to stop one from having multiple size avatars if they like!  A 5' to 6' tall shape for the RP sim that is built to scale, a 7' to 8' tall shape for going out to the clubs after.

Also, like Perrie said, until about two years ago, there was no height listed in the appearance editor at all. LL added height to the appearance editor in version 2.1. Unfortunately, in true Linden fashion, they released it broken and haven't fixed it since. Some TPVs fix this issue to display correct height, but not all. The only 100% accurate way to know your height is to measure yourself manually with a prim.

 

 For the OP, try out the shapes Lucretia linked to. They're free, full perm and I believe you'll be pleased with the quality. I also add more to the set every so often as I work on new shapes, or people donate their custom shapes back to me for inclusion in the set.

 

[Coby Foden]

My avatar is 1.80 meters tall (about 5 ft 11 in) and I'm very happy with this height.  For RL woman that is on the tall side.  In Second Life that looks quite petit and feminine - among the giant avatars (still roaming about), houses and other objects.  Yet, it is not too short to feel comfortable among big things.  And the positive side is that if one owns a house it does not need to be so huge as the very tall avatars would need.

:matte-motes-smile:

[Melita Magic]

The solution is within reach.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

I am tall in RL and 6'2" in SL and don't feel unfeminine at all.  My partner is a taller because he is exceptionally tall in RL.  If I made myself shorter we'd look ridicules together.  I'd be floating way above the floor when we danced together.

It is your SL.  If you are unhappy with your avatar change it,  But if  you like the way you look don't change your avatar to meet someone elses expectations.

[Sephina Frostbite]

My avatar is tall and I am neither the tallest nor the shortest at I believe 6 Ft 5 in. I thought for a while I should make myself shorter to make other people happy but I started asking around everyone told me not to touch a single inch on my avi. If I was happy before why would someone elses mocking my look make me change. I got around other females who are shorter and I start to feel like a freak.That is until I get loaded with you are the pretest avi here comments... This is my sl not theirs. Be proud of you whether you choose to stay tall or shorten yourself up a bit. Just be happy with you!

[Melita Magic]

p.s. I just noticed my avatar looks like a giantess in my new badge...LOL

So I guess the solution is within my reach even more so?

[Perrie Juran]

---

Penny Patton wrote:

I definitely agree that people should enjoy SL and be the height they are most comfortable with. It's SL! There's nothing to stop one from having multiple size avatars if they like!  A 5' to 6' tall shape for the RP sim that is built to scale, a 7' to 8' tall shape for going out to the clubs after.

Also, like Perrie said, until about two years ago, there was no height listed in the appearance editor at all. LL added height to the appearance editor in version 2.1. Unfortunately, in true Linden fashion, they released it broken and haven't fixed it since. Some TPVs fix this issue to display correct height, but not all. The only 100% accurate way to know your height is to measure yourself manually with a prim.

 

 For the OP, try out the shapes Lucretia linked to. They're free, full perm and I believe you'll be pleased with the quality. I also add more to the set every so often as I work on new shapes, or people donate their custom shapes back to me for inclusion in the set.

 

---

I have several shapes now set to different heights and change as the setting may require.  My preference would be to use only one shape and to 'forget about it.'  90% of the time I am in what i call my 'basic shape,' which now is a little shorter than what I originally use.

Sometimes you just have to adapt a little. 

SL mimics RL in that it is never perfect.

 

[Perrie Juran]

 

---

Melita Magic wrote:

p.s. I just noticed my avatar looks like a giantess in my new badge...LOL

So I guess the solution is within my reach even more so?

---

[Fayette Charron]

The only thing that should matter is how you feel in your SL figure. If you feel too tall, make yourself shorter, but like many others have said, don't do it for the sake of others. Only if you want to. I have a lot of shapes, ranging from 5'2" up to 6'9" or so. I have favorites across the board. Be happy with who you make yourself, not who someone else might think you'd look better as.

[Nox Vought]

Same here Amethyst! I'm 6'2 irl and 6'1-6'2 in SecondLife. To call us tall women unfeminine is kind of offensive. A lot of tall women are very womanly. I think it's just a stereotype that women with short person syndrome like to throw around.

 

Maybe I should stop sticking up for the shorter avatars when they get called kids or stumpy.

[Syo Emerald]

I prefer to be tall rather than following the new trend of dwarfism I saw around.

[Lucretia Brandenburg]

You know where I see the trend more often, is on the marketplace and on flickr. If by "dwarfism trend" you mean the short wide hipped, big headed women with skinny legs so wide apart they don't meet.

When out and about, I see one or two of the very short and wide distorted women. I know a few male avatars who have always been RL sized, for years though. I do wonder if it's a genuine trend or whether its because it is so commented on and photographed? I have several shapes I use, the most common being 7'2" and the 5'5", been playing around with those two and tweaking them for years. I have chubbier shapes for somefits, and more slender for others.

[Trifina]

It's very, very hard to make a short, well-proportioned, slender feminine avatar. In particular, your hips will be boney, your knees knobby, and your rib-cage too big. Until LL fixes the underlying bone structure, people are going to prefer avatars that look good, rather than those that measure properly.

 

Think of it this way - your avatar isn't too tall, the SL "metre" is too short.

[Coby Foden]

Second Life is a bit like real life.  There are the tall ones, and there are the short ones.
Whatever makes one happy, stay with it.

In SL we have the advantage and luxury of being able to adjust our bodies according to situation - if such need arises.
:matte-motes-smile:

 

[Penny Patton]

---

Trifina wrote:

It's very, very hard to make a short, well-proportioned, slender feminine avatar. In particular, your hips will be boney, your knees knobby, and your rib-cage too big. Until LL fixes the underlying bone structure, people are going to prefer avatars that look good, rather than those that measure properly.

 

Think of it this way - your avatar isn't too tall, the SL "metre" is too short.

---

 

Here's some female avatars at shorter sizes.

Not a single one of these avatars is over 5'5"/165cm. The shortest is about 4'9".

 The misconception that it is difficult to create a realistically sized avatar with good proportionscomes from the fact that you can't just slide the height slider to the left and call it a day. This doesn't keep all your body parts in proportion, forcing you to adjust every single slider just to recreate a larger shape at a smaller size.

The reverse is also true, it takes a lot of effort to take a small shape and make it large. If everyone started with shapes this size, you would have been posting that it's very, very hard to make tall, well-proportioned shapes.

 

[Melita Magic]

[Perrie Juran]

Kudos!

[Sephina Frostbite]

Although they are nice, they still seem a little off to me. But then again I could be crazy. lol