shape question OK so, I need to ask because I'm seeing it a lot now and I cant find information.

[CaraMcLean]

Whats with that shape a lot of girls are wearing...  you know the one...  I did a mockup but its only slightly like the shape I'm asking about.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MBFCfnH1CP6NYfnL2

If you don't want to or cant look, my summary would be. 

#1 Super extra wide hips

#2 Abnormally large gap between thighs

#3 Generally a squashed appearance

I'm seeing it in clothes add's everywhere now, it used to be occasional  but I feel like every store is using it now, honestly, its putting me off all the stores using it.  I mean, I know its subjective, people may look at my day to day stuff and be like, she ugly but....  Why is this shape type everywhere? 

[AnnistynSL]

This was always a thing in SL. Not really my thing, but if people like it on their avatar, and they can look like they want, good for them. 

My RL hair is very long, and I love wearing short hair on SL.... it's my thing :-)

[Rhonda Huntress]

I understand how you feel, Cara.  Different strokes and all that.  If we all liked the same things everyone would be boring to talk to.

 

 

[LittleMe Jewell]

I think if falls into the same realm as the ones that have an a*s or boobs that are bigger than they are tall - it is just all part of the craziness that is SL.

[Talligurl]

some guys like it, it isnt my thing either but I had a guy give me a shape once so I looked like this. I wore it when i was with him, because he paid me to be with him. I had a guy just today tell me i would make more money dancing if i looked like this.

[Marianne Little]

I don't see them so much around. I wonder if they prefer special sims, special clubs? Kardashian look multiplied?

[Bratty Slade]

I see it a lot and at first I wondered what the point was to look so different. Then I remembered it was SL and well... furries, vampires, fairies, ect ect...  Not for me but I am happy it is available along with all the other out of the box looks. Keep SL weird. 

[Orwar]

To each their own, and all that - but whenever I see one I can't help but giggle. No extra tips from my part when dancers appear like that.

[Claireschen Hesten]

While i don't see a lot of people with the type of shape in question if i am shopping for clothes i do see a lot of models with extra large thighs and/or extreme thigh gaps this shows in mesh clothing too i've tried out clothes i've had to scrap because there was a lot of gape round the waist to accommodate these extra large features. I think these shapes may come from the fact men are subconsciously naturally more attracted to women with good child bareing bodies. When modding my shape i tried to keep it in line with my RL self at the time the only difference being i made myself tall because i didn't want to be a midget like RL

[Pirschjaeger Fassbinder]

I don't know how realistic this sort of shape is, because I would have thought that having large thighs at least in real life doesn't lend itself to having a thigh gap and more to having thighs that touch. But hey, I am a dragon on Second Life and that isn't realistic at all.

If you are interested, you can search "shape proportion" on the marketplace, there are a few free to cheap tools there. I've used them to sort of base my own shape on. However, most of them deal with the length of the torso, legs, and arms and the size of the head. I haven't seen one that focuses on the wideness aspect though. Granted that can vary due to weight and other factors, but generally you're not going to see someone with larger thighs have a tiny upper body and a flat belly.

[Whirly Fizzle]

The "Pony Rider" look has been popular in SL for a while now.

Discussions on SLU:

http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/general-sl-discussion/92301-average-sl-avatar-real-life.html

http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/off-topic/85778-explanation-pony-riders.html

http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/fashion-shopping/96340-big-hips-fish-face-i.html

[Jeny Howlett]

Yeah the famous invisible pony raiders!

[BilliJo Aldrin]

21 hours ago, Talligurl said:

some guys like it, it isnt my thing either but I had a guy give me a shape once so I looked like this. I wore it when i was with him, because he paid me to be with him. I had a guy just today tell me i would make more money dancing if i looked like this.

I've had johns offer to pay me to change my shape for a date, i'm like sorry no way.

Its true though, big breasts and a big ass are the preferred shape for dancers and escorts

[CaraMcLean]

Sorry if asking was kind of weird, anyway, it did help me in one way, I made my boobs and butt a little smaller, I kept making them a little bigger to appeal but screw it, I want to be more like rl me. 

 

Except for my height, I'd like it to be more realistic but anywhere I go with my real height people think I'm a kiddie. 

Edited July 20, 2017 by CaraMcLean

[Ivanova Shostakovich]

28 minutes ago, CaraMcLean said:

Sorry if asking was kind of weird, anyway, it did help me in one way, I made my boobs and butt a little smaller, I kept making them a little bigger to appeal but screw it, I want to be more like rl me. 

 

Except for my height, I'd like it to be more realistic but anywhere I go with my real height people think I'm a kiddie. 

   Be who you want to be. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. 

[Rhonda Huntress]

1 hour ago, CaraMcLean said:

Sorry if asking was kind of weird, anyway, it did help me in one way, I made my boobs and butt a little smaller, I kept making them a little bigger to appeal but screw it, I want to be more like rl me. 

 

Except for my height, I'd like it to be more realistic but anywhere I go with my real height people think I'm a kiddie. 

I think most people at some point will push things beyond what they originally want because they see so many others headed that way.  In the end, you decide how you want to present yourself and get comfortable with how you look.

For what it's worth, I have been seeing the pendulum swing the other direction lately with avatar as tall and thin as possible.  If you have fun following the fads and fashion trends there is nothing at all wrong with that.  Maybe I'm an old prude but I have my slightly meaty body of mid-sized height and that's how I want to be seen.

/me shrugs

It makes ME happy

[ChinRey]

On 19.7.2017 at 11:30 PM, CaraMcLean said:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MBFCfnH1CP6NYfnL2

You forgot the facial expression! It isn't right unless you look like you've just chewed and swallowed a lemon!!!

And the potato sack inspired posture!

And of course, now that we have Bento, the correct hand gestures, showing left hand index and little finger and right hand middle finger.

[Rhonda Huntress]

18 minutes ago, ChinRey said:

You forgot the facial expression! It isn't right unless you look like you've just chewed and swallowed a lemon!!!

LOL.  So true.

 

18 minutes ago, ChinRey said:

the correct hand gestures, showing left hand index and little finger

Hey!

[Bree Giffen]

When I was going shopping recently and looking at all the shoppers, I actually thought to myself, "Hmm, I'm glad that pony rider shape has finally gone away". It's strange to hear that the shape is still going on.Need more antibiotics. 

[Ivanova Shostakovich]

On 7/20/2017 at 2:31 PM, Rhonda Huntress said:

I think most people at some point will push things beyond what they originally want because they see so many others headed that way.  In the end, you decide how you want to present yourself and get comfortable with how you look.

For what it's worth, I have been seeing the pendulum swing the other direction lately with avatar as tall and thin as possible.  If you have fun following the fads and fashion trends there is nothing at all wrong with that.  Maybe I'm an old prude but I have my slightly meaty body of mid-sized height and that's how I want to be seen.

/me shrugs

It makes ME happy

   That is the most important thing. And I still think you look really good in blue.

[Klytyna]

On 7/19/2017 at 5:30 PM, CaraMcLean said:

Whats with that shape a lot of girls are wearing...  you know the one...  I did a mockup but its only slightly like the shape I'm asking about.

It's all about that 'gheto booty'

See, it's hard to make a proper 'gheto booty' in a system avi with the sliders maxed out, it's just not huge enough, so Plan B, make your ghetto booty fail look 'bigger' by making it wider, then you max another slider and it's still not up to the standards demanded by <MODERATOR: REDACTED>

Plan C. Set Hip width to "straddle a 9 inch scaffolding plank without chaffing' mode, your booty doesn't stick out backwards any further but it does look huge.

Prosthetic mesh backsides briefly fixed the problem for some, but then we shifted to mesh bodies and those were proportioned for 'normal people' so the plank straddle made a comeback.

The Lemon suck makes you look <MODERATOR: PROFANITY REDACTED> 'gangsta' (no really, hehe).

Huge extra wide load "rear ended by a bus before your butt enhancement from the illegal botox clinic had set" backsides and lemon suck faces, = <MODERATOR: STEREOTYPE/PROFANITY REDACTED>

Of course the real hardcore addicts discard the 'standard mesh bodies' and buy those special ones with the 'extra curves' (deformed inhuman mutants from bad porn cartoons by 15 yr old boys).
 

Edited August 1, 2017 by Dakota Linden
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Community_Participation_Guidelines

[Whirly Fizzle]

On 7/27/2017 at 2:49 PM, Klytyna said:

It's all about that 'gheto booty'

See, it's hard to make a proper 'gheto booty' in a system avi with the sliders maxed out, it's just not huge enough, so Plan B, make your ghetto booty fail look 'bigger' by making it wider, then you max another slider and it's still not up to the standards demanded by <MODERATOR: STEREOTYPES REDACTED>

Plan C. Set Hip width to "straddle a 9 inch scaffolding plank without chaffing' mode, your booty doesn't stick out backwards any further but it does look huge.

Prosthetic mesh backsides briefly fixed the problem for some, but then we shifted to mesh bodies and those were proportioned for 'normal people' so the plank straddle made a comeback.

The Lemon suck makes you look <MODERATOR: PROFANITY REDACTED> 'gangsta' (no really, hehe).

Huge extra wide load "rear ended by a bus before your butt enhancement from the illegal botox clinic had set" backsides and lemon suck faces, = <MODERATOR: STEREOTYPES/PROFANITY REDACTED>

Of course the real hardcore addicts discard the 'standard mesh bodies' and buy those special ones with the 'extra curves' (deformed inhuman mutants from bad porn cartoons by 15 yr old boys).
 

I wish you would start an alternative SL fashion blog & dissect the "Look of the day".
It would be a hoot.  

 

Edited August 1, 2017 by Dakota Linden

[XxMaddisynxX]

I believe it's the result of obesity becoming normalized within western culture.  The women who use these shapes refer to themselves as "curvy" rather than fat even though they are well above healthy bmi.  I personally found this strange phenomenon difficult to explain but there are several possible explanations.  1. mesh itself does look better using this shape in terms of stretch, less distortion 2. SL sub fetish's particularly furry do have this shape as part of that culture. 3. RL ethnicity such as some Brazilian (and others) do have this natural body shape which is considered naturally beautiful within that culture, the Sking body is specifically designed to have this shape only and was developed by a Brazilian. 4. Normalization of obesity within Western culture.

[Syo Emerald]

5 hours ago, XxMaddisynxX said:

I believe it's the result of obesity becoming normalized within western culture. 

I don't see the link to obesity. The shape we are talking about shares no typical characteristics of the body a real life obese person would have.

5 hours ago, XxMaddisynxX said:

The women who use these shapes refer to themselves as "curvy" rather than fat even though they are well above healthy bmi.

Thats a funny worded sentence. An avatar has no bmi and can't have it, especially not with the kind of shapes we are talking about, as they are often far from being realistic or natural. Thats like saying Barbie dolls have an unhealty bmi, even if no human with a shape like that could be alive (not because of its size, but because of the proportions).

[Klytyna]

6 hours ago, XxMaddisynxX said:

2. SL sub fetish's particularly furry do have this shape as part of that culture

I can't say I've noticed this as a 'sub fetish' thing over the last 5 years as opposed to a youth culture thing tied to Gangsta Crapper music.

6 hours ago, XxMaddisynxX said:

the ***** body is specifically designed to have this shape only and was developed by a Brazilian

I have sincere doubts that rounding up 1000 RL brazillian girls will produce any significant percentage with any resemblance to that particular brand of mesh avatars, they were what I had in mind when I mentioned "bad porn cartoons by 15 yr old boys", thighs larger than those on a 1.5 ton bullock, attached to shins from an ethiopian famine victim, mounted on the pelvis so far apart you could pack a buss under her hips, for example.

6 hours ago, XxMaddisynxX said:

4. Normalization of obesity within Western culture.

No. This body shape has nothing to do with 'obesity' the arms for example are usually far more normally proportioned, it is JUST the thighs butt and boobs that are inflated with 40 gallons of digital Botox as part of Gangsta-Crapper "Shake dat booty, my anaconda likes" Teenage Ghetto-Homiez Wannabee Masturbation Fantasy.

A female avi wearing one of these is almost always either a male in digital drag, or a young female who exclusively dates males who wear their hats back to front while lying to their friends about being "strapped wif a 9 man".