Will The New TOS on Child Avatars Ensnare Short Adults?

[Starberry Passion]

On 5/9/2024 at 11:13 AM, Rowan Amore said:

These were taken today.  The one on the left is my usual height of 5'9".  Never been questioned about my age.  The one on the right is my avatar at 5'4".  Not really that big of a visual difference.  So, if all one is concerned with is what the little numbers say on the edit window, that's not really a valid reason to AR anyone.  I've even worn that hair in adult places.   Note, my avatar is pretty short compared to the bar top in both pictures.

I'm sorry to people who think this is a child avatar, but I don't see that at all.

My mother irl still wears Spring dresses. When it is spring time, she wears spring time clothing.

[Arielle Popstar]

1 minute ago, Starberry Passion said:

I'm sorry to people who think this is a child avatar, but I don't see that at all.

My mother irl still wears Spring dresses. When it is spring time, she wears spring time clothing.

for me it was the ribbons in the hair that pushed me over. Normally I wouldn't care but if asked to age an avatar look, that would be the characteristic that would make me wonder combined with a few other things. 

[Starberry Passion]

5 minutes ago, Anna Nova said:

I've decided to reduce by half the amount of money I bring into SL, just in case I get banned by the thought police.  I am NOT going be over 160 cm, no matter what any bigot thinks.  Real female humans are seldom over 6 ft except in the USA (which I ain't).

I've been to several adult places as a 5'1" person and no one said a thing to me. People are so overly paranoid.

Just because someone made an avatar with the average body type of a Rectangle and labeled it "There, I made a teen avatar with Legacy" doesn't mean that that body type is teen. There are more women with that body type there there are with hourglass and pear shaped. Which, pear and hourglass have been growing, though A lot of it is artificial means.

[BillFletcher]

9 minutes ago, Anna Nova said:

Real female humans are seldom over 6 ft except in the USA (which I ain't).

I am in the USA, I am 5 11, very few women here are taller than me.

[Rowan Amore]

12 minutes ago, Starberry Passion said:

I'm sorry to people who think this is a child avatar, but I don't see that at all.

My mother irl still wears Spring dresses. When it is spring time, she wears spring time clothing.

Not many seem to see it as a child.  My response was to someone saying I might be one of those giant people everyone seems to think are the norm out there.  In fact, 7' avatars are normally the outlier in most adult places I go.  Always one or two towering over the rest of us.  The rest of us don't look under 18 just because we're shorter than the couple of taller than normal people.

I was  showing that my 5'9" avatar does LOOK short in comparison to the larger build she's in but she's pretty average compared to most other people around her.

 

Edited May 11 by Rowan Amore

[Rowan Amore]

33 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Meh I lost my virtual virginity in this game with these sort of avatars and no slexie animations. 

IMVu likely has more slex going on then SL even, without the animations too. Think you might be dreaming if you really think SL is the slex capitol of virtual gaming.

 

OMG, I remember YoVille!  Never did the nasty there but dang, brings back memories.  What was that?  15 or so years ago?

[Starberry Passion]

3 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

for me it was the ribbons in the hair that pushed me over. Normally I wouldn't care but if asked to age an avatar look, that would be the characteristic that would make me wonder combined with a few other things. 

Ribbon isn't specifically child though, wives all across the U.S. use to wear ribbons in their hair all the time. I mean, look at I Love Lucy.

Ribbons are a sign of femininity. In fact, ribbons are seen as Hyperfeminine still in today's society.

[Starberry Passion]

6 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

No one seems to see it as a child.  My response was to someone saying I might be one of those giant people everyone seems to think are the norm out there.  In fact, 7' avatars are normally the outlier in most adult places I go.  Always one or two towering over the rest of us.  The rest of us don't look under 18 just because we're shorter than the couple of taller than normal people.

I was  showing that my 5'9" avatar does LOOK short in comparison to the larger build she's in but she's pretty average compared to most other people around her.

 

I'm pretty sure I seen Billy and Arielle say that this was a child. Arielle said because you have ribbons, she seen you that way.

[Rowan Amore]

9 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

for me it was the ribbons in the hair that pushed me over. Normally I wouldn't care but if asked to age an avatar look, that would be the characteristic that would make me wonder combined with a few other things. 

Yep, that was why I posted to pictures in the Adult, Child, No Sure thread.  Same avatar, same everything aside from hair and outfit.  Little things will definitely skew someone's perception of age.  It's a natural response.  Pigtails with ribbons are generally considered a more childlike look.  

[Blush Bravin]

Me yesterday, standing just over 6 foot tall, in a group of shoppers.

Height, IMO, means absolutely NOTHING in SL. Never has!!!

[Rowan Amore]

3 minutes ago, Starberry Passion said:

I'm pretty sure I seen Billy and Arielle say that this was a child. Arielle said because you have ribbons, she seen you that way.

Yes, I edited my post to say Not Many.  Only 5 thought she was underage compared to none when she was wearing different hair and a suit.  Same face and same height.   

[Starberry Passion]

2 minutes ago, Blush Bravin said:

Me yesterday, standing just over 6 foot tall, in a group of shoppers.

Height, IMO, means absolutely NOTHING in SL. Never has!!!

Yeah, even before the ToS Faq, I knew that height didn't matter but some people Inworld truly believed that it did, in some places, in the past. The majority didn't care but the few were like "It is against ToS to be that short in an adult sim."

Now the Faq is pure proof that it was never a factor to begin with.

[Arielle Popstar]

1 minute ago, Rowan Amore said:

OMG, I remember YoVille!  Never did the nasty there but dang, brings back memories.  What was that?  15 or so years ago?

I'm 15 years almost in SL so would be about 16-17 since I had a year in IMVU before that. Was a girl who pulled me into a secluded spot and started to do the slex with me. I was so surprised as I didn't realize what she was trying to do but then I started to respond in text till she finished. My first experience but was right close to the end of Yoville as it started becoming hard to connect to. Registered with IMVU soon after and the amount of slex going on there was eye opening. Especially in their noob areas. Non stop orgies.

[Starberry Passion]

Here is a fun fact about Bows though, think everyone will be surprised. Much like High Heels, Ribbons were once almost exclusively a man thing. Male and female, also, use to wear Dresses, pink was for Men, blue was for Women. Pink symbolized the heart because it's closet to the heart.

Edited May 11 by Starberry Passion

[Katherine Heartsong]

55 minutes ago, Codex Alpha said:

Perhaps you could consider that which you think draws people to SL is actually keeping them away.

The UX and UI keep people away. SL is almost unique in how difficult it can be for a new user to onboard, understand the purpose of the platform, navigate, understand how to look good, figure out what to do, etc.

It'd be like me giving you all the pieces to a complex board game and no rules.

[Blush Bravin]

4 minutes ago, Starberry Passion said:

Here is a fun fact about Bows though, think everyone will be surprised. Much like High Heels, Ribbons were once almost exclusively a man thing. Male and female, also, use to wear Dresses, pink was for Men, blue was for Women. Pink symbolized the heart because it's closet to the heart.

I think this is a good point. I've lived so long and taught history and art for many, many years so I probably have more historical context for clothing styles than some. For instance, my wearing bell bottoms in one of my pics indicated to someone that my avatar was younger because she was wearing a fashion style they perceived as a youthful fashion choice. When in actuality bellbottoms were worn by sailors out of necessity.

In the event of a sailor falling overboard or having to abandon ship without a life vest, the bell-bottomed trousers can be quickly removed in the water without having to remove footwear.

My head hurts. No one could pay me enough money to have to make the judgement calls on someone's age in SL. I never ever thought anyone would perceive Debi's avatar as anything but an adult. Thankfully the vast majority of people see her as an adult. That's going to have to be good enough. 

[Starberry Passion]

7 minutes ago, Blush Bravin said:

I think this is a good point. I've lived so long and taught history and art for many, many years so I probably have more historical context for clothing styles than some. For instance, my wearing bell bottoms in one of my pics indicated to someone that my avatar was younger because she was wearing a fashion style they perceived as a youthful fashion choice. When in actuality bellbottoms were worn by sailors out of necessity.

In the event of a sailor falling overboard or having to abandon ship without a life vest, the bell-bottomed trousers can be quickly removed in the water without having to remove footwear.

My head hurts. No one could pay me enough money to have to make the judgement calls on someone's age in SL. I never ever thought anyone would perceive Debi's avatar as anything but an adult. Thankfully the vast majority of people see her as an adult. That's going to have to be good enough. 

Yeah, the Teddy bear didn't start out as a popular child's toy, though it is represented as childhood. A lot of adults, today, still have and sleep with a teddy bear, Including straight men.

It started with President Theodore Roosevelt's unwillingness to shoot a bear. Teddy was his nickname and that is the origin of the Teddy bear, Teddy's Bear. It became popular with children with how cute it was.

I've seen some question why it's called a Teddy bear, it's because Theodore coined it and the name stuck to it like glue.

[JeromFranzic]

55 minutes ago, Blush Bravin said:

Me yesterday, standing just over 6 foot tall, in a group of shoppers.

Height, IMO, means absolutely NOTHING in SL. Never has!!!

Oh lawdy... I could be shorter than most of the adults there, especially if I use my Prim head, she's usually hovering at 4.5 feet lol. 

[Starberry Passion]

3 minutes ago, JeromFranzic said:

Oh lawdy... I could be shorter than most of the adults there, especially if I use my Prim head, she's usually hovering at 4.5 feet lol. 

Prim head isn't smaller than any other lelutka head though. It's just modeled to be a Ball jointed doll inspired head, making your face doll-like.

[Arielle Popstar]

1 hour ago, Starberry Passion said:

I'm sorry to people who think this is a child avatar, but I don't see that at all.

My mother irl still wears Spring dresses. When it is spring time, she wears spring time clothing.

I think maybe part of it is that I have seen that look before in a movie where the character was around 14, 15 years old. Even without the ribbon I wouldn't age her as 18, but I just looked on the photo page and seen Rowan replaced the photo with a full frontal view and that I would put somewhere between 17-19. Her other photo's do appear as being mid twenties and at times even older but just not that particular one you are referring to with the side profile.

[Psyche Starling]

So height is the one measurement I've never changed since my starter avi, except for RP characters who were supposed to not look like me. When making my shapes for various bodies, I've kept that number the same. I checked once and apparently I'm about 6 feet tall, which would be unusually tall for a woman in RL though not unheard of; in SL it feels like a good proxy for my real height of 5'6". When I'm out and about, I'm taller than some women, and shorter than most men, which "feels" correct because that's how it is in RL at 5'6". 

Interestingly, it translates a little differently depending on mesh body--my Legacy is taller than my Maitreya without my changing anything.

[Starberry Passion]

17 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

I think maybe part of it is that I have seen that look before in a movie where the character was around 14, 15 years old. Even without the ribbon I wouldn't age her as 18, but I just looked on the photo page and seen Rowan replaced the photo with a full frontal view and that I would put somewhere between 17-19. Her other photo's do appear as being mid twenties and at times even older but just not that particular one you are referring to with the side profile.

That's fair but She looks adult to me. It is true that she looks youthful in the photo but youthful, however, doesn't always mean child. To me, this is a very romantic look, looks like she is just dressed to go on a date or dressed to be girly.

This, to me, is a very feminine, soft, girly look that just shows a less masculine side of her.

Like this is what it's giving.

 

Edited May 11 by Starberry Passion

[BilliJo Aldrin]

1 hour ago, Anna Nova said:

I've decided to reduce by half the amount of money I bring into SL, just in case I get banned by the thought police.  I am NOT going be over 160 cm, no matter what any bigot thinks.  Real female humans are seldom over 6 ft except in the USA (which I ain't).

*converting to feet and inches* oooo 5ft 3 nice

 

 

[BilliJo Aldrin]

1 hour ago, Starberry Passion said:

Ribbon isn't specifically child though, wives all across the U.S. use to wear ribbons in their hair all the time. I mean, look at I Love Lucy.

Ribbons are a sign of femininity. In fact, ribbons are seen as Hyperfeminine still in today's society.

I look at that picture and I think her mom had just finished dressing her up to go to church

Edited May 11 by BilliJo Aldrin
changed words

[Codex Alpha]

57 minutes ago, Starberry Passion said:

Yeah, the Teddy bear didn't start out as a popular child's toy, though it is represented as childhood. A lot of adults, today, still have and sleep with a teddy bear, Including straight men.

🤣