Is height Synonymous with age?

[Cindy Evanier]

Back in 2009 my 6ft 2 inch shape was called a child, small, teen etc etc.  I have not changed my shape in all these years except for the bento face and now I tower over my friends in most cases.  

btw 7 year necro, you can see people have been trying to tell everyone else what to do with their size for years.  I would like to be 5 ft 5 inches like rl but... 

[Talligurl]

On August 30, 2011 at 12:08 PM, Chris Norse said:

I like short AV's. The tops of their heads make a handy place to sit a beer bottle.

Makes note, to get free beer stand next to Chris.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

On 8/30/2011 at 12:08 PM, Chris Norse said:

I like short AV's. The tops of their heads make a handy place to sit a beer bottle.

/me swats Chris across the top of the head.

I don't know where you are right now, Chris, but wherever it is . . . I hope that hurt a little.

[LittleMe Jewell]

34 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

/me swats Chris across the top of the head.

I don't know where you are right now, Chris, but wherever it is . . . I hope that hurt a little.

Chris hasn't been on SL in many years.  

[Magnek Fang]

The fact that this has come back up shows it's still a issue. I've had to buy a chest for the Kemono out of fear of being mistaken for a kid. And quite a few people still lump anime avatars and child avatars in the same basket :/. So yeah.... 

[Dillon Levenque]

It is still an issue but from my perspective less of one than it was back when this thread originated. Even then the trends away from max height avatars was under way, though. It's (in my view) considerably more common now to see avatars approaching RL height norms. See Cindy's post farther up this page and Scylla's thread from a yesterday:  

Why did the software decide to add a snippet of my picture from a post well down in that thread to my saved URL of the OP?

Edited December 16, 2018 by Dillon Levenque

[KanryDrago]

On 8/29/2011 at 1:40 PM, Imnotgoing Sideways said:

Is height synonymous with age in real life?  If so, my 6' tall freak of a 15 year old cousin is older than my 4'9" gramma.  In an environment of "your world - your imagination" why try to set ~anything~ arbitrarily at all?  ()

No, more the matter is the paranoia over any discrepency of avatar height is synonymous with the idiocy of the person you're dealing with. ()

If you say you're not a kid, you're not a kid.  Anyone wanting to oppose your point or convince you otherwise is godmodding, at best. ()

But, if you're wanting to fit in around a crowd of Boobzilla Frankenbarbies and Hulkmacho Manchunk avatars, expect to have to compromise a little. ()y

 

Sadly not the case in many nations your local law enforcement will look at it and goes looks underaged to us you are nicked mate. It doesnt matter what you claim your avi is.

[Tomomi Fukai]

Saying you're not an underage avatar does not by itself make you not an underage avatar . The fact that you even have to say it means it's obvious you know very well your avatar doesn't clearly look like an adult. Otherwise, why would you bother? 

Don't be mad at the people who look at you and think you look like a kid even though you say you're not. Be mad at the ageplaying pedophiles who have been using that excuse for years. You have complete control over what your avatar looks like. If you don't want to be mistaken for one of them in an adult sim, don't look and sound like one of them in an adult sim. 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 hour ago, Tomomi Fukai said:

Saying you're not an underage avatar does not by itself make you not an underage avatar . The fact that you even have to say it means it's obvious you know very well your avatar doesn't clearly look like an adult. Otherwise, why would you bother? 

Don't be mad at the people who look at you and think you look like a kid even though you say you're not. Be mad at the ageplaying pedophiles who have been using that excuse for years. You have complete control over what your avatar looks like. If you don't want to be mistaken for one of them in an adult sim, don't look and sound like one of them in an adult sim. 

This seems a little unfair: you're essentially leaving anyone with an "undersized" avatar at the mercy of the judgement of anyone who chooses to take umbrage at one's avi, however unreasonable their impression might be.

Surely this isn't so cut-and-dry, and as in any situation, we expect everyone -- both those with smaller avis, and those who are judging them -- to be reasonable, thoughtful, and somewhat generous about this. Yes, if one is using an avatar that might reasonably be read as a child in an adult area, or engaged in anything that might be construed as "adult," then you should be warned off.

But, frankly, I'm not going to allow myself to be bullied by bigots who jump to unreasonable and unsupportable conclusions merely because they've arbitrarily "decided" what I represent -- anymore than I'd let you decide that my avatar is insufficiently "feminine."

[Theresa Tennyson]

4 hours ago, Tomomi Fukai said:

Saying you're not an underage avatar does not by itself make you not an underage avatar . The fact that you even have to say it means it's obvious you know very well your avatar doesn't clearly look like an adult. Otherwise, why would you bother? 

Don't be mad at the people who look at you and think you look like a kid even though you say you're not. Be mad at the ageplaying pedophiles who have been using that excuse for years. You have complete control over what your avatar looks like. If you don't want to be mistaken for one of them in an adult sim, don't look and sound like one of them in an adult sim. 

Someone probably shouldn't use the Japanese honorific "-chan" either, which is generally used for children and adolescent girls.

[Tomomi Fukai]

1 hour ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

Someone probably shouldn't use the Japanese honorific "-chan" either, which is generally used for children and adolescent girls.

Only by fetishists who get all of their information from watching too much anime. "-chan" is not delineated by the age but by familiarity. Unless you think calling your grandmother "O bāchan" is saying she is a little girl. It's no more reserved for minors than "baby" is in English. 

Edited December 17, 2018 by Tomomi Fukai

[Selene Gregoire]

5 hours ago, Tomomi Fukai said:

Saying you're not an underage avatar does not by itself make you not an underage avatar . The fact that you even have to say it means it's obvious you know very well your avatar doesn't clearly look like an adult. Otherwise, why would you bother? 

Don't be mad at the people who look at you and think you look like a kid even though you say you're not. Be mad at the ageplaying pedophiles who have been using that excuse for years. You have complete control over what your avatar looks like. If you don't want to be mistaken for one of them in an adult sim, don't look and sound like one of them in an adult sim. 

I don't imagine you would like it very much if someone told you what you to do with your avatar any more than other people like it when you tell them what to do with theirs. My RL height is 5' 4" and it's the same in SL. I'm not changing my height just because some jerkface wants to try to say I'm a child in SL. In the 14 years I've been in SL I have never played or even had a desire to play a child nor have I ever been accused of being a child avatar due to height alone. Anyone that throws that card is a bluffing bully and should be horse whipped.

[Cronix Byron]

Real life height explained: Genetics (60% determination) + food your parents ate (0-20%) + food you ate (0-20%-[40% if parents never ate])  = You can be as small as the boy next door but still be an adult if the boy is lucky and you are unlucky.

[Drakonadrgora Darkfold]

18 hours ago, Abdashey said:

I know this is old and iu am bumping a necro, but I get the same with a 5ft 8in tall avie with a Mid B cup but she is lithe. Someone said she looked like a preteen. So apparently this is a preteen? Just cause she is lithe and has smaller than a D cup and maybe a young looking face?

 

2

A lot of people here think anything under the new norm of 7'+ tall amazonian with large breasts and arse is a teen/child. They either forget or never knew the real size of what avatars were back in the prim and sculpty days before mesh.

In fact, there are some sims that prefer users to use the shorter realistic heights for avatars in them because the sim and buildings were built around those sizes.

But you will still find those that will try and call it a child avatar, as long as in your profile or a pick you basically state they are not and the age they are meant to be that's all that you really ever have to worry about.

Though some dance clubs might still kick you from them thinking short is young. I had a friend that had the same problem when she went to clubs. The club owners always claimed she was a child avatar and was not allowed even when she told them she wasn't. Short and 'cute' or anime = child in their eyes.

[Tomomi Fukai]

3 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

I don't imagine you would like it very much if someone told you what you to do with your avatar any more than other people like it when you tell them what to do with theirs. My RL height is 5' 4" and it's the same in SL. I'm not changing my height just because some jerkface wants to try to say I'm a child in SL. In the 14 years I've been in SL I have never played or even had a desire to play a child nor have I ever been accused of being a child avatar due to height alone. Anyone that throws that card is a bluffing bully and should be horse whipped.

I've seen plenty of avatars that were short but did not resemble a minor. I've also seen plenty that obviously do resemble minors and try to say they are just short, petite, normal, real life sized, etc. No one characteristic can be used as a metric for determining the age your avatar appears to be. 

 

[Callum Meriman]

Not bad that a 7 year old necro can still cause so much angst.

Well played Mr. Necromancer, well played.

[Selene Gregoire]

1 hour ago, Callum Meriman said:

Not bad that a 7 year old necro can still cause so much angst.

Well played Mr. Necromancer, well played.

oops 

[Fionalein]

11 hours ago, Callum Meriman said:

Not bad that a 7 year old necro can still cause so much angst.

Well played Mr. Necromancer, well played.

It is an unsolved issue. I have seen clubs excerting it on folks while keeping staff that looked almost the same ... clear case of favouritism there. It would not be as bad when they were consequent - but many are not.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Fionalein

[MoiraKathleen]

I didn't look at the starter male avatars, but the current offering of LL female starter avatars are ranging (just using the Edit Shape height reading) from 1.72 M for a couple of the fantasy avatars to 2.02 M for one of the classic female styles that is wearing heels.  Most of them seemed to be in the 1.8 to 1.9 range.  Not as short as some ladies have posted above, but I think considerably shorter than the female starter avatar I choose back in 2014.  

[Theresa Tennyson]

5 hours ago, Tomomi Fukai said:

Only by fetishists who get all of their information from watching too much anime. "-chan" is not delineated by the age but by familiarity. Unless you think calling your grandmother "O bāchan" is saying she is a little girl. It's no more reserved for minors than "baby" is in English. 

And who exactly do you think is on Second Life?

[KathrynLisbeth]

Well duh!   It's subjective.  Height, other body proportions,  AO, manner of dress all of that blends in the mind of the person viewing the avatar.    The other body proportions are not limited to the obvious hip and breast size either.  I will postulate that the face proportions due to human allometric growth will have a strong influence on perception.   Eg. Kids grow into their head size - They tend to have bigger heads and faces in proportion to body.    Some of this perception is of course influenced by cultural biases,  real life phenotypical norms on a day to day basis, etc. 

But.... 

Is always this.    If land owner takes umbrage to your appearance.    a) change,  b) leave,   c) be forced to leave

Afterwards, can always make a forum post or thread about how so and so is a meanie poopy head that told you to change.  Then we can ramble on about that for a few pages.  Eh?  is something to talk about at least.  Gives the opportunity to share some funny gifs.  

You could try asking the land owner to leave?   Let us know how that turns out.

Edited December 17, 2018 by KathrynLisbeth
hit save too soon

[Scylla Rhiadra]

5 hours ago, KathrynLisbeth said:

But.... 

Is always this.    If land owner takes umbrage to your appearance.    a) change,  b) leave,   c) be forced to leave

Afterwards, can always make a forum post or thread about how so and so is a meanie poopy head that told you to change.  Then we can ramble on about that for a few pages.  Eh?  is something to talk about at least.  Gives the opportunity to share some funny gifs.  

You could try asking the land owner to leave?   Let us know how that turns out.

This is, of course, the reality of the situation. And there is certainly not much to be gained by posting or complaining about it . . . here, or even in-world.

That said, owning a sim doesn't exempt you from criticism. Asshats are still asshats, even if they are paying the rent on the parcel, and I reserve the right to call them out as such when they behave that way, even if they have the right -- and more importantly, the power -- to exert their asshattishness on me or others.

[Selene Gregoire]

34 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

even if they have the right -- and more importantly, the power -- to exert their asshattishness on me or others.

They may have the power but they do not have the right to exert their asshattedness on others. Their dictatorship ends where others' rights begin.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

12 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

They may have the power but they do not have the right to exert their asshattedness on others. Their dictatorship ends where others' rights begin.

Solar finds that amusing  . . . because Solar sometimes seems to find ethics an amusing concept.

But yes.

[Solar Legion]

9 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

They may have the power but they do not have the right to exert their asshattedness on others. Their dictatorship ends where others' rights begin.

They pay the tier, they get to decide who can be on the parcel.

Beginning and end.

Just like how Linden Lab operates where bans and such are concerned: Your rights are very limited when it comes to things like Second Life (and other social platforms/media) - like it or not. At the end of the day, Linden Lab decides who has access to their service or not and they have made it so that those who pay them tier or otherwise have access to the relevant parts of the Land Controls determine who has access or not with only Linden Lab able to override.

Your only "right" in such a situation boils down to being able to complain on third party fora and a personal blog.