[If there was no gender...]

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JeanneAnne wrote:

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Ishtara Rothschild wrote:

Don't you mean micropenis conditions, gynecomastia, and hypogonadism instead of hypospadias? Hypospadias is merely a misplaced urethral opening, although it sometimes goes along with the aforementioned conditions.

Gender is very much a biological reality imho, but since both biological genders have varying amounts of both estrogene and testosterone -- even normal XX and XY karyotypes -- gender can be a rather fluid state. However, the majority of humans have rather unambiguous gender characteristics (both physical and behavioral; the latter is not to be confused with gender roles, which are indeed a bit of a social construct) and an equally unambiguous gender identity.

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Hypospadiasis can range from a slightly undershot urethral opening to a complete failure of the scrotal & **bleep** raphe to close. To my mind, mild hypospadiasis is one end of the continuum of developmental intersex conditions with mild clitoral hypertrophy at the other. Gynecomastia isn't even an issue of development but is an endocrine condition, rather.

I agree that the majority of humans have rather unambiguous gender characteristics but believe this to be due to socialization & cultural conditioning, having little to do with biology. Unless you want to argue that culture is biological, which I would agree with, making the distinction between a cultural versus biological origin of gender distinctions moot.

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How come "penyle" (sic) gets **bleeped** but "clitoral" doesn't? Is even the censorship sexist?

[If there was no gender...]

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Ishtara Rothschild wrote:

Don't you mean micropenis conditions, gynecomastia, and hypogonadism instead of hypospadias? Hypospadias is merely a misplaced urethral opening, although it sometimes goes along with the aforementioned conditions.

Gender is very much a biological reality imho, but since both biological genders have varying amounts of both estrogene and testosterone -- even normal XX and XY karyotypes -- gender can be a rather fluid state. However, the majority of humans have rather unambiguous gender characteristics (both physical and behavioral; the latter is not to be confused with gender roles, which are indeed a bit of a social construct) and an equally unambiguous gender identity.

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Hypospadiasis can range from a slightly undershot urethral opening to a complete failure of the scrotal & **bleep** raphe to close. To my mind, mild hypospadiasis is one end of the continuum of developmental intersex conditions with mild clitoral hypertrophy at the other. Gynecomastia isn't even an issue of development but is an endocrine condition, rather.

I agree that the majority of humans have rather unambiguous gender characteristics but believe this to be due to socialization & cultural conditioning, having little to do with biology. Unless you want to argue that culture is biological, which I would agree with, making the distinction between a cultural versus biological origin of gender distinctions moot.

[If there was no gender...]

I think that "gender" is a social construct that has no biological reality. Even genetic sex can be ambiguous, as all the XO, XXY, XYY karyotypes attest. As for anatomical sex, there's every intergrade from mild hypospadiasis to a slightly enlarged clitty. So just be yourself & don't worry about whatever gender stereotype you may project to others.

Jeanne

Edited for spelling.

[Any good clubs? With people?]

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Ricky40 wrote:

I am wondering if anyone knows of any good clubs to go to. Everyones says check the destination guide, but when I do that, I end up wasting time going to places with great descriptions that are empty! May be it has something to do with the time I usually log on, which is 9 pm sl times, after my shift in rl.

Any tips?

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I tend to follow my favorite DJs to whichever clubs they're DJing in, and not care much about which club it is. Since my favorite DJs are popular, there's usually a good turnout and even when there isn't, since these DJs are cool, the people who come to hear them are cool and fun to chat with and make friends with.

[Accessories You Don’t Leave Home Without:]

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Kamala Dashuria wrote:

My bare feet from Slink. I am almost always barefoot after buying them. My Deeda glasses from Kg_s, I just have a thing for glasses. All of my outfits are co-ordinated around those two items which I only ever take off by accident (or if I'm dressing formally, which happens rarely, I wear shoes..ones with Slink feet). :matte-motes-wink-tongue:

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Interesting that you mentioned bare feet Kamala. As a newbie I had a hard time getting shoes to fit properly so I decided to just be a hippie & go barefooted all the time. Of course, the feet that come with the avvie are ugly, so a friend gave me a nice set of bare feet. (I don't think they're from Slink but not sure.) But with these bare feet I had the same problem making them fit, getting the tone to match the rest of me, etc., as I'd had with shoes. I've become more skilled at editing things as prims but at first, the move, rotate & stretch was driving me crazy. I would think I had it right, then change the camera angle & see that they weren't right at all. Seemed like it would take forever to get my feet, or a piece of jewelry, or a belt, etc., to fit right. I would just about have it right then do something dumb and it would be completely screwed up. My inworld time is precious and I simply hated "wasting" time getting something to fit properly rather than spending it flying, exploring, dancing or flirting, etc. When I couldn't get something right I would become very frustrated. When I did get it right, usually just by trial & error, I'd be very pleased with myself. But then a few days later when I was working on something else, I'd forget how I'd done it the first time and get even more frustrated all over again. I mention all this because I think that it sortuv sums up both the frustrations and delights of SL for a newbie.

[Accessories You Don’t Leave Home Without:]

I change clothing, jewelry, hair, tattoos, even eyes... but I always have my invisible dance chim, so I can dance whenever I want, and my physics, and sexy walk AO, and face lighter, and... ummm, what else? Basic female jesture AO. Guess that's about it. Oh yeah, flight accelerator, too. 

[recent top hits music]

Anywhere Dream Decosta or Kallisti Enoch is DJing is gonna be a good time!

When they aren't around I go to clubs that pay $L3, $L5 & $L10 for just being there. I give the club music a listen then almost always stream the Dream Stream or Kalli's Kalliope, or my own Winamp playlist, to dance to.

[An Open Letter to Storm]

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Storm Clarence wrote:

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JeanneAnne wrote:

Irene ought to kick up some decent surf off Fire Island... Which means the cops will close the beaches. :smileysad:

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If this storm tracks up Madison Avenue as predicted everything to the east will be a lake.  There may not be a beach anymore on Fire Island when this is done.  If you think that is bad Boston is doomed; they have the RedSox.  

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I guess anythings possible Storm. But a hurricane hasn't really whacked LI hard since the 1930s, i'm told. I remember Floyd in '99, i think it was. Power was out overnite, lots of tree limbs down... thata bout it. Floyd kicked up a good surf but when me & my friends went to ride it, the cops had the beaches closed & had even closed the bridge out to shinnecock park, at hampton Bays. Bastards!

[An Open Letter to Storm]

Irene ought to kick up some decent surf off Fire Island... Which means the cops will close the beaches. :smileysad:

[I really need help, bad!!]

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Sylvia Tamalyn wrote:

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JeanneAnne wrote:

But sometimes I think that maybe LL throws in this stuff, sortuv as a Loki factor, just to keep things exciting. Just to keep the wonderment (frustration?) level up. 

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You're quite right...SL offers many moments of wonder such as this. :smileywink: :smileyvery-happy:

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Haha!  I knew it! :smileyvery-happy::smileyvery-happy::smileyvery-happy:

[Why is it so hard not to change profile pics?]

I'm new so I may not know what I'm talking about.

 

A friend took a pic of my avy & shared it with me. I wanted to put it on my profile but got a message that the program didn't recognize the format. The format was TGA. I downloaded a format changer & converted it to JPG. Then it worked. Figuring all this out took up a couple hours of my precious SL inworld time.

 

Could someone please tell me why one part of SL takes pics in a format that another part of SL doesn't recognize.

[I really need help, bad!!]

I usually log into my "home," which isn't really mine but is a home a SL friend has graciously invited me to hang out in as her guest. But then I unexpectedly started logging into the last place I'd been. I didn't understand why. But then I noticed on the login screen that the login location had changed from "home" to "last location." I didn't change it. At least, I didn't consciously or purposefully change it. A lot of weird things like this happen in SL. Things end up in the Trash, settings change, inexplicable things occur. Perhaps I do a lot of this myself, not knowing any better. But sometimes I think that maybe LL throws in this stuff, sortuv as a Loki factor, just to keep things exciting. Just to keep the wonderment (frustration?) level up. Or maybe the sim is just glitchy. Or maybe its just me.

[I really need help, bad!!]

I'm new to SL and the other day I'd worked on my outfit for a dance party where my friend would be DJing. I had my looks about right but then I crashed and when I logged back in I was just a white oval! I waited for my avy to rez but nothing happened. I logged out & back in but was still just a white oval. I freaked! I didn't know what to do. Finally I looked at the folder of everything I was currently wearing. It seemed to all be there: hair, clothes, jewelry, tats... But then I noticed that my shape or form was missing!! The shape I'd worked on for HOURS to get just right. I figured it was gone for good. I started to cry. By this time I was late for the dance. Finally, I dug thru my inv until I found my shape in the trash! How it got there I have no idea. I restored it and all was well. SL can be SOooo frustrating... yet so much fun! Both at the same time, often, for a newbie like me.