trixp

Thank you! And thanks to everyone else who has had supportive responses/is taking time out of their day to fill out the survey. My apologies to anyone I've offended or annoyed with my post. That was not my intention! As stated, I want to incite open discussion but leave the option open for anonymity with the survey.

How would you describe your gender offline? Female - I both identify as female and have a female body What gender do you choose to embody in second life? I have played as both a male and a female. Currently playing as female. What can of physical traits appeal to you when you are creating your avatar and why? I guess I try to make my avatar look as much like me as possible. That said, there is no option for cellulite or weird love handles on SL. I think I also try to accentuate the physical traits I wish I had offline - for example, I made my avatars eyes more green, lips bigger, complexion brighter, etc. How do you choose your gender in other virtual worlds? The only other RPG games I play usually don't have the same options to customize your avatar in the same detail as SL. That said, I usually use female avatars. Does your sexuality offline match your sexuality online? Do you ever experiment? Yes, I also only really use RPG's for my own entertainment and to make friends/social networking. I have a romantic partner offline so my sexuality doesn't usually even come into the picture when I am gaming. Do you experiment? If you were playing as the opposite sex online how would this affect the way you engage in sexuality online? I have played as a male, just because I wanted to see what it was like. It made me nervous and shy, I felt like I was deceiving people and I didn't like it. Do you ever experiment with different sexual practices online that you don't offline? Which ones? Not really. Like I said I usually use RPG's and websites like SL for my own entertainment and for social networking. Any romantic relationships I have had offline mirror my offline desires/experiences. If you experiment with gender/sexuality on second life, what do you find most appealing about it? Not with sexuality, but with gender. I like that I can create a avatar that is feminine in ways that I am not online. Like I said, I am able to create a body/appearance that accentuates the physical traits I wish I could possess offline without spending thousands on plastic surgery.

trixp wrote: I guess I will have to focus next on why SL users secret desire to become a robot offline then....**Only uploaded images may be used in postings**://secondlife.i.lithium.com/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-wink.gif" border="0" alt=":smileywink:" title="Smiley Wink" /> Would it help if I'd sign the survey with 'Steve Austin' ? **Only uploaded images may be used in postings**://secondlife.i.lithium.com/i/smilies/16x16_robot-tongue.gif" border="0" alt=":robottongue:" title="Robot tongue" /> Hahaha, results will read: Met Steve Austin in SL, good times were had. Doesn't even know the rules to wrestling...still kills it. edit: I don't know how to reply to a post and keep the original text in my response. fail.

Thanks for you constructive response! I have been playing in SL, but only for a few months and not as avidly as many others. I've been able to engage in some decent conversation within the game but I guess I wanted to reach a broader audience. I have played now both as a male and as a female, but to be honest I don't think I play enough to notice any severely different reactions to my avatar. I'm going to try what you've suggested, I really do like the idea of going to the same space as both male and female. Thanks! I see the survey has not been a hot topic, getting put on the hot seat for that little link! As stated, my main motive was to instigate a discussion within the thread. I simply posted the survey for people who would like to participate but wanted to remain anonymous. Of course no one is being forced to participate. Although, I do agree, maybe the way I phrased the question came off as a little bit too "give me answers!".

Thanks! I never assumed that people would choose a different gender on SL because they are questioning their own gender or sexuality offline. At the same time, I want to find out if there are instances of this. The anonymity of the internet can be great because it provides safety for people who might actually want to experiment with gender in ways they can't safely do offline. Beyond playing with gender, it has perks for exploring sexual identity as well. The internet spans the world and gives people who may have a difficult time finding a safe and inviting community offline the option to find one online (this encourages democracy and a lot of other great stuff!). So I guess my response is that I'm not just interested in how people bend their gender or sexuality online. I'm interested in how people simply construct their gender/sexuality online, whether it matches their offline identity or not. I guess I will have to focus next on why SL users secret desire to become a robot offline then....

Fair enough! Just to clarify I'm not doing research funded through the university. This is for my own personal interest and to insite discussion with peers in an upper year anthropology class. Although I am writing a short "ethnography" for this class my intention isn't solely to disseminate gendered identities on SL. I mostly wanted to instigate conversation with other RPG players and to see how they felt about it. Because it is online, ethics get a little bit blurred. The internet is an anonymous space so ethical issues like age and cognisense can't really be judged unless you choose to tell me (the entire point of my research). My apologies if my google survey has offended you or anyone else! Just wanted to give people who DID want to discuss the opportunity to do so anonymously. What could I do to prove to you that this is proper academic work? How would you suggest I avoid this apparently shotty looking approach?

Hey guys! I know there are probably a lot of old threads about this but please hear me out! My name is Nicole and I am a Second Life player and am doing research on gender and sexuality in virtual worlds at Concordia University in Montreal! I really would like to have an open discussion about this but I've also written a few questions just to get the conversation flowing. I've also made a short survey on google for anyone who wants to remain anonymous or just doesn't feel like answering in the thread or being part of the discussion. I would appreciate ANY answers or time you take talking to me about this. I have tried to talk to people about these questions within the game but not many people are keen on discussing this stuff with me. Here is a link to the survey and here are the questions which I've asked in the survey: 1. Do I have permission to use your answers in my research? Just say yes or no, if you're worried about anonymity just let me know and I will leave your username out! 2. How would you describe your gender offline? For example are you male or female or neither? Does your physical birth sex align with how you identify your gender? 3. What gender do you choose to embody in second life?Do you use an avatar that matches your gendered body offline? If so, why? If not, why?4. What can of physical traits appeal to you when you are creating your avatar and why? Regardless of gender, how do you choose how you want your avatar to look? Do these traits parallel you appearance offline? If not, why do you choose these specific traits? 5. How do you choose your gender in other virtual worlds?If you choose to embody the same or different gender online as your physical body offline in second life, do you do the same in other virtual worlds? What about in single player games? 6. Does your sexuality offline match your sexuality online? Do you ever experiment?For example, if you are a heterosexual male offline do you always engage in heterosexual interactions on second life? Do you experiment? If you were playing as the opposite sex online how would this affect the way you engage in sexuality online? 7. Do you ever experiment with different sexual practices online that you don't offline?Which ones? 8. If you experiment with gender/sexuality on second life, what do you find most appealing about it? Feel free to post anything, even if you don't feel like answering all or any of the questions. I just want to pick your brain and engage in discussion with everyone!