One of the most bogus stereotypes among the "progressives" about Second Life is that this virtual world -- where you can be anyone you imagine -- is racist, or reinforces stereotypes, or doesn't even have skins that can be used for blacks, Latinos, and Asians!
Of course, you can pick up a free black skin -- or white skin, or dog avatar -- at the I Am Legend orientation island built by the Electric Sheep as part of a game related to the new movie -- but I guess that's too politically-incorrect, too, oh, low-brow, American, mass taste?
There is no dearer meme held among the do-gooding Twittering chattering class than this idea that even virtual worlds, which were supposed to free us from prejudice, perpetrate the age-old stereotypes.
Sorry, I don't buy it, and while I'm sure I'm going to step on certain toes by sticking to this perception, I have to tell the truth about my own direct experience of SL, which has involved a lot of customer contact and attendance at all kinds of public events -- as well as RL meet-ups.
I recall in October of this year, on the exhibit hall floor of Virtual Worlds 07, I got into an unpleasant argument (the only of that sort that I had at this important Metaverse meet-up), and pissed off this fellow Peter Marx, who is famous and important. Somehow, we got talking about the Interdependence Day debate and race in Second Life, and Marx was waxing indignant. He insisted that it was not even possible to make good non-white skins in SL. I totally begged to differ. As it happened, at that moment I was chatting with Beth Coleman, the MIT professor who happens to be African-American, who had come up to me to query why I had disagreed with her on the Clay Shirkey debate, when it seemed we should have disagreed. She didn't appear to chime in with Peter Marx about the inability to make black avatars in SL, but she should be left to comment herself.
I asked Marx if in fact he had spent any significant time in SL and worked with the appearance mode. Marx, winding himself up to one of those "don't you know who I *am* pitches, insisted that as an expert 3-D artist, he was absolutely right, and there simply weren't any range of options. I completely begged to differ: one of the first things I did in Second Life in September 2004 when I joined an made Prokofy and another alt was create a black female and black male look -- the Herald even reported on it (the story was filled with fake and false statements BTW). Of course you can make a black or brown or purple avatar! You just move the slider, duh.
After that, I had it in the back of my mind to try to figure out what ON EARTH they were talking about. If the point was that there were no really photorealistic looking *store-bought* skins for Asians and Latinos and Africans, that seemed utterly bogus, too. I have had gadzillion tenants over the years. I constantly see dark-hued avatars, and tenants often tell me, or write on their profile, that they are Hispanic or African-American. I see the most fabulous looks all the time; in my experience, most "people of colour" don't chose to make a white avatar, although some smaller percent might make non-human avatars, just like white folks.
I mentioned this argument on racism to one prominent developer, and he goggled. "There are fuckloads of black people in Second Life," he marvelled.
Thinking perhaps there was something about the issue of quality, or the tonality of the skins (I had heard that while there were black skins, they didn't look natural enough), I scrutinized the black skin of Colin Parris, VP of IBM, an African American who has a custom black-skinned avatar in SL. He spoke at Metanomics one day. His skin looked completely natural. Do I need remedial perception classes to get in sync here? Huh? What is this about?!
I looked back at my screenshots of the avatar made for Bishop Tutu by the Electric Sheep, for an appearance at Reuters during a world media confernce. Absolutely natural looking African skin. Um...am I missing something here?!
And here's good-hearted Fleep Tuque, getting on the band-wagon now as this politically-correct meme gets its latest legs, saying, "What does it say about our community if there are dozens of male and female white avatars that can be given to new users for free, but none for non-white skin types?".
She says she has looked all over, and claims solemly: "There are virtually NO fully transferable skins for folks who wish to have an african, latino, asian, or other non-white skin type."
Um, Fleep? Have you looked in your library lately? About a year ago, the Lindens made ready-made "looks" for newbies. These include Asian skins as well as dark-hued skins. Also uh...there's the slider. The slider in appearance mode makes you any colour you like, with eyes any colour you like, all for free.
And frankly, I simply don't accept that there are no freebie transferable non-white skins. And of course, the patronizing attitude that comes in saying that such skins must be made available free goes without saying...
Oh, I'm well aware that Brace Corral has been cited by Clickable Culture on her experiences...in 2004...about having trouble finding a *good* black skin that worked right with lighting in SL. But...that was long ago and far away in another galaxy. I do believe we have come a ways since then with the huge boom in population of all types in Second Life. (Haven't seen Brace around much lately, I think she got fed up with SL for all kinds of reasons and moved on to other reals, hope she checks in!)
I realize that the idea of racism -- and *gasp* that there isn't even a single decent dark skin to wear! * is one of those memes that people will cling to zealously for various reasons, one because they want to have a do-good cause to feel good about, and advance their reputation feeling good about themselves and having others pat them on the back, but more to the point, for outsiders -- unlike Fleep -- who dislike Second Life, they want yet another thing to bash SL with. This is a nice, ready-made, guilt-laden cudgel to beat people with.
A few media stories, such as one particularly unsophisticated study in The Register, make this false claim, itself inherently racist: "many of the real-life black people in SL are using white avatars, perhaps in hopes of pruning their passing skills." Ugh. It's just not true.
Or take a more sophisticated blogger's approach from Poinky Malaprop, curator of the Kurrian Expedition, that still winds up with a whine, opining that in SL, "It seems that we are leaning more to the reinforcement of biases than liberation, but I wonder if people are going to get tired of having to appear in a certain way in order to be accepted."
Sadly, Poinky repeats this utterly ridiculous, poorly-researched article by Hamlet nee Linden Au, again, not based on *real black experience* (hey, that would be far too radical to really go out there and get it) but on the lachrymose drama-mongering of a play-actor:
"Of course, prejudice and bias is as common in virtual worlds as in any other place where people interact: it runs rampant. Hamlet Au (nee Linden) described the negative comments one Second Life user received when she went from white and blonde to “a staggeringly attractive, astoundingly photo-realistic, young African-American woman.'" Rolls eyes. Say, do you think maybe people *sense* when you pull crap like this, just like they have gen-dar? Uh...rampant? When there is one account from one avatar posted by *Hamlet*???
I had to really chuckle at the dweebs indulging in this sort of facile hand-wringing, because, hey, open your eyes, and look at the conferences even if you are not willing to read the backs of people's avatars or even look around the world.
At Virtual Worlds, the HiPiHi executive complained that there were no Asians or other non-whites, and was immediately adopted as politically-correct mascot. I guess he didn't look around the conference hall and see Second Lifers who are Asian. There was a bashing of all virtuality as being made by old white guys. Except...if you looked around the room, you would see Everett Linden, an African American working at Linden Lab.
Oh, to be sure, the virtual-world bastion of game executives, professors who dine out on ludology, and techno journos tends to be populated by white males. I'll never forget the contrast between State of Play 2 and Second Life Community Convention 1 -- the former nearly completely white and male; the later sprinkled liberally with females, blacks, Latinos, Asians. And no, the engineers, fashion designers, and socializing club owners didn't track with the stereotypes you might imagine.
But...that is exactly the point. When Cornell West intones that there are no "people of colour" in Second Life; when others accuse Second Life of being prejudiced or too Wonder-Bread White, what they really mean is that there aren't progressives who fit their own model of what it means to be a politically-correct person of colour. What they mean is that there are no people like them -- a left-wing professor or prominence, or a politically-active progressive figure. They are blind...and not to colour, but to people who do count, and who do exist, and who do thrive in Second Life -- but are not culturally akin to them, and whose cultures, lifestyles, values are not their own.
I know from my tenants, for example, just how many black female entrepreneurs there are in Second Life (and some of them are transgendered males) -- starting clothing and furniture businesses, financial services, clubs, networks, island rentals. Given the huge boom in the Brazilian population of Second Life, anybody who went around complaining that SL is too lily-white must never have been to Ilha Brasil, one of the Popular Places sims constantly hopping with shopping, events, dancing, socializing.
And to be sure, in perfectly tracking real life, the people who are the most poor and lacking in resources in Second Life are often people who are minorities within real life in the US or Europe. I know this because my tenants who start SL working as dancers and bouncers and escorts, or who sit endlessly camping or trying casinos either tell me about themselves or they put proudly on their profiles that they are Hispanic or African American, or in some cases Asian (yes, there is such a thing as being young and poor in Japan and desperate to make it on Second Life).
I often wonder what it would be like if we could take the top off Second Life, and see the faces of the people behind the avatars. All these politically-correct geeks who find it fashionable to posture about racism might be surprised to see some of the things they loathe and fume about -- like camping, botting, gambling, the sex trade -- tracking with some of the poorest minorities of real-life, too. I've made this point any number of times in discussions with the indignant politically-correct, and they are utterly unpersuaded of its relevance.
To which I can only issue those who are paid to be journalists in Second Life: go get the interviews. Whenever this discussion comes up, the *real* black people are missing. They aren't starting it; they aren't participating -- journalists who make the claim of racism never bother to look up the many groups in SL representing minorities or to talk to the real leaders of communities.
Do RL minorities experience racism in SL? You don't find them talking about it; it appears more to be the salon-type chit-chat of the politically-correct white dudes on the conference circuit. Oh, and the person who likes to dress up in a dark skin for a day or two and get all emo about how they think they experienced racism.
As I think about all the police blotter incidents in my own rentals this year, I recall only one case of racism, which was directed at a young fellow who himself wrote on his profile, in the idiomatic style of the day, that he was a "Niggarican" i.e. black Puerto Rican ("niggah" is the word constantly used in schools these days among blacks themselves and whites have started picking it up -- and I constantly am jarred by it, and really don't like to hear my kids using it -- I don't think it's right -- there is a big sign in my son's school saying "Don't use the N word" but it has little effect...).
This tenant experienced harassment for a mafia-like group that had been harassing others on the sim, some former disgruntled tenants evicted after they harassed their neighbour one too many times, and they directed a specifically racist verbal abuse at this fellow.
Just because you don't see racism doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but I frankly don't see it on any of the blogs and SL-media -- except as a faux white-man's-guilt sort of issue. So let's have it out!
A corollary to the idea that minorities are oppressed even in virtuality is that "the Third World" (assume properly religious posture) is also "blocked" from Second Life because high-speed Internet lines and a high-end graphics card and computer are required. (I never recall hearing those guilt-stricken and pious lectures about the Internet itself back in the day.)
Of course, the thousands of Brazilians and other Latin Americans coming into Second Life doesn't count. They go into business, and hey, so the reasoning goes, if they bought land, how poor could they be? Why, they must be the middle class!
The idea that the lower middle class -- those aspiring to make it and use SL as a vehicle for self-improvement -- doesn't "count" is one of those deeply-held politically-correct ideals which make the left generally repugnant. It's good to expose it. I don't know at what point a denizen of the Third World crosses the line from being deserving poor to be undeserving middle class, but I count on Second Life to make that clear to me : )
Of course, into this is woven that truly One Bad From An Adult called "One Laptop Per Child" which is about the most insane totemic tribal techno concept that ever was uttered. The fetishizing of both children and technology to the detriment of adults and non-technological solutions (like paying living salaries to teachers and medical pesonnel so they can make their own choices about what to get their children) is one of those unabashed utopian ideals that the computer nerds have unleashed on us, but let's hope it will die a natural death, before the unintended consequence of more kids hooked on mindless games and more fraudulent emails are unleashed on the world.
Even Rik Riel, who I can count on to be politically correct on every occasion, had to say that Ben Barber speaking at Interdependence Day was an idiot.
Benjamin Barber was once famous for a time for his book Jihad vs. McWorld (overstating both wildly)
Interdependence Day, which was a completely limp event that was supposed to celebrate diversity, and instead, mainly celebrated how silly geeky white guys look trying to go abroad to be "diverse" and spout nonsense, was an event I attended, and tried to speak sense at -- but to no avail, as there just aren't the interlocutors.
In fact, the guy who totally brought down the house was Brazilian Minister Gilberto Gil as Rik wrote, and who has been very popular on YouTube as well. It's totally invigorating hearing him talk so enthusiastically about the noosphere (I thought only Russians did that!) and the value of SL to artists -- I don't know what he represents in political or entertainment terms, but he's worth listening to on this subject.
Barber made completely silly statements, of the sort that the ranting left makes when given too large a platform -- he claimed that little children's vital organs are sold on the black market in the Western world and that nobody cared (!) -- that age old KGB-style misinformation story that has plagued newsrooms periodically for years and of course has never been proven. And yes, it was at this event that Cornell West was on hand to berate Second Life for not having "people of colour" (yes, my non-American friends, this is the politically-correct term du jour, which always makes one think of a Crayola box).
I realize that by putting out my as-usual controversial opinions, I could be deluged with even more hate then usual. But hey, I really would like to hear from *blacks, not whites* on this issue; from *Asians, not Europeans* on this issue, and not people *dressed up as other races for a day in SL*.
And when the real racism of SL occurs in the constant racist attacks of the horribly-named "Patriotic Nigras," none of the politically-correct obsessed about skin tones in SL are to be found.
Answer to Ren Reynolds, asking if virtual worlds liberate us from prejudices: yes. But they don't liberate us from politically-correct memes.
The stereotypical pimp BallerMoMo King, made famous by the SL Herald, who appears on the cover of the new book by Peter Ludlow and Mark Wallace. The RL person behind his black avatar was reportedly not black.
I'm not spreading a politically correct meme, Prok, I'm responding to feedback from the students and faculty who used SL in classes for the first time this quarter. Difficulty finding non-white avatars was an issue for them and I am simply calling attention to that fact.
And as I pointed out in my post, telling busy students to go find one on their own is not always an option, particularly for those who can only get into SL for the time their class is in the computer lab because their home PCs won't run it.
Of course you can use the slider and of course that's what I showed them, but you know as well as I do that there's a vast difference between a linden skin and a non-linden skin. You can't seriously tell me that the fact that there are dozens of well made freebie transferable white skins but truly, I could find _NO_ non-white transferable skins after many hours of seriously looking, you can't tell me that that means nothing, says nothing, has no impact on the newbies that come into SL. You're smarter than that.
I don't mean to patronize skin designers, and I don't think asking for help is being patronizing. My only goal is to give the new users I bring into SL a number of choices (human and non-human avs) that they can feel comfortable in so they can get down to the business of using SL for education. I'm sure your experiences are what they are, but I'm also sure that the vast majority of tenants you're working with are in SL for pleasure or in their spare time, and often the populations I am working with don't have that luxury.
I can't speak to any of the other incidents you mentioned, but my purpose is not to be "more liberal than thou" but rather to solve a problem that these students brought to my attention.
Posted by: Fleep Tuque | 12/19/2007 at 11:41 PM
I'm afraid I persist in having my doubts that this was really an issue for any significant number of students and faculty, Fleep, and not more of a theoretical issue, or an issue for some small number of people, that you have extrapolated indeed into a politically-correct meme.
I'm sorry, but that's how it sounds to me and I have to call it as such, given that Second Life is bursting at the seams with freebie shops and inexpensive skin shops of every conceivable hue and style.
There isn't really the vast world of difference you imagine with the slider. It's actually perfectly fine, and most people start out this way. If the students are primarily in SL for a class, and not socializing and trying to get laid, maybe they don't need a photo-realistic skin?
I'm sorry, but again, I *do not buy that there are no freebie skins*. And I also think it's not a big deal to BUY the friggin' skin, Fleep. It truly is patronizing to assume otherwise. Why not support the businesses of people who in fact make the black skins you seek? My God, is that so horrible *gasp* to pay out some money? Could your students drink one less latte this week and spend the $3.75 US on a $1000 skin?
Or perhaps you're in an underprivileged environment or country I'm not aware of -- sorry if that is the case.
When I said you were being patronizing, I meant that you were being patronizing *to people of colour themselves*. You're portraying them as people who need a freebie handout and an all-points-alert call-out fashion emergency, instead of being able to shop -- at the stores run by, I might add, in many instances, black and Hispanic entrepreneurs. Hello?
I appreciate your snide swipe at my tenants and business as being "casual" and "socializers" and therefore less aesthetic and intellectual than your "Education in Second Life" wonderfulness, as you close yourself in edu grandeur, but you are dead wrong.
I have every kind of tenant in the metaverse. There are people only in business, or only at home or in jobs, and they are worse off than those privileged enough to go to college. Many work boring jobs by day and their SL is at night.
I think you are determined to be politically correct. It's very hard to shake. I'm not buying it.
Open up the search, Fleep. Type in "Black Skins" and get this:
DLicious Skins - L$400 & L$600 Top Quality Skins (paid ad)
... keywords: skins, female skins, black skins, african skins, caribbean skins, asian
skins, oriental skins, ethnic skins, sexy skins, shapes, black shapes
Is $400 too much? That's $1.50 US.
BTW, on the library, I have had a chance now to get inworld and review it. It has an Afro hair do, but it is on an avatar who looks like a cliche Alan Ginsburg New York Jew. Then there are some Asian sort of cyberpunk skins, and some tan skins, but probably nothing certifiably "black," in the library, but I don't have my race-o-meter with me, so perhaps you can rule on this.
Sounds like something to put on the JIRA!
Posted by: Prokofy Neva | 12/20/2007 at 12:43 AM
I haven't applied myself to making skins yet because my best friend, a creole, is in the skin business. She makes a pretty damn good creole skin when She wants to look more like her rl self.
seems to me all these ignorant academics are losing ground at every turn as the information age reveals the lies they try to propagandize for the express purpose of finding someone to file a lawsuit against. those days are over. Time to grow up and get a life and work towards dealing with the real inequities in rl. SL is not going to provide any lawsuit tort so take a hike. or come on in and grab a good color skin of the race of your choice and become a productive intelligent member of sl and build a sim that will serve as an honest, not bald faced lies propaganda platform, educational experience.
if anyone has a good skin for whatever race they want to provide for a free avatar then by all means send it along and i'll put together a free avi pack to go with it.
but by all means take your litigious worthless drivel somewhere else. your not going to find any shoulders to whine on here. there are far too many people of intellect in sl to buy the stink your selling on behalf of your law firm.
Posted by: Ann Otoole | 12/20/2007 at 01:51 AM
You humans argue over the oddest ideas I must say.
Posted by: Khamon | 12/20/2007 at 05:04 AM
Well... I am not back yet but I "gots" to react to this one. Yes, there are loads of black people in SL and yes, you can find some good skin, too.
But, as I have written before I found my black skin, LL does not offer a black skin to newbs in the default settings.
Racist? I don't think so, I don't like to call everyhing racism anyway. But it is a major oversight. You can just hear the likes of Al Shapton wail about how they offer you either white or animal skin in SL - and that potentially damaging statement holds some truth.
I don't see reason to act all indignant and PC about this. But I do fear that those who do, have the louder voice, and that it would be wise for LL to add a default black avi, just to prevent a big stink.
I may be behind in my observations as I haven't seen default avi offerings for three months. But I trust nothing has changed...
Signed, Tish - white boy posing as black girl.
Posted by: Laetizia Coronet | 12/20/2007 at 05:48 AM
To me SL is about doing what your heart desires and presenting yourself in any way you want. So you don't see a lot of black skins, so what. What makes the people behind the avatars any less interesting or important. "Oh, you're white in RL, how common". Puh-lease, just get over it. The real stereo-typing and discrimination comes from these weak-kneed, politically correct milksops who judge everyone by a color bar or some stupid ethnic standard which doesn't really matter here. I chose a black skin to be different than what I am in RL and to stand out amongst my peers in SL. I don't pretend to be black at all. I am who I and I intereact with others based on a set of characterizations I have created for my avatar. GoSpeed is my artisitc canvas and my proxy to express myself in this world.
And don't tell me dark skinned avatars are hard to find in world. Click the link associated with my name below. I have a Flickr group called SL-Ebony dedicated to dark skinned avatars. We currently have 73 members and more than 1,100 screenshots to date.
GoSpeed
Posted by: GoSpeed Racer | 12/20/2007 at 06:12 AM
I refer Mr. Tuque to the November 16th and October 19th entries (2007) of Fabulously Free in SL; both show African skins available for free. (Time taken to find those: maybe ten minutes.) Admittedly, a bunch of the freebies I've found are no-transfer, but surely it wouldn't be that hard to take the class on a field trip to <3 Cupcakes, or hand them a landmark?
I agree with you on this one, Prokofy. (And yes, non-Russians do talk about the noosphere; probably most notably Teilhard de Chardin, the guy who coined the term.)
Posted by: Melissa Yeuxdoux | 12/20/2007 at 08:30 AM
Melissa,
Yes, I suspect the whole "no black skins" thing is more about class than race. Class is terribly demarcated in America, more than Britain I'll bet! If you drive an SUV, for example, you are in a lower, despised, wretched class from which you can never aspire to leave, the taint will remain with you your entire life, even if you graduate from Harvard with honours.
See, a class like this, involved in serious edu-business, is not going to go to an establishment called, erm. 3> Cupcake.
Go back to your Wikipedia on noosphere:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noosphere
Vernadsky originated the theory; de Chardin added to it.
Posted by: Prokofy Neva | 12/20/2007 at 08:52 AM
Fleep said "I'm not spreading a politically correct meme, Prok, I'm responding to feedback from the students and faculty who used SL in classes for the first time this quarter."
well... yeah... I bet they had a hard time finding nice clothes to wear and a place to build that wasn't surrounded by ugly stuff and a car that worked, etc..... they were noobs who were there because someone else wanted them to be there. Finding things, including skins that match your desired appearance, or learning how to create those things takes time + patience.
The racism I encounter in SL is of the nasty trolling variety and is over the top cruel either with the intent to grief or as a propaganda tool for truly hateful RL groups. It seems there are never a shortage of SL regulars who are willing to show up and combat *that* type of racism.
Posted by: Sheeznit Naheed | 12/20/2007 at 09:15 AM
Sheeznit, what are the hateful RL groups? You mean like LePen?
Posted by: Prokofy Neva | 12/20/2007 at 12:33 PM
BTW, I don't know if this book is still taught in schools, it's where I took the title:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Like_Me
Posted by: Prokofy Neva | 12/20/2007 at 12:35 PM
Laetizia, thanks for your input -- but again, I want to hear from REAL BLACK PEOPLE ABOUT THIS. I am tired of hearing from politically-correct white people, pre-set neuralgic PC flayers of the non-PC.
Your default is your appearance mode. The appearance mode goes from 0 white to 100 black -- and also purple, red, green, etc. So there is no racism in the sliders.
As for these default skins in the library. For a long time, there were no skins in the library, only "looks," i.e. shapes and hair, of really dorky MMORPG things like "Prince Charming".
At some point when the Lindens got all bothered about trying to make orientation better, they had Pinkey Nylon and some other FIC types make some skins for the library. The skins they made approximate what these 20 or 30-something folks, likely in middle America even if they are coastal, think of as "typical newbs".
They put in Goth, and Cyberpunk (which they associated with "Asian"), they put in the Allen Ginsburg guy with a "fro" even named "a fro" although his skin is only tan, not black. They put in various other looks that are white or tan, but not black.
So no, these residents terribly feted by the Lindens (imagine getting your work put in the LIBRARY!) didn't put in black skins to represent the 11 percent of the US population and the X percent of the European population -- you tell me.
No, it is not racism. The Asian boy Torley, and the Polish girl Jeska, or whoever supervised this feting of skin-makers, didn't consciously say "Oh, let's keep out the black skins."
"But it is a major oversight. You can just hear the likes of Al Shapton wail about how they offer you either white or animal skin in SL - and that potentially damaging statement holds some truth."
I don't *care* what the idiotic Wrong Rev. Sharpton, utterly discredited in many ways (Tawana Brawley, anyone?) has to say about this. I refuse to be bullied into some PC prostration.
The slider has black, obviously. There are freebie black skins available, we've just heard about them -- at IAL, Evian, etc. There are better-crafted skins for as low as $US 1.50.
So I don't see this as some kind of egregious oversight; I don't see it as racist in the slightest; and I see it merely as a reflection of reality: *there hasn't been a demand*. Markets respond to demands, not PC central control.
Surely at some point more skins will be added to the library so we don't all have to suffer from the cartoony vision of Nylon forever.
Posted by: Prokofy Neva | 12/20/2007 at 12:47 PM
Unfortunately, Prok, there are worse than LePen. Search Combat 18 Action Group and 14 worms for starters.
>=[
Posted by: Sheeznit Naheed | 12/20/2007 at 01:49 PM
Uh, to amend my hastily pasted comment - Combat 18 Action group is a RL group and 14 Worms is a lame attempt by Thor Forte who was Banned from using "14 Words". The 14 words are googleable as well and are a rallying cry for many US based RL hate groups.
Posted by: Sheeznit Naheed | 12/20/2007 at 01:52 PM
"I can't speak to any of the other incidents you mentioned, but my purpose is not to be "more liberal than thou" but rather to solve a problem that these students brought to my attention. " - Fleep Tuque
I think you merely have hyper-sensitive students, raised in an atmosphere of 'if it is not my way, it's racism'. Several folks have mentioned how EASY it was to search and find a free skin...why don't YOU make a package and hand out to your class? Or make a skin / get someone in class that knows graphics to make a skin, and pass that out? Or quietly IM lindens/email support about the inclusing of black skins. By mentioning it in public (otherwise, how did Prok find out), you are MAKING it 'More liberal than thou'...and that says more about YOU and your students' than about LL's supposed racism.
Posted by: none | 12/20/2007 at 06:24 PM
My best friend and partner in SL is a black woman who presents as a white woman in SL. For the first nine months I knew her, I didn't know what her RL race was. She said she didn't tell me and didn't use a black skin because for once, she just wanted to be accepted for who she is, without any prejudice or people walking on eggshells around her. She has RL family in SL, all presenting as white. While I understand her reasoning, I found that, and still find it, a sad commentary on the way people are. And yes, it surprised me when I found out. I had just assumed that she was in RL more or less like she showed herself in SL, which is ridiculous in itself, as my avatar and I are pretty different. Interesting stuff.
Posted by: Persephone Kirkorian | 12/20/2007 at 06:51 PM
Totally off topic...but how long has the Herald been moderated?
Posted by: Vonn Neumann | 12/21/2007 at 08:10 AM
"Unfortunately, Prok, there are worse than LePen. Search Combat 18 Action Group and 14 worms for starters. - Sheeznit Naheed"
*Nods*...Mainly groups started by european neo-fascists.
Front National SL might be showing off as moderate nationalist party, but it isnt. Jeunesses Identitaires (& bloc identitaire) are also still active.
Worse even are the newer groups, all straight from RL networks and even recruiting on forums like Stormfront and Whiterevolution etc. Like from the European National Front-network we now also have Renouveau Francais, Asociatia Noua Dreapta, Junge National Demokraten and others.
Owners of these groups also created groups like anti-antifa, Primera Linea, Legion 88.
The people in these groups are openly racist, anti-semit, fascist, even nazist.
The 14 words phrase, swastika's, references with 18 and 88 are shown in the profiles more then once.
Luckily, they mostly seem to have the political organisational skills of the backend of a chicken...
...but for instance the owner of Renouveau Francais is also the contact person in international relations within the ENF-network in RL.
For those that would want to speak up and act against these fascist racists...be warned...even just debating in combination with their AR-frenzy and LL's corrupted AR-system can get you suspended/banned easy...for "intolerance"!
Posted by: Smoke Wijaya | 12/21/2007 at 08:56 AM
above said...I did not react to your article, but I do not have much to say about that other then that I know loads of black avatars in SL...did not even know this was an issue
Posted by: Smoke Wijaya | 12/21/2007 at 09:30 AM
I am just jumping right into the ruckus. I have been all over Second Life and have seen perhaps a dozen African-American avatars.
Is this because
a) I have not been around enough (unlikely since I will go anywhere- almost.)
b) There are not enough "skins" of this nature?
c) There is no real demand for these skins on the market?
d) People who are in Second Life prefer not to wear a minority skin?
No idea.
I know being in a minority can lead to unpleasant discrimination race or gender. I experienced, for the first time, discrimination as a white male in an 98% populated female nursing school. I got a good taste of what it was like to be discriminated against- not pleasant.
I am continually disgusted by some of the behaviors I see from male avatars towards female avatars- behavior that is borderline harrasement. Often they are new to the Grid, but it does not matter.
As an aside I know I cannot find enough silicon hillbilly "trailer trash" material to decorate my work area with beyond one or two hotspots...we do have a hidden area for this and most folks like it fine. Of course since I am from Appalachian descent and grew up impoverished I can "get away" with the trailer trash stereotype.
-wayne
Posted by: Wayne Porter | 12/21/2007 at 11:26 AM
Wayne doesn't get out much. There are loads of non-whites all over SL, including African Americans. I dunno, fly around.
Hobo stuff is not at all in short supply. It's the most popular meme people chose when they want to be "original". Boatloads of people being 'original' by having hobo stuff. Gosh, I have about 4 tenants with this right now just week, it's popular.
The free hobo stuff is all at the hobo camp in Calleta of course, by the railroad, at the infohub. And other places. Like Sleazywood (unless that went out of business). It is not a problem to find this stuff.
Posted by: Prokofy Neva | 12/21/2007 at 08:23 PM
My assumption from a design standpoint as to why black freebee skins are rarer than white/tan is just that they're harder to do without some practice. Really dark skin tones are very easy to overshade, and you can lose detail and highlights unless you take a few practice runs. Additionally, unlike very pale to tan skins, you can't just change the base hue layer in Photoshop to make a new skin - that's the reason the freebee skins on IAL are split into two versions, a white/tintable (semi-transparent so you can use the sliders to change the base hue) and a black.
The additional level of difficulty plus the inability to reuse other skin shading/highlight templates when making a dark skin are probably the two biggest reasons you don't see more freebee black skins, but as SL has gained more people and more skin designers, I think you see far more of them now than you did even a year ago.
Posted by: Cory Edo | 12/22/2007 at 06:46 AM
So, Cory, I guess you're saying Peter Marx missed something in how you create skins.
Posted by: Prokofy Neva | 12/22/2007 at 01:28 PM
From reading what you said he stated (about it not even being possible to create a good non-white skin in SL), I'd have to disagree with him, I've seen fantastic and realistic black skins in SL and have for a while now, you just need to know where to look. Its not impossible, few things really are, its just takes more practice than making a white/tan skin.
I've met a RL 3D designer in the Wastelands who plays around in SL for fun - he's African-American in RL and made a fantastic black skin within weeks of joining. Its absolutely possible once you learn your way around SL lighting and the avatar mesh.
Posted by: Cory Edo | 12/22/2007 at 03:48 PM
I'd also have to agree with you Prok on the theory that its mostly market demand driving the lack of availability of black skins, but it might also have a factor in the ethnicity of the designer - people tend to start with what they know, and if you look in the mirror every day and see a white face you're going to have a better innate knowledge of how light and shadow looks on that skin tone.
You could probably also apply both those theories to the lack of men's skin/clothing in SL compared to women's, regardless of ethnicity.
Posted by: Cory Edo | 12/22/2007 at 04:00 PM