Note: This blog entry is not meant to be offending, insulting, attacking anyone or a particular corporation. Nor is it meant to be taken too literally, but meant to spark discussion and/or debates.
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I’ve been in Second Life™ for a very long time. I’ve seen my shares of skins, facial features. I’ve seen a variety of different features accentuated in skins. And the reason I started wearing RaC skin was because it was the only skin (at my newbie days) that had the right skin tone that fitted me. I guess you can say that I was trying to shadow my RL self. When I came back to Second Life™, I’ve realized that the skin industry has evolved.
This is what I look like now:
Absolutely nothing what I looked like before…
What I looked like before. Different?
I know the whole point of Second Life™ is to be whoever you want to be. However I just want you to document how different I looked from my past self.
That being said, are we all buying the same thing and looking like everyone else? Is everyone a clone of everyone? I actually frequently visit ETD and looking at the pictures for the hairs and realized, ONE person could have been modelling all the hair. Everyone looked the same. It was like the Twilight Zone x100.
And I know the gridwide phenomenon of MMS (Minnu Model Skins). Every woman I know has at least ONE minnu skin and they are either a frequent user or a very occasional user. I don’t have a Minnu skin, I might get one someday when the bandwagon’s gone and everyone is going crazy over another skin.
There is also the modelling agencies, are they homogenous too? Do all the models wear the same hairs, same bodies, same skins? If so, WHY?! Do modelling agencies pride themselves in individuality or conformity and/or unity? Is unity or conformity a much better choice for an agency? Would you rather watch models in runways that don’t take away from the clothes or see a runway full of models with different skins that distract you from the clothes? Or is it the vice versa where a diversity allows you to see the clothes at a better light?
So answer this, do you think Second Life™ is too homogenous? Or are we diverse? Or do we simply have apathy towards both?
![[Self-Pursuit] Sitting on beauty](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2836429800_ca18e42417_t.jpg "[Self-Pursuit] Sitting on beauty")
I noticed the difference in tone (and texture, freckles, etc) right away. I had not seen you in awhile but still noticed the change. In a way that is very odd… like even in the digital world you build a graphic representation of someone/something and the association is as strong as in RL. Anyway, I like the skin better for the realism. But you know that about me, ha.
Ah you have to thank Annyka Bekkers for that. She makes great skin.
And I just get this feeling Second Life can get a little homogenous. I was a bit scared of the Celestial Studios Phenomenon. That’s what I call it, since for a long time, everyone had the CS skin and looked like robot clones of each other. That’s one scary prospect.
-Portia <3
I can see what you mean, but I guess it’s all about having the choice. The number of quality designers increases all the time, so there’s more and more room for everyone to look individual. Trends will come and go like in the real world, but at least we can find other things if we want to. And ‘outfitting’ is becoming increasingly popular too – people tend to make outfits out of many outfits rather than just wear things out of the box. There’s hope for us yet!
Ah yes. The “outfitting”. I have to agree on that one. I really love the fact that everyone’s trying to be a little bit unique by being creative about how to wear the clothes they buy or get in Second Life.
And it’s also true that there are more and more content creators out there making skins, and it is getting easier and easier for everyone to look different. I guess my point is I am just trying to emphasize the fact that Second Life can get homogenous if people don’t take the time to think out of the box, try new designers or have an individualistic style or notion.
It goes with fashion agencies too. They need to think out of the box, make a name for themselves to be extra unique since sometimes unique is what content creators want for their clothes. And a meeting of both creativity and showcasing in a creative fashion makes Second Life a more interesting place.
-Portia <3
I’d say the homogeneity is what bothers me. Everyone starts off as cheap plastic dolls wearing similar clothes; after a while everyone changes into expensive plastic dolls wearing similar but more elaborate clothes. Part of that is dictated by the nature of the world that SL gives us, part by a lack of imagination, and perhaps the largest part by a human desire to rise to the top of the gene pool.
There is an innate desire to be desirable, and the most direct route to that is to conform with the visual cues that signal physical vitality. So we end up with crowds of exceptionally tall, suberbly fit avatars with supernaturally flawless skin. Then cultural norms for appearance guide us to a limited set of clothing choices, further restricted by the fact that few have the patience or skills to design anything original for themselves, so we end up wearing fairly generic skin, shapes, clothing and accessories or patronizing a relatively small circle of good designers of the same.
Of course, this leaves out the off-center cliques like furries, Goreans, vamps and such, but within their groups each of these hits similar walls. Most of us reflect similar variations on a limited set of choices.
For models, this isn’t really a bad thing. After all, the job of a model is to display. They need to be able to epitomize the standard, to be the highest peaks in the range rather than Kilimanjaro standing alone. Really, the problem for a model is how to be normal enough while still standing out from the crowd, when all it takes for the crowd to approach the physical ideal is money, shopping skills, and a knowledge of just what that ideal really is.
For my present av I’ve deliberately gone against the norm; I picked a photorealistic skin with a ratty-looking goatee and pimples, and I wouldn’t have taken it had my av’s shape been anything like the one in the display. When I discovered I’d made my av 6′5″ tall, I delibrately took it back down to 6′2″, since that’s how tall I always wished I were RL. My av is a semi-realistic, semi-idealized version of my RL self, with my better features emphasized a bit but with most of my shortcomings present as well. Folks notice me because of my nonconformity, though I still trend close enough to the ideal to seem good-looking. But for all my rebellion in doing it this way, last night I found myself standing next to someone wearing the same jeans.
As to the agencies, I’d say it makes good business sense for them to have their models adhere to some standard they set. Having an identifiable look to graphics, clothing, architecture, or whatever helps build a brand identity, which helps build a base of confident customers. In a world where bodies are designable, having models adhere to some signature look or elements thereof can help with that process in a way that RL can only begin to approach. Then the challenge, for both agency and model, is defining just what the rules of that look are, and how far they can be bent, so that the signature is present while still allowing the models to be individuals.
And by the way… I like your new freckles.
Ah I think I’ve gone through that. I am still that plastic doll in Second Life alot. My friend Stella has always said that I always looked so clean.
Clean, I guess she meant NORMAL? There will be times I stepped out of the normal and worn something that is out of my comfort zone. Maybe that’s the problem, everyone has a problem stepping out of their comfort zone.
I don’t blame them, it’s hard to get away from what you know and what you’re used to unless you are really trying hard to be out of the norm.
Second Life has the potential for you to be completely invididualistic. You can be anything and everything you want to be and more. But if we take on the perspective of that cheap doll with expensive clothes, they are conforming because of one thing:
Natural Instinct.
You want to conform because a step out of the norm will make you different, maybe unattractive to most eyes, or be called a freak. As social creatures, we want to fit in, to interact with others and to be liked. If we conform, we achieve those things easier and allow us to intergrate ourselves in society much easier since others do not feel uncomfortable knowing or looking at someone who stepped out of the conformity box.
I don’t blame others for conforming, I just rather not COMPLETELY conform, hence my decision to change my skin to something not ALOT of people would wear.
But since we are on the topic of individualistic tendencies. Can we really say that someone who is an individual is really an individual? I remember a perfect saying for this:
“Individuality is just another form of conformity”
Let’s just ponder on that one.
-Portia <3
Now there’s an idea for an avatar: a pink monkey. (Anyone who’s ever taken psych or sociology ought to get that one.)
Ok…
So here it goes…
My name is Aya Liotta, I have many of the same feelings that Portia has. I have gone out of my way and made every effort to make my ava unique and to look as close to the RL me as possible. I have been dancing around the grid for sometime now. All of the sudden… I have noticed a very common look.
I think that SecondLife is primarily the same as RL. Everyone trying to fit in, striving to be perfect. I can say though, I own more skins thn one can count. I do not own a Minnu Skin. Tough they are lovely they never quite fit me.
I think that I try to be unique as I can. I look about as close to the RL me as possible so its sorta hard to be me in SL. Made my shape and my main skin is um one of a kind.
I think that alot of people are generic. They buy a skin and the shape that matches they are happy and on there way. This is why were are seeing so many “generic avators” and thats fine I have no problem with that. I also know for a fact that several modeling agencies have specific size requirments. All the models are intenionally conformed to have a generic look. Do I think that this is a good idea? I’m not sure. It’s the real way. Modeling agencies have standards don’t meet them you’re out. Gain 5lbs see ya later! Too thin… gain it back or get out. This also can give and angency a “look.” It allows designers to depend on the agency for a consistant product. Ever model looked great on stage before and I would expect nothing less this time around. So they return and hire the same agency again. On the other hand. Models that all look alike can be very boring. i persoanlly appreciate a Victoria Secret runway show more than a huge show in Paris of Milan. Though both have beuatiful models, Victoria Secret give that sense of uniquness. They aren’t just sticks with heads. They are ethnically diverse and have fabulous personalities.
So what I think overall is be yourself. Nothing is better than being the unique individual inside and on the out.
Ask ColeMarie shes about as unique an avator as I have ever seen and I love the girl to death.
Be unique. Be You. Be Beautiful.
<3 Aya
I think everyone wants to look beautiful… and as we are socialised to believe that a certain kind of look equals “beautiful”… most people tend to gravitate towards that kind of look. Otherwise why would I make my avatar slender and take such pains to adjust her facial features until I get the exact look I want?
Plus, maybe for some it is away of living out a dream, because they know they can’t look that way in RL. Just like some were commenting on SCD that they’d like to wear RL couture designs in SL because they could never afford it in RL – and of course would probably have nowhere to wear it to!
And this also explains the fashion blogs. We read them, we see the pretty stuff, we think, “Oh, I must get that!” and then in the end we’re all wearing the same thing and look the same. The only redeeming factor is ‘outfitting’, like what WillowC said
I agree with you all =)
-Portia <3