VOICES FROM THE GRID

For this issue, ECLIPSE Magazine we asked residents to share “What can SL do to increase diversity in Second Life?”

Dash Huntsman is a transgender man. He is an LQBTQIA+ advocate. He’s usually a very upbeat positive person. He loves to laugh and make others laugh aswell. He’s been in SL since Jan 2010 and credits Second Life for helping him find himself and come out as transgender.

He found SL facebook in 2017. In 2019, He started sharing that he was a gender-fluid and a transgender ally. At first he didn’t know he was transgender.

He knew something was different since he was a child. He knew he wasn’t in the right body. He didn’t know how to explain that he was a boy when the world adamantly said that he wasn’t. Late 2019 after intense soul-searching and talking with other transgender individuals. He realized he was a transgender-male. Life is a journey and it’s ok to not have all the answers. Growth isn’t always linear.

In 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, he started medically transitioning and openly documented it on SL facebook. At the end of 2021 soon after he came out in real life, and has been living as a man ever since. Today he started a new skin brand named Sovereign. Dash’s goal is to create diverse skins and push the needle of representation. Beyond skin deep. Made for you in mind.

Diversity is something a lot of companies strive for. It’s greatly appreciated even though it’s something that should be considered minimum. I believe Second Life actually does a great job in marketing diversity.

However this question is being asked in February, and in the United States it’s Black History. During this month companies like to showcase their diversity, this is similar during Pride month in June where everything is covered in rainbow colors.

So in February I’ve definitely seen an increase in broadcasting how Second Life promotes black second life avatars. However they’ve already had a faux pas this year. On the Second Life official Facebook they posted a photo titled “The many faces of Second Life”. The photo did not show diversity at all and no representation for any people of color. They swiftly corrected this once they were called out. It turned out the post was just poorly written and only meant to promote a single blogger and one specific blog post and not the “many faces” to represent the Second Life community.

[Cont’d]

Ethan Lane is an artistic soul who loves to create stories and scenarios through his images and photography. He has exhibited works in several magazines, photography contests and gallery exhibitions all across the grid. Currently, he is a blogger, a blogger manager, and artistic director for several brands in Second Life and is also the owner and builder of Tulum Reserve and Tulum Town sim. He believes that his photography represents his dreams, quirky side and playful sense of humour and always loves to explore different themes and methods for photography. Always believing that the best is yet to be, he constantly strives to improve his art and creations.

Second Life in itself is a place where anyone can be anything one chooses. The choice of being able to be yourself (or any version of yourself) is the most diverse thing one could achieve. For myself as a gay interracial person, I feel that the choices for me are sufficient and varied enough for self-expression. However, as any new user would experience, what SL really lacks here is a tutorial on getting one’s AV up to date, or understanding the multitude of choices that one has. It is only after months of use we get familiar.

Many residents end up with a default aesthetic, which in general, is a very conventional good looking Caucasian-centric avatar. Another example here is that even using a Translator HUD in SL can be a nightmare. Perhaps this should be integrated into our viewers as a default - breaking down barriers that don’t need to exist.

I think what Second Life could do is to have our residents also be more aware of diversity issues and other cultural celebrations in the world. As an example, Black History Month, or even celebrations such as Chinese New Year aren’t a thing in SL, instead, there’s almost a western-centric overview - from Sims that exist to Creators/Designers to photographers and other creative outlets. It is understandable that much of Second Life is still revenue and marketdriven hence the slightly skewed western bias, but in my years, I have noticed the change, with more creators and events including diversity within their range.

Promoting diversity should be a continuous process. We need more leaders within the SL community to drive this forward - I think it is definitely growing, but needs much more legwork.

Belladonna Wexhome (Bella to those who know here) has been an active resident of SL since August of 2009. In that time she has been a Bloodlines Liaison, Print and Runway High fashion model, Fashion Blogger and Manager of PurpleMoon Creations for almost 10 years.

The community as a whole would need to decide to promote it. Just like in RL - there is a belief in SL that things have to be monetized - and what happens then - what is popular sells. So more so than the stores - the big shopping events - would need to take the lead to promote diversity - and i don’t just mean diversity of stores (common complaint you see the same stores in all events and when some cultural event or theme is given - a lot - not all - but a lot of designers don’t even bother following it).

But there is also a catch in promoting diversity in sl - in sl people are what they WANT you to see, not what they actually are. So promoting diversity can also lead down a tricky path. I remember years ago - when the first Black Avatar won Miss Virtual World magazine. It was huge news - until bigger news came forward that the person behind the avi was NOT black. People were up in arms because the avi was black but the person who styled it wasn’t. I still don’t know how I feel about that. But I am a white CIS Gendered woman - i am talking from a place of privilege and maybe I don’t get to have an opinion on it except to support diversity the only way i know how - supporting black owned and gay owned businesses in SL, Talking and learning about people from other backgrounds than my own.

I want to say this is an easy question but it’s really not - and I don’t think it will happen in sl until someone finds a way to make diversity profitable. Sad but in my opinion true.

Mildread Gloom, or Millie as her friends call her came into SL in 2010 to meet new people. She has made some wonderful friends over the years. She loves the diverse fashion in SL and loves shopping, so she has a blog where she features goth and alternative fashion. It has been relaunched recently under its new title Beautifully Deceased. What a great name!

The only really notable thing I can think of for SL to help promote diversity in SL is really to bring back the old carousel system where you could choose from a variety of basic avatars when you signed up, and for those to include TRULY diverse avatars, including gender neutral options. For example, my eldest RL kid is now 19, I have been in SL since they were around 4yrs old. Now they are old enough to ‘play’ SL I encouraged them to sign up. My kid is actually gender fluid, so they selected the ‘gender neutral’ avatar on signing up. Imagine their disappointment when they logged in and saw that the default avatar they had been given had breasts and feminine clothing! Needless to say they haven’t logged back in again!

Sticking with this theme, perhaps LL could once again align themselves with current content creators inworld to create a free initial gender neutral avatar which also has compatible clothing, because although there are some creators in0world who have made more gender neutral bodies/ body options, clothing for them is few and far between. This means that although someone could buy a mesh body that is more gender neutral in appearance, they are unable to dress the way they would prefer to dress. For example. The maitreya flat addon is a popular choice for fembois, however not many stores offer the flat option, which means it’s hard to find pieces which look good and match the rest of the outfit and body.

Roy Mildor is an experienced photographer in Second Life since 2010. He has been taking pictures in real life since he was young. He likes to explore new ways to create new art, therefore his work is varied and has many different styles. He feels his art work is illustrative, emotional, and deep. He has done several exhibitions and interviews in Second Life already. People and clients say his photos are alive and often tell a story and evoke emotional responses to his work. You can hire and book Roy for your unique photo. Also he is the creator of RM ~ Art Of Poses ~ and Top Striker Tattoos.

Second Life is the pioneering virtual world that millions of people have enjoyed and seen billions of dollars transacted among users in its economy. It’s still extremely popular, boasting 1 million active users despite having been around since 2003. I love being here and being creative in many ways.

I can’t say much about how to make SL even more attractive. In my opinion it’s the users themselves who make Second Life better and more attractive. But Linden Lab should NOT raise the fee for exchanging money. The hardware requirements for SL is still too heavy and scares potential users from trying this virtual world. For me it´s also an issue- the graphics should be better and easier for everyone. I once tested Sansar and the graphics were fantastic and it was not necessary to activate advanced lights and ultra high settings.

Another point is that LL stopped the Gacha. I still do not understand why! I mean at the end they also earn money from the sales. They allow users to start a business to sell stuff or services but at same time they hinder the work. Sometimes you can say LL makes everything harder instead of more attractive. Anyway I take my hat off to all builders , creators, and scripters for what they do for the residents to make a second life worth living and worth loving.

We will see what time will bring…

Madi Amore dove into the SL experience head first in August 2007. Originally named Tiffany Parkin, Madi spent her first 9 years on the grid just soaking in all that was SL. In 2016, everything changed for her and she dove into SL with a new found passion to be a more active member of the community. Since then, she has worked as a host at several venues and hosted for some of the best DJs and live performers in SL. In 2018, Madi accepted a dare from a friend and tried her hand at blogging.

For close to three years, she was one of SL’s most active bloggers, posting multiple times per week and featuring creations from many of the grid’s prominent creators. While truly enjoying the experience of blogging and unleashing her creativity in her pictures, Madi also used her blog, Blended Beauty, as a platform to raise awareness for the LGBTQ community. Her posts not only included photos depicting her journey, but also contained many deeply personal writings about her journey in RL and SL as a transgender woman.

Madi made the difficult decision to retire from blogging in the fall of 2020 but has remained a part of the blogging community as blogger manager for both Just Because Clothing and Diversion.

This is an interesting question for someone like myself. During my time in SL, I have always seen broad acceptance of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community. The bigger struggles, I feel, have been in acceptance and inclusion of the gender variant and ethnic minority communities. I believe to help tackle these issues, it is going to require a concerted effort of Linden Labs, the community influencers such as performers, venue owners and creators and those residents who are advocates for these groups.

Let me say first that I do see these things happening. I remember when I first disclosed my transition in my blog. I was scared to death and worried I would be ostracized. What happened was the exact opposite and I was embraced and supported. Since then, I have watched as the community has become more accepting of the trans community. I see more people being open about their gender variant identities. But there are still many areas of the grid where we can be ostracized. However, events like Pride Month and such have really helped to normalize people like myself. I still get choked up when I get reminders on my Facebook timeline of SL featuring one of my more emotional blog posts and when they shared the Eclipse article I was a part of for transgender awareness. A lot of progress has been made here, but advocacy and education…by everyone is key.

[Cont’d]

[Dash Cont’d]

However in many of Second Life’s marketing and adverts they do show representation of both male and female avatars, in addition to avatars of different skin tones. So in the marketing department I definitely commend them for consistently trying. Celebrating Diversity is a learning opportunity in general for companies today. In. Second Life diversity can mean so many things. Is it skin color, sexuality? Gender? Avatar looks, mesh versus pre-mesh avatars? Fantasy versus realistic? Furries and animal avatars? For a virtual world Second Life consists of so many walks of life and specifying what diverse community to showcase is quite a task. What can Second Life do to promote diversity? They must remain consistent in showcasing different avatars especially on their public posts on social media and community posts. I believe since Strawberry Linden took her position in Second Life’s social media, she’s greatly contributed to highlighting diversity specifically amongst bloggers. Also Patch Linden, a Linden who identifies I believe as gay, has made himself easily accessible to communicate with and actively participates in events that show diversity. Consistency is key to keep promoting diversity. Second Life needs to continually do this to improve and promote diversity.

{Madi Con’td]

I do feel much more can be done to help increase diversity and awareness for our ethnic minority members. I mean, if you think about it, we have community members from all around the world here but I feel like we put an enormous amount of focus on just certain regions of the world. Additionally, I remember so many people coming together in SL following George Floyds’ death. It was really heartwarming to see. But since then, I don’t see Linden Labs driving things there in the same way they have for the LGBTQ community. I love seeing the diversity of avatars, styles and lifestyles here on the grid. Yes, as I said before, influencers and advocates need to push this diversity more but I also think Linden Labs can help with events, education and other tools to make sure our ethnic minority residents feel more welcome and free to be themselves.