Sunday, March 30, 2008

Thin is NOT in


Thin is NOT in
Originally uploaded by slpapparazzi
Ok so models have to be thin,...but someone throw this one a hamburger...please. It does not look good...does NOT make the clothes look good..in fact..its all too bloody awful.
I am all for avatar diversity in SL...but this is too much for me. What do YOU think?

6 comments:

Taille's Tales said...

Deffo needs force feeding lard. I'll hold her down...

Sofia Gray said...

While I certainly agree that Valena's avatar is unnatractively thin - I don't see where all this hostility regarding thin avatars is coming from?

Im not saying this blog post - but Im saying this attitude in general. Everyone in Second Life has the free will to create a look that they like and appreciate - and that's the beauty of Second Life...

and while Yes, some people may argue that there are issues that stem from glorifying skinny avatars in Second Life in the real world - I personally find it extremely difficult to grasp that a bunch of -adults- (which you need to be in order to play Second Life 18+) can't rationalize this in their head and make their own decisions about their own bodies.

I don't really think we're in any place to lay judgement on her or anyone - especially not in a public forum such as this where she is basically being lambasted in an arena that Im sure she reads that enjoys reading.

But that's just my opinion.

The comments on the Flickr picture I found to be a bit unnecessary as well.

Connie in a Sec said...

Thanks for the considered post to this Sofia...I'm sorry if my comment is taken Personally...however..it also comes down to the fact that..personally (stressing that word!!) i don't find such thin av's do anything for the outfit. The subject of eating disorders and body image is a large one..too big for a comment..but my feeling is..it is up to the designers and community to be aware of this. I am a big girl and can take all the stuff thats been thrown at me in here or in Flickr especially..but..perhaps..seeing this "Model" will galvanize some discussion on what i think is an important issue Anorexia is NOT only a disease of teenagers...

Noirran Marx said...

She looks like a bobble head, not proportional at all.

Taille's Tales said...

I bear no hostility towards thin avatars but there is a frightening tendency in SL for all things to reflect RL.

Attitudes towards body image have radically changed since the 50's, when it was acceptable to have a feminine shape, and this can probably be traced to the influence that both the fashion industry and the media have had to play since the 60's. The role that Twiggy had in promoting a waif-like figure cannot be understated, and such has been the glare of publicity that it has become socially acceptable to be thin - too thin at times. I have been at both ends of the scale in RL, weighing in at a measly 6stone 10lbs at my thinnest and a hefty 14 stone 12lbs when I was big (not due to baby, either, but choco cake and chinese food), so can vouch for the attitude that follows both too thin and too fat.

Now anorexia is a serious disease and no-one here would dream of pointing a finger and making light of it, and as has been stated we are adults and are responsible for the appearance of our avs on SL. However, for an individual to represent herself in such an unhealthy way says far more about the fragility of her mental state with regard to image than to any comments negative, or otherwise, may possibly infer.

It is sad that we all (at least, it is a pretty large majority) feel the need to represent ourselves as beautiful, tall and thin, because that is NOT the real world. But then poverty and illness does not exist in SL, only the echoes of it from our psyches and that is far reaching enough for any of us.

On the other hand, perhaps I'm simply bitter that SL designers never seem to make prims big enough for my fat arse?

Anonymous said...

I left a comment on the flickr stream as well. I agree that there is a lot of criticism of people's personal choices, but I would venture that it is common in the SL fashion world. I have personal friends who have thinned, de-boobed, and changed the faces of their avatar to accede to an agency's request, and oftentimes that request is not at all gently delivered. I have met aspiring models who tweak their avatars (eyes and lips slide to the right, body fat, boobs, butt, and height to the left) to meet what they have been told will get them hired. I am also SL-old enough to remember when the modeling ideal was quite the opposite of what it is now- tall, blonde, big hair and booby, which I know is made fun of nowadays. Thinness was bound to come up, except that I don't know if agencies or clients are complaining.

I put this link up in the flickr stream, but the studies on how avatars can affect your RL perception of yourself are quite interesting. http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2008/janfeb/features/virtual.html
Based on that article, I think I'll have my avatar run everywhere she goes from now on. Anything helps, right? :)

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