Blog Response from Cassie - Why my avatar look the way it looks

Its been a few weeks, what does your avatar look like and why?

Unlike many of my classmates, I have not experienced too much with the appearance of my avatar. I have found that I enjoy being a female in Second Life more than a male. Other avatars are much nicer and will sometimes go out of their way to help you out. Besides, because the male population in SL is just about as lame as RL males… I am always getting free stuff, even if the guy is getting nothing out of it.
Of course, I do change my avatars appearance at least minimally to fit into certain social situations. I’ll admit that I have turned my avatar into a much more scantily clad girl whenever I go to a club. Maybe I should rebel and wear a long sleeved shirt to regain some respect for women in this game, but what girl doesn’t like to be sexy once in awhile? Besides, we are trying to get into the culture, and to somewhat blend in, I have had to change outfits frequently. I do find that the less I wear, the more people talk to me, which is silly because it is all graphics, but hey, that’s the culture I guess.
In a way that bothers me. I try and keep my avatar relatively conservatively dressed, because I am a conservative dresser in real life, but also because I think SL has become a place where woman are mostly seen as sex objects. Granted, some these women are clearly putting it out there, but I think it is sad when a woman can only feel confident because they are a sex idol in SL.
I have had some fun getting free/cheap clothes and jewelry. I found that in SL I am as conservative with money as I am in real life. Which is funny because this is not a paid account I’m on, so it shouldn’t matter, but nevertheless, there I am at a store, still weighing out if it is worth the money to get something a little expensive. I did get a tattoo, because I have always kind of wanted one, even though most of the ones people get for real make me laugh. But I figured, hey if I get a tattoo in SL, no one is going to call me a tool because everyone who is serious about that game is probably not very cool anyway.
So in a way, I do like that everything goes in SL. I could be anything I wanted and I’m sure I could find someone to connect with on some level.
~C. Karpinski