Yesterday in class we discussed both benefits of the Internet in terms of allowing/encouraging a queer community to develop a safe space for sexuality construction and expression. In Taiwan and Korea queer individuals are able to turn to the internet for support, information, and place to meet others like themselves.
However, we also learned about cyber-hate and anti-gay speech on the Internet and we discussed how the Internet allows for anonymity and encourages like-minded people to join in on hateful sites.
My question is how do you see your virtual world contributing to these two sides of a coin when it comes to sexuality? In other words, do you feel your virtual world is a positive use of the Internet or do you see negative ideas generated from your virtual space?
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At meez.com a virtual world that teenagers are on, I would say they have a mostly negative opinion on homosexuality. Using a comment like "That's gay!", can be offensive, but because they are used to using it daily at school or at home they don't know that people can be offended. Therefore it is carrying on to the internet when they are talking to each other. As a teenager they may not be aware of the gay community or kids that know at that age they prefer same sex relationships. This adds to the complexity of the situation and the way individuals are portraying themselves on meez. I feel that my virtual world is naive to homosexuality. It is not that they may be intentionally negative, but just don't have enough knowledge or experience to know about sexuality. But I would have to say that there are negative ideas generated from my virtual space, just of the fact that they don't know enough about homosexuality to make a well informed choice.
ReplyDeleteMegan, you are right on. Your example is a great illustration how harmful language that is used in the hallways is maintained on the Internet and that harmful language, being used so casually, is misunderstood by the reiteration it receives in virtual space.
ReplyDeleteMy virtual world is yoville on facebook.com. So far, I feel like it's pretty diverse, having young and old participants. From what I have viewed, the YoVille users are more mature. I haven't seen any hate or unexcusable activity among others. If someone admitted they were homosexual on YoVille, I do not feel like they would receive a negative response, given people's feelings on homosexuality and heterosexuality. The mood of the participants does not seem prejudice or angry. Although I am sure there are some users who are unaccepting, for the most part I feel like YoVille isn't disrespectful to the lives of others.
ReplyDeleteI am on second life and when I first got on I felt that it was pretty negative considering that someone called me a whore and literally pooped on my head. There are obviously some strange people in this world. I also was just looking at what people were saying to each other and someone called this girl a "black trailer bitch". I also felt like people were discriminating against me because I was new to the world. They kept calling me "noob" and wouldn't answer of my questions about the site. The positive expereince I had was with one girl, she sent me a bunch of clothes and places to go and really helped me figure out how to use the site. Hopefully I will be getting more positive experiences!
ReplyDeleteKristie, I'm glad you haven't come across any negative people in Yoville--have you checked out the "Events/Activities" pages yet? One time I did encounter a guy? (i think) who was dressed up as the Joker and was being pretty rude to everyone. At least he was an equal opportunity discriminator!
ReplyDeleteKatie, yes, there is some very awful things happening on second life, especially for the beginner. I'm glad that one nice user was helpful though!
I'm on Meez as well and I agree with Megan that there are mostly teenaged users on the site. With that being said there is no surprise that they use phrases such as "that's gay." Although, this is very offensive I do not think that the teenaged users see this as a hurtful term. To them, this term is just slang. In their eyes it means something is stupid or lame. Sometimes they use gay as a synonym for being strange or weird. From my observations on Meez I cannot say that I have seen any type of gay bashing; other than the occasional "that's gay." I haven't seen any references to the term. I think that if there happened to be a gay member of Meez that they probably would not take offense to the phrase. I say this because many of these members are teens and hearing that phrase is not uncommon. They have heard this phrase at school and in other social gatherings. A gay teen may have taken immunity to the phrase especially on a virtual world. It is pretty common among teens to use phrases as such so I doubt that they would come into a virtual world feeling uneasy because of it. Also, a virtual world is so different than real life. If they don't want to deal with negative comments pertaining to the word "gay" all they have to do is leave that particular room, not converse with a particular user, or even log out of the site. It's that simple! Being on a virtual world is a choice so if they feel gay bashed or whatever they have the choice to leave and not be a part of it. Real life is not that simple. ----Tiera Allen
ReplyDeletei feel that virtual barbie is a negative use of the internet because it does not allow for any variety. there are no boys allowed, and unless you get your parents permission, your required to use designated text to communicate with people, and i have felt that most people dont even want to communicate. it makes me wonder what they are doing, and once my access to upgrade to being able to type my own dialogue goes through, i should be able to connect with people more one on one, and try to find out the appeal behind virtual barbie, because i think its kind of boring, and the background music gets old really quick!
ReplyDeleteTiera, I wish it was that easy, but the use of "that's gay" is hurtful no matter where a gay teenager may hear it. The phrase, being used to mean lame or stupid, associates an entire group of people as lame and stupid. Of course the slang is used all the time in high school and beyond, but it still causes harm and feeling of ostracizing. If a teenager who is gay and is on Meez, perhaps they want to avoid the problems they face everyday in the hallways of their school and the environment that ignores hurtful use of "that's gay"--and then must face it in a "second life" of sorts as well. No matter where the term is being used, when it is meaning weird or lame or whatever, it is used in a derogatory sense and it is wrong. Every time.
ReplyDeleteLeah, i hope that once you are able to up your "convo" options, you have a much better time on Barbie.
I signed up for another account with Habbo and so far, with it being mostly teenagers, there's definitely some homophobia happening. One of my first experiences in the "Welcome Room" and people chatting, one person got on and said "hey there, i'm gay, is anyone else gay?" and kept sending the same message over and over saying, "i'm gay!" There were some interesting responses, and I was actually quite surprised. There were a few people who responded with "EWW" and "gross" and "f*ing fagget" (you can't write curse words, so either find a creative way around it, or it censors it for you). There was actually one girl who jumped in defense of the gay user saying, "what's wrong with being gay?" and that was kind of it, as far as the gay-bashing is concerned. But there's SO MUCH sex-talk. SO much. There have been a lot of male users who are searching the rooms for "hoes" and, publicly, get no response. Who knows what happens when they whisper to one another. Overall, there are definitely some negatives to, what is supposed to be, a teen-leisure type of site. There are a lot of rules and censoring going on, so it becomes difficult for users to have explicit conversations, but with all the rules and guidelines, it's just a new challenge to overcome and find ways around.
ReplyDeleteMy virtual world is Barbie World and I feel that this virtual world has many cons because it can cause young girls to feel negatively about themselves. All the avatars have model like figures with long hair, and are happy go lucky. I feel that Barbie Girls portray females in a light that is not realistic. Not all women are thin and look like the character on this site. This site allows young girls to change their appearances and appear “perfect” when this could possibly be damaging to a young girl confidence, when their body does not look like these characters. I feel that this virtual world gives negative ideas and beliefs to young girls because no one looks like “Barbie” and girls try to meet these standards when it is not possible.
ReplyDeleteWell as most already know by now, I'm apart of virtual barbie (barbie girls) and there is a set or a standard norm for the girls on this particular virtual world as far as sexuality goes. Most would just imply that they are heterosexual females wanting to look great for that cute boy-toy Ken to gaze at. hTis is an example of why this internet site is a negative use of the internet. It is encouraging girls to look a certain way for the wrong reasons. To get attention from boys or other girls, in my book, is not a good enough reason to encourage my barbie or other young girls to do. Being put under all of this kind of pressure can destroy a child's dream because being barbie is an impossible task and a total waste of time and energy to put forth the effort and still receive rejection from yourself, your peers, and the devilish media.
ReplyDeleteLike Megan, I am participating in Meez.com. From what I have experienced on the website it is virtually all pre-teen and teenagers. I agree that it portrays homosexuality in a negative way. When observing people’s conversations there are constant statements such as “that’s gay” or “you’re retarded”. It reminded me of our discussion about The Office and how Michael starts saying you’re gay until he realizes one of the guys at the office is and then feels bad and apologizes and what not. I don’t think these kids realize the meaning of what they are saying. It is very easy to make statements like the two I used as examples, but it doesn’t mean they realize what they’ve said. People say those statements all the time without actually realizing they can seriously offend someone.
ReplyDeleteIt is very possible that there are a few people of the gay community on this website, but it is not evident to me. By reflecting on what people say in the different rooms, I would be offended if I was part of the gay community and exploring this virtual world. I don’t believe any of it is intended or specifically pointing out negative things to people. It is more of young people who are inexperienced with a lot of aspects on life and have a lot of growing up to do!
Im also on Second Life and i think it can be both a positive and negative use of the internet. I think if it were just being used for social networking and a chance to meet and talk to new people it would be positive. I saw a True Life on Mtv where a girl used second life as a way to network her musical career. However, in my experience i feel that second life is very centered around sex. From watching the tv special around it i felt that there would be more normal people doing productive things in second life. I think that people in second life want to keep it sexually based. This makes it a negative use of the internet because its promoting the message that sexual based content/conversations are normal and appropriate for everyone at all times.
ReplyDeleteUpon starting up Second Life for the first time, I was extremely overwhelmed. Not just because I was running it on a computer as slow as molasses, but also because there was so much to do and see. They very first decision I made was to try and change my appearance. When someone starts their Second Life, they are brought to a starting point in the virtual world. Here, avatars are introduced to the basics that tell you where things are in the world, and how things function with the game. I found out how to edit my appearance in the game, but struggled with what identity to take on.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the purpose of this experiment is to understand how women are treated in the virtual world, I wasn’t sure exactly who and what I should be. I ultimately decided to pick the name “Briana Thorkveld.” After I created the name, I wondered around the world for a minute not knowing how to edit my appearance just yet. The first place I went was a dance club on a pier with around 30 people around. I was dressed in my default skirt which was very ugly and boring in terms of Second Life clothing. Upon entering the dance club I was greeted with someone yelling, “NOOB ALERT!” Then everyone began laughing and commenting on my clothes. The sad part about this is that I was genuinely embarrassed about this. Never in a million years would I ever think I would have been embarrassed by someone calling me a “noob” in a virtual world. I believe it was because I had not yet discovered my identity yet, and therefore could not relate to anyone.
After that awkward introduction to the game, I decided I needed to do something about this appearance business. I entered the edit screen and began changing the body shape of my avatar. In order to engage reactions from other male players of the game I made my avatar fairly skinny, with a small waist, fairly large breasts, and a nice butt. It was pretty easy to tailor my avatar to the interests of men because I just went with what I would enjoy seeing on a real woman.
I feel as if this is an good start for me because even though I have been made fun of the about 30 people, I now understand what people in Second Life value in terms of identity. Once I changed my appearance to an attractive woman, I was chatting it up with several people, including several men. This gave me much insight into men in Second Life.
I'm on Meez and I think it is pretty much how it is in real life. I have yet to see a homosexual character on their but from the context of people's conversations i would say it has been a negative light on gays. i saw one guy call another guy a "fag". i don't see the website embarrassing homosexuality but also don't see them discriminating against them either.
ReplyDeleteembracing
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting because I have definitely thought about this overall question also. Especially because I acted like a lesbian girl in Habbo Hotel so I feel like I have experienced both of these sides. For the most part, I feel like Habbo Hotel is a very positive place for the homosexual community. The people I talked to were fairly open minded, even when I told someone I was a transvestite they were cool with it. Not to mention there are a number of places to go where you can meet other gay people in Habbo Hotel and really get to know other gay people and be yourself and not scared of getting made fun of or told you are horrible. Those places are definitely positive and really good for the homosexuals in H.H.
ReplyDeleteHowever, outside of those obvious places for homosexuals, it can go either way. People can kind of be mean and say things that are really hurtful like when one gay just said to me, "ggggggaaaaaaayyyyyyy" after I told him I was a transvestite or that I got kicked out of a party because of it.
Habbo Hotel is very much like the real world. There are safe places to go where you know you will be okay and accepted and then there is everywhere else where it is touch and go and you don't know what you'll get. I did meet gay people outside of the gay events, but it's mostly straight people in Habbo Hotel.
For the most part though, I think Habbo Hotel is a positive space for gay people. And considering they watch your conversations and you can't say any cuss words (it'll pop up as "bobba") I think it would be hard to be really mean like other places can maybe get and the way actual hate sites really are. I think Habbo Hotel is a safe and accepting place for the most part.
I think using virtual worlds to construct sexuality and expression is good. Everyone deserves a place where they can find people that they relate to. I know I would feel very lost and confused if I wasn't able to frequently connect to people who I relate to. Virtual worlds are nice because it is easier for people to express who they are because they can remain anonymous. But, as far as using these virtual worlds to express hate I think is very wrong. Everyone is entitled to the freedom of speech, but when that speech is causing harm to others it should be limited. So,I think that virtual worlds are great as long as they are used for positive interactions.
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