Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Virtual Worlds for Kids
This week we are covering sexuality and the theme for one of your journal entries is "sexuality" so how are you exploring this in selected virtual worlds such as Webkinz, Club Penguin, and Virtual Barbie? Can you help your classmates out here by giving other suggestions of things to look for? Perhaps what sort of lens are you using when you explore your virtual world designed for younger audiences?
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I am not very familiar with Webkinz, however, I do know that my neice and nephew both are in elementary school and are very into them. I am curious to know percentages on if more little girls have them and play online, or boys? OR if it is a tie, or even remotely close to a tie? Also in another class we discussed how when little girls are raised they are given baby dolls, easy bake ovens, and other toys that will help instill domestication. Verses toys that are given to little boys such as trucks, tools, sports equip, etc. However this day in age with the newest trend being Webkinz, which starts as yes, just simply owning a cool stuffed animal but then turns into a virtual world where you are "parenting" your animal. And not only being given as gifts to little girls. I would find it ver interesting to watch and see how the boys (not even sure if you can know the sex behind the other Webkinz owners, or just the sex of the Webkin, etc) interact, and decorate their Webkinz rooms, or how well they do or don't take care of the Webkin, verses how the little girls treat and take care of their Webkinz. Isn't that instilling some mega domestication/mothering into little boys? Or is it just instilling responsibility into children of both sexes? Also which animals are the boys owning, verses the girls? Do little boys have the unicorn Webkinz? If so is that okay? Would anyone think twice with a little girl owning a frog or snake Webkinz?
ReplyDeleteDayahn Thomas
ReplyDeletei am in the virtual world All Girl Arcade, which is for pre teen and early teen age girls. At first I felt that there would be no way I could find any evidence of sexuality in the virtual world so I decided to take a different approcach with it. On the site you can only pick one body type for your avatar. You can change the hair color, skin tone and eyes but the body stays the same. The body type is very slender, tall, small waist, prominant breast and long legs. I felt that the site promotes the U.S cultural standard of beauty by only making its avatars be a body type that is considered to be more appealing as well as sexually appealing in our society. Just like Barbie, the body type is unrealistic but glorified by young girls. I feel that by the site only making this body type , it is another way the media is forcing the American standard of beauty on young girls who right now are at a very impressionable stage in their lives.
Also, i felt that the clothing choices were not always appropriate for the target age range that the site is appealing to. Im not trying to say that everything was bad but the stilleto heels, tube tops and mini skirts are a stretch. They are not only inappropriate for young girls but they are also items that are viewed to give a person more sex appeal when worn.
This is just one way im sure you can interprete sexuality but does anyone have any suggestions for me? I would love some feedback
While Second Life is not traditionally aimed at young adults, there is no question that they are still using it. I was shocked at how easy it is to create a profile and then by the extremely mature content. Before even entering one of the worlds/destinations i had some very sexually suggestive clothing options advertised to me along the right hand side of the screen. This included a plaid school girl skirt that is easy removable. Sexuality goes beyond just the ideal body type (which is flaunted throughout the virtual worlds) it includes what your wearing and how its worn. On a side note, the body types portrayed in second life are so fake its almost a joke, there is no way that this is what all these people look like. And it also sheds light on the idea that this is how everyone wants to look.
ReplyDeleteThe way women look in second life is very sexually suggestive. You almost feel like an outcast not dressing a certain way. The clothing also fits the body and the personality of the people. You have to have the ideal body to look good in the barely there clothing. Also, the way people talk to one another is sexually explicit which fits their clothing exactly. How is this an appropriate example of behavior, body type, and dress for young girls? And the fact that it is so easy to join is disappointing.
Keppleee, you are most definitely on to something regarding the safety features on the virtual worlds. Based on our class discussion yesterday, I think it is an interesting question to figure out the role of some sort of "internet police" who could go ahead and monitor misuse of communities, dangers towards kids and teenagers, etc. But is this possible?
ReplyDeleteDayahn, your discussion of "body types" available to potential users/participants of the virtual world is interesting to me as well. Who is the target age group for these sites? Why should a 10 year old Barbie lover be forced into taking on a body that is of an unrealistic 20 something super model? This is very disturbing to me. Especially when you research into how avatars are images of self, and images of ideal self.
Before I joined Barbiegirls.com, I thought that the available avatars would resemble the Barbies that can be found in many little girls toy boxes. Thinking that this would provide an abundance of things to discuss and debate, I signed right up. However, after visiting the site and looking at the different avatars, I found that the Barbie Girl's bodies resembled the unshapely figures of the once popular Bratz Dolls. I was happy to see that Barbie had modified the doll as it was going to be representing young girls online. Barbie (Mattel) must have realized that they would receive much scrutiny if their avatars were too sexy. Even though a positive choice was made when selecting body type, the site neglected to consider modest clothing options for the dolls. Many of the outfits that are available are low cut, tight and suggestive. Being somewhat of a modest person myself, I felt scandalous when dressing my doll in the available tight low cut tank and low-rider jeans. Even though Barbiegirls.com is not intended for adults and should not be oozing with sexuality, it has defiantly crossed some major boundaries. If a twenty-two year old college girl feels scandalous as a Barbie avatar online, then it is obvious that the site is inappropriate for young girls who are just learning about their own sexuality. When online looking at other girls avatars, I began to think about what they look like in real life and how they dress. It made me sad to think that behind the provocatively dressed avatars, there were small innocent girls who were wondering when they would look as sexy and mature as their online imitations. I hate to tell them that I am still wondering that same thing myself.
ReplyDeleteI chose to do Barbie virtual world because I wanted to see how online Barbie would be similar to the real doll. I assumed going into this virtual world that it would be more focued on young girls rather than older ones. When I was creating my Barbie I noticed that her shape was that of a barbie doll with the big boobs, hour glass hips, and long legs. I thought that in this virtual world that the clothing and such would be somewhat like the clothing young girls would wear, but unfortunatley the clothes that you can choose are revealing and short. When logging onto just the main page the virtual Barbie shown on there is seen wearing a fitted t-shirt that shows her belly along with tight hipster jeans. And this Barbie even has pink highlights in her hair. This right off the bat seems like something a child should not be wearing. It seems to remind me of Britney Spears and how young girls were trying to dress and be like her although in a lot of her videos she was dressing very revealing and always had her belly showing. Little girls get on this website and play with their avitars on a daily basis and I think that it is a shame that they can only dress their dolls in outfits that are not for their ages. I purposfully tried to make my Barbie as covered up as I can just to see how she would look.I chose to put her into a long sleve top and capri pants. with this outfit the clothes are so fitted that you can tell that she has big boobs and an hour glass shapped body which shows young girls that that is the image they are suppoed to look like. Its a shame that young girls are exposed to such provacative clothing and such when they shouldn't even be thinking about what they look like at this age.
ReplyDeleteI have another issue that I just found on this website that has really disturbed me!! As i logged on i went to my account and on there there is a link to where you can dress your barbie girl up for halloween!! When i clicked on it guess what I saw! It was all these costumes that you see college girls wearing with the corset tops and short skirts and everything showing. Some examples of costumes are a vampire with a corset that laces up, a bumble bee with like a tutu and a corset, a pirate showing her belly, doctor with a skirt with ruffles,and a cheer leader with a super short skirt and her belly out too! this I think is just obscene!! I feel like they should be dressed from head to toe in something like a clown or a princess with a dress that hits the floor!
ReplyDeleteKali, that's insane! I can't believe that they have those sorts of Halloween costumes for little girls. It makes me mad in both real and virtual life!
ReplyDeletei am a member of virtual barbie, and it really bugs me that there are no guys allowed on the site. are the creaters trying to avoid any explicit material that might arise from allowing boys to be a part of the site? or are the creaters just really wanting the people who use this sight to want to think and act like a barbie and display feminine qualities to the absolute max. i am still figuring things out about virtual barbie, half the time it shuts down on me and logs me out, but i plan to continue to try to identify as many issues about gender as possible.
ReplyDeleteLeah, I think it is strange and exclusive to not allow guys on the site, but how do the creators enforce this rule? Couldn't a guy make a Barbie? who knows who's behind the avatar.
ReplyDeleteIn Barbie World I am exploring and looking for sexuality in many ways, however, with Barbie World being geared towards young girl’s sexuality is not very prevalent. Boys are not allowed on the site, which makes it not possible to interact with boys on the site unless they take on the identity of a girl avatar on the virtual world. Also while chatting on this site the text for what you can say has already been typed up by the creators of Barbie World, so nothing that you say while chatting are really the words of the real person playing the avatar. So exploring sexuality on Barbie World is more difficult then maybe on some other virtual worlds. Sexuality can be explored on Barbie World if we look at Barbie World from a different standpoint: like the avatars body figure and clothes (short skirts, revealing tops). These things could make a girl want to change the way she dresses. Dressing their avatar in these revealing clothes could make young girls think that is what “sexy” is supposed to be and look like, and possibly make them want to dress in these types of clothing.
ReplyDeleteNo i do not think this child friendly site is always appropriate at times. For example, I see two areas that I feel this website suggest sexuality; one being their clothing and the other being the way the stand so submissively.This grown and sexy look is rampant throughout the site. Just about every girl either has on a short skirt showing off her long slim legs or a belly top that shows their midriffs. Some take it to the extreme and have both showing. My question is, if only girls are allowed on this site, why are the girls showing off their bodies implicating that they are sexy when the dominant hegemonic group is heterosexual females? This type of critical thinking gets my mind to wonder why.
ReplyDeleteHalloween was this month, so the last couple weeks on Barbie Girls, the participants are able to dress their dolls in costumes. The choices for costumes are very inappropriate in my opinion. They have all types of corsets that push their breasts up, cheerleader outfits that show their stomachs, and the most disturbing one I felt was the doctor implying that the Barbie Girl participant is here to serve whomever. This type of behavior is appalling to know that young girls are already thinking about stuff they have no business thinking about!
The last thing that I found to be sexual in a sense would be how the Barbie girl stands. She stands in a way in which her long slim legs are knock-kneed and her feet are somewhat pigeon toed. This stance implies that the girl is playing innocent but instead naughty and fun. If the hourglass figure and big chest wasn’t enough, Mattel took it to the next level and created the standard avatar to have a sexy girl stance.
YoVille doesn't have a very specific age range, but I'm guessing the users are about age 13-25. In my virtual world, there were also halloween costumes that were barely there. I don't think that's appropriate for the younger audiences. Also, the conversations that go on in the Events section can get inappropriate for younger audiences, and make the older users uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteOoops! vanharlj is Lydia Van Harlingen. Sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteI have found the weirdest thing in the world today. In an effort to understand sexuality in Second Life, I have stumbled across many things meant for sexual pleasure while in the virtual world. Among the many sexy outfits you can purchase and wear, and the strip clubs and escort services, I have found a store which will sell you a bed that allows you to participate in sex acts in Second Life.
ReplyDeleteI found this by searching for sexuality in Second Life in Google. It lead me to a website called TNT Corporation which functions for the sole purpose of selling sex beds and areas to have sex in. Some have various themes such as a jungle theme, a beach theme, and even a woodsy theme. The only purpose these beds have in Second Life is solely so you can have sex on them. Once you have purchased the bed, you are given a menu where you can choose what you want to do on the bed. This ranges from messages, foreplay, heterosexual sex, homosexual sex, transvestite sex, group sex, and fetishes.
The amount of options simply amaze me for the fact that it seems as if the programmers have thought of everything in the creation of this sex bed. I have also gained an understanding of how people get addicted to being in an online world. With so many options, including having sex, the real world often becomes obsolete in the online world.
When I was younger I played with Barbie dolls and I was curious is Virtual Barbie was similar to what I remembered about playing with Barbies. The only thing that is the same is the shape of the Barbie, with the bigger breast and hips, small waist, and long skinny legs. This is not how the majority or young girls look and this is the media putting it into their heads that they need to look this way. The game also has short skirts, and some skanky tops and outfits for girls to choose from. Little girls shouldn’t be pushed to wearing those types of clothes, especially at such a young age. I though that since this site is made for girls’ ages around three to maybe early teens, the clothing would resemble those ages a little better. Instead they have and offer clothing that teenagers would wear and not the cute little outfits that kids wear. With virtual worlds kids are being exposed to more things than they should be. Especially if children get into an adult virtual world. I have heard that there are some pretty inappropriate things that people say and do. When it comes to sexuality, I think if there is a little boy who is sexually confused he can log onto Virtual Barbie and no one would know he was a boy, unless he told people. Then he would be able to play dress up and things like that, that are stereotyped to being girls games. I think in the end you can get onto any virtual world and be whichever sex you want to be and this might be nice for some people who are homosexual. But I do not know if people are open about doing this and if there is hatred against it, which I hope there isn’t.
ReplyDeleteMy virtual world is actually yoville, which is not technically aimed at young people...but more and more younger people are signing up for facebook and getting on yoville, and there is definitely some sexuality going on with some people. i personally have no interest in any such thing on a virtual world....
ReplyDeleteWhile in florida this summer, i had several chances to observe two of my younger cousins on club penguin, and i cant recall any sexuality on there either. i do however remember language being an issue at one point, and disney took care of taking it off of the website. but, at that age i dont know that my cousins even get the idea of sexuality