Does Race Really Make a Difference? 

Before:

After:

In Second Life, it is easy to be whoever you want to be with just the click of a mouse. No one can see the person behind the avatar, so people are able to hide flaws, accentuate body parts, or be who they really want to be. In a matter of minutes I was able to transform from a white, skinny, blonde girl to a taller, dark haired, African American woman with a curvier body. I chose the dark skin because after reading "The Skin You're In" and "The Skin You're In, Too" I wanted to find out for myself if race really made a difference in Second Life. When I changed my skin I thought I would be ignored and subject to harassment. Instead, the complete opposite happened to me since I seemed to gain more attention in certain situations from others in my new dark skin. Also, by traveling in Second Life as two different races I became overwhelmed with various emotions.

While I was in both of my skins at Orientation Island I was subject to some kind of insult. When I was a white avatar I sat on the fence and watched as a headless avatar and another conversed. I would chime in once in awhile during the conversation, such as when one avatar was making turkey noises and saying how he wanted to eat the headless avatar for dinner, I replied yum. The avatar then made a remark on how they actually only eat noobs; I knew he was referring to me. I went back to Orientation Island when I was in my dark skin and stood by the sign listening to the conversation. When I arrived no one greeted me, however, when a tall blonde avatar in a skimpy outfit arrived they greeted her. Afterwards, I went back to to Orientation Island in my dark skin and experienced something different from when I first arrived there. Walking down to the river I was approached by a male avatar with dark hair that I'll call Riddler. He said "Hi" to me and asked me how I was doing. By this time I was used to people being friendly. However, when I asked him if he knew of any good places to go he became rude. He told me he knew a bunch but was unwilling to share any with me, so I said thanks and walked away. Next, he asked if I role played, and when I said no, he asked me twice if I would like to try. After refusing, he went on to tell me how he was going to help me and then asked me to teleport to his castle. I teleported back to Richmond Island immediately since I became uncomfortable with that request. My experience at Orientation Island showed that I got more attention as a dark avatar then a white one. To see if this was true throughout Second Life I visited a few more places.   

I noticed that I was treated differently when I went to a jazz club that was filled with dancing avatars. In the past when I have went to these clubs I would ask how to dance and someone would kindly give me directions. When I went as a dark skinned avatar I saw how a couple of avatars were getting asked to dance, which worried me since I thought I would be ignored. After I asked how to dance, a male avatar first asked me if I could hear the music. When I told him that I could not hear he sent me a note that had directions on how to turn my volume on. I was unable to download the note so he offered to teleport me to his house where it would load faster. I was a bit apprehensive at the fact of teleporting to a strangers house since in real life I would never do such a thing. I had nothing to lose by going to his house since I could easily log off. To my surprise, when I arrived at his house the note loaded. I thanked him and then he asked me to dance. While we were dancing we exchanged small talk. Since he knew I was a noob, he asked me if there was anything I would like to know about Second Life or if there was any help I needed. I asked him if he knew of any popular places, and so he sent me another club. After we stopped dancing he told me to just IM him if I need any assistance. This first encounter with my dark skinned avatar was different from what I had expected. I thought that by changing it I would have been even more invisible to people when in fact I gained more attention. 

To see if this friendliness at the jazz club was a fluke that could happen to even my white avatar, I decided to go to a different dance area called Midnight Reflections. Once I arrived there a male avatar IMed me saying hey and asked what's up. After, he sent a friend request, and being polite I accepted only to delete him later on. I told him I was just trying to dance, and then a few minutes later I decided to leave. When I teleported back to Richmond Island I got an IM that said "want to go somewhere". I was not used to talking to people in Second Life so to me this just seemed weird. When I asked him where to he replied "u give me hints i will think"  after I said I didn't know anywhere good he said "tell me what u want". I became way to uncomfortable again so I logged off. 

Both of these incidents with my dark skinned avatar bewildered me. I never changed my green short dress I was wearing therefore, with the switch of a skin color and body I was able to get recognized more. However, I wouldn't say this was the kind of attention I wanted. I felt as if I was getting hit on in Second Life which honestly freaked me out. When I was my old self people were nice and willingly to help out. Sure when I went somewhere I wouldn't get noticed, but I didn't design my avatar for that purpose. From this gender switch I was able to see that people talk to avatars whose appearance they find appealing. Even though I held the same name, and was the same girl behind my avatar, I was treated differently because of my race and looks. My very skinny small chested white avatar was not as appealing as my tall dark curvy avatar. In the beginning, I was scared of changing my race but I learned that all Second Life isn't just what Erika Thereian experienced as a black avatar. Both of our experiences did show that changing your appearance really can make a difference in how your Second Life experience goes. 

Link back home