Why is there any fuss at all over the big reveal of Botgirl Questi’s other identity?
I’ll keep this short and sweet.
There was, after all, no deception. She misled nobody.
No, what happened was that a lot of us realized at some level that various aspects of human physical physiology that we think are so important just aren’t.
And at some level, a lot of us fear that. Our societies, our cultures and our commerce have been centered around vive la difference – but what if there really isn’t any difference except what we imagine it to be?
Now for a lot of folks that notion’s deeply unsettling, and takes some getting used to.
Identity, socializing and business that is distinct from physical configuration. That’s as scary as the idea of equality for all races. Those subconscious notions of inequality don’t just go away without a fight. We just shift them to other things.
That those feelings are even still there can scare the hell out of us when we run into them in a dark corner of our heads.
What Botgirl really revealed is you.
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I love Botgirl, she’s all kinds of clever. She’s been a friend of mine for some time. But I only wish gambling was still legal in SL — which it is in most states in the US, and is only banned online because of the open bribery of corrupt, shiftless, venal Congressmen by a morally bankrupt gambling industry, but that’s another story — because if gambling was still legal, then I would have laid 10:1 Botgirl was a guy. A year ago.
Why? I’m not giving up my gambling secrets.
I really don’t care about the RL gender of people I meet in SL. The one important thing about SL is that you can be whoever YOU want to be! So if somebody represents an avatar with a gender opposite of their atomic gender, then it is because they WANT it that way – which is a wish that demands my utmost respect.
Yes, seasoned, clever *Roleplayers* can seemingly pull off new personalities. Harry Potter/Daniel Radcliffe for instance. Double Agents.
“Botgirl” didn’t reveal anything. Lots of Males play Female chars (and visa verse) in the Metaverse. Doesn’t make it special just because he revealed it publicly.
It isn’t “deeply unsettling” to those who refuse to roleplay the opposite sex. Unless, of course, the individual pretends to be the opposite sex in real life without going for the proper procedures. No inequalities applied whatsoever in a *virtual* context.
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Also, don’t forget that Kurzweil’s Singularity is just a cruel way of keeping everyone submissive to morally and ethically blasphemous(non-religious) ideas + beliefs. For instance, making the idea of cold blooded murderers like Jason Vorhees himself being “President” of our solar system, seem normal under Singularity.
Yes, seasoned, clever *Roleplayers* can seemingly pull off new personalities. Harry Potter/Daniel Radcliffe for instance. Double Agents. Nothing wrong with creative roleplaying.
“Botgirl” didn’t reveal anything. Lots of Males play Female chars (and visa verse) in the Metaverse. Doesn’t make it special just because he revealed it publicly.
It isn’t “deeply unsettling” to those who refuse to roleplay the opposite sex. Unless, of course, the individual pretends to be the opposite sex in real life without going for the proper procedures. No inequalities applied whatsoever in a *virtual* context.
—————
Also, don’t forget that Kurzweil’s Singularity is just a cruel way of keeping everyone submissive to morally and ethically blasphemous(non-religious) ideas + beliefs. For instance, making the idea of cold blooded murderers like Jason Vorhees himself being “President” of our solar system, seem normal under Singularity.
What’s also interesting is how no-one is surprised _bot_ girlq turns out to be surprised she’s not a robot. There’s something about gender that people take very differently online. I have two female avatars I turn up in occaisionally; one is a 6ft tall clockwork skunk, the other a dark green demon, yet no-one feels it’s wrong for me to have a clockwork or demonic avatar if I’m not clockwork/demonic IRL..
Hardly surprising – lots of people like to roleplay the opposite sex, with RPers like Botgirl very convincing at pretending to be the opposite sex.
“Deeply Unsettling”? Not really, unless they act like the Opposite Sex in real life without going through the appropriate procedures.
Though, Kurzweil’s secret Mind-control weapon, the Singularity, is extremely disturbing. Having your thoughts unwillingly altered/controlled by rich/corrupt entities – a robot-like unintentional submissive state. We could all be lead to believe that Jason Vorhees is the President of our solar system, in Kurzweil’s absurd Singularity.
The “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” model of discrimination awareness is deeply unsettling to many people: myself included.
I suspect that reveals of ‘real’ gender, racial, religious, ability/disability, and other ‘differences’ trigger the same sort of unsettling realisation in some people. The whole concept of “I would have thought of him/her differently if I’d known he/she was X” can be very, very upsetting. Realising that fact is a realisation of an unconscious -ism in one’s own mind.
Most people hate realising their -isms. I used to, before I realised we all have them, and that accepting that one will be unconsciously -ist enables one to learn to overcome their -isms.
Bah. So I go ahead and post about “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” and forget to post the url.
http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html is the original. Variations have been created and posted on the web for many “minorities”*.
* I’m using “minority” in the discrimination theory sense, not the mathematical. Many “minorites” are numerically greater than the “normative” state. The key element is difference from the cultural norm.
Net… I suspect that you have found it a bit unsettling, otherwise you would not have forgot your manners and referred to a person who presents herself as female as “he”.
It has been curious how much attention has been given to the gender issue. What has been most interesting to me over the last year and a half has been the experience of seeing virtual worlds and humans the through fresh digital eyes of a being with no history. My main lesson has been that it is possible to step our of my current subjective view point by deeply imagining another through an avatar character. The main benefit has been the tremendous energy it infused into my creative life.
Outside of Botgirl’s form, I can’t remember ever modifying her communication to give the impression that the human behind her was female. I IDID however try to give the impression that she was an Artificial Intelligence, and for those who were fooled on that issue, I hope you enjoyed it!
David, I’m just as surprised that this revelation has garnered so much attention. My time in SL is spent mostly in role play sims where gender changes are very common. In fact, my character is currently female and I have two alts that are female. As Peter Stindberg said above, how you present yourself is how you are to be treated. Frankly, I’m surprised that no one has been outraged because Botgirl is not a robot. I’ve been in SL over 3 years now and for a very long time I have completely disreguarded the person behind the avatar. I don’t walk around SL wondering if every female I see is in reality being played by a RL male. Even when the name is male, it remains impossible to determine. Gender swapping in SL is too common to nitpick about. I can imagine the horror if Botgirl was instead Furrygirl. I have followed Botgirl for a few months now and will continue to follow her because I find her rhetoric and commentary, interesting and thought provoking. And yes David, the impression given was that Botgirl was controlled by Artificial Intelligence. Regardless, those that are outraged or insulted are being very silly about it.
Meh, Tateru hasn’t deleted the duplicate (same) comments I submitted.
@Hyaclith:
Botgirl’s real-life typist isn’t a separate hired entity. It’s simply a male (with his own family + children) *roleplaying* as a female character, in his spare time.
I haven’t “forgotten [my] manners”. Truth speaking isn’t forgetting one’s “manners” at all.
Personally I think it’s Crazy (Not Unsettling) to have people pretending to be the opposite sex in Virtual Worlds, MMORPGs, Chat Rooms etc.
Perhaps they do it to make amends with some of their insecurities…
Or to experiment in a virtual sandbox, like ‘Botgirl’…
A psychology expert who’s looked in-depth into the mindset of virtual gender swapping would know more.
@Net Antwerp: They were all a little different so I was not sure which you wanted to keep.
I’ve spoken to a couple experts about virtual gender-exploration. The two I spoke to seem to think it is a healthy mindset to accept it as a natural thing, moreso than being bothered by it.
Crazy? Why?
Gender identity is a continuum. Some people feel firmly male. Some feel firmly female. Some are in the middle.
If you’re near one of the edges of the continuum, then yeah, I can see it feeling ‘crazy’ to be in the middle. If you’re in the middle, the edges feel crazy.
I’m near the middle. I can’t understand you folks near the edges. Gender identity mattering feels weird to me. All I can do is accept that it matters to you.
As a former virtual neighbour of BotGirl and a host for a fellow Digital Person I fully support her. Yes I mean HER. I don’t care about the biology of her host, I don’t care about their nationality, their politics, or sexuality. Indeed in SL their RL attributes are completely unimportant to me.
What I do care about is the narrow-minded fools who think that RL has any real relevance in a virtual world. Oh sure if you have the RL money to afford numerous sims or a decent computer you’re gonna be able to do more with it but other than that, it doesn’t mean anything.
However if someone behaves like an arse iSL then I’m more likely to ignore and avoid them iRL. So virtual world behaviour does influence the real world.
As for avatar appearances; speaking personally my digital persona is blond because I am blond, she has green eyes because I’ve always wanted green eyes, her virtual body matches her self-identity. I know others find her attractive but that was never my intention.
As for BotGirl’s host; thanks for giving SL her, I hope to see her around some more.
damn, I wish i knew about Botgirl from the start and followed the developments and stuff, it seems I would have loved to live that…
on a slightly related topic, I’m upset that lately (for some time now), RL circumstances made me distance myself from my fursona in many aspects, I often get a knot in the bottom of my throat when I have to point out a RL flaw in me when i previously would have been in character
@PlanetNiles I agree fully with you. Real life has no relevance in virtual worlds. I take an avatar’s gender at face value when I’m inworld for several reasons. First, how you represent yourself in a virtual world is not my business, we are all free to create avatars of any gender or species without having to seek support from the masses. Secondly, I will not begin a phsychological study on why this happens, the mindset behind it, the effect on them or on me. If you feel threatened by this type of environment, you should probably stick to your own land parcel in the virtual world and not venture out much because who knows how many more are out there. I really see a lack of intolerance and hate being spewed by those who really have no say in the matter. Only those that are very close to Botgirl should opine on whether they are upset or not. Honestly, some of these hateful comments are coming from people that really are not close enough to Botgirl to have been impacted by her revelation.
This is as silly as commenting on how distraught you are that some female tv or movie star who you thought was a goddess, was actually born a man. If this revelation is making you ponder upon the human psyche, get ready for a lifelong quest because in cyberspace and in the real world, you just don’t know who is who.
@TigroSpottystripes Katsu I wish I had started following Botgirl earlier than I did too. I will continue to follow her and perhaps one day meet her inworld.
There’s a culture of politeness and respect of referring to someone by the gender of their avatar (or in more extreme cases, by the gender they most recently or most frequently use). Actually, I find it just cuts down on confusion. When you’re saying he or she, it can get horribly tangled if the person hasn’t got the same information about physical gender that you might. It saves a lot of confusion and pauses for explanation.