Heidi Trotta

As I was reading the article by Donald E. Jones, “I, Avatar: Constructions of Self and Place in Second Life and the Technological Imagination“, I thought of my amazing experience at the Fey Brightwillow’s private fashion show a couple of weeks ago. It was a Friday night and I was meeting Baccara at 8:30 p.m. to get dressed. Baccara was giving me more appropriate clothing and jewerly to fit the occasion. If you haven’t noticed, lately I have traded my jeans attire for some slick black pants, designer top, wedge shoes and earrings, all given to me byBaccara. Baccara was modeling in the show so I teleported early with her to the fashion show location.My anticipation grew as all gathered and we found our seats. Fey, joined by her partner, welcomed all and the show started. Walking down the runway, models (male and female) displayed Fey’s creations, some of which you see in this postcard of Fey’s Boutique. At the end of the evening, some of the group decided to move on to a private party. Tired, I decided to call it a night. Of course I had to remind myself of how much effort this would really take since I was already laying on my couch. Regardless, I made by goodbye’s and went to bed. It “felt” like I was there, at the show. I “felt” too tired to go out afterwards.

Real or unreal? As Jones pointed out, virtual world technology enables us to become a central observer of our own reality. However, I would argue that even in the real world we create our own “perceived” vision of what is real, regardless of the facts. I would propose that as Jones states, virtual worlds offer us freedom that we don’t have in real life. So many times we are “limited” by not only by the outside, but by the boundaries we place on ourselves. Here in the virtual world we have a chance to be free of those limitions, we MAKE our own reality.

I was talking with a friend who plays the World of Warcraft game about what is real and how addicting these environments can be. He made the comment that this game was probably one of the last places to offer men the opportunity to be a hero. At that moment, I thought of the book I read over Christmas break titled “In a Time of Fallen Heros, the Remaking of Masculinity by William Betcher. This book talks about how men view masculinity in a traditional, historical sense (i.e. dragon slayer, Marlboro man, superhero), always tying to live up to the standards of the ideal man that requires them to climb new mountains, seek new vistas, achieve new status, etc. I guess I would ask the same question the article did as to what does it mean to be onesself and what does one look like …. on to the next blog entry.

(first published in Blogger, January 2006)