I was shopping in the wonderful Collabor88 & enjoying it as I usually do, when some spastic gal dressed as a deer ran up to me and yelled "Murderer!" in my face. I had just purchased & was wearing my lovely, (& obviously FAUX)
Fox Fur Wrap from Ohmai. After I regained my composure, I took a moment to drop a notecard to the creator,
Anya Ohmai, of who I am a longtime fan & she kindly took the time to get back to me, which was nice. What was not nice & actually very shocking was the fact that she told me people have been harassing her as well over this faux fur PIXEL creation. Honestly, I just can't believe it. When I saw it, I instantly loved it's retro look & figured it was a nod to the recent Vintage Fair & also very appropriate considering the Winter weather. Let me clear something up just in case some people are confused. This is Second Life: A computer simulation. No actual animals were hurt! I wonder if the girl dressed as a deer calls herself a "murderer" in "real life" every time she eats a hamburger or walks a step in her leather shoes, or even eats a slice of cheese. That's as far as I will go with that, but I will say, No, I wouldn't wear a fox in "real life" but there's a huge list of things I am able to do in SL that I cannot do in RL like: have hooves & horns or wings, be a dragon or a bird or a guy, have different colored hair, be any size or shape I want, hell, I can wear a dog skull on my chest & have a tentacles for legs if I want - whatever, I'm not hurting anyone or anything! That gal probably thought she was being very "PC" & awesome, but she was actually being a first class twit. Sincerely, your friendly neighborhood pixel murderer. Now, please enjoy the pictures I took. Thank You.
All skins:
Fashionably Dead Skins 88L
All Faux Foxes:
Ohmai Faux Fox Fur 88L multi colors
Hair (top two~
Clawtooth Hair 88L color pack, bottom two
D!va Free Group Gift Hair.)
More Details:
1.
{U.F.O.} Dress 88L
2.
D!va old Group Gift Hat,
Tres Blah Dress 88L, Annoying Japanese Children Group Free Necklace (look up group inworld, free join)
Dilly Dolls Mesh Boots (Group Gift)
3. Tres Blah Dress (past collabor88)
Glasses 88L,
Lassitude & Ennui Shoes (past hunt gift)
4.
Lo momo dress (October Free Group Gift still available Free to join! ~Comes with choker, hat & hair not pictured)
All pictures taken in my L2 Studio Hot House July House (Past Seasons Hunt Gift I absolutely LOVE)
Decorated for Xmas with the following items:
Couch, Giant Ornaments, Tree, Gifts, Cards, Mistletoe, Chalkboard Paintings, Fireplace Set, Card Garland, Twinkle Lights ALL from -
LISP
Art Dummy Bottle Lights
What Next Starry Lanterns
Awesome Blossom Oar, Kessi Andretti Love letters added
Concrete Flowers Rug
Table, Shelves, Floor Pillows
Kessi Andretti (Makes Great Houses & stuff! Look it up!)
My first reaction was a lot like yours, along the lines of "What an idiot." But I also sometimes wonder about the impact of SL items on RL attitudes and even behaviors. I know I would never wear fur IRL and I think Ohmai does super cute fur stuff in SL! However, when it comes right down to it, "fur in fashion" is not a subject I am majorly passionate about.
ReplyDeleteStory time: My first time visiting Rotten Toe (I know you're a fan, and I am too - of most of her stuff), I saw a "self-injury kit" for sale. If I remember correctly, it was tattoos to make it look like your AV had been cutting herself and maybe a prim razor to hold or something. Now, mental illness and self-harm are subjects which are extremely personal to me. I know that a person, by wearing these items in SL, is not actually doing any physical harm, but I was still horror-struck by the idea that someone was actually selling this item. I wrote an emotional letter to the creator asking her to pull the item, and she wrote back basically saying the item was meant to be funny and told me to get a sense of humor and that she wouldn't stop selling the item. I still can not for the life of me fathom how someone could find self-injury (even fake self-injury) humorous but I also respected that it was the creator's right to sell whatever she chose. After some time passed, I was also able to see that my strongly worded letter was about my own issues more so than anything the RT creator had done.
For all I know, the person who yelled "Murderer" at you feels as passionately about animal rights (including living a strict vegan lifestyle) as I feel about mental illness. That does not excuse her being rude, of course not. But she may genuinely be worried that selling fur fashion in SL somehow normalizes RL furs or makes people more likely to buy them. I know I worried that selling an item making light of (or worse, fetishizing) self-injury could have a negative impact on individuals in a society that already assigns so much stigma to those suffering from mental illness. Anyhow, I guess I'm just saying that behind each AV we're all real, flawed human beings. I hope my story can help you understand why people sometimes come off as taking SL too seriously.
I personally have issues with self-injury & I did see that item in the past. As much as I love a lot of the items from hat shop that did unnerve me. I will admit I have experimented with creating a look of a very injured avatar which included bruises, scratches, black-eyes, self-injury scars, etc. as kind of a cathartic experiment. Sometimes I will put those kinds of looks on from time to time, but no, there is nothing "funny" about self-injury.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing funny about animal abuse, either. I was Vegan for 11 years of my life & I never once screamed "Murderer" at anyone. I lived my life & if people noticed my differences & had questions I would happily answer. If that girl is so passionate about animal rights perhaps she should include a PETA link in her profile,(or other organization,) or maybe she could have IM'd me & said something like, "I see you are wearing a fox muffler, I was wondering if you would be interested in knowing about the harsh treatment animals undergo in the name of fashion?" Then I could have said, "Why, yes, I do know of this subject, that's why I don't wear fur in "real life" but this is Second Life & I am putting together some "vintage" looks, thank you for your concern." But it seems like this person wanted to seem edgy & cool, make a scene & try to embarrass me.
The argument that me wearing a fox muffler in SL is going to translate into me wearing one in RL is about as convincing as saying that the rise in Furries in SL will make beastiality more prevalent in RL. Does this girl go into other video games & yell at people for wearing furs & skins or killing people &/or animals in those games? I seriously doubt it. It boils down to manners, of which she was sorely lacking. Her "passions" are wasted & her fury misguided. She can vote with her linden dollar buy NOT purchasing, (which I'm sure she didn't,) & also write a notecard to the creator, properly voicing her concerns. Instead she decided to be a BULLY to someone who has no control over the creative content of the item.
A few weeks ago I watched the documentary The September Issue" which focuses on Anna Wintour & Vogue Magazine. It was kind of interesting, although Ms. Wintour herself, is NOT & she wears an EXCESSIVE amount of fur which I found totally disturbing. If Ms. Wintour had been playing a game & draping herself in virtual furs & never wearing them in reality, that would probably be just fine with me.
I have to say I get what you are saying about "normalizing" & I mean, where's the line to be drawn. My justification is that the fur represents a "Vintage" look. Just because something was "ok" long ago, does that mean it's ok to play at it virtually? It doesn't work across the board. Let's take Slavery for example. There's a hot topic - universally accepted as horrible & bad, right? Well, LOTS of people "play" at Slavery in SL: BDSM, Gor, etc. I find it COMPLETELY offensive & disturbing, but you know what? I just don't get involved with it. I don't go to the places where people practice those things & yell & scream at them for doing so. I also think it's creepy & weird that grown adults want to play as little children & talk baby talk but I don't run up to them & scream "DEVIANT!" in their faces.
I don't want to rant on too much more about all this & I do get your point but I just have a really hard time letting go when people are very rude so this is going to take me a while. I just have to remind myself that girl has no idea about me, my history, my intentions, my concerns or my heart as I likewise have no idea about hers.
Thanks always for your contributions, Kit! <3
Thank you for the thoughtful response. I hope I didn't come off as trying to defend the person who was rude to you for her rudeness. She obviously handled the situation immaturely and inappropriately. I believe we each do the best we can with what resources we have in any given moment. Obviously, this was not her finest moment. :) Anyway, I am glad you took the time to bring up some of these issues about the line between SL and RL behaviors. It's always thought-provoking. Keep up the excellent writing and photography!
ReplyDeleteWhen it all boils down to it, it was probably neither of our "finest moments" she was judging me for an action & I judged her on hers. You didn't come off as defending her & I really did appreciate you engaging in a discussion because it did allow some of my defenses to come down a bit, which has proven to be helpful for me in processing this whole situation. So, thanks for your insight & for the lovely compliments!
ReplyDeleteIt appears that you have gone away again..... you may think you are not missed, but you are, my friend!!! Anyway, so glad I get to follow you here.....everytime you go away.... I hate that song....
ReplyDeleteI like that song, actually, lol. No, I haven't gone away, just from my RL Facebook. Too many egos trying to be King & it's a very hurtful competition. I still have my SL facebook, though! Much less mean...
ReplyDeleteI think the whole point of SL is to explore situations in a fantasy context. What you explore and how you explore it are up to you. But even if you *did* stick to a direct metaphor of SL as RL, the looks you are creating are vintage, and that virtual fox would likely have been from the 30s or 40s. "Murdered" long before your avatar was born. Sorry, deer girl is a jerk. And your outfits are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteYes, "Vintage" was the theme of a HUGE SL sales fair that was being held all last month so it was very much in keeping as well as a theme I have always enjoyed so you are right on track with your thoughts. Thanks for your insight, Anonymous! I really appreciate you stopping by! :)
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