#second life beauty

[evwuniverse]

SL Beauty Versus Reality

Let's get a little serious. How many of you have logged into Second Life and seen an avatar with wrinkles or grey hair? How many of you have seen chubbier avatars? When I say chubby, I mean REALLY thick (like BBW thick). Not very often right? Believe it or not, Second Life's main population is the UK and US userbase, sure others from all around the world are on Second Life but most of who you will find is from those two countries. With that out of the way, it is important to post on the beauty standards inside of Second Life.

*Disclaimer: This post covers sensitive topics that might be triggering to some audiences such as mental health and physical beauty standards. This post is created to inform and are my thoughts and practical opinions noticed through fact, please only comment or repost with love and light, this Is a part of my experience and projections that I have seen for many many years, if you do not agree do not bash the post simply don't bring it with you or continue reading. Thank you. *

The Freedom to be Whoever or Whatever You Want:

Second Life allows everyone to express themselves inside and out creatively. It makes a space for people to dress the way they want, look the way they want, be a furry, a car, a 4 legged cat, a TV anything you can think of there is a creator that has created that in which you can make your avatar with the items creators have produced. However, can this be dangerous to the subliminal mind, at the end of the day can this cause depression among people?

It depends on how you look at it, there are 5 types of players that I see the most often. MLP (My Little Pony Friendship is Magic) players, Furries, humans/toddlers, and tinies. Of course, there are way more players and avatars than this but this is to give you an idea that there are a lot of ways for an avatar to express someone. I've said it once and I'll say it again

"An avatar is like a canvas, it is the self-expression of someone's reality and thoughts being expressed in visual form in a virtual environment"

How Can This Start Becoming Dangerous?

Everyone's avatar is an extension of themselves. Where this can show danger to the psyche is for those who are let's say very voluptuous in their reality but their avatar is very skinny, toned, colored hair, it's everything that individual wishes to be. There have been situations where people go in to create who they want to be but can't, are unable, or don't want to obtain in the real world for one reason or another. A lot of it has to do with money but the other half is with mental and physical health, there are just some people who physically cannot get to the body stature that their avatars have even with working out daily.

This is where envy can come in and they try everything they can to get to this point even unhealthy measures to get there. There have been a few stories about this happening to people not just with Second Life but with other virtual worlds as well. If I can provide you with any advice it is to not let the virtual world seep into your reality. If you can set healthy boundaries it will help you to approach the virtual platform differently. You only have one real life. Your virtual life and the avatar will be around unless deleted by the user. At the end of the day, your real life is what matters most. In the UK and the US, there is a heavy emphasis on using Photoshop to perfect what the society in each place sees as "beautiful" and so they try to create a society of individuals who are trying to meet this standard by selling consumer items that may or may not work for you to get there. Because we see these ads every day we naturally assume this is what we need to be. That is not true, everybody is made differently with Second Life, and every person's avatar is created differently. However, more often than not when you are online the main difference amongst these avatars is their height, but if you look around most of the avatars are thin with either big boobs or big butts or both but for the most part, most of the avatars are toned, hourglass-shaped, or skinny when it comes to females. Males, they are typically ripped, with heavy muscles, toned, and tall like they're on steroids, the other type of male I see a lot are those that are trying to look like these KPop stars.

Please remember that the way people look in Second Life is not reality. There is no need to feel bad about how you look in the real world because a lot of those people on Second Life, don't look that way either outside of the virtual platform. You need to set boundaries to protect your mental state in these types of situations. If you cannot please see a professional or talk things out with a close friend who is willing to hear you out with no judgment and can help provide sound advice. Second Life has its own society that created its own beauty standards.

Second Life's Beauty Standards:

Females:

Thin or Toned

Hourglass shaped

Big butt, Big boobs, or Both

Typically Tan or African American

You must wear some sort of makeup and high-quality textured skin to be accepted by a lot of people on Second Life nowadays.

It is quite rare for me to see other ethnicities every now and then I'll come across a white or Asian avatar but not often. My avatars used to be created in a very Japanese style. I find all people to be beautiful but the above is what you will find the most.

Males:

Ripped - looks like they're on steroids

Muscular everywhere

The whole tall, tan, and handsome idea

Make sure you have an Animesh/bento mesh head and body

Every now and then you will come across a male avatar that looks a bit more realistic to form but honestly? it's not very often.

In Second Life, to be seen as acceptable by a lot of the new users (Second Life has changed a lot since COVID-19 and 2020) you must have an Animesh or bento head, a bento body with the most popular right now being Maitreya and the EBody - Reborn for women and for men I see the Signature bodies often and have been told this is the most popular for men. For heads, the most popular are LAQ, Lelutka, and Catwa. With Lelutka being the most popular choice for males and females.

The userbase doesn't frown upon clothes too often unless it clips through your hair or body and then they feel your new and a lot of today's users don't really talk with the newbies, which is so sad. I remember being new and there were so many people to help me along my journey. Nowadays Second Life can be a little lonely if you're not willing to put in some money to create a decent avatar and that is a little disappointing for people who want to be a part of this community but feel discouraged due to the beauty standards within Second Life in 2024.

In The End:

Second Life has changed a lot from 2003 to 2024. This virtual world has adopted its own beauty standards and it is important to know that even if people are creating avatars that look like models, you don't have to, you can be your own version of what beauty is. Don't get bogged down by the people who are part of this standard. At the end of the day, they don't look like that and neither do you (except whether or not you attempted to create your real self in a virtual form). Do not let these people get the best of you. Virtual worlds are created for self-expression and to get away from the stresses of everyday life. Your experience should be fun, drama, and stress-free. If these start to come into your experience you should do everything possible to alleviate it. Protect your mental mindset set healthy boundaries and continue to remind yourself that the avatars are extensions of that individual and not who they truly are.

I hope this post helped in one way or another or was enlightening, I got the idea for this post when I was walking in a sim earlier today and a newer player was explaining how negative their experience had been thus far, and shortly after 4 more new players joined in on the conversation. It is truly heartbreaking to see the new player base struggling to make friends and enjoy everything that Second Life has to offer. After our conversation, I helped all of them since it is winter time to obtain the free mesh heads, skins, etc from the 12 Days of Christmas Event that is still happening. However, if you see a new member please attempt to help them, we all started at that point before being the one that makes a difference in that player's experience.

[itsbowietoyou]

Oh hai! It’s me, Bowie!

Living content in Second Life, I create shapes for @jaggedpeaches and also I blog for a small number of brands, BREATHE, Glam Affair + WarPaint just to name a few.

I couldn’t pick just one single store as my fave if I *had* to….

I’m besotted with Maneskin, and true crime podcasts.

My fave thing to do for Second Life, is edit my raw blog shots. I don’t use AI, but I do add highlights to hair, and lots of shading, using Procreate.

Definitely obsessed with my wee puppy Blu, who is a Frenchie. (My RL dog is honestly the lub of my life, she’s a shiapso and her name is Bowie. I named my avi after my puppy!

If you’ve read this far, thank you. I’d love to get to know you all too, tell me something about yourself in either a comment or a reblog!

Much love, Bowie xo

[wasabi-gumdrop]

local ladies man’s signature move totally useless against autistic monster enthusiast. more on Kabru’s fumble era at 6

[pink-pr1ncess]

pillows? 💞

[vaguely-concerned]

purple hawke who, at malcolm's death, lost not only a father, a mentor, the single most stable and safe point in their world up until this moment. but also the only person in their life who would consistently, gleefully 'yes, and — ' them. the loss, in one fell swoop, of both a beloved parent and your sole willing — no, not only willing, enthusiastic — improv partner. truly, the most unkindest cut of all that the maker could have seen fit to deal. (there's always so much less laughter in the house, after malcolm's gone.)

and then after all the horrors of the blight and trying to make a new life in the shithole turned shithome of kirkwall....... they meet varric. and something that's been slumbering deep within their soul dries a tear of relief and joy and whispers 'oh we are so back'. and they are so right

[rainbow-sunshine-unicorn]

I genuinely can’t get over how proud Anthony is of himself, after kissing Kate, EACH AND EVERY TIME

They’ve been married for a while, gone on two separate honeymoons and spend all their time together and still this man puffs up like a balloon, literally swells up with pride and his face looks like his soul is internally doing some jazz hands, each time he kisses his wife

[loves2spwge]

they just want to be one...

commissions @jolyonvane did for me where i asked if he could please please please make stan look as desperate and exhausted as he usually does but is being kept together by all his love for his sbf kyle

[chiliger]

“When I lost you, I was lost too, in this place… In this place, there’s something (nothing) more…” — This Place by Nicolas Snyder

Rewatched “Scavenger’s Reign” and it gave me the urge to draw something in a way inspired by the beautiful landscapes in the series. I’m out of practice with environmental illustrations, but this was a very calming one to make.

Trees so tall their canopies are lost to the eye, but their seeds drift down in gentle light and land among stones jutting from the ground. Not many beings get to witness it.

Close up and gif below the cut

[pennyserenade]

happy birthday to david duchovny who is barred from a canadian strip club, not because he did anything there, but simply bc he said it rained too much in vancouver

[hooned]

it's the sunoo effect 🥰

[itsbowietoyou]

Never taking this BoM from @belantti off!

Face Enhancer 6 - I’ve used every 50% BoM and it is just perfection. Cheek, lip, eyelid and more highlighter, lip gloss and more. It’s absolutely a game changer.

This photo is 100% unedited and I NEVER do that. I never put up completely unedited pics.

You absolutely need this for you avi! Get it at Belantti

[hildegardladyofbones]

One of the best things about Disco Elysium by far is that it does not fear ugly women. The world is full of ugly men, but ugly women are so hard to come by.

[pink-pr1ncess]

boop boop bedoop 💞

[inafieldofdaisies]

[toyastales]

Chicago, Illinois

[unriding]

a … a gift from the talented @kruinka 🥹 thank you so much!! ദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ)