Comments on: You Mean You Chose to be Fat?: Body Image in a Virtual World

By: Is this thing on? « Ashlen’s Weblog

Is this thing on? « Ashlen’s Weblog — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:18:14 +0000

[...] Marissa Racecourse’s study on fatvatars was very inspiring, and I did start creating a more plump shape, but I never wore it out in public. Then just recently I read several blogs of people changing their AVs to look more like themselves, and that was the final push. I did it! I don’t know how successful I’ve been in making Ashlen look like me, but at least she’s not a size 0 anymore, and that’s all that matters to me. I’m now a proud fatvatar! [...]

By: Never mind the lady behind the avatar… | KessKreations

Never mind the lady behind the avatar… | KessKreations — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 18:36:59 +0000

[...] from her HP and Virtual Infidelity paper she did her virtual body image paper which can be found here. If I can ever convince her, I think she should expand more on it, since it is such a great topic [...]

By: PVB Discussion Forums - Fatshionista and Body Acceptance

PVB Discussion Forums - Fatshionista and Body Acceptance — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 03:39:47 +0000

[...] a presentation titled,"You Mean You Chose to be Fat?: Body Image in a Virtual World". (http://marissaracecourse.com/2008/06/03/….-virtual-world/) Essentially we are both chunky avatars in a world where you can be WHATEVER (and I mean furry [...]

By: Danielle Harrop

Danielle Harrop — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:14:29 +0000

As someone who is playing around with making clothes in SL, I like to experiment. For a long time, I’ve wanted to find a more “realistic” shape for my AV, more like real life. In real life, I’m a “Big Beautiful Woman”…Very proportional, but not barbie at all. I found this article through a webpage from a google search, and I thank you for posting it. I think we’d all be happier if we “broke away from barbie”…leave the fantasy stuff to the ppl who wanna r/p and all.

By: Gaia Granada

Gaia Granada — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:11:18 +0000

Interesting experiment…I know that when first coming to SL I made my avatar thin with a huge chest (like some insane person!)…I now, after almost two years in SL, have a plump avatar that I honestly feel is gorgeous…once a guy made a crack about me in a club…all I can say is this is the world we live in…I am resigned to having my arm sticking through my stomach with animations and with half my prim attachments buried in my pixel flesh…personally my avatar will look like what I think is beautiful and to Hell with these sheep…they bore me…I also have a stove with prim food as the centerpiece of my little SL house…that’s me in RL and me in SL…cooking, eating, reading tarot cards and taking photos…

By: Plumping the AV 7 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Plumping the AV 7 on Flickr - Photo Sharing! — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:12:11 +0000

[...] they could make it. They were involved in an enlightening SL experiment concerning chubby AVs. marissaracecourse.com/2008/06/03/you-mean-you-chose-to-be… fyi it was a seminar about AV assumptions and the challenges of having an AV outside the [...]

By: daily news

daily news — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:33:47 +0000

[...] to 1:30pm. In case you have no idea who I am or where I’m coming from, I posted an article on my blog about being fat in SL(tm). I’m rather lazy, so I will just copy/pasta the notecard about the [...]

By: “You mean you’d choose to be fat?” : body image in a virtual world « Shopping Cart Disco

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:48:51 +0000

[...] the full text here, at Marissa’ website, which includes chat dialogues with other avatars and how they reacted to the overweight avs. [...]

By: ventriloquy on ZENcast.com

ventriloquy on ZENcast.com — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:08:38 +0000

[...] taco taco taco » Blog Archive » You Mean You Chose to be Fat?: Body Image in a Virtual W… [...]

By: name witheld

name witheld — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:16:12 +0000

It would be unfair to single out just fat people. Harassment happens with all types of people in SL. It’s easier for someone to say what’s on their mind in a virtual world. If anything, this shows how people are less inhibited in SL than in RL. Sad? Yeah maybe.. but it is human nature to reject anything that is not appealing to us or strange to us. SL allows our worst human nature to come out. In RL, we see someone who is ugly, obese, underweight, strange, etc and most of us politely keep our thoughts to ourselves. In SL, we let our thoughts become written words in public chat. Also, it is our human nature to want attention.. and the best way in SL to gain attention is to be something that is not typical of the SL user. Unfortunately, some crave attention so badly that even negative attention is sought. My advice is to not care what others think and enjoy the SL character you have created. SL is the one place we can do what we want and say what we want. So, who cares if someone criticizes you, do they really matter to you? If they matter so much, then be a sheep and do what they want so you can impress them.. otherwise, just be yourself and expect the comments.. you can always tell them how damn predictable their comment was and how they are so completely “typical” and boring. As someone not exactly thin in RL, I had to smile that the clothes in SL are as ill fitting as they are in RL. The templates are based on the average SL figure, just how designers in RL use a manniquin. It’s to be expected.