[psych, anthro, race] Race in MMOs?

[siderea]

OK, guys, I know a bunch of you have linked to facinating articles about racial performance online (cvirtue, I seem to recall you linked to a couple about Second Life?) none of which I remember where I found them nor can I find them again. Anybody have any helpful pointers?

Comments

[cvirtue]

Would be happy to dig them up for you, but I'm not sure of your term "racial performance." But things I've posted about Second Life can be found via my tags, which in this case would be http://cvirtue.livejournal.com/tag/sl

[siderea]

Yay! found this one, "The Skin You're In", which is one that I was thinking of. It links to The Skin Game.

Any others you remember?

Oh, also found White Like Me and Transcending Race in Cyberspace? Yeah, Right.

[kayshapero]

That's... really sad. Would these folks go to a halloween party in their business clothes? I suppose bigots can be expected to have no imagination, but all the same it's pitiful. (And I loved Erika's revenge.)

[cvirtue]

Just as a side note on the SL issues in some of the articles: The system-available skin choices for avatars go from white to black, with brown, red, green, blue, etc. in between, and they *all* look terrible. To look moderately decent, one needs to buy a professionally done skin, and it's true that there are more white ones than black ones, but there definitely are easily-findable nice looking skins of color these days. Choices of avatar when you sign up are quite varied, including varieties of skin color.

I've been hit on in SL, very rudely, while wearing white skin and completely covered neck-to-toe-to-wrists. Idiocy knows no boundaries.

What I would *really* love to see is a double-blind study of skin color in SL. One where the player does not know what skin color (or sex) they are wearing at all, and have them record their experience of harassment.

[siderea]

This isn't for a pressing project, so I'm sticking to online for now. I just want all my pointers in a handy basket so I find them next time.