This comment was written by Sarah McGinley on 17 Jul 2013.
Meta-Reflection
I noticed that I came up with a fairly non-visual profile idea -- no options about how you look or dress, but also not about gender. I used to (not anymore) think of cyberspace as a disembodied space. We’d be beings of pure though rather than virtual representations of ourselves. Why do we want an avatar at all? What do we think when we see people with just a gray box? Do we think they are disengaged? non-tech savvy? Or do we think they are opting out of a visual privileging of identity? Perhaps I’d rather have an aural avatar. I’m a burst of signal noise, or a bar or two of La Traviata. Would that just be the same as personalized ringtone? Would its iterations drive us nuts? Why can’t I have a personal soundtrack like Family Guy? Why are avatars silent? Are they?
What does race mean when it’s virtual? What does it mean to adopt another race? Is it drag / yellowface? Do we see adopting another persona as the same creative / authorial motive extended to FICTION when we create characters? (Of course we can argue about writing across race / gender / sexuality / physical ability as well.) Do we hold a virtual self to higher standards of mimesis / verisimilitude/ authenticity than a character? Why do we feel defrauded? Is there sincerity expected?