Embodiment and Gender Identity in Virtual Worlds: Reconfiguring our “Volatile Bodies”

Publikation: Beiträge in SammelwerkenAufsätze in SammelwerkenForschungbegutachtet

Authors

Since the emergence of graphical virtual worlds, such as Second Life™ (Linden Lab 2003) and Entropia Universe™ (MindArk 2003), the creation of our Second Lives in cyberspace no longer relies predominantly on textbased means, as it was in the case of MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) or MOOs (object oriented MUDs). The focus of the online existence in VWs (virtual worlds) shifted from text-based descriptions to graphical representations of ourselves as avatars and of the virtual reality surrounding us. The customization of our virtual personas (choosing the name, adjusting body parts, and selecting clothes) entails above all gender specifi cation. As it turns out, coexisting in virtual communities as avatars, the majority of us seem to project an equivalent of reality onto our cyber bodies. Despite the fact that the Internet itself constitutes a fl exible tool, which could be used to implement revolutionary ideas contradicting stable and fi xed gender boundaries, the traditionally defi ned gender identity based on binary oppositions (male versus female; heterosexual versus homosexual) is still being reinforced online. We are more likely to fi ll the virtual worlds with unusual objects or imaginary scenery than to populate them with gender ambiguous creatures. Oftentimes, in the most fantastic virtual spaces, our avatar’s gender identity constitutes the most stable point of reference.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
TitelCreating Second Lives : Community, Identity and Spatiality as Constructions of the Virtual
HerausgeberAstrid Ensslin, Eben Muse
Anzahl der Seiten25
ErscheinungsortNew York
VerlagRoutledge Taylor & Francis Group
Erscheinungsdatum09.05.2011
Seiten75-99
ISBN (Print)978-0-415-88420-4
ISBN (elektronisch)9780203828571
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 09.05.2011
Extern publiziertJa

Links

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Publikationen

  1. Life satisfaction in Germany after reunification: Additional insights on the pattern of convergence
  2. Modernization
  3. Robust Current Decoupling in a Permanent Magnet Motor Combining a Geometric Method and SMC
  4. Investigation of the sulfur speciation in petroleum products by capillary gas chromatography with ICP-collision cell-MS detection
  5. The value of sub-national data
  6. Sustainable Development Discourse – Challenges for Universities
  7. De-Anonymizing Anonymous
  8. Simulation of fatigue crack growth in residual‐stress‐afflicted specimen with a phase‐field model
  9. IGH
  10. Number Pyramids as a Mathematically Rich Learning Environment for All Students
  11. Maintaining the Reputation of Reputation
  12. Promoting Navigation Health Literacy at the Intersection of Schools and Communities. Development of the Game-Based Intervention Nebolus
  13. A leverage points perspective on social networks to understand sustainability transformations
  14. Interdiffusion and atomic mobility in hcp Mg–Al–Sn alloys
  15. Letters to the editor
  16. Public Interest Litigation avant la lettre? Questions of Standing in the Wimbledon Case
  17. An extended kalman filter for temperature monitoring of a metal-polymer hybrid fibre based heater structure
  18. VALUES-BASED BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION-THE CASE OF ECOSIA AND ITS BUSINESS MODEL
  19. The Exilic Classroom
  20. Vom Wildwuchs zur Norm
  21. The well- and unwell-being of a child
  22. Destinationale Governance-Analyse
  23. Estimation of the economy of heterotrophic microalgae- and insect-based food waste utilization processes
  24. Filter Devices having a Microwave Resonator
  25. Cyberspace Battleground
  26. Konfiguration der PPS
  27. Efficiency
  28. Ankunft einer Katze
  29. Introduction: Converging the Yet-Separate Theoretical Discourses of Testimony Studies
  30. Who is doing asylum in Niger? State bureaucrats’ perspectives and strategies on the externalization of refugee protection
  31. Introduction to the Psychology of Entrepreneurship
  32. Promoting neighbourhood sharing: infrastructures of convenience and community
  33. Linking stakeholder survey, scenario analysis, and simulation modeling to explore the long-term impacts of regional water governance regimes
  34. Erosion modelling designed for water quality simulation
  35. Steven R. Jungkeit: Spaces of Modern Theology: Geography and Power in Schleiermacher’s World
  36. Die Entwicklung der Rechtschreibkompetenz beim Textschreiben
  37. The constructs of sustainable supply chain management
  38. The Principles of Public International Law and their Influence on Space Contracts
  39. Does outcome expectancy predict outcomes in online depression prevention? Secondary analysis of randomised-controlled trials
  40. Grünes Bruderholz
  41. Cultural change in Asia and beyond