My starting point is the term Self only because right now it’s the word that comes to mind when I think about my avatars, Me-the person that’s writing this blog, and my experience of Me being in SL embodying my avatars. Using the concept of a Self helps me operationalize my thinking. It helps me analyze my experiences by constructing an artificial separation between mind and body. In practice, I don’t however experience or believe there’s a separation.
In “Living Digitally: Embodiment in Virtual Worlds” (The Social Life of Avatars, edited by Ralph Schroeder), the authors point out the importance of seeing embodiment as relevant to both virtual (digital) and physical (biological) experiences, in that we interact with both worlds through our bodies.
No matter what, I and others experience some embodied representation of Me and my Self. But what does that mean? What does it look like and how does it feel? How do my thinking and actions change as a result?
Layered onto of the idea of embodiment, are ideas about identity, role, gender, race, and physical appearance.
The verbs to practice and perform are useful for talking about embodiment. For example, gender is an abstraction until we practice or perform it. This is true in both worlds, however in SL it takes on much more complexity because we can change our avatar’s gender instantly. Both of my avatars have androgynous names so that gender is not inscribed on them via their names. I can then experiment with performing gender. It’s very interesting how gender has been designed into SL standard avatars. You see it when you play with your avatar’s appearance. In SL yesterday I met a female resident who commented that her breasts were way too big; she quickly qualified that by adding that her [avatar] shape must have been designed by a man. I met another resident whose human-looking avatar looked entirely different from other residents. Her hair was short, her body proportions and clothing were subtle yet distinct. She had a kind of aesthetic sophistication you rarely see in SL. It reminded me of a Parisian. I complimented her on her look and she told me that she had designed the entire avatar. She called them “Me’s.” “Me’s” she said are all unique. She was very proud of her designs and being able to craft individuals. She’s a graphic designer in first life.
How do these experiences map onto to first life and vice versa? How are first life gendered practices performed in SL? What can we say about embodiment in first life given the bodies of celebrities and those of our friends, family and neighbors? When I look at bodies in first life, I see poverty written onto the bodies laborers. I see the bodies of single working mothers as distinct from childless women. Wealthy retired executive bodies are distinct from those of retired middle managers. At the SDSU gym, I see masculinity performed in the weights room; on campus I see femininity practiced with long hair. There’s no escaping the fact lived experiences in the digital and biological worlds are always embodied experiences.