SLUniverse Forums - View Single Post - Does YOUR avatar have an eating disorder?

Stephanie Misfit · 05-28-2008, 05:04 AM

I was kind of disturbed to learn that there is a pro-ana group on Flickr for SL avatars - Thinspo in Second Life.

"Thinspiration! To be thin is to be Beautiful! This is a group only for SKINNY avies. Show us what is really beautiful! THIN IS IN!" Up until yesterday if you sent a request to be invited to join the group you had to agree to the following rules: "This is a pro-anorexia e bulimia in SL. Pro beautiful and thin avies. Pro model beauty. If you agree to these rules, you can join the group."

The reference to the pro-anorexia aspect of the group in the rules has since been removed and replaced with " If you are THIN you are IN! :-)" However, as "thinspo" is a term used exclusively by the pro-ana community to describe photos of frighteningly thin women that are used as inspiration for weight loss, the fact that this is a pro-anorexia group remains unchanged.

I've seen a lot of creepily thin avatars around of late, primarily in the so called "fashionista" community, many of whom either work as, or aspire to be, SL models. Yes, modeling, that holy grail of success in SL. Check out the Fashion World of SL feed and you'll be confronted with lots of them. I'd found the skeletal dimensions of these girls somewhat amusing until now, and assumed those shapes were made with some satirical intention, cos who would seriously want their avatar to look like a stick figure with a big alien head, right? But it turns out that some of these overly thin "fashion model" type avatars are in this Thinspo Flickr group, which really begs the question......... WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THEIR TYPISTS??

I'm certain that many of us have issues with our RL bodies, and the ability to chose our ideal form in SL is quite liberating as a result. No tits in RL? Sliders to 100 will fix it in SL. I don't have an issue with the way that anyone choses to represent their physical form in SL (unless they have a n00b cock hanging out of their pants), but do we really need to promote anorexia for our avatars? Look at pics of other "anorexic" avatars so that we can, what? Move the sliders down a little more to make our shapes even thinner? Share tips about virtual laxative use and how to prevent your virtual teeth from rotting due to excessive use of vomiting animations?

You really have to wonder about some people.

05-28-2008, 05:04 AM	#1 (permalink)
Stephanie Misfit Senior Member Lurker Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 290 My Mood: SLShopper Ads: 6 SL Join Date: 05/25/06 Business: La Sylphide	Does YOUR avatar have an eating disorder? I was kind of disturbed to learn that there is a pro-ana group on Flickr for SL avatars - Thinspo in Second Life. "Thinspiration! To be thin is to be Beautiful! This is a group only for SKINNY avies. Show us what is really beautiful! THIN IS IN!" Up until yesterday if you sent a request to be invited to join the group you had to agree to the following rules: "This is a pro-anorexia e bulimia in SL. Pro beautiful and thin avies. Pro model beauty. If you agree to these rules, you can join the group." The reference to the pro-anorexia aspect of the group in the rules has since been removed and replaced with " If you are THIN you are IN! :-)" However, as "thinspo" is a term used exclusively by the pro-ana community to describe photos of frighteningly thin women that are used as inspiration for weight loss, the fact that this is a pro-anorexia group remains unchanged. I've seen a lot of creepily thin avatars around of late, primarily in the so called "fashionista" community, many of whom either work as, or aspire to be, SL models. Yes, modeling, that holy grail of success in SL. Check out the Fashion World of SL feed and you'll be confronted with lots of them. I'd found the skeletal dimensions of these girls somewhat amusing until now, and assumed those shapes were made with some satirical intention, cos who would seriously want their avatar to look like a stick figure with a big alien head, right? But it turns out that some of these overly thin "fashion model" type avatars are in this Thinspo Flickr group, which really begs the question......... WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THEIR TYPISTS?? I'm certain that many of us have issues with our RL bodies, and the ability to chose our ideal form in SL is quite liberating as a result. No tits in RL? Sliders to 100 will fix it in SL. I don't have an issue with the way that anyone choses to represent their physical form in SL (unless they have a n00b cock hanging out of their pants), but do we really need to promote anorexia for our avatars? Look at pics of other "anorexic" avatars so that we can, what? Move the sliders down a little more to make our shapes even thinner? Share tips about virtual laxative use and how to prevent your virtual teeth from rotting due to excessive use of vomiting animations? You really have to wonder about some people.