What is a Second Life avatar?
The short and simple answer to this is your avatar is a representation of you in a virtual environment. It can be anything, in Second Life that’s more literal since there’s a wide range of types of avatars. Your typical starting avatar is either male or female human but this is not the end all be all. You can be a male or female furry, an animal, an object, an anime character, a superhero, even the president of the united states (yes there have been places that sell Barack Obama avatars.)
In second life it’s not about who you are in real life it’s about who and what you want to be in second life. This is something that’s not necessarily decided as soon as you make your account or when you get off the rez pad the first time; it can take time. The big thing to remember is it’s up to you and what you want to be involved in.
There are some things to look out for however. You can’t decide to be Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker and go to a star wars sim and expect to be excepted as such. THe star wars or any roleplay community about a certain movie or book or whatever doesn’t work that way; instead they prefer you to learn and grow into a role. So instead of being Vader or Luke go and look for sith or jedi groups and fill out an application to join them and learn the ways of the force, it’s more fun. Now outside of the star wars community if you want to dress up as darth vader or luke skywalker no one’s going to say anything, it’s just an avatar.
Are you a guy who wants to be a girl or vice versa? Would you rather be androgynous? No one’s going to say anything. Again it’s about you. Many people in sl live out fantasies about being the opposite sex or a combination of the sexes in general and for sexual fantasies.
The one thing a new resident has to understand though is that Second Life experiences are mentally real experiences. We’re social, we interact and as we go through our second lives, like with rl experience, our pasts become part of who we are as avatars. When I was young in sl I was shy and sl was a scary place to me. I had no idea what I was doing and the world was culture shock since I was accustomed to having quests and goals and levels, also seeing penises sold in stores was rather odd to me. I was one of those people that quit after a week but I came back a couple years later when I was bored while stuck in bed with a severe case of the flu. I wound up meeting new people and opening up. I became a social butterfly and tried everything, even if it was something I wouldn’t get involved in EVER in rl just because it was there and since I was an avatar it was harmless. But all the things I did became part of me. Looking and acting like I did in sl inspired me to become similar in rl. My avatar, an expression of me, became my hero.
So in summary what is an sl avatar? It’s a new you.