My Real-World Avatar

So – yea – the other day I came to class dressed in a close approximation of my avatar. I found it interesting that the only person who asked me why was from another class. Perhaps it was self-explanatory. Perhaps no one wanted to find out, or perhaps the students just thought – OK so he is dressed like this today. I am fascinated by choices that we might make in a virtual environment – of size, shape, color, dress, action – that we would never do in this world. The obvious question perhaps is if the avatar is some symbolic representation of what we really want to be but can’t for one reason or another. The again, it just might be that in places like Second Life we can wear cool clothes that don’t cost very much and there is really no situation where we will be dressed “inappropriately.” But I return to the notion of an “intentional body” (as opposed to an accidental or inherited one). How much of our selves in the real world is determined by us and how much by our upbringing, education, career path, language, experiences, and mental and physical heights and limitations? Do these things matter in SL? I don’t know – but I figured one way to start thinking about these questions was to bring a bit of that world into this one.