I went out to see the Second Pride sims - six of them, celebrating LGBT pride and culture in Second Life. A good thing, to be sure.
After Fantasy Faire, and SL9B, I was expecting something rather fun, though. Unfortunately, it's six rather empty sims, of rather bland builds. There is a funfair, which looks vaguely fun. There are important things, like memorials, and art galleries, and a museum of the struggle (still ongoing, alas) for gay rights. It's all very worthy and not very interesting....
Also, I am minded to gripe on a personal level; last I heard, there was an L in LGBT. But you wouldn't think it to see most of this place. So far, I have found a stall for SL's "Oh Boi" lesbian magazine, and that is all I've found. I suppose I shouldn't grumble; in the world of Second Pride, that seems to put us about equal with the Goreans, and we get nearly twice as much space as the Amaretto breedable horses.
Perhaps lesbian groups were approached, but chose - for whatever reason - not to participate? Or perhaps it's that famous lesbian invisibility, that we hear so much about. Anyway. For me, this festival is something of a disappointment. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
Maybe it's that lesbians don't feel oppressed in Second Life, so there's no motivation for activism?
ReplyDeleteI wish! - Actually, there is a fair bit of activism around... it's just that none of it seems to have made it over to Second Pride.
DeleteI mean, I would be the last person to *object*, exactly, to the gay men having a "Celebration of the Male" exhibit... just, it would be nice if there were some equivalent celebration of the female. But it seems there isn't, or at least I didn't find it.
All I can really suggest is that the lesbian community work to become more visible and active within the larger SL community, and that they lobby the Second Pride organizers for more visibility at the event. It has always been lacking as far as I can recall, but I think it is lack of visibility and activity overall, not just during and at SP.
ReplyDeleteWell, there's no shortage of groups... and at least one of them managed a nice display at SL9B (there may well have been more, I didn't see a tenth of what was around at SL9B!)
DeleteOf course, even without that issue, SP was, bluntly, less than inspiring. Surely to goodness there are some fun, quality builders out there who'd be happy to contribute to an event like that? I mean, comparing it to SL9B or Fantasy Faire - or even some of the themed fashion fairs I've seen lately - it was definitely a bit blah.
Yeah, I popped over very briefly after I read this this morning, and was not impressed. Not at all on par with the remarkable work that has been done in past years.
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