G3 Final project---progress report

Progress Report of the Final Project
G3. Jessie, Ruby, Susie, Sonny

I. Building up a topic
Our group is curious about what the transgender situation is like in SL: is it a paradise for transgender? What kinds of people in reality enjoy being transgender in SL? What can they get from SL? These series of questions aroused our interest to be engaged in a research project about transgender in SL.
Topic: We assume that SL prepares transgender in reality for a better live, so we want to find out whether it is true or not. If it is true, in what aspects?

II. First draft of the research questions:
Subtopic I: the reasons they choose to be transgender in SL
1. Do you choose to be transgender out of fun or interest?
2. Are you led by others to come here or by yourself?
3. If it is out of fun, what fun can you get from it?

Subtopic II: comparison of transgender culture in SL & RL
1. What do you think about the present transgender situations in RL?
2. What do you think about the present transgender situations in SL?
3. What are your daily activities in SL?
4. Apart from the activities here, do you take part in other activities with people who are not transgender?

Subtopic III: existing problems
1. Have you ever encountered any kind of embarrassment because of who you are now?
2. What’s your reaction towards those embarrassments?

III. Role plays conducted to see if the research questions can work out
Two groups: A. Susie and Sonny
B. Jessie and Ruby
After the role plays, we found that there are many problems about our questions, so we revise it into the following edition.
INTERVIEW course:
Places: transgender clubs
Step 1: self-introduction & small talk to get familiar with the interviewee
Step 2: ask for basic information about the interviewee
Step 3: bringing up our topic
Subtopic a: comparison of transgender culture in SL & RL
1. What do you think about the present transgender situations in RL?
2. What do you think about the present transgender situations in SL?
3. What are your daily activities in SL?
4. Apart from the activities here, do you take part in other activities with people who are not transgender?
Subtopic b: in what aspects does SL prepare transgender for better living in RL?
Subtopic c: existing problems
1. Have you ever encountered any kind of embarrassment because of who you are now?
2. What’s your reaction towards those embarrassments?

IV. Interviews conducted

V. Conclusions so far
Ruby:
Mnemi Falodir: I am TG in real life; but I won’t emphasize and say I’m also a TG in SL. Of course, I feel more relaxed in TG Resources or some clubs because I could meet friends they are the same as me and get some advice.

Belunar Drake: I am a MTF person, hermaphrodite mentally and spiritually. If your looking at SL instead of TG, that’s a bit different…I consider SL to be a way to socialise, a way to be creative when the mood strikes, maybe at times a way to relax when I’m not in the mood to play computer or console games…I feel more accepted here than I do IRL at times; people seem less likely to judge here than RL. Sometimes I feel that it is because the average person on this planet is ignorant, closed minded, intolerant of anything outside of average.

Mnemi Falodir: I am essentially a woman who unfortunately was born male genetically. Real life is often tough on us, more so than the so called average public. We are an unaccepted unique class of people which are often wrongfully treated. SL we can be who we were meant to without ever receiving the hardships. Plus, if someone has an issue with me, I love the ability to mute. I am accepted here, irl people would rather I not exist. The majority of us just wanna be seen as normal, feel normal, society doesn't want that. TG is a term for all people with gender related issues not trans specifically. It's not how someone will look at me, so much is how I am treated and potentially abused. In my case my unacceptance by which my family refuses to accept what is and their attempt to "cure" the virus. Imagine if someone were to tell you, you were a guy, and you had to marry a woman, be a man, join the military, or be casted out.

Sonny:
Interviewees: YinYang Winterwolf, Laceybabe Landar, Tiffany Kohime, Ashley Lynch
Personal conclusion: SL has been both a shelter and a way to work out for reality for transgender like one of my interviewee said: “I love being female in SL it helps me deal with not being female in RL.” And for some transgender who have met great pressure in RL, SL is really a Second Life for them. Besides, SL is also nice that it provides a safe and diverse platform for transgender to gather and share their feelings, happiness or sorrow, and find friends to work problems out together.

Susie:
First interviewee: Kimberly Bluxome
age:45
gender: mentally female and physically male
Kimberly Bluxome worked in a dance club in SL. It'a not a transgender club. Some trans work there, but Kimberly doesn't think any of the trans are open. She is a tran in RL too and doesn't think it's funnier in SL. Not everyone likes tran even in SL. It depends on where you live. Most of the trans she knows either just hang out with other trans, or they aren't open about it, just like in rl. However, she admitted that being trans in SL is cheaper and easier. Trans doesn't have to pay for hormones, doctor visits or psychiatry. You can just choose the gender and the beautiful clothes you like.

Second interviewee:Liriel Aonifall
age:47
gender:female
Liriel Aonifall isn't a trans but a lesbian.She has a trans girlfriend,which means her girlfriend is a "shemale",that's what they call the trans who are mentally female but physically male.She doesn't have many trans friends and they just open their gender to some close friends, just as in RL.What's more,they are all real trans in RL.Liriel Aonifall doesn't have prejudice on those trans,actually she enjoys having fun with them.

Third interviewee:Bobby Blackcinder
gender:mentally female and physically male,crosdresser, married
Bobby Blackcinder is a crosdresser in RL.She loves women's clothes and thought herself both male and female.She's had many years of presenting male, but at last she realized that she have many females traits .She cross dresses partially every day as often as possible, but not full dress hardly ever.She is afraid of being found as a trans only for the consequences beyond embarrassment.She is a boss and has some employees.She hates to lose their respect.She spend much time on SL unless she is bored or tired, or more frequenlty, when she has things to do in RL.At first she wanted to use a male body in SL, and dress it in woman's clothes,but she gave up that plan after she created an ugly avatar.Bobby is very friendly in SL."I just greet everyone I meet, you never know until you talk to people."But sometimes she met embarrasment with her gender because some people thought she is a totally female.In order to be honest,she marked her physically gender as "male".But things don't go well in RL because her wife is completely against it and she doesn't tell her that she's a cross dresser before they married."It's a tough line to walk."she said.

Jessie:
In reality, TG groups are usually confronted with misunderstanding and contempt. From the interviewees’ words, we can see that they are all usually under great pressure and hiding their identity and interest. While second life provided a virtual world where nobody knows your real identity, TG groups can enjoy a lot of different activities according to their interests. Although second life is a safer place to talk about and realize one’s own interests, TG groups are still very careful with their words and interaction with other people, in case their identity in real life would be found out or something else.
Bobby: I’m a crossdressing male in RL, a female in SL. I"m married, an unwilling participant. I love women's clothes, and wear women’s underdress everyday.I’m afraid of being found of wearing women's underdress, because it would be hard to work.They can’t fire me. I’m a boss. I have some fun with other people in SL, but not many CDs that aren't Transgender.I spend a lot of time in SL everyday. In SL,I dress just as I like and explore the feminine side that I didn't realize I had much of. In SL ,lots of pretenses dropped.I don't desire male body, and they can’t arouse me.

So far, we have being proving our assumption that SL does provide a safe and diverse platform for transgender to deal with real life better.