THAT BOOK BY NABOKOV

Iris Ophelia models Elegant Gothic Lolita attire-- and a source of metaverse moral panic

Lolita is the name of Vladimir Nabokov's best known novel, a strange and shattering fable of decadent old Europe and brash, ignorant America, as told through the eyes of a sexual predator.  And though it would surely pain Nabokov, who makes it plain that his anti-hero Humbert Humbert is a deluded sociopath perhaps to be pitied but definitely to be jailed, "Lolita" has also become code for fetishized underage girls. 

It's for this reason that the word itself effectively no longer exists in Second Life.  For several years the Lindens declined to act on community complaints against the niche "age play" subculture, in which Residents create pre-adult avatars, often for innocent roleplay, but to the outrage of most, occasionally for sexual fantasy.  (Sometimes this would lead to bouts of vigilantism, age play areas beset by sign-waving neighbors, and when that didn't take, neighbors waving weapons.) In recent months, however, the Lindens reversed course and explicitly forbade the obscene variety.  (This is likely because Second Life servers are soon to be co-located in European countries where even virtual pedophilia is outlawed.)  Related to this, the Lindens removed numerous terms connoting age play from the world's database of groups and places-- and so now, entering the title of a classic American novel as a search query only gets you the terse return, "None found."

And though the Lindens have also said that roleplaying as a childlike avatar is not in itself a punishable offense-- as long is it's not done in lewd contexts-- confusion around the policy has apparently led to some level of moral panic.  And in turn, to ostracism of an established real world fashion subculture.  Which is why, when Melpomene Rhode recently stopped by a store in search of eyelashes, someone told her to get out.

Melpomene portrait courtesy of Iris

"Her shape is like she is in real life," her friend and NWN fashion correspondent Iris Ophelia tells me, "relatively short and relatively flat."  Melpomene was dressed in Elegant Gothic Lolita (pictured), a style of girlish, doll-like couture that's recently emerged from Japan's thriving street culture.  Unsurprisingly, many SL fashionistas have imported EGL into the metaverse.  Also unsurprisingly, it's part of a backlash against anything that even hints at underaged, however non-sexual.

So unprovoked, Iris tells me, a Resident walked up to Melpomene Rhode and informed her she "didn't belong there."  Iris also tells me of Annelies Fratica, who was invited to a private island to hear live music, but when she arrived as a smallish avatar in a girlish Elegant Gothic Lolita dress, was told by the island owner that she "looked too young", and fearing a backlash from the isle's real life sponsors, ejected her.

Now Annelies carries a notecard, as a way of explaining herself:

"My avatar is a Lolita girl," it reads in part. "Lolita is a fashion style originates from Japan. Lolita life style cultivates the good things of childhood because nowadays we grow up to fast. Lolita style is worn by teenagers and adults in real life, not by young children... About my shape: I just took the standard Haragyaru shape from from my library and made it less skinny and with broader (adult) hips because I don't like... [real world fashion industry expectation] that everyone must have a teen-looking, skinny body. 'Haragyaru' is the part of Tokyo where Lolita style originated. The fashion styles made over there are that popular, that even Linden Lab named a basic outfit after it."

Iris Ophelia has more on her blog.  With such a limited sample, it's difficult to discern how widespread the moral panic is, or whether, on balance, it's a minor inconvenience worth the restrictions to keep the world free from the noxious variety of age play. (Fashionistas who like the style can simply refer to it in search queries as "EGL".) 

I put the question to Daniel Linden, who recently asked Residents to alert Lindens to broadly offensive (if ambiguously defined) behavior.  What to do if some Residents misinterpret Linden's restrictions against obscene ageplay to persecute an established non-sexual, Japanese fashion style?

"That seems a bit beyond our purview," he e-mails me.  "We can't require anyone to get along or see eye-to-eye in Second Life, but would instead encourage Residents to mute those they find offensive, leave areas that they find unwelcoming, restrict those with whom they're clashing from areas they themselves own, and file Abuse Reports if they feel they're being harassed."

In the meantime, the fashion has become an underground acronym, existing in the gray area where a work of literature and an unfortunate association have been remanded to a limbo of "None found".

Comments

[Morgana Fillion]

*sigh* ever since I first realized that "Lolita" has been eliminated from search, I've wanted to have a gathering of people, all dressed in their Lolita attire, to discuss Nabokov's book.

I understand taking steps to eliminate a real problem, but when non-involved concepts are also eliminated because they might confuse the ignorant, I refuse to play along.

I think I'll be wearing my Lolita attire more frequently for awhile, not less. I am frankly far more concerned that the Morality Police seem to see sex in everything than I am that someone who likes wide skirts and ruffles might be harboring a vague sense of nostalgia about their childhood.

[Laetizia Coronet]

What is unclear is if the new policies or communications from LL have caused a change in the behaviour towards smaller avatars. I know that even before any scandal arose, many people were already discussing age play in a most negative way.
I personally wouldn't frown upon 'petite' avatars (heck you should see Robin Linden!) but when I saw 'lockable diapers' the other day I did send in a report. Not requesting to ban anything but to look into it. Unfortunately abuse reports are not really made for that sort of thing.
And that's the snare: the evelasting lack of clarity about what is and what is not permitted, and the impossibility to communicate such matters without sending abuse reports. It practically invites people to make up their own laws.

[Otenth Paderborn]

Oh dear, I really do think it is perhaps time to mute, ban, and AR Daniel Linden.

[Valerie Bethune]

When I joined SL more than a year ago, I understood from the Lindens that one of the greatest crimes in-world is prejudice.

Now they are encouraging it.

[Crissa]

I generally mute the lockable diapers.

...But that's not a portion of pedophilic play. So why you'd report it just means you're an idiot.

[Ananda]

I guess "moral panic" may be one way to describe it. Another might be knee-jerk hatred and oppression, or encouragement of a climate of fear by those in authority, however inadvertent. Here's yet another group that really has nothing to do with the sort of crimes everyone is afraid of, getting painted with the same broad brush by fellow residents. People, this has got to stop! These are fellow adult human beings you're dealing with, not some sort of alien monster, come to steal your children.

This is yet another example of why our group, Libre Second Life, is striving to reverse Linden Lab's recent course of singling out and banning one "broadly offensive" group after another. And why so many other groups are looking for similar reversals and reassurance from SL that tolerance is still allowed.

http://libresecondlife.org

[Laetizia Coronet]

Crissa, befoe calling anyone an idiot you might want to learn how to read first.

"Not requesting to ban anything but to look into it. Unfortunately abuse reports are not really made for that sort of thing."

Cordially,
Tish Coronet

[Tateru Nino]

This began a few hours after Robin Linden's "accusations of child pornography in Second Life" posting, back in early May.

Within hours child avatars were being harassed or threatened. And not just children, but just plain *short* avatars too.

I still hear about short, non-child avatars being harassed in sandboxes or banned from mature stores.

http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2007/05/10/the-campaign-for-equal-heights/

[Cyn Vandeverre]

As has been pointed out elsewhere, a nearly-identical panic on the part of the organization on this topic, was suffered by LiveJournal and its users two weeks ago. They also suspended accounts which were doing literary discussion of the book, because they didn't realize such discussions weren't trying to solicit underage sex. They very quickly realized their mistake and are working with the EFF to make some sensible guidelines.

LL might well benefit from reading LJ's saga:
http://news.livejournal.com/100060.html

[Patrick]

This must be close to the rising panic that Humbert Humbert felt.

[Benjamin Duranske (avatar 'Benjamin Noble')]

So it's come to this: the MPAA (which gave the 1997 film adaptation of Nabakov's book an "R") appears to be more responsible and less irrational than Linden Lab. It's a textbook case of the problem content censorship, especially if it's done with machine searching. Unintended targets always get caught up in the net. Don't believe it? Try to re-create a virtual version of the town of Lolita, Texas, or open a restaurant that serves clams casino, and see what happens to your "places" description.

And legally, as I've said before, *this* is exactly the step that their legal department should tell them to reverse. Doing content policing themselves is a terrible idea if they ever want to claim common carrier status and/or remain under the protection of Section 230(c) of the CDA.

[Lillie Yifu]

I repoerted on ths on May 17th, when a friend of the store owner complained to me. I think it is time for a Gothic Lolita day for me.

[Hamburger Hamburger]

"This must be close to the rising panic that Humbert Humbert felt."

Except that Humbert Humbert was moral excrement who deserved to feel rising panic, and deserved much worse than he eventually got.

[Makara Yorimasa]

I tried being my RL height (5 feet 7) for half a day but was ejected from so many beaches and clubs that in the end I stretched myself up to the 6 foot 10 inch "norm" again. My profile has always said I'm a 33 yo male, so anyone could have seen that I wasn't a child av just by clicking on it. However, the mere fact that I was only shoulder tall to most of the huge triangular male avs around me was enough to provoke a wave of annoyance amongst my fellow residents.

I do think the girls who wear Gothic Lolita styles protest too much, though. Admittedly, it is a well-known part of Japanese youth culture, but there is a sexual aspect to the style which can't be denied, even if it is just dressing up. There's a reason it's called "Gothic Lolita" and not "Gothic Pollyanna". Having said that, when the people involved are residents of (presumably) 18 y/o or more, who are we to deny them the right to dress like tarty vampire dolls? I dunno… I'm in two minds about all this...

[John Branch]

I'm a fashion fan, and I love the EGL style (which is still somewhat new to me). I particularly admire the look of Melpomene Rhode in the portrait by Iris posted above and have saved the image for future reference. Any lurking Puritans out there who want to misinterpret my purposes in doing so are welcome to. Only one complaint about the image as it appears here: a centered subject is undramatic; the off-center is almost always more dynamic.

Beyond questions of strict fashion, I'm intrigued by the issues raised by Lolita-style avatars and clothing styles such as this. Myself, I can't help remembering that avatars aren't the same as real people and that virtual intimations of sexual precocity (which is what some people seem to detect here) aren't the same as the real thing, nor is the real thing necessarily a good reason for suspicion or offense. Britney Spears, Madonna, and no doubt a number of real-world figures before them all advanced their fame in the world by means of such things. On the other hand, one reason fashion is worth paying attention to is that it's not just clothes; it encodes a number of things about society. When one set of people gets upset over something another set is doing, it's often because the codes are being applied one way by those who chose them and another way by those who read (or misread) them.

None of that really says very much, I know. Maybe this will: As somebody observed in an entertainment-industry publication (I could find the attribution if I had to), there's a global cult of offense-taking these days. Since it's prevalent in RL, we can't be surprised if it turns up in SL too.

[Cathleen Ting]

There was also an interesting piece on the cover of the Avastar this week entitled "We're not all Ageplayers" referring to those child avatars not into sexual age play who are finding their SL life hell now. www.the-avastar.com I suppose it's not surprising that discrimination is rife in SL - especially as people can insult others whilst 'hiding' behind their avatar.

[darkfoxx]

"There was also an interesting piece on the cover of the Avastar this week entitled "We're not all Ageplayers" referring to those child avatars not into sexual age play who are finding their SL life hell now."

This sounds really stupid.
Why? cause those with child AV's *are* ageplayers.
This irks me to no end: ever since shit hit the fan about this the term ageplay means sexualizing child AV's to everyone, and appearently now even to those who are non sexual ageplayers themselves...

If one means Sexual Ageplayer, CALL IT THAT.
Ageplayer means nothing more then acting (having an avatar) like a child. it has NOTHING to do with pedophilia, that would be sexual ageplay.

This little group of child AV's not wanting to seem to be into more adult games, are shooting themselves, and every other non sexual ageplayer in the foot. With a rocket launcher...

Ageplay: INNOCENTly pretending to be kids.
Sexual ageplay: virtual pedophilia.

The difference between these two terms couldn't be bigger.

[Neuro]

Oh how pathetic. People often mix up an innocent fashion with some nasty real-life convicts.

Lolita has been around and will continue to be around. It has not gone away. People's ignorance at the subject is simply amazing, at the unfortunate cost of blindly discriminating against players as well. There's been too much art and gothic art to play so ignorant now.

Either get hip to the age, or get out from under the rock. I could care less for folks who play biggot, especially in Second-Life.

[Neuro]

@darkfoxx

What about all the romance novels out there? That's right i'm talking about novels like Twilight and similar content. What about the guy who's been dating a chick for years and suddenly one of them hits the age-limit? I'm talking about high-school sweethearts here who've been together for some time, not some run-of-the-mill generated crap.

The sad fact about it is that because of the few, messed up sicko's out there anyone who has a lolita-type fashion character gets mistreated in SL and discriminated easily.

Honestly I would like to see Second-Life get cleaned up completely. I'm sick of looking at all the rape places where people get money to pretend to violate other people. And the other places were furries get to stick their nasty bits into make-believe animals.

Linden Labs is a greedy little whore though, and it won't dump it's money maker no matter how defile and immoral it is. If they got rid of the adult stuff period Second-Life wouldn't exist.

That's how pathetic this money-making game is. Feeding off addictions from the addicted.