Can You Tell Who Made a Hot Male Avatar By How He's Hot?

Harper Beresford has a very interesting Second Life fashion post that's also about the feminist theory of the "male gaze": "That is, when we see a movie, we always see it through a straight man’s eyes. A scene will linger on the beauty of a woman and will do so as if a straight man were looking at her as opposed to another woman, for example." As a kind of counterpoint, she presents this fashion ensemble created by Shea Paule, a gay man, "so presumably it is what he would like to see on other men." So in other words, Harper argues, this avatar reflects the gay male gaze. Bouncing of that point, I'd say this is a unique distinction of 3D virtual worlds: You can learn a lot about a person's real life desire by the way they present their avatar (or avatars they design clothes and skins for.) "I would say that yes," Shea Paule agrees in the comments of Harper's post, "this is something I like to see on other men, but perhaps more [cough] pointedly, something I would like to take off other men." But Shea also argues that a ballsy straight man could wear the look too. Which raises another interesting question: Do you think it's possible to guess the gender and sexual orientation of a virtual fashion designer by the styles they create?

Comments

[Nine Warrhol]

I'm gay and frankly that look is very cheesy. To each his own tho. I don't like the generalizing aspect this articles takes toward gays. Thumbs down.

We-gay people-are as different and as varied as others. Welcome to 2010.

[brinda allen]

Yup...@Nine Warrhol won't the stereotypes ever stop! Heh heh.

[Harper Beresford]

Ah @Nine, I don't think you're the only gay man who finds the look cheesy and I was sure to make the remark that this is one "gaze" in my blog. However, it IS this one designer's gaze. (And he's pretty open about his gayness in his profile. I wasn't guessing at his orientation.)

[Shea Paule]

Not only is this just one designer's gaze (mine) it is only one of my gazes. Not everyone can or wants to pull off a bold retro look. I certainly don't mind for one minute making something that inspires a controversy.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

Looking at the design, I can reach conclusions about the designer:

* This is someone who knows their way around the color wheel.

* This is someone who appreciates the importance of detail.

* This is someone who either lived through the seventies or has done their homework.

But no, I couldn't tell you the gender or orientation of the creator... and any conclusions reached in that regard probably tell us more about our own prejudices than about the designer.

If you're making T-shirts with a rainbow flag on one side, a pink triangle on the other, and the words "GAY PRIDE" on both sleeves, then I might hazard a guess.

(And I might still be wrong.)