It is with great discontent that I write this blog post today.
My good friend, Stephen Venkman, has been turned away by Linden Labs for his proposed art exhibition at this year’s SL5B celebration. The reason? Portraying Second Life children in his artwork.
Venkman has long been a parent in Second Life, along with his partner (and another terrific friend of mine), Kimberly Mirabeau. Both are respectable, well established artists in the community. Venkman continuously provides his Flickr stream viewers with cherished glimpses into his Second Life, which includes his four children.
The following images are just some of what were submitted by Venkman to be shown in his exhibition at SL5B (more can be seen on his Flickr stream):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvenkman/485783560/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvenkman/1196854938/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvenkman/2370931063/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvenkman/2371325102/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenvenkman/2370404377/
I see nothing wrong with any of these. As a matter of fact, I see a sweet, honest, genuine portrayal of family life in Second Life. It is because of Venkman’s wonderful family and his fantastic stream of family imagery that I was inspired to build my own family. I now have a beautiful daughter (Kylei Benoir) and a fantastic fiancee (Belmakor Pintens), without which my Second Life just would no longer feel complete.
I sincerely and whole-heartedly feel that Venkman’s family photos should be allowed in SL5B. In a world where bestiality, slavery, BDSM, rape, and murder are all entirely possible, to disallow wholesome photos of a parent and child is simply repulsive.
Thankfully, other friends of mine, Shoshana Epsilon, Sue Stonebender and Baron Grayson are all backing Stephen, 100%, as are all of us, his friends and family.
Shoshana Epsilon has donated her space in the SL5B exhibition to protest the alienation of child avatar with adult avatar portraits. Details may be read here, and for those of you who don’t wish to click an extra link, the details are as follows:
I want to donate my display to a protest. If you have any clean and wholesome family-type RL pictures that YOU OWN ALL RIGHTS TO, please send them to me in-world. I will heavily moderate the pictures, so not all pictures will be allowed. I expect good quality art pictures that are wholesome. Credits will be given to the photographer.
Sue Stonebender and Baron Grayson have submitted a call to action to the Tryst group, and are accepting action from anyone willing to submit it. Full details may be read here, but the action request itself is as follows:
ACTION REQUESTED:
Create a notecard to show your support for fellow Tryst member, Stephen Venkman, to be sent to Linden Lab as part of a petition by Sue Stonebender. Your notecard should include:
1) Notecard Title: supports Stephen Venkman’s family exhibit at SL5B
2) Notecard Permissions: Modify - no / Copy - yes / Transfer - yes
3) Notecard contents: an optional message to Linden Lab in support of Stephen Venkman’s “Family” exhibitSend your notecard to Sue Stonebender before the end of the day, Thursday, June 12th, 2008.
REASON FOR REQUESTED ACTION:
Linden Lab will not permit the display of any pictures depicting child and adult avatars in the same shot to be displayed in exhibits at the SL5B celebration, and is therefore refusing to permit Stephen Venkman to display several of the pictures in his exhibit celebrating “Family” in the Second Life online community.
I would greatly appreciate anyone willing to take action on this issue to do so. Of all the things that could be excluded from the SL5B art exhibitions, Venkman’s wholesome, beautiful, and CULTURAL display of family in Second Life is most certainly not one of them.
Thank you for reading, and for those of you who choose to do so: thank you for taking action.
Hey there, just a few things to clarify:
The policy states you can not show images that portray adult and children AVs in the same photo, not that images of child AVs are not allowed at all. Your bold opening statement implies no kids at all, and I am not sure if everyone will see the end quote in your post that clarifies. I am sure that makes no difference as to whether people think it’s right or wrong, just wanted to clarify.
Missing from your post is the reason for this “censorship”. Linden Lab has a legitimate concern that to people outside the community, who do not understand innocent role play…and to people who have heard that SL is about SLex…misinformed viewers can get the wrong idea. (Some of SL5B will be in the public media) Why would an adult want to pretend to be a child? Why would an adult AV want to RP having children? People just don’t understand.
LL is actually trying to protect this world we all love. Might a better option than censorship to be some kind of educational program about SL and RP? Maybe…but I’m not sure LL feels that is a priority at this point.
I think it is VERY important to consider the reason for the action taken by LL here. You may still believe that what they are doing is wrong, and if so, by all means take part in the protest. Just make sure you know what you are protesting against.
I am well aware of the reasons for the censorship, and anyone who takes the time to read the multitude of text written on the subject (in the links included in this blog post) will realize the reasons as well.
As for LL trying to protect us, that may be the case — however, I like to pretend, often foolishly, that adults as a whole are more than capable of realizing when a portrait containing a child and an adult avatar is appropriate, and when it is not. Perhaps I have too much faith in mankind and their ability to exercise some sort of common sense.
The lack of understanding by outside parties should not have the power to enforce the alienation of an obvious culture within Second Life and its community — especially considering this year’s theme. Like I stated above, of all the things that could potentially be “misunderstood” by the general public about cultural diversity within Second Life (Gorean slaves, for example), family life just should not be one of them.
Some of Stephen’s pics on Flickr were actually used in last year’s SL birthday celebration, as I’ve read in the comments…so what the heck IS LL’s problem NOW??
The difference is that if one misunderstands Gor within SL, they are still seeing two adults. What those two adults are doing may be taboo, but it’s up to them. Unfortunately if people misunderstand rp with a child involved, there is too much that can be read into it. (although, those that see any sexual overtones in Venkman’s work need to look within themselves!!!)
What if, instead of just writing to SL in support of the exhibition, an effort was made on the part of the residents who want to show families via art, to put together an informational display at their exhibitions? Something clear and obvious that gives the appropriate point of view on why the artist created those images? Perhaps if the residents took steps to educate the media that LL is afraid of, a meeting of the minds can occur and the work can be displayed?
LL is protecting the reputation of their enterprise. As I said, I am not taking one side over the other, I just feel that people should fully understand the situation before taking their stand.