Visualising disability and activism in Second Life

G Bloustien; Denise Wood

doi:10.1177/0011392115596025

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Visualising disability and activism in Second Life

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Visualising disability and activism in Second Life

G Bloustien and Denise Wood

Current Sociology, Vol.64(1), pp.101-121

2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392115596025

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Abstract

avatars

disabilities

Second Life

social activism

visual representation

Drawing on an ethnographic study of identity and disability in the 3D environment of Second Life (SL), this article documents the authors' discussions with many regular users (known as 'residents') of SL who identify as having a disability or impairment in their 'actual' (off-screen) lives. Since SL offers the possibility of anonymity, regular users with a physical impairment may decide when and where to disclose or highlight their disability or whether to do so at all, when they are in world. Many also use the potential of SL to negotiate and challenge conventional media representations of embodied difference through their avatars. In this article the authors argue that the choices of representation reflect the residents' understandings of their own sense of 'authenticity'. For some, this involves a self beyond the limitations of physical embodiment - a metaphysical separation between body and mind. For others, the 'real self' is inseparable from a physical embodiment which includes the impairment or disability. These choices of how the users portray their avatar selves through a more fluid understanding of self-representation also offer potential for political and social advocacy beyond the virtual world.

Details

Title: Visualising disability and activism in Second Life
Authors: G Bloustien (Author) - University of South Australia
Denise Wood (Author) - Central Queensland University
Publication details: Current Sociology, Vol.64(1), pp.101-121
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.
Date published: 2016
DOI: 10.1177/0011392115596025
ISSN: 0011-3921
Organisation Unit: Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic); University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451005402621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Sociology

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