Ok, so the title of this blog is a little vague to say the least, but there is a point to it.  My boss, being the great person she is, thinks of me when she sees or hears something about Second Life (SL), so she sent me a link to a blog post yesterday.  The author, Kelly Kessler from DePaul University, entitles her post “Where Does a Girl Have to Go to Find a Pool Table: Gender Performance, Leisure, and The L Word in Second Life.”  She seems to bemoan the fact that the "white, femme, and upwardly mobile" representation of lesbian life portrayed in The L Word is recreated in the virtual reality of Second Life.  Hmmmm, let me see here, people who are fans of The L Word see a promotional saying they can join a community of like minded lesbians in a virtual paradise, and Kessler somehow expects that the demographics will somehow change?  I don't think so.  But the fact that all Kessler found in the virtual L Word was a repeat of what one would find on the show is not really the point of this post.
 
But before I go further, let me set the record straight on a couple of things.  Kessler wrote her blog post back in 2008, or as my dad would say, "back in my day . . . ."  The point here is that with technology things change rapidly, and 2 years seems like eons ago.  Yes, there weren't a great deal of choices for the noob avatar, and it's likely that there still aren't any stock avatars that would do justice to a woman wanting to perform butchness.  But there are plenty of opportunities to become that butch in SL, and there are plenty of opportunities to shoot a game of pool.  You just have to know how to do a search in SL.  Another point worth mentioning here is that as far as I can tell, The L Word has pulled out of SL.  When I go to sho.com and search for The L Word in Second Life, I get nothing.  When I do a search in SL for The L Word I get one hit for The L Word South, but it is apparently a locked community, as it will not let me teleport there.  So I guess The L Word, like so many, went into SL expecting one thing and when that didn't happen, they pulled out. 

So let me get to my point (finally, you say).  I understand that SL is not the easiest place to go and immediately feel at home.  But guess what, I bet I couldn't go to China, or Japan, or some other totally foreign  culture and immediately know where to go, how to act, or find people to immediately start talking to me.  So why do people think they can create an avatar, log into SL, and feel right at home?  Kessler argue that "without scads of leisure time and mad computer literacy, one will have a hard time in 2nd Life. I for one spent a lot of time running into walls, through the ocean, into folks, etc. (and I have a PhD). I still have no idea how to do much or get anywhere interesting. One must have serious patience, time, and money and/or skills to obtain stuff . . ." ("Where Does a Girl"). 

Bottom line?  I'm tired of people expecting to go into SL and have everything, or anything for that matter, handed to them.  Sorry folks, but SL is just that. . . it's a second life.  If you want to have a meaningful experience then you are going to have to work for it just like you do in real life.  It's not a computer game that you can learn a few key strokes for and have a great time killing monsters, leveling up, or completing quest.  If you don't have time to observe the culture and find your way into it, then don't even bother signing up. 

Tonight I continued Michelle Gibson, Martha Marinara, and Deborah Meem's article entitled "Bi, Butch, Bar Dyke: Pedagogical Performance of Class, Gender, and Sexuality."  And as the title of this post indicates, we're moving to the Butches, written by Deborah Meem.  Before we begin, however, I just want to say that I am not a fan of "labels" as it were.  Labels often create binaries, and in those binaries things become fixed.  If I've learned anything over the past 8 years, it is that identity is never fixed, which is what I believe these three women are arguing as well with their own personal narratives.

Meem gives us three (really four) personal narratives about her identity as a Butch lesbian.  She gives us a chart that is often used in women's studies courses called the "Multiple, Simultaneous Identities" chart.  The top line identities are privileged, the second line less privileged, and the third the least.  The chart shows that we all inhabit, or perform, different identities.  While being a lesbian/gay is a less privileged position to hold, Meem places "butch" on the top, or most privileged, line.  Her three stories actually demonstrate why she has made this identity one of privilege, and after I gave it some serious thought, I can see her point. 

This embodied performance of a more masculine persona actually brings with it a degree of power.  You are perceived to have these masculine traits that even men respect.  Well, once again, the ole light bulbs starting going off in my head.  Again, I do not label myself, but I believe I am perceived as having a more butch identity than that of femme.  If this is indeed the case, than I suppose, according to Meem's theory, this gives me a higher degree of power.  People see me as being strong, confident, and decisive (all traits that are usually associated more with a masculine identity than a feminine one).  Perhaps this explains why I have often found myself in positions of leadership or authority, when all I was trying to do was  stay hidden.

Meem mention the Bem Sex-Role Inventory test, so I decided to go online to see if I could find one.  I did and decided "what the hell, not like I'm holding anything back here" and so I took the test.  To see the results, click the more button at the bottom.  The fact is, Meem's has opened my eyes to how, once again, we perform so many different identities on a daily basis.  Can't wait to see what the Bar Dyke has to say!!!!