Is Facebook Homophobic?

Facebook, also lovingly known as F*c*book or FuckFace, is a social networking site located in the U.S.A. with 1.28 billion monthly active users worldwide (March 2014).

I have been using FuckFace on and off, both in my first and second lives, for the last four years or so. I have left Facebook voluntarily twice and I have had my account deactivated or disabled six-seven times (I lost count). Twice Facebook has given me a reason for deactivating/disabling my account ("reason to believe that I was not using real name"), but mostly it has been done without any justification given for their action.

During my time on FuckFace I have experienced several pogroms from the company directed against my LGBT friends, but no such actions have ever - to my knowledge - occurred against any of my straight friends. Neither have I ever heard or read of such concerted actions directed against straight SecondLife avatars on the site (with two individual exceptions, Barcelonamaria and Pieni).

If anyone of you reading this have such information, please do enlighten me as I realize that my knowledge is only empirical, limited and may be slanted ("With eyes sensitive to green", as a line in a Swedish song goes, ones perception of the color green is enhanced but other colors may be obscured.)

However, based on my experience, I am prepared to make the charge that FuckFace is homophobic - or at the very least - applying it's rules in a homophobic way. So my answer to the question I posed in the title of this post is: "Fuck yes, definitely!"

Moving on to another of my pet peeves concerning FuckFace, there is the issue of "real identities". The company seems to completely ignore that there many times are valid reasons for someone not to use the name on their drivers licences. These reasons can range from being a victim in an abusive relationship to actually being better known in different times or circles under a "nom de plume" (pen name), alias or artistic name.

During my online existence over the last twenty years I have, besides Bock McMillan, during periods been best known as Markus Bock, LundaMats, WWW, Lunds nästkåtaste karl or 70244 (among others).

I am Bock McMillan and Bock McMillan is I. We are one and inseparable, the only difference is that one is better known in one of my lives, while the other is better know in the other life. It should be my decision which of my names I use and when, not FuckFaces.

Pet Peeve: Tummy Talkers

I absolutely detest it when people spam public chat with their emoting tummy talkers. It's highly annoying to be exposed to someones belly yackety-yaking continuously.

I am not in the least interested in being exposed to a trivial conversation going on between the pregnant mother and the loud infant. Please, leave me out of your role play. If I should wish to take part in it I'll let you know. Don't call me, I'll call you if I ever get crazy enough.

I am considering getting this very special tummy talker to use the next time I am subjected to one of these infuriating things. I found it at Marketplace TBF Talking Pregnant Belly for only L$10.

Judging by the reviews,  it should succeed in getting the point across to even the most simpleminded expecting avatar.

P.S. Even more suitable for me would be if someone should make a "butt talker" or a "penis talker" that filled the public chat with a lot of inane conversation.

"Bock's Butt: I hope this meeting is not going to last much longer, I really need to s**t"  or "Bock's Penis: Why do you always insist on crossing your legs like this? You know perfectly well that it crushes the nuts and is uncomfortable for the shlong also!"

Yet Another Pet Peeve - Adding Shadows to Builds

"Bapa Closed His Heart, It Was Over" Photography by Zarina Bhimji

I was reminded of this rather newly acquired pet peeve when I was talking with Nikolai Warden yesterday. He said, and I quote: "WHY DO BUILDERS ADD SHADOWS? Whether baked or prim, if someone wants to see shadows, shadows can be enabled in his or her graphics setting."

It is so 1980's for builders these days to add shadows in the textures of their beautiful builds. True, at one point they enhanced the beauty of their builds, but now - when more than 90% of us have viewers with shadows turned on, who really wants/needs/cares for "built in" shadows in the textures?

Get with the program builders and realize that SecondLife has moved on, it is high time for you to do so too.

Another Pet Peeve: Tinting Skin

Let me start this post by posting a (somewhat shortened) conversation I had with my dear friend Starlight Gentil today. The conversation reminded me of how long I have had this pet peeve.

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Hey Bock ! thank you for the invite ....  I'll be there ! yay !! hugs Star

Bock McMillan: YAY! You're so welcome sweetie, so happy we will see each other  again!

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: :)))

Bock McMillan: Now begone please, I have to fit a bulge on my swimsuit and get the skin color  on the penis bit right... LOL

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: OMG !! haha ...I'm picturing that !!

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Enjoy!!

Bock McMillan: ROFL - I cannot understand why the stores don't hand out cards with the RGB of the skins: Would that be so damned difficult?

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Haha... you do make me smile :)))

Bock McMillan: It's pet peeve of mine, drat the merchants

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Can you imagine telling peeps at work on Monday what you did on Sunday >?

Bock McMillan: LOL nooooooooooooo

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Exactlyyyy .haha. But these are such important issues here

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: OK I'll be gone and let you start tinting ^^

Bock McMillan: It's a crazy world we are living in sweetie, can you believe we are here by choice?

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: We're all weirdos .. who cares ..just enjoy

Bock McMillan: Haha will do! See you soon! Ohhh by the way this conversation is going on the blog....

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: Oops ! ;D

Bock McMillan: ROFL

s ţ α rℓ ίg ђ ţ: grinz

No, it's not my own "attachment"

Ever since I rezzed in SecondLife some 6 + years ago I have had a problem with tinting the skin of penises, or rather six days after I rezzed. Before that I was hanging around at the arrival place trying to get myself to look half-decent.

Can you imagine what the first thing I looked for in Inventory was once I had seen myself naked? Yup, you got it - a penis. I couldn't for the life of me understand the cruelty of people letting a male avatar rez without having a penis handy, not even a flaccid one. "Damn holier-than-thou Yanks" I thought and then calmed myself with the thought that surely there must be a solution to this major malfunction.

Well, within an hour of venturing out of the arrival place, I had been handed three atrocious penises by male avatars who wanted me to service them. The penises were absolutely ugly, both in shape and especially coloring.  Is there really anything uglier in the whole world than a mismatched penile-attachment?

This problem has remained all through my SecondLife. While Ars lived he would help me with tinting, but since he passed away I am on my own with this and not doing great I am not afraid to tell you.

One of the earliest skins I bought in SecondLife was the Dante skin, I think it was sold by something called Naughty Designs. That skin came with a flaccid penis matched to the skin tone, but other than that I have only encountered  one more merchant that supplied skins with penises and that is The Fallen Gods, who supply penile-attachments free of charge in the correct tints.

The skin tinting problem used to be only a problem for male avatars, women did not have similar appendages - as we all knew long before we took Biology 101. That was true until mesh came along, with mesh feet and shoes that need to be matched with the skin the problem is now one that both genders struggle with.

Skin-merchants, when will you take responsibility and realize that it is a serious problem for residents because it is so difficult to properly match the skin of the body with the skin of the penis and other attachments? Why the hell can't you supply us with a card telling us the RGB of the skin  or a texture so that we can tint our penises and other attachments with some ease?

With Room for A Man

While I am in still my ranting mood (please excuse the previous much too long post) let me move on to another of my pet peeves, men´s underwear.

I hate all underwear except the classic boxers and preferably a size too large. Briefs, g-strings and all the other variations in-between make me squirm with anguish. I want lots of room down there, nothing snug or tight fitting.

If they have a well made waistband that doesn´t roll-up on itself or goes limp after using them a few times they are perfect! It is amazing how many try to sell you substandard underwear with waistbands that roll-up on themselves the second time you wear them or have waistbands that go totally limp after one wash. Good quality boxers last a long time and through many washes with the waist band intact.

Pet Peeves

A pet peeve is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to him or her, to a greater degree than others may find it. (Wikipedia)

I have quite a few pet peeves but two - that both are among the top ten - happened to me yesterday, so I´ll tell you about these today.

Persons constantly complaining about lag when at a crowded event.

Face the fact that it is a natural thing in Second Life, just deal with it. You could try to change your settings for the occasion, but for the love of mankind don´t bitch about it, it gets boring for the rest of us and really fast too.

If you know you cannot stand lag go sit by yourself at the bottom of an ocean somewhere. Have fun!

A wise man - me, myself and I - once said "Lag is a state of mind, don´t blame Second Life!

Homophobes that think being gay means you are halfway a woman or want to be one.

Hey buster, educate yourself. There is a difference you know, between gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. Do your homework and don´t clutter up my life with your ignorance and intolerance.

I took someone off my friendslist yesterday because of this. I told him, if he cannot accept me, why would he want to be on my friendslist anyway?

Otherwise yesterday was a great evening, but I´ll tell you more about that in my next post!