“Expanded constructions of masculinity in these spaces can lead men “naturally, to uncertainty and even anxiety, but eventually to a greater level of self-awareness and personal freedom.” (78)
When I created my avatar in Second Life I built it to look as much like me as possible. This was a good indication of what I thought about myself. It showed me that there are certain expectations that society has for females so I tried to conform to these standards. i think this correlates to what Horsley talks about in his quote. When men are on the Web and they want to create a persona for themselves this can sometimes become vexing for them because they feel a certain need to build up a persona that is suitable and accepted by society. They may feel some sort of “uncertainty and even anxiety” because if their persona is not what is socially acceptable they may not want to put themselves out there. Once men become ok with themselves and comfortable revealing their true self they will gain a greater level of self-awareness. Once people see what society expects of them and how they are perceived in that society they can reflect on what them unique and the more time they spend in a particular space they will feel more comfortable revealing themselves. This will in a way give people a sense of personal freedom because they will not be so worried about what others think as much and they can just focus on themselves and become who they want to be.
I agree with Stacey. Many times people are “rejected” in real life, so they certainly don’t want to be rejected in SL. So in turn, they create avatars that exemplify some of their best characteristics combined with the ideal characteristics of their gender. Some people move beyond gender and fly around in space ships or body suits, which raises an entirely new set of questions about gender and gender ideals.