Why isn't your avatar a pic of you?

[Castor_Troy05]

Well, mine is, so I guess I can't really comment in this thread


*backs out slowly*

[Jericho]

I'm a guy, no-one want's to see my picture plastered across their screen!

[BeardedOne]

Well, mbf already used the train-wreck excuse, so I'll just confess to being so fugly that your eyeballs would likely melt a la Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Besides, as in any venue where avatars are used, people choose them as an expression of themselves and their interests. Mine, an image of Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, shows that I am an excentric with delusions of grandeur and have a high likelihood of wearing a funny hat at a party.

On other forums I have avatars of Czar Nicholas II, Gomez Addams, Inspector Clousseau, and one of my actual self...Wearing a funny hat.

[tsntx]

bc im too ugly to use my real picture... so i use this gg sluts pic i found on myspace

[mbf]

I am darn ugly. thats why I keep you humle and brave souls out there in HA-land from experiencing an optical shock which is inevitably if I used a pic of my trainwreck-face as an avatar.

Certainly another good reason! mbf, while that's funny as hell, I don't know if you meant it to be. Regardless, I'm sure it's not half as bad as you think.

you have no idea TJ347

I was such an ugly baby, they had to hire blind nurses back at the birth clinic...

then, they wanted to have a photo. a war-photographer showed up, looked at me, ran and became a monk.

a paperbag with two holes cut out has been my best friend since then

[TheOne1]

because photoshoppin' only does so much..

[CORVETTEDUDE]

I've been operating in fairly strict secrecy most of my life(job related). That's not going to change any time soon. Sorry.

[pot]

Bc the pix will be all black as there are no light in the closet....

[peggygee]

I'm going to have to call bravo sierra on some of these excuses,
though I will admit that some of them are incredibly creative.
Have some of y'all thought about writing fiction as you have
great imaginations.

I will concede though that I have known people who have posted
their photos, only to be subjected to great ridicule during a flame
war.

I truly don't feel that was right.

Resorting to argumentem ad hominem (attack against the person)
strikes me as cowardly. And if you must disagree, ideally it is on
issues, not physical attributes.

However I would like to address the converse of the original point.
Why do I have photos on a transgendered adult oriented site.

For quite a while I struggled with having my photo on various forums.
Much like many of you, I didn't want my photo to be used against me
in a flame war, or attack on my positions.

But quite frankly I have a healthy self esteem, and attacks by others
don't negatively impact it. Which isn't to say that words don't sometimes
hurt me, but I consider the source, and for the most part move on.

What about being plastered all over the internet, and pronouncing to all
my transtatus. I wil share with you that in the real world I tend to lead
a fairly stealthy life, I don't announce to all that I am a transsexual.

But in the same breath, I am not ashamed of my herstory, and of being
a transwoman.

Which leads me to my final poiint, if we are going to end the shame and
discrmination that comes with being associated with the transcommunity
we each are going to need to 'man or woman up'.

To that end I have spoken with my family and friends and have discussed
with them how do they feel about my increasingly public activist role. They
each have given me their blessings, now it is up to me to have the
courage of my convictions.

[TomSelis]

I think for most people the reasons will vary. Before I go into reasons, I'm going to state that an easy remedy for that is to just ask to see someone's pic through a PM if it's that serious of an issue. I feel like the little boy from "The Emperor's New Clothes" for having to say that.

The second thing (which is in itself a reason) is that people have a inclination to be silly on the internet, and I believe actions speak louder than words so seeing a person in real life goes much farther because people are less likely to say something stupid in your face.

Reasons:

1) I think the number one reason is job safety. Since I'm the one paying my mortgage and other bills, losing my job over my pic being posted here is not an option. I've literally seen three people lose their job over a myspace page or lifestyle choice. It doesn't happen like "We've seen your myspace page, you're fired!" either.

I've seen people get railroaded and blackballed, nasty things placed in mailboxes over the silliest things, like holding a beer or kissing another girl or having a rainbow flag up. Some of us work in conservative environments.

There's a lot of people that view this page that don't post. And they aren't going to verbally confront you about your presence here. They will do it in other ways.

2) Much of a lesser reason, but still valid. This isn't exactly an environment where you would want to post your pic. Clowning and jokes, sure, that's an issue. But when I first got here I saw how vicious people could be when someone (I think it was a girl) posted a pic of a guy. Who knows what else they did with that pic.

So, like I said in the beginning, actions speak louder than words. I don't have a problem being seen in public with a TS, that includes going to the movies, dinner or even walking down the street. Which is more than a lot of guys that do post their pics can honestly say.