Mayya Sirnah — Post 6 Grrl
by Alphaville Herald on 25/08/09 at 6:21 am
[This week's model IM'd me about modeling and met with me for the obligatory interview and I was completely charmed. She even came cheerily back to do a second photoshoot when I admitted that through a boneheaded but complicated computer move I had managed to delete one third of the pictures of her from the first shoot. She is, in short, a very nice person and I'm now a big fan of this week's Post 6 Grrrl, Mayya Sirnah. I only hope I've done her justice. -Timothy Morpork]
So like, I'm a hopelessly neurotic person. Not to an extreme, but enough that I rewrote this miniature biography twice. So this happens to be my third draft and I'm still as clueless about what to say as I was the first time. Yes, I currently have a lot of time on my hands. Frankly, I'm tired of trying to make myself seem interesting (because it should go without saying 
) so I'm just going to go with a "stream of consciousness" style, hand it in and be done with it.
I suppose one driving factor in me revising this yet again is the commentary the Post 6 article always seems to attract like vultures to a carcass. Topics of politics, race, gender, lifestyles and whatnot end up popping up, and it amuses me. People need to learn how to take things lightly and have a li'l bit o' fun once in a while. Yes, I'm a staunch believer in women's rights but here's my avatar (emphasis on avatar) posed naked somewhere on this page. Why? Because I took plenty of time in shaping it and compiling all the pretty pieces to make such artwork.
Yes, I call my avatar artwork, because when a person puts that much thought into such a form of expression it displays their creativity. I find it to be a gorgeous piece of art whether decked out in suffocatingly modest Victorian clothing or running around stark naked. I thought doing a Post 6 article would enable me to show off my li'l masterpiece. That's all I'm really doing here. That and rambling.
Now for the part where I prattle on about myself. Since I've started SL my RL self has changed exponentially and it's reflected in my SL character, not only the way I portray myself through her but also in how often she's on SL. Which isn't much anymore to be honest. RL (and its a crappy Internet connection) plays some part in this but mostly it's because the friends who have come to become dear to me on SL have sort of faded from this virtual world of ours.
It's through SL that I was given the opportunity to befriend people who would never have come close to my social circles otherwise. A select few have become as close to me as any friend in RL, some even closer. That's probably SL's single merit in my eyes. Oh, that and the virtual clothing. There needs to be a rehab for SL shopping, I would be the first to throw myself in there. But I digress. I've spent quite a bit of time on SL in the past and I love that I made virtual friends who crossed over into my RL and have become near and dear.
Anywho, I think I'm done here for now. I'm not sure if I talked too much, or not enough, or too much about the wrong things. But I'll shut up for now and let you stare at my avatar's magnificent boobage. Pea-suh!
Scylla Rhiadra
Aug 25th, 2009
LOL !!
Congratulations, Mayya, for having produced both an interesting and attractive avatar, and written a funny, entertaining, and intelligent feature article to accompany it.
What I like best about your write-up (aside from the irreverent humour) are the signals you give here of your obvious self-awareness about yourself, your motivations, and the nature of this feature. You evidently have a very strong sense of self, and you express this clearly through your language. You are also conscious of the great if often highly problematic divide between RL and SL, something that isn’t always in evidence here.
I DO wish you had managed to forgo the apparently obligatory reference to shopping, which is so ubiquitous in this space as to making even ME wonder if women are really capable of excelling at anything else. (Does Timothy include a clause mandating a mention of shopping in the waiver he makes you sign???). And, while I am certainly pleased to hear that you are a “staunch believer in women’s rights,” I think you might have spared a bit more space to explore the ramifications of this in light of your self-presentation here as eye candy.
Overall, however, nicely done. And “Pea-suh” to you, too.
Senban Babii
Aug 25th, 2009
“Topics of politics, race, gender, lifestyles and whatnot end up popping up, and it amuses me.”
You forgot to mention chickens……
I’m still trying to work out whether I like the first picture or not but I love the other two!
Congrats to both you and Timothy
+1
YellowNub Marine
Aug 25th, 2009
/me loves these pictures and this girl’s words.
Carry on, Post 6.
Archie lukas
Aug 26th, 2009
Needs bigger tits
Although I wouldn’t lick – kick- her out of bed.
Archie
PF: I have de cold virus, ish not nicsh
Scylla Rhiadra
Aug 26th, 2009
“Although I wouldn’t lick – kick- her out of bed” …
My bet is that she has too much self-respect and taste to get into one with you in the first place, Archie.
But I suppose a guy can dream …
Mayya Sirnah
Aug 26th, 2009
So like, I really didn’t want my avatar to suffer from chronic back pains so sadly I decided to sacrifice beach ball boobs for a more modest size. I’m sorry you don’t approve Archie. Well, no I’m not
. But feel better soon k 
?
Thanks for the flattery y’all
, I think my ego exploded all over the place. I’m also secretly pleased that I’m Scylla approved, though I’m not admitting it 
.
Skye D.
Aug 26th, 2009
Lovely girl, and delightful write up. Yay!
As for the shopping thing? What the heck is wrong with shopping? I’m happy to allot myself $5.00 a month in SL, and shop to my little heart’s content. Much cheaper than doing so in RL… SL Shopaholics unite! Hehe… ;o)
Scylla Rhiadra
Aug 27th, 2009
Mayya:
I’m AWFULLY glad that you DIDN’T publicly say anything about being pleased to be “Scylla approved”: I think you already know that you don’t need affirmation from me or anyone else to justify the decisions that you make.
Skye:
I have nothing against shopping. I LOVE shopping. However, it plays into a stereotype about women and consumerism that goes back at least to the 1950s (think of Betty and Wilma yelling “CHARGE IT!” as they make off with their husbands’ credit cards).
And I get tired of the way that nearly EVERY female who appears in Post 6 seems to build at least part of her identity around her love of shopping. We are all complicated enough, surely, that we can find OTHER, more meaningful ways of describing who we are?
Carmen
Aug 27th, 2009
I thought the first pick was best but i don’t feel nudity is always required for a great picture so maybe im biased and have a thing for costumes and fancy dress.
Question though did you make the skin and hair? If so great job. If not though what you have done does look very nice and i agree with the term art, you have used others art to make your own and should realy mention them.
Loved the write up to so all in all well done to you both.
Though womens rights and showing yourself naked don’t realy mix i think but im a bit thick and ill leave that to Scylla to talk about before i make myself look a bigger idiot than those that know me know lol.
Mayya Sirnah
Aug 27th, 2009
Carmen: Thanks for the compliment ^-^. I adooooore costumes too! When I mentioned putting together pieces to make the overall thing…or whatever it was I said, too lazy to scroll up and check, I was referring to stuff bought from the wonderful virtual vendors on SL, but yeah, I guess I could’ve been clearer about that
.
.
Skylla: Lol well it’s more like getting a good grade on a piece you KNOW is good but the professor grades based on his/her own opinions ;D.
Skye: Aw shucks, thanks
Wow I talk a lot xD.
marilyn murphy
Aug 28th, 2009
i have often thought that it would be nice for post sixx women to list the manufacturers of their skin, hair, clothing, etc. at one time the shape or skin on ones avatar was rather secretive, no one wanted to run into their double. this was a long time ago however. sl has gotten so big, thats really not an issue any more. the rare person who makes their own shape or skin now, can just state they make their own. it would be nice to know who made the skin of a good model who appeared here, or who made that cute jacket/blouse/skirt/shoes whatever.
nice post sixx tim.
oh dear
Aug 29th, 2009
This Page 6 started off OK, it is now degenerating fast into back-slapping nonsense and SL-addiction fuelled bullshit. STOP NOW.
Scylla Rhiadra
Aug 30th, 2009
Carmen:
I’ve never met anyone who was a feminist who was against nudity or nakedness as such, especially in art. Actually, where I live, a women’s rights activist a number of years ago fought for, and won, the right for women to go topless in public — using the analogy that it was legal for men to do so.
And of course, there are all sorts of different kinds of “feminism.” Since the advent of “Third Wave” feminism in the 80s and 90s, there are even so-called “pro-sex” feminists, who are also, often, “porn positive,” so to speak.
I’m not against erotica at all myself: the problem with “porn,” and most available erotica for that matter, isn’t the nudity, it’s how that nudity is presented, and what its supposed audience and function is supposed to be.
Take Mayya’s third picture, for instance. Technically, it’s a “nice” shot, but I am not very happy with it myself, not because of the nudity, but because of the composition of the picture. Notice that Mayya is pictured looking away from the camera: she’s impassive and uninvolved in what is happening here, an “object” to be enjoyed, rather than a “person” with whom one is sharing a moment. The angle of the shot is from the perspective of a male (or, yes, in theory also possibly a lesbian lover) who is about to mount her, implying that the viewer IS that male: she becomes sexually available for anyone looking at the picture. And she is almost, but not quite, fully exposed and open: what makes this “erotica” rather than porn is the promise, rather than the fact, that her legs will be opened for her anonymous viewer/lover.
It would be pretty easy, employing no less, or maybe even more explicit nudity, to have done this picture in a way that DIDN’T turn Mayya into a mere object of desire. Even the positioning of her gaze would have made a difference in the sense that she was an equal participant, rather than a mere sexual object. And there can be at least as much nudity in a Titian, or a Manet, without it necessarily becoming a work of erotica or porn per se.
But THAT is the problem with erotica and porn, at least traditionally: it is nearly ALWAYS produced with a male audience in mind, and nearly always objectifies the female subject. It needn’t do so, but it does. (In RL, there are other aspects of the porn industry that are objectionable as well, relating to safety and working conditions, for instance, of the models, but presumably they don’t apply here.)
Bunny Brickworks
Aug 30th, 2009
Scylla,
Your hardcore feminist rampages are getting really tiring. So Post 6 objectifies women and you don’t like it? Well, Post 6 has been objectifying women for years. There have been countless wannabe feminist activists like you attacking it and guess what? They came and went but Post 6 is still the same. Don’t like it, don’t look at it. It’s pretty easy. But your essays won’t change anything cause nobody cares. Or did you really think there are weekly conferences with editors and photographers in which they discuss the readers’ opinions and adjust the way they work and publish accordingly? I’m sorry to burst your bubble, nobody cares.
I have been reading your comments with both interest and also slight amusement. Especially the ones concerning the RP sims. OMG, women actually RP rape and humiliation… Guess what? A lot of these women are men in real life, so let them play. And those who are actually women in real life, too, well… generations of feminists have fought for their right for sexual self-determination. If that means that women have rape fantasies (and actually there’s a very high percentage of those who do) and live them out in a safe environment of a virtual world, why would that bother you? It’s their right to do so and it’s their damn right to do so without being judged by people like you who obviously want to save them from male evil and domination. And if women apply to become a Post 6, they know what it is about. Again, if they want to be objectified – voluntarily, without any financial incentive or a gun being held to their heads – who are you to tell them they are doing wrong.
You have chosen a certain lifestyle and ideology. It works for you and doesn’t harm anyone else. Perfect! Why those endless and pointless rants when people have chosen a different lifestyle? Ever heard of tolerance?
And one last thing before I go back to my very comfy observer position: your porn comment made me laugh. Yes, I am an SL Pornographer and I am proud of it. I like porn and producing the pixel version of it in a very stylish and aesthetic way is hard work. It takes a lot of time, money and skills to produce it. I don’t produce it with a special audience in mind but looking at my flickr favs and comments I see as many men as women. It ranges from soft erotic girl/girl scenes to hardcore rape porn or hentai. Again: as many men as women fav and comment it, there are as many female porn producers as male ones in SL. So who the hell are you to tell these women their taste/perception/likes/preferences are wrong? Are you actually trying to catapult us back into the sexual dark ages when women were refused to have an orgasm or a sexual identity? When they were forbidden to feel lust and pleasure? This has nothing to do with feminism, this is hypocrisy at its best!
Scylla Rhiadra
Aug 31st, 2009
Bunny:
I find it mildly amusing that you find my feminism “hardcore.” You must not get out to a lot of feminist meetings anymore, eh?
I’m sorry to hear that you don’t care about any of this. That’s rather too bad, but there will always be those who don’t. As for the notion that Post 6 isn’t going to disappear . . . well, that’s not really my primary objective in any case. I’d love to see Post 6 change, but my primary objective is to get people thinking and talking about these issues. I’d say that your post actually suggests that this aim is succeeding.
There are a couple of fairly important fallacies in your comment that I would like to briefly address.
My objections to rape RP have never (and if you HAD been following my comments elsewhere, you would know this) had very much to do with the actual participants. They relate, instead, to the effects of representations of violence against women, and the way in which these reinforce rape myths. It doesn’t much matter if that is a man or a woman in RL hitting the “accept” button, as the RL identity of the female avi isn’t likely known anyway. What the RP rapist, and anyone else watching sees is a putative female saying “Yes! Women DO fantasize about rape! We DO get off on it! Rape is so much fun, let’s make it into a GAME!”
I actually value highly the fact that feminism has liberated women sexually. But feminism isn’t just about “Me.” It’s about the social conditions of ALL women. And a woman who gleefully accepts the gift of sexual liberation without considering the larger impact upon other women of the choices that she accordingly makes is being, to say the least, irresponsible. It’s trite but true: with freedom comes responsibility. Yes, women have the liberty now to choose how they express their sexuality, but if they choose to do so in a manner that potentially endangers OTHER women who might be more vulnerable to abuse and sexual violence as a result of the perpetuation of rape myths and outmoded attitudes, then that is itself a form of misogyny. Where I come from, we call this attitude “Fun Feminism”: reap the rewards, but ignore the social responsibilities that are also part of what feminism is about, and that enabled this new liberty in the first place.
(Incidentally, and for the record, I am not, despite strong reservations about the practice, actually opposed to rape, Gorean, or BDSM role play in SL. I am opposed to PUBLIC role play of these things, for reasons that the above should make clear.)
As for the notion that any flavour or variety of feminism is “anti-sex,” as you imply . . . well, that’s just nonsense. My comments on erotica in this same thread should make that clear. The issue isn’t sex: it’s violence, be it the kind of perceptual violence that comes through objectification, or the very very real violence that far too many Women experience in RL. And ultimately, THAT is what this is about.