The Submissive Speaks: The Semiotics of Visuality in Virtual BDSM

Fantasy Play
Shaowen Bardzell*
Indiana University

Abstract

(e.g., BDSM, furry, role-play, etc.) in metaverses such as

Second Life are empowered to construct and manipulate textures
and 3D primitives. The result is a more specialized and arguably
more developed depiction of femininity, which may even evolve
to a form of visual aesthetics. That is, visual depictions of
femininity in these communities participate in a system of
representations of digital embodiment, manners, activities, and
settings, which strive, through patterns of symmetry, role play,
and ritualized stories to create a harmony recognized as beautiful
and even elevating [Bardzell and Bardzell 2006]. These avatar
designs are captured in snapshots and made available to the
Second Life public via player profiles, all of which are available to
everyone in the world (Figure 1). Reading someones profile is a
common way to get to know a new acquaintance, and thus the
profile picture becomes a prominent representation of the player
to other players.

The paper explores the mutually-constituted relations between

avatars, space, and artifacts depicted in players profile portraits in
a Second Life BDSM community. The significance of these
images is not simply their representation of the lifestyle; they also
convey the entertainment and interactive significance of virtual
BDSM fantasy play. Through 3D game technology and
photographic conventions, participants of Second Life BDSM
community collectively construct a grammar and symbolism of
power and submission through institutional structures (BDSM
communities and lifestyle practices), enforced roles (dominance
and submission, master/mistress and slave), and virtual
photographic technologies (in-game instant snapshots). In the
process, the spectator consciously and unconsciously participates
in the power dynamics that these portraits depict.
CR Categories: I.6.8 [Simulation and Modeling]: Types of
Simulation gaming, visual
Keywords: visuality, social semiotics, virtual BDSM, fantasy,
metaverse

1 Introduction
The portrayal of female body is a commonly discussed topic in
video game and virtual world research. The introduction of
breast physics in the popular fighting game Dead or Alive, in
which the breasts of female warriors bounce realistically during
gameplay, is but one recent example of the importance of the
female body in gaming. Such game features are conducive to the
construction and enabling of a male gaze, which makes players
spectators of the female body [Quellette 2006]. These depictions
of the female form constitute femininity in the eyes of gamers:
She is sensuous through her physical form, made visible in her
bosom and buttocks [Cassell and Jenkins 1998], and at the same
time, she possesses the fierce and formidable presence that defies
any opponents. Gamers welcome, construct, and identify with
such cross-gender femininity.

Figure 1. Self-portrait of a collared submissive.

Spectatorship, both of avatars themselves and pictures of them in
profiles, plays a significant role in the construction and
appreciation of the (female) body. Michel Foucault in his
Discipline and Punish describes the emergence of the docile
body, which is the result of the permanent and relentless gaze of
a prison surveillance system called the panopticon [Foucault
1979]. The location of a central inspection tower in the
penitentiary makes the prisoner believe that he is under the
constant and watchful eyes of an invisible observer. As such, the
prisoner is subject to and entangled in a power relation with the
observing agency; hence, the prisoner shows constraints in his
behaviors, giving rise to a docile body. Foucault continues by
observing that this system has spread throughout culture, with its
pervasive surveillance systems, effectively putting all of us in the
position of the docile gazed. Feminist film critic Laura Mulvey
describes a similar relationship between cinema and its audience,
using the notion of voyeurism to characterize the relationship
between the viewer and the viewed. Voyeurisms gaze is
objectifying, through the careful display of the setting, props, and
camera angles, and therefore controlling [Mulvey 1989].
Foucaults and Mulveys notions of the body are in line with the
concept of social constructionism, in which the body is shaped
and restricted by society [Schilling 1993]. How do avatars reflect
and construct the social power relations of in-world communities?

In environments where players have robust control over the

design of their avatars, these depictions often are taken to a higher
level. For example, members of fetish communities
* email: selu@indiana.edu

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In virtual BDSM fantasy play, slaves and submissives are by

definition docile. They have consented to hand over their
autonomy to their Dom/mes, which may include surrender of the
body for examination, sexual gratification, and even dressing;
silencing of the voice; limited mobility; and other forms of
submission. In return, Dom/mes are expected to provide
protection, guidance, and in many cases devotion. This
relationship is maintained in part through surveillance
technologies, such as collars worn by submissives that report
behavior to Dom/mes via instant messaging and email. Such
collars, and related toys/technologies, replicate the panopticon inworld.

analysis) and qualitative (such as semiotics and psychoanalysis)

visual methodologies are not mutually exclusive [Rose 2001]. The
resulting coding categories and issues were selected specifically
to support critical interpretation.

Coding
Categories
Presentations
of film
techniques

This summary aside, submission is hardly a static, well-defined

phenomenon. Rather, it is constructed and often contested in D/s
relationships, with the submissive retaining more power than a
superficial glance may reveal. Waskuls use of liminality to
explain Internet phenomena provides a framework to understand
how the disempowered can resist a powerful force [Waskul 2005].
On the one hand, institutions and social order, including the
practices of a virtual BDSM community, exert enormous power
and influence on the individuals to conform to them; at the same
time, the individual has the desire for self-actualization. This
dynamic is evident in the self-portraits of Second Life BDSM
community residents. Using still images, with the aid of in-game
technologies and photographic conventions, practitioners narrate
through pictures stories of loving masters and willing
submissives. As most of the community members are submissives
whose capacity for self-expression are limited in D/s relations,
these self-portraits become a mechanism for the submissives to
convey subtly emotion and mood.

Representations
of the body

Representations
of activities

2 Methodology

Issued Examined

Location of the shot

Surroundings of avatars photographed
Setting
Light
Overall color of the photographs
Vantage (point from which the camera
perceives the main figure)
Framing

Race
Gender
Hair color
Hair style
Body types
Masculinity
Femininity
Number of avatars in the photograph
Activity level of the foreground avatar
Activity type of the foreground avatar
Agency and activity
Intimacy styles
Touching
Eye Contact
Pose
Ritual focus
Dress styles
Props
D/s status

Rather than relying on the good eye, content analysis is used as

a way to collect and categorize methodologically a group of
virtual BDSM members self-portraits in a consistent manner,
providing the foundation for a social semiotic interpretation.

Representations
of sociocultural
elements

2.1 Image selection procedure

Table 1. Coding categories for BDSM members portraits

A collection of images was selected for study by accessing

Second Lifes group search menu. A search on the keyword
BDSM yields 24 BDSM-related member-operated groups. The
first on the list, the BDSM group, was chosen due to its member
size (262 members). Clicking avatar names in the Members box
brings up the members individual profile, which includes
member photo, group affiliations, and a little autobiography. In
all, a total of 300 pictures were collected from the BDSM group,
including ones from members Picks, which often contain
intimate shots depicting avatars in social relations such as
master/slave, husband/wife, fellow submissives, and so on. Each
picture was then given a unique identification number from 001
onward. For the actual study, a random set of 100 was selected as
samples for analysis. No members of the BDSM group were
recruited for the study.

Each of the randomly selected BDSM group members selfportrait was examined against these four coding categories with
the relevant codes assigned to it. A spreadsheet with multiple
worksheets for each category was set up to record the information.
Once the content analysis was complete, a social semiotics
approach was employed to understand further the symbolic
richness of the images. A social semiotics approach to visual
analysis involves the description of semiotic resources, what can
be said and done with images (and other visual means of
communication) and how the things people say and do with
images can be interpreted [Jewitt and Oyama 2001]. Using
language as a metaphor to describe images, the social semiotics
methodology provides a detailed way to understand the
correlations among avatars, space, and artifacts depicted in these
BDSM self-portraits through the examination of a collection of
socially and culturally meaningful symbolic signsthe shared
grammar of these photographs, so to speak. These images
illustrate the social life and history of the avatars in the context of
Second Life BDSM subculture. The context is significant as it
impacts how the portrait is staged and photographed, how the
message and expectations of the BDSM participants are
constructed (i.e., how virtual BDSM participants attach ideas and

2.2 Coding categories

Having selected a sample of BDSM group members selfportraits, a set of categories for coding these images was devised.
The categories were developed based on the central research
predispositions: (1) that visuality depicts and conveys social
relations and emotions, and (2) that quantitative (such as content

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meanings to the intimate experiences they have in-world), as well

as how the viewer perceives the portraits.

hair. While bodies are properties of the individual, they are

nonetheless defined and made meaningful by society; this is even
more true in a space such as Second Life, where the construction
of avatars is typically achieved by purchasing body parts made by
other members (e.g., shapes, which include the body dimensions;
skins, which include the skin tone, facial features, and makeup;
and clothing, including hair, shirts, jewelry, and boots).

3 Analysis
To explore the mutual relationships between the images and
spectatorships, between form and meaning, we examine these 100
self-portraits by reviewing its narrative structure (the
representations of film techniques and body) and interaction
structure (the representations of activities and cultural elements).

These bodily characteristics are non-verbal signifiers that provide

communication cues, adhering to the established BDSMs notion
of the ideal female form. For example, many submissives wear
translucent skirts that reveal their pubic hair, itself a signifier of
their accessibility (i.e., they are not wearing underwear, which in
turn signifies their availability for sex). Ones ability to monitor
and control bodily performance mediates and facilitates social
interactions [Goffman 1969], so the fact that these avatars
collectively construct a unified social identity with shared
characteristics suggests the power of the BDSM communitys
social influence over individuals management of his/her body.

3.1 Narrative Structure

As in literary works, narrative structures in images include
settings and actors. The locations and surroundings depicted in
these self-portraits provide the situated context for the particular
pictorial story to develop. In the 100 pictures studied, only seven
were set in fetish-themed indoor dungeons; 35% of the pictures
were taken outdoors, many in full daylight, and in both urban and
rural settings. The openness of these settings underscores
members sense of the acceptedness of the lifestyle, that it is not
the social taboo needing to be hidden from sight that it is in reallife America. This openness is further expressed by the
deployment of the extreme long shot in some of these pictures
where the emphasis is placed upon the environment and the
background the avatar is set against (as seen in Figure 2). The
intimate details of the avatar is rendered less discernible,
signifying the relative value of the individual in the whole scheme
of the setting, rather than the particulars of the avatar him- or
herself. The setting, and its relation to the avatar, is only one
signifier of the submissives place in the world.

3.1.2 Deviation
While an overwhelming majority (93%) of the self-portraits are
taken with the front-and-center camera position, where the
viewers can easily identify and made aware the avatars overall
behavior and the environment he/she is in, 7 out of the 100
pictures examined stand out with the distinct story they recount.

Figure 3. The viewer gazes at the submissive as a master.

In Figure 3, for instance, the submissive deviates from the
photographic convention commonly seen in the sampled images
by choosing to shoot the photograph from the vantage point of
one that is over her masters shoulders: the master stands tall and
strong, with the submissive kneeling by his feet, looking up with
reverence. The audience is forced to look at the submissive from
the point of the view of the master as wellthe distance between
the master and the submissive becomes the distance between the
submissive avatar and her spectatorthe viewer, too, is admired
by the submissive. The master and the submissive look directly at
each other and nothing elsethe gaze of the two avatars connotes
devotion in the relation. The juxtapositions of the standing master
and the kneeling submissive and the careful mise-en-scne
together construct a compelling story of virtual BDSM fantasy
play in which the spectator participatesas a master. That the
submissive is able to impose mastery of herself onto all who view
her profile is an example of the power dynamics called into play
in virtual BDSM practice.

Figure 2. Wide-angle shot reveals submissive in his environment.

The depiction of the characters/avatars often has more explicit
BDSM themes; it also demonstrates a higher correlation between
both the BDSM social conventions and photographic conventions
as well as the individuals understanding and adherence of such
conventions. In all, the self-portraits are fairly simple with little
ornamentations (66% of them contain only one avatar, and 60% of
them with no props present). The simplicity of the portraits
encourages viewers to concentrate on the avatar herself/himself.
However, within such simplicity, dynamics are revealed as the
avatars either conform or deviate from the established
conventions.

3.1.1 Conforming
The body types depicted in the Second Life BDSM group
members self-portraits are overwhelmingly slender and desirable.
Added to that are notions of desirability embedded in race and
fashion. 91% of the avatars are white; 4% are of color; 5% are
non-human. 64% of the avatars are female and 40% of the
photographs depict avatars with long, luxuriously flowing black

3.2 Interaction Structure

In addition to narrative characteristics, BDSM self-portraits also
contain elements of social interactions that tease out the dominant
cultural values associated with the objects depicted. These are

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more visible when seen through the lenses of intimacy and

distance.

character, it can also create detachment. As discussed earlier, the

use of extreme long shot (wide shot), where the full body length
of the avatar is seen against the backdrops makes it difficult for
the spectator to feel connected (both physically and emotionally)
to the avatars. 61% of the portraits studied keep the spectators at
bay through the suggested impersonal distance.

3.2.1 Intimacy
Since we are social beings, biologically programmed to interact
with others, our body language conveys our emotional state
during all of our interactions [Norman 2004]. Along similar lines,
the avatars depicted in the BDSM group members self-portraits
transmit their affective conditions through eye contact,
expressions, poses, and other subtle or expressive physical
performances. Second Life facilitates these forms of expression
not only with a fairly rich collection of built-in character
animations, but also by enabling designers to design and import
custom character animations, which are available by the thousand
in Second Life (usually for a nominal fee); animations and poses
of intimate relations are particularly well represented.

4 Conclusion
In a virtual fantasy role-play where the submissives opportunity
for self-expression is limited, the members self-portraits in
Second Lifes profiles empower submissives by pushing them to
the center stage, giving them the opportunity to construct their
own unique pictorial stories, fitting their chosen lifestyle and
belief and desired relationship to the viewer. Their active
engagement of the subject matter enables them to possess power,
even if its only transitory. In the process, the spectator becomes
the unwitting participant of such power dynamics: on the one
hand, the spectator is free to see (voyeurism); at the same time,
the viewer is also subject to the framing of the photographer
(often the submissives themselves).

When female avatars are depicted in an activity besides looking at

the camera, they are seen in close physical contact with their male
counterparts through embraces and kisses, sitting or lying down
together. They are often held in the male avatars arms, with
caresses and other physical activities initiated by the male (Figure
4). Not surprisingly, female avatars are visually represented as
sexually passive, conforming to the D/s relationship patterns
where the (typically female) submissives, dominated by their
masters, await male initiation to begin sexual interaction.

Since images in virtual BDSM fantasy players user profiles often

expose and convey the emotional states of the participants,
understanding the significances embedded in these images
provides one lens to form insights for the development of
affective games. In addition, better understanding of the
depictions of the female in gamesand the ways male and female
players alike extend and build on themmay make games both
more socially just and appealing to large audiences.

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Figure 4. The male envelops the female in a kiss.

Intimacy can also be constructed and expressed through the
deliberate manipulation of shot compositions. 38% of female
avatars self-portraits utilize the technique of medium shot to
emphasize the feminine physiques from the waist up. Close up
shots are also used: 21% of the self-portraits use such camera
composition to center on breasts and 9% of them single out facial
expressions. These result in more detailed visual information in
the portraits. Since viewers are brought closer to the female
avatars through these two camera composition techniques,
viewers necessarily become more emotionally involved in the
submissives affective states.
Artifactsprops of cultural significance and dress codesalso
contribute to the construction of intimacy in these images. The
slave collars and leather outfits worn by the submissives, the toys
in the scenes (cages, pillows, etc.), female submissives as
common household ornament (Mulveys festishistic scopophilia)
reinforce the BDSM cultural codes that are only understood,
appreciated, and obeyed by the practitioners.

3.2.2 Distance
While an image can develop an intimate relationship with the
audience through special/temporal arrangement of its setting, the
placement of the props, as well as the shot compositions of the

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