I know the real world answer is that players want to be able to make that furry character, or have the human with horn implants. But in the game world, where racism is real and harsh, why would anyone want to make themselves look less (meta)human than they actually are? I mean, trolls and orks have it bad, various minor subspecies (oni, giant, menehune) sometimes have it worse, and SURGE'd people sometimes have it worse yet. Why on Earth would anyone want to make themselves a target for the paranoid and racist?

For the same reason people get tatoos and scarification and piercings...
To fit in, to be cool, to intimidate, to look prettier, any reason, no matter how bad in your opinion, can be a good one in another persons mind...

Ask yourself why there are transsexuals in RL

Xeno-philes? What about that guy, RL, who has had all that stuff done to make him like a tiger? People do things for their own reasons. And, one thing to remember, is that while there is Racism and such in Shadowrun, there are also those who like those things that make people different. Some might also do these sort of things for fetish reasons, while others are doing it because of the whole Transhumanist philosophy springing up mre and more. Honestly, I am surprised that we are finally seeing things for Exotics coming into the realm f feasibility in Shadowrun.

Also look around at all the "fetish" groups that are out there. For every weirdo out there, there will be a group that thinks EXACTLY the same way.

The more ostracized the group from mainstream society, the stronger the bond between members of that group. McVeigh and Rudolph were able to hide out for months on the couches of people who didn't even know them.

-Frank

partly, it's because racism isn't black and white (hoo, i kill me). there are plenty of humans who discriminate against metas, but there are also plenty who don't (or who discriminate 'positively', the way japanophiles venerate all things japanese). it's fairly easy for most people to find a social circle that approves of their life choices, whether it's implanting horns or LGBT or hardcore Mormonism. if you were an up-and-coming middle manager at one of MCT's Tokyo divisions, getting tusk cyberimplants probably wouldn't be a wise move for you. if you're a runner, you've probably already got plenty of friends with cybertusks--even if you don't have any friends with real ones.

There are also plenty of people who look upon heavy body modification more favorably than they look upon being a member of another race. You can six cymberlimbs with modular mounts so that you can attach various gadgets to them ala the Centurions and then pain those limbs with bright gold flames and you're just a practical guy who likes outdoor sports and has a sense of style. If you're an ork than you're one of them, an inhuman monster, at best a freak of nature and at worst a threat to the very survival of humanity.

Of course, if you get poser implants then you're a freak-wannabe and a race-traitor.

Are you inferring that racism IS NOT real and harsh in the realworld ??

As for why anyone would actively make themselves a target for such..
..As people above have said, just look at the realworld for reasons why people do it - to fit in, to bond with others in a group, to purposefully stand out, to show their belief, for pleasure, to reflect their inner pain on their outer skin, for fashion, for cultural reasons, as a rite of passage/adulthood.

We don't really have the bodysculpt gangs where they all look the same, but there are numerous examples of same-ism in gangs and fashion wannabees.

I have quite a few friends with obvious body modification. Ear-stretchers, multiple ear and facial piercings, tattoos (including home jobs), scarifications, suspensions, genital piercings etc. I've got at least one friend who's got it.

In a way, I think part of it is to exclude or alienate those who don't have an open mind about it. I don't currently have any body mods, but I'm enthusiastic and supportive of my friends, so it's a way of screening people. If I judged them harshly for their tastes and choices in what they do to their bodies, then they would instantly know I'm not worth being friends with.

In Shadowrun, it's probably similar. You get horns (actually I know some RL guys with subdermal horns/studs) to show you don't give a drek what the sararimans and squares think. I think Frank said it best.

Exactly! There will always be people that decorate their wardrobe, cars, houses, bodies, and whatnot because it is what THEY want to do. If an enterprising GM wanted to make a big deal of racism and discrimination in their games, then I am quite sure it would be easy enough to impose negative modifiers to social interactions between Mr. Studded Nose and Mr Straight-laced Johnson.

"Ya know, he might have pointed ears, glowing eyes, and fangs, but at least he's not an ork. He's better than your last boyfriend."

Also, let's not forget who is selling the exotic body mods. The corporations with more money than god. There doesn't need to be a market for something--through cultural saturation, they create the market. So they'll tell wageslaves "be like everyone else! Buy our executive cybersuite!" And they'll tell counterculture people "don't be like everyone else! Become an anthropomorphic dragon!"

Hey, dragon... that would be a cool character!

Anyway. Part of the corporate mode also involves sniffing out counterculture, packaging it, and selling it on the mass market. Just like Hot Topic, the corporations would be taking the existing demand for exotic mods and turning it into profit. If they didn't, someone else would. That's how counterculture fashion works today, and that's how it works in Shadowrun.

Of course, racism makes significantly less since when statistics demand that nearly everyone has a blood relative of a different race.

It is hard to be a skinhead when you have a father who is Black, a mother who is Asian and through the miracle of recessive genetics a full brother who is Latino.

dont stop people from trying. hell, some of the most hard line racists may well turn out to be of mixed bloodlines...

to reuse the japanese example earlier, there are people out there thats "more japanese then the japanese"...

or to put it another way, the "best" way to prove (as much to yourself as others) your white is by going after non-whites, even if they happen to be your grandparents...

groupthink is a "funny" thing that way...

If some of the recent anti-homosexual politicians are an example, it wouldn't even dissuade some people if they themselves were of the race they hated. Group think is scary stuff. That's why all of us Dumpshockers should band together to fight off that crazy world outside!

sadly, dumpshockers cant agree on what side of the road to drive, much less put up a fight in any kind of coherent way...

And of course, we could always mention the irony of white people, many of whom are either blatently or off handedly racists towards anyone darker than them prizing a nice deep tan...


... but that would be silly and not at all germane to the conversation at hand, wouldn't it?



Or: See, some guy born with tusks and horns and stuff? That's just wrong, man. It's unnatural, polluted genes, animalistic. That dude over there? The guy with little cyberhorns? Yeah, he's one of us, he's fully human, using technology to be cool, fashionable. Hey, I bet if we ask him, he'll help us beat down that stupid tusker over there just because he's cool like that.

Of course we can! And I'll sit here and make unwarranted insinuations about your mother and heritage until you agree!

Wait... I see what you mean.

Keep in mind that there's also a very widespread "positive" racism in the 6th world and that it is, in opposition to goblinophobia, an accepted and celebrated part of mainstream culture (outside of countries such as Japan).

In a world where the ideal of beauty is based on being a pointy-eared anorexic with exaggerated cheekbones, where bulky guys with tusks have recently become the epitome of masculinity and where undergoing surgery to completely blend in with what the majority perceives as beautiful is one of the ultimate status symbols, there will always be enough people who'll ignore the possibility of being beaten up by the local Humanis goons and get that earmod or dental job (and by the latter avoid being beaten up by the local Sons of Sauron goons).

I'm just going to emphasize "there will always be enough" there. There is always some-one, and they may not even be who you expect. I was recently chatting to a friend who revealed that she not only had "that" piercing, but that she did it herself.

heh, the practicalities of having something one can hide under clothing on the weekdays

Hehe That's my philosophy on my body modifications.

I hope you asked for photos.

Of course, that sort of piercing is different. Its done for personal pleasure rather than to fit in with a crowd, unless she hangs with a particular sort of crowd.

I worked one time with an Hardware/Software Engineer from the UK. His nickname is "Ringo" not due he plays drums or is in a band.

Both ears had multiple piercings, nose piercings, his nipples were pierced, belly button was pierced and he "claimed" his neither regions had piercings also, but I took his word on that.

When I asked why? "Chicks dig it man"

He is an excellant engineer too, he resolved many issues we had. Once the initial shock of seeing him wore off, I no longer noticed it unless someone drew attention to it.

The cultural group/tribe/clique he was part of was totally accepting his mods.

WMS

I worked with a guy that was pretty much the same way. Brilliant web developer, incredibly nice and polite, and pierced so much he probably picks up radio broadcasts.

A prime example of how none of it really matters. I have two piercings in my left ear, minor league next to these guys, but still the same reasoning. I wanted it, screw everyone else's opinions.

There is too much crap in this world, quite a large chunk of it based around hate and/or fear of anything different. Getting bent out of shape over someone's personal form of expression is silly.

I personally express myself by getting bent out of shape about body mods.

Silly silly! Happy bending!

I guess I'm just a square who was in the freakin' Navy for 9 years and didn't even want to get (and didn't get) a single tattoo or ear piercing, even though I've been out of the service for years. Just never appealed to me personally. And I guess that even though I kind of think of myself as being "out of the mainstream", I sometimes like to be able to swim among them anonymously.

Why is real life full of trannies, crossdressers, gays, lesbians, people with tattoos, piercings, dyed hair, folks with accents, geeks with neckbeards, fat people, and blah blah blah on and on and on?

People don't always dress, act, or identify themselves the "best" way (in the eyes of modern society as a whole). They do it the way that feels right to them.

Look at goths and punks. They want to look tough and intimidating. Or someone might just see the 'cool' part and not get the prejudice that goes with it. Someone might think he will look tougher as an enforcer as a black man, thinking of Avery Brooks. but that still has the prejudice and if he cannot carry it off, he ends up looking like Urkel.

Look at goths and punks. They want to look tough and intimidating. Or someone might just see the 'cool' part and not get the prejudice that goes with it. Someone might think he will look tougher as an enforcer as a black man, thinking of Avery Brooks. but that still has the prejudice and if he cannot carry it off, he ends up looking like Urkel.

Hmmm, I can parse that broad generalization sentence two ways. Are you saying that all the white people prize a tan, or just that all the white racists price a tan?

I like to parse sentences with a Ginsu Knife, the Knife that can cut a Penny in HALF!

but you can parse it however you like.

If you want to bulk it out so it requires less effort to parse (or lack Ginsu Knives (the Knives that can cut a penny in HALF!),


Many racist white people view naturally darker skin as a sign of 'inferiority'. Many (even most...) of whites, irregardless of racism against darker skinned ethnic types, still view a rich, dark, tan as attractive, even though they use superficial characteristics (such as skin color) as a reason for their prejudicial behavior. Ironically, some may tan (via sunlight or chemical applications) to a tone far darker than some of the people they discriminate against, and in very rare cases might find individuals (particularly among hispanics) who are as pale, or paler than they are under normal, untanned, conditions... yet will still use color based derogatory slurs.


This is relevant, because the poster talks about people using bodymorphs that may provide some superficial resemblences to metatypes that are discriminated against. Obviously, we are wired to mostly ignore artificial similarities when using visual motifs for our racist ways.

Oh: and buy Ginsu, I can has stock now.

To my mind, this is extremely simple.

People fear what they don't know. This is the core of racism - people coming from other "strange" cultures and whatnot.

Metas and SURGE are weird and unknowable. Nobody really knows why they came about - I mean magic is obviously at the core, but nobody can really explain it in such a way that the average Joe can grasp it. To him, magic is a big scary force that has no rhyme or reason to it - hence he fears it. By extention, he fears/hates SURGE and Metas

On the other hand, Body mods are based in science and technology. There is no "mystery" involved - it's a scientific process and knowable. Certainly some folks might look on heavily modded folks as freaks and counterculture and whatnot, but it's fairly logical to assume that they would have a greater acceptance than Metas and SURGE. Biomods are a known quantity - metas and SURGE are not.

Of course that means that most SURGElings can 'pose' as Biomod-Freaks...