Even mention the term 'long shirts', and you'll be sure to spark a debate the size of Texas. Most of us know the long shirts argument has been around since forever, but it has recently made its reappearance with great fervor. Simply looking around Whyville, you can find petitions to get long shirts back at the poll booth, copious long shirt suggestion threads in the forums, and citizens talking up the subject left and right in the chat rooms.
For days, Whyvillians pushed for change to the long shirt rule and, as the fire developed, many citizens were surprised to find out they were now being punished for wearing long shirts and shirt extensions to lengthen their bodies. Although it was common knowledge that these body extensions were against the rules, citizens found this rule to be generally glossed over and therefore continued the practice without a second thought. The punishments for wearing long shirts, however, came as a shock to many. These new reinforcements seemed to add fuel to the fire, and the protests of the citizens rapidly increased.
Despite the constant pleas from Whyvillians, City Workers have made their stance clear -- no long bodies in Whyville, period. Of course, this solemn response has evoked many a protest from the frustrated Whyville population. For instance, the "No Shirts Campaign", a user-initiated movement protesting the ban of long bodies, has urged citizens to wear nothing but a head rather than wear the Whyville-approved short shirts.
However, among the many impassioned arguments of the citizens lay a common question: Why? Why shouldn't long shirts be allowed? The explanation many had formulated to this question was that it was probably due to being able to make bare midriffs with these long shirts. The rumor spread and with it, more rage. "People can make stomachs with short shirts too!" was the common retort.
Finally, Whyville citizen, DibIsHot, made a thread asking for a clear explanation as to why we couldn't have long shirts, which in turn sparked quite the debate. After many arguments were made and many forums privileges revoked, City Worker, Lopan, gave the long-awaited explanation: "Long bodies are not allowed because you can then attach inappropriate body parts right below a full body. And yes, enough USERS have done this to make it a rule."
Some have accepted the explanation, others still fight it. There are also those who are completely against the return of long shirts. Some in fear of them being remade, others who just wish for the fighting to end, and those who are simply indifferent on the subject. So in the midst of this hot dispute, I asked a few Whyvillians for their input on the situation.
Xoxkitkat: Are you for or against the acceptance of long shirts/bodies?
SpOrTChlC: I'm for getting long shirts back.
SalsaDoll: I'm totally for it. I'm a pre-med student in college and am all for human anatomy. This is a science site--Whyville can stop pretending our anatomy doesn't exist.
jts2000: I am for the acceptance of long shirts.
Vancyon: I am for it, as is everyone else on this site.
Xoxkitkat: How do you feel about the reason behind the long bodies ban? ("Long bodies are not allowed because you can then attach inappropriate body parts right below a full body")
SpOrTChlC: It's a good reason, because this is a kids site and people are immature and do that, BUT I think they should take out the things that can make them inappropriate not taking away the long shirts
SalsaDoll: Don't punish us. We weren't the ones who accepted the long shirts. Akbar did. Punish him. Just because we're wearing them doesn't mean we're in the wrong. It's on the site for anyone to use . . . how on Earth do you have the audacity to punish us for something Akbar accepted into his face mall? Not fair. And there's nothing wrong with long shirts. Sure, people abused the privilege long ago, but those times are in the past. People abuse just about every face part when they're TROLLING. That's what the 911 report button is for!
jts2000: Even though I can see their point, this one reason shouldn't stop the CWs from accepting long shirts and extensions in general. This is the ONLY reason CWs have brought up. Funny how we give them plenty of positive ideas about long shirts, and they give us only one reason to stop the acceptance of them.
Vancyon: I think it is simply ridiculous. I could make inappropriate avatars with just about anything if I wanted to. We have had extensions for like two or three years now, and I have never seen one being used inappropriately, but I see other stuff being used inappropriately EVERY DAY.
Xoxkitkat: What is the number one reason you have for being for or against long shirts/bodies?
SpOrTChlC: One reason is that I like them better than having to stack a shirt underneath another.
SalsaDoll: I am a girl. I embrace fashion. I'm not about to go strutting some short little ugly shirt to make a fashion statement -- that's impossible.
jts2000: Well Akbar accepted these at one point. Now, we still have these parts that can be rare or just mean something to us. What are they doing? They're taking the parts from us and punishing us for wearing them appropriately. This bothers me so much.
Vancyon: My biggest reason is because there's simply no reason TO ban them. It's laughable! It's like banning cars because some people use them to ram people head on. LOL!
Xoxkitkat: Have you made any steps to show your support/disapproval for long shirts? If so, elaborate.
SpOrTChlC: I haven't done any myself, but I have posted my opinions on other peoples threads.
SalsaDoll: On MiraMagic I am wearing a hair, a necklace, and a mermaid tail . . . all around the invisible long shirt that should be there. On SalsaDoll I am wearing a cheesecake because I'm not going to bother with looking all pretty if I can't wear cute clothes.
jts2000: Not really, I've posted on threads and maybe signed a petition or two, but all CWs do is ignore our thoughts, so whatever.
Vancyon: Yes, I've been a strong poster on threads (you might not know because many of my posts have been deleted.)
Xoxkitkat: Do you think Whyville will ever change its stance on the acceptance of long shirts?
SpOrTChlC: I think they will not.
SalsaDoll: Probably not. Sure they have rules to follow, but long shirts are trivial. I don't see why they can't have an open mind about it. Maybe once they lose a lot of its population they'll reconsider. Can't beat the inevitable!
jts2000: No they probably won't. They were once accepting long shirts and let people wear them. Now they have made a huge jump. They go from not enforcing the "rule" to punishing people for almost NOTHING. They should just get rid of shirts and makes us all floating heads if this is going to happen.
Vancyon: Yup, they'll see reason eventually. Hopefully they make the right decision quickly, though, because they are losing users by the day because of their censorship.
There you have it! Thanks to SpOrTChlC, SalsaDoll, jts2000, Vancyon, and iApplePie for helping out. Now that you've heard their opinions, what do YOU think of the long shirts argument?
Until next time!
-Xoxkitkat
