- Thu Aug 28, 2014 7:06 pm
#383341
[A note to admins/site staff/whoever is in charge of that sort of thing: I didn't want to put this in General Off Topic because that felt more like a "banter" board than one for more serious discussion but I'm not 100% convinced this is the right board either (my reasoning is that games are definately a form of media albeit not a news medium) so if you see fit to move it elsewhere I'll not be kicking up a fuss about it.]
After thinking about recent posts in this thread I felt there should be somewhere to talk about games* (both the good and the bad) without interfering too much with criticising the Mail's approach to reporting about games. [Links in the next paragraph dealt with harassment and abuse, so a content warning may be in order. This is that content warning.]
I've also just read about a horribly depressing development in the world of gamer culture here. Apparently someone was so angry that a woman is making feminist critiques of video games that they felt it necessary to issue some horrific threats to her. What's depressing is that this is by no means unique and it's more or less expected that any woman involved in gaming (even if it as a developer rather than a critic) to suffer this sort of shit. The people who make these threats are invariably from the Young Male Dickhead demographic (YMDGs - Young Male Dickhead Gamers) but they aren't the majority of that demographic, rather they are spurred on by the YMDGs' complaints that women playing games somehow constitutes a threat to them. I have spoken to** YMDG's that believe that "the feminazis" are genuinely out to destroy gaming completely (by, for example, removing all violence from every game***) and when you see that people really believe this and that they are told similar things by a lot of the popular voices in their community it is easy to believe that the more violent or unhinged YMDGs would threaten violence against these women. I would guess that some of this bullshit victim attitude might have its roots in the fact that older YMDGs (that is those in their mid twenties rather than their teens) might have been bullied at school because they were geeky and socially awkward (christ knows I was) and, having not really moved beyond their school experiences, project the attitudes and social power of their tormentors onto anyone who is critical, in any way, of their hobbies but 1) that doesn't excuse it and 2) that is based on absolute guesswork with no real data or expertise on my part. It's also unsurprising that most YMDGs are politically on the (libertarian) right since both groups are masterful at painting the powerful as the victims of those over whom they have power. Basically (cutting out digressions) YMDGs have a massively childish victim complex about feminism (or their deranged straw version) and it causes some of their number to make threats to (and an even greater number of them to harass) women in gaming (who may not even be feminists, necessarily) and that's just not cricket.
Incidentally, if you haven't, you should watch Anita's videos. If it weren't for the elephant of her most vociferous critics, and the cowardly pack of cunts that harassed and threatened her, trumpeting around the room and shitting on everything I'd have made this post much more about them.
*Though not so much in the "I have played game x and really like it" sense.
**"Had long, pointless online screaming matches with" seemed a bit too unwieldy but is certainly more accurate
***Yes, really.
After thinking about recent posts in this thread I felt there should be somewhere to talk about games* (both the good and the bad) without interfering too much with criticising the Mail's approach to reporting about games. [Links in the next paragraph dealt with harassment and abuse, so a content warning may be in order. This is that content warning.]
I've also just read about a horribly depressing development in the world of gamer culture here. Apparently someone was so angry that a woman is making feminist critiques of video games that they felt it necessary to issue some horrific threats to her. What's depressing is that this is by no means unique and it's more or less expected that any woman involved in gaming (even if it as a developer rather than a critic) to suffer this sort of shit. The people who make these threats are invariably from the Young Male Dickhead demographic (YMDGs - Young Male Dickhead Gamers) but they aren't the majority of that demographic, rather they are spurred on by the YMDGs' complaints that women playing games somehow constitutes a threat to them. I have spoken to** YMDG's that believe that "the feminazis" are genuinely out to destroy gaming completely (by, for example, removing all violence from every game***) and when you see that people really believe this and that they are told similar things by a lot of the popular voices in their community it is easy to believe that the more violent or unhinged YMDGs would threaten violence against these women. I would guess that some of this bullshit victim attitude might have its roots in the fact that older YMDGs (that is those in their mid twenties rather than their teens) might have been bullied at school because they were geeky and socially awkward (christ knows I was) and, having not really moved beyond their school experiences, project the attitudes and social power of their tormentors onto anyone who is critical, in any way, of their hobbies but 1) that doesn't excuse it and 2) that is based on absolute guesswork with no real data or expertise on my part. It's also unsurprising that most YMDGs are politically on the (libertarian) right since both groups are masterful at painting the powerful as the victims of those over whom they have power. Basically (cutting out digressions) YMDGs have a massively childish victim complex about feminism (or their deranged straw version) and it causes some of their number to make threats to (and an even greater number of them to harass) women in gaming (who may not even be feminists, necessarily) and that's just not cricket.
Incidentally, if you haven't, you should watch Anita's videos. If it weren't for the elephant of her most vociferous critics, and the cowardly pack of cunts that harassed and threatened her, trumpeting around the room and shitting on everything I'd have made this post much more about them.
*Though not so much in the "I have played game x and really like it" sense.
**"Had long, pointless online screaming matches with" seemed a bit too unwieldy but is certainly more accurate
***Yes, really.
"The earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses." - Utah Phillips.
- By Malcolm Armsteen
- By Bones McCoy