Comments | theotherbaldwin: This Is Why I Speak Out

theotherbaldwin

This Is Why I Speak Out

Jan 13, 2011 19:35

There are some people that rail against the idea that there might be a culture of dismissive-ness about rape, or the use of rape to silence. The following anonymous comments left on my last article are a clear example of these attitudes, and why speaking out is necessary:

Trigger warning: What following under the cut are dismissive attitudes about ( Read more... )

Comments 61

nbda1997 January 14 2011, 14:18:32 UTC

Jeez... I know there's no law against disagreeing with people, but it really is a rude awakening to see how ignorant and belligerent people can be.

This is not what gamers were like when we were growing up; I'm positive of that.

erf_ January 14 2011, 19:19:29 UTC

Custer's Revenge, Street Fighter 2 no-throw arcade bullies, the runaway success of Mortal Kombat, Usenet trolls, John Romero's entire career, SomethingAwful's Portal of Evil, Postal fandom, the casual misuse of the word "rape" in Starcraft and Counter-Strike tournaments, GTA3, Illusion's entire catalog (trigger warning), the Angry German Keyboard Kid, Halo "teabagging," rude teenagers screaming into their headsets in every Modern Warfare 2 match.

Sadly, gamers have been assholes, and have continued to be assholes, since the 1970s.

We're way past time for a subculture-wide change in attitude.

nbda1997 January 14 2011, 20:18:54 UTC

You have to admit, the assholes, have certainly increased in numbers over the years. Case-in-point "Custer's Revenge" was hardly a runaway hit, but GTA3 certainly was.

turandot January 14 2011, 21:32:22 UTC

I think the problem is that to hang out with the people who are into gaming, you sort of have to become as assholish as they are. At some point, people who can't keep up with the culture of misogyny and the overall "screw you" attitude just drop out.

My own experience of the culture is that I happily dropped out of frequenting gaming sites and their associates messageboards not so much because people were assholes to me per se, but because I didn't like the persona I had to project to fit in. I wouldn't like her IRL so why would I want to spend time being that person online? I'd rather find other things to do with my time, both online and off. That's my mileage anyway.

Thread 6

doctoreon January 14 2011, 18:40:47 UTC

I wanted to talk to my girlfriend about this, but I can't even bring myself to copy and paste the comments. I just...I don't even know what to say.

theotherbaldwin January 17 2011, 14:01:59 UTC

Sometimes, listening is the best thing. thanks for the solidarity, man.

pontori2 January 15 2011, 00:28:06 UTC

Just read the article now. I think it's well articulated and I've sent it to my husband, an avid PA fan.

Sadly, I'm not surprised with the response you received. (It's another reason why I'm training myself to never read the comments page on articles I read).

theotherbaldwin January 17 2011, 14:05:08 UTC

Wow, coming from you, being lauded as well articulated is high praise indeed.

pontori2 January 26 2011, 00:02:07 UTC

Oh, hey thanks for the compliment! Don't know what I did to deserve it:)

Back on topic - the initial strip didn't bother me at first because I caught the MMO joke - horrible things happen to these characters and yet your character is too high level to help, or the whole thing resets for the next person to play the instance. But their response afterward was simply frustrating. Even if they didn't intend to offend, they DID, and the proper response should always be "I'm sorry."

(And good luck with your next semester!)

theotherbaldwin January 28 2011, 14:45:30 UTC

Thanks. And yeah, I get the aim of the joke. You and I pretty much agree on the escalation of problematic-tude-ness. :)

I'm not really sure what do say here. namiko January 17 2011, 15:35:54 UTC

I had a big response typed up, but I think I'd rather have that discussion with you in private ( ... )

Re: I'm not really sure what do say here. theotherbaldwin January 17 2011, 16:04:25 UTC

Thank you very much for this. I will signal boost soon.

Dropped you a note via LJ, too.

gonewithoutjam January 28 2011, 23:46:30 UTC

Here after clicking through a few links from Shakesville.

I'd like to love the irony of people making such blatant attempts at silencing while whining about censorship, but actually it's just making me feel quite nauseous.

Oh, and what I really came here to say was, thank you for speaking out. It's something I'd like to be brave enough to do more of myself.

theotherbaldwin February 6 2011, 18:19:59 UTC

Thank you very much for the support!