6 replies to this topic

[JimTheRat]

HeForShe is a solidarity movement for gender equality, in which men are encouraged to speak out and take action against the inequalities faced by women. I think, for male gamers, especially those of us who feel pained by the poisonous elements of gamer culture, like the recent GamerGate misogyny explosion, this might be a positive thing to look at.

Gender equality is a men's issue too, of course. As Emma Watson said in her speech to launch the movement, in the UK, Suicide kills more men than road accidents, cancer, and heart attacks. Men get pushed around by gender stereotypes and expectations in extraordinarily negative ways, commonly keeping us emotionally distanced from those closest to us.

Her speech can be found here:



Edit: I see that the forums filter the word '****' out fairly effectively. It's a four letter word referring to sexual assault, starting with R, ending with E. You know what it is.


I would like to mention one specific element, which I see getting used a lot around MWO, and not in a malicious way, but an unthinking way.

That's the word '****', especially when it's used to refer to a dominating one-sided victory.

I don't think I need to explain why '****' is a bad thing to anyone, but a lot of us don't really think about what the word means when we use it casually.

We use it to highlight prowess and skill of the victorious team, we use it to paint the losers as powerless victims. We use it in an off-handed way to glorify those who commit '****', in the context of gaming, against others, within the context of gaming.

The trouble is, these things do not remain entirely within the context of gaming. Even for those of us who, very reasonably, can keep the context of '****' as sexual assault and '****' as one-sided victory separate, it has connotations.

Personally, a very close friend of mine is a **** survivor, and every time I hear the word '****' used so casually, I wince, not only on her behalf, but mine, thinking about the way her attacker broke her ribs so badly she needed blood transfusions. I don't think gamers using the word '****' had anything to do with her assault, but I do think the casual and unthinking use of the word, especially the way it's used to glorify one person over another, is something I find offensive. As, I suspect, any man with friends who've been assaulted, or been assaulted themselves, would.

So. A small request, from me to you. Replace '****' in your vocabulary with something else to express a one-sided victory.
Make it a first step to changing the gaming culture you play in for the better.

Edited by Levesque, 22 September 2014 - 11:41 PM.

[B0oN]

Too small, way too late .

Goodluck though .

[p4r4g0n]

Good post although it probably will not persuade the ******* who trivially use that and similar words.

Rad Hanzo, on 23 September 2014 - 12:23 AM, said:

Too small, way too late .

Goodluck though .

... or make people stop and think.

[Lily from animove]

Levesque, on 22 September 2014 - 11:40 PM, said:

Personally, a very close friend of mine is a **** survivor, and every time I hear the word '****' used so casually, I wince, not only on her behalf, but mine, thinking about the way her attacker broke her ribs so badly she needed blood transfusions. I don't think gamers using the word '****' had anything to do with her assault, but I do think the casual and unthinking use of the word, especially the way it's used to glorify one person over another, is something I find offensive. As, I suspect, any man with friends who've been assaulted, or been assaulted themselves, would.

So. A small request, from me to you. Replace '****' in your vocabulary with something else to express a one-sided victory.
Make it a first step to changing the gaming culture you play in for the better.

I vote for roflstomp.

[Domoneky]

I actually use Spanked, or shwacked, or Smoke Checked.

[Arnold J Rimmer]

Domoneky, on 23 September 2014 - 06:12 AM, said:

Smoke Checked.

...?

[Domoneky]

Marine Corps Term for getting killed