Racism and Sexism as Gaming Culture

You know what? I'm not sure it's "Racism And Sexism" as much as bullying in general. The key to bullies is that they poke until they find the soft spot and then start jabbing. I think this is just that.

Take a look at these guys playing a game...the way they interact:


I've seen this before a lot, back when I was in my teens. People would flip out over "cheaping" at Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter (backing an enemy into the corner and repeatedly buffeting them with combinations) and it was always a yelling match. I think it just comes down to bullying in general. If a guy was gay, the barbs would be homophobic. If the guy was fat, it would be fat jokes. If it was known that the guy's mom was dead, it would be yo mamma jokes.

(Enter Ron Perlman Voice)
Bullies. Bullies never change.

Aris' apology wrote: The debate I was in was with a person who supported professional leagues, who have intent to censor the community to make it more accessible. I think the sink or swim mentality is something that defined our culture, and if that succeeds it removes something which has been important to help create some of the best fighting game players of our time.

Because good players can't rise to the top without harassment, ridicule, and vitriol. Right. Sounds like insecurity to me. Insults and abuse keep the "community" smaller. Get rid of it and the community might grow. If the community grows, Aris and his team might find out they're not the elite fighting gamers they thought they were.

On a related note, there's a website that I was made aware of called www.notinthekitchenanymore.com

It chronicles a female gamer, who plays CoD, and gives examples of shit she has to put up with by sexist gamers. I read a bit before I had to calm down, and not go on a Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back rampage to beat the shit out of them.

Man, I hate my gender's population sometimes.

wolvendancer wrote: These people are very literally saying, 'The racist and sexist abuse is part of culture, and it's our right to say it, and we are so put upon when others suggest this is wrong.'

It is their right to say it, assuming the country they live in gives them that right (since "right" is a legal term and not some god given ability) and doesn't have hate speech laws like we do in Canada. But regardless, I believe they should be allowed to say what they like anyway.

HOWEVER.. there is no reason to feel "put upon" when others suggest it is wrong because if you want the right to say any shit that appears in your brain without having to hold back then you have to give the same right to others, essentially allowing them to say your an idiot, or hateful or a virgin teen with no social skills etc, etc... You can't have both.

Allowing the culture at large to have this conversation, even in this low brow way, means that the culture itself will decide what is and is not acceptable behavior. If we shun it too much it will become harder to find and if we don't shun it enough then it could become too popular a mind set. How the community moves forward from here will be very telling.

We get the society we deserve.

All that said I stay very aware that if I participate in the larger internet community then all kinds of shitty things can happen and I don't know how many Jessie Slaughters we have to have in order for people to see this. Hopefully this woman will post anonymously from here on out, that's nothing more than a temporary solution but it's all we have sometimes.

The thing that struck me most is the guy who said racism and sexism is part of the fighting community. If you don't like onions,then get your sandwich without onions.

I played Call of Duty for awhile and Battlefield 2 with workmates for a year and he's right there is a certain mindset in the fighting community. I'm all for fantasy and living the dream but it's hilarious how these idiots pushing buttons on a couch are talking smack like they're actually soldiers.

If they play the game long enough to get really good, they're likely overweight and out of shape too.

T-Bag anyone lately? Fuck get a grip.

VonTush wrote: To a limited extent I blame Capcom for not nipping this in the bud sooner.

Why would they do that when they planned this whole thing?

S.

ubarose wrote: I would really like to see this discussion happen. However, as a member of this community I would like to request a couple of ground rules.

Please don't call each other ugly names
Please don't troll each other
Please don't bully or dog pile each other
Please step away from the key board if you feel that your anger is getting the better of you
Please keep in mind that anything you type here will NOT change other people's deep set beliefs
Please don't type drunk

<<<Drunk troll pugilistic incendiary commentary redacted>>>
You were fast on the draw with this one Uba. Experience is a harsh mistress.

Steve"uberTroll"Avery

Superfly is right, it's bullying (not saying that's better or worse, but that's what it is). Today is Pink Shirt Day (I had to go buy one last night cuz I don't have one) which is a day to support Anti-Bullying. Very timely after that 10-yr old girl got killed last week in California basically as a result of bullying.

Bully victims are five times more likely to be depressed, exhibit symptoms of suicide and low self-esteem which can stay with them into adult-hood. 40% of boys and 31% of girls that bully turn into delinquent adults.

What is happening to girls that play CoD is totally bullying. It's brutal. You shoudl hear how guys talk to really young boys that come on to play. it's HORRIBLE.

Assholes are assholes, jerks are jerks. Despite all the achievements humanity has made, people can still be horrible assbags to each other.

I've always believed in John Gabriel's GIFT . Having the stigma of immediate local identification and humiliation removed from them jerks act more like jerks. Normal people can tend towards it as well. One of the main reasons I hate playing online multiplayer. Not that I'm thin-skinned, I just get sick of hearing the needless trash talk and abuse.

This guy Aris is just a pathetic man-child who thinks he's hilarious and probably thinks he's impressing someone. He needs to grow up and work on his social skills a little more.

Fuck video-gaming culture if this is a common example of what you're going to run into.