Author Topic: X-Post: Help me improve my essay on sexism in tabletop gaming (not just GiantITP  (Read 41847 times)

Offline Libertad

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I've developed a phobia towards violence. I don't fight back. I run away. Yes, I'm a coward.

So when I get attacked by my boss, a 5'2" woman at work, who cuts me and spits in my face, I wind up in another room crying over it. When the police show up, 97% of the time they will arrest the man. In my case, they sent me to the psycho ward. Because after all, if a man is crying, he's either about to hurt himself or kill everyone. It was to protect the clients. They let her stay at work, with the clients who cannot defend themselves, but shipped the assault victim to the loony bin. If I was 5'2", blond hair and big tits, I have no doubt I'd have been taken to the hospital.

You're not a coward.  There's no shame in avoiding confrontation.

My deepest sympathies for what you went through.

Offline Unbeliever

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^ this.  It's not cowardly to avoid a fight that is over absolutely nothing.  And, it doesn't exactly sound like the others involved were going to obey Queensbury rules.  Obviously we don't know the circumstances, and I have no interest in having you dwell on something that is so unpleasant and traumatic, but I'd say that "mature" or "rational" or "decent" are probably much more likely adjectives and judgments than "cowardly." 

Offline taltamir

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Going through the essay in the OP:
1. Strength Caps and other stuff: Strength caps are very stupid and indicative of serious social issues with those who advocate them, but I felt your counter arguments to be a bit weak. You were focusing on STR18 in 3e D&D (and mischaracterized it as the maximum a human can achieve instead of the maximum a human can be BORN with and have without any training, actual achievement with effort and NO magic is much higher) instead of focusing on their actual argument of "women are weaker" (optionally add an "on average")... to which there are myriad well written retorts out there.
However, I don't see how this is a symptom of the RPG community and not society at large.

2. Women have always fought: same as #1.

3. Pretty solid points. There are some people in the industry with some very messed up views and they should be called out on it. However this should be more specifics. It is also worth noting that if someone is a brilliant game designed but has an unhealthy view of rape doesn't mean you shouldn't use the system the invented after modifying it to remove the rape. Forgive my godwin, but some of the technologies we use to day were invented by nazies. I do not think people playing such games are condoning the rape, especially considering the examples in question constitute a tiny tiny fraction of a a percent of the pages which make up those games (this is not to say that there aren't games for which rape is a central theme, as you mentioned there is fatal. But nobody plays that). And remember there are many authors involved; your own examples have editors catching and removing filth between printings even when there isn't a public outcry.
Also, most men I know also feel very very disturbed with rape. Even if they don't personally fear it happening to them (which is largely due to ignorance because there are a lot of men getting raped).
The entire paragraph suggests that it is only women who are bothered by rape being in an RPG; that only women can be victim of rapes IRL. That only men can perpetuate rape IRL. And that only men write rape into RPG settings. All of four of them are deeply disturbing

4. Problematic does not equal irredeemable: A true statement title, but the paragraph itself assumes that there is a problem in the industry, that is, a higher rate of incidence then the rest of society. I do not believe this is true and you need to actually show that there is a problem in the RPG subculture

5. Not gaming specific but relevant, feminist insults: vague he said she said with no backing and no clear point beyond "people blow misandry out of proportion" and potentially going so far as saying that anyone who thinks misandry is real is suggesting that every feminist is a misandrist

The essay as a whole suffers most strongly from a lack of proper citations and specifics "[1]CthulhuTech had not one, but 3 adventures dealing with graphic, onscreen rape, which the PCs cannot avert." should include the NAMES of those adventures. "[3]James Desborough published several blatantly sexist RPG books laughing at women instead of with them. " what are they called? what page do what you say they do? etc

Quote
[4]Maid the RPG's earlier printings did not omit incidents of pedophilia played for laughs as the result of poor editing.
Out of curiosity, were those actual pedophilia (pre puberty), hebephilia (puberty to 14/15), or ephebophilia (14/15 to 19)?
And do you mean consensual statutory rape? or a rape which actually involves non consent?
« Last Edit: February 06, 2014, 11:41:35 AM by taltamir »
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