Sorting through my to-read box this morning gave me a lot to think about. Did someone really dis Felicia Day over her opening the GW2 collectors edition? Really??
*sigh* I didn't want to cover this because I am the least girly girl around. Pure tomboy at heart and since I am pushing daises at almost 32 that is unlikely to change. So what do I have to chunk into the feminist movement via gaming?
Me. Yep sho nuff! *Whilst I would love for all of our troubles to be settled in a Kung-Fu throw down, that stuff is in movies because it is fantasy. Would love love love the hair style though!*
I don't get bothered about female avatars being skimpy, I actually like the Epic String Bikini of Magical Protection. I purely blame Leia Skywalker for that one...impressionable young me is impressionable.
I don't mind the sandwich kitchen jokes. Burn water? Me? Nooo?
I don't even mind the fact that in the Oblivion games my toon was hamstrung by being female. Seriously...who's bright idea was that?
What I do mind, is that when I get onto x-box live and use the game chat that 8 times out of 10 I get rude vulgar sex noises or someone calls me a cunt for sniping them across the way. I do mind the 'heya sexy mama I have a pet snake you can play with' whispered to me while trying to run a mission in GW. Gag...seriously that is the last one I got, using B/P build to run the noob island nm/bonus for folks.
And I can't wrap my head around the fact that someone threatened a woman's life just for trying to talk about the fact...FACT that there is some serious female harassment in gaming. Hiding the head up the ass seems like an ok idea for these jerks, but for the rest of us it is time we did something.
But what? Well there now is the problem. Most consoles have a built in report feature...they do not work. PC games are better at banning or disciplining offenders, but you can only smack the ban-hammer on someones head so long before your arm gives out.
While kicks and giggle can be had by many in a text or skype discussion between parties...it usually ends up with the kid *because I have a really hard time thinking that those turds -yes all male so far- are any form of adult* saying "I have a penis so I am right!"
My hunny plays with me, via console, and even though I didn't ask him to... a few words and I never get insulted again. Sexist yes, but very very effective. But I can't loan him out to everyone. Sorry peeps but he is mine.
So where does that leave the average female player? When talking back doesn't work, when standing our ground gets us ridiculed or passed off as "She's just bitchy because she bleeds once a month." Or my personal favorite: GIRLS CAN'T PLAY! Like were missing a limb or a section of brain that stops just short of playing and enjoying games....*face planet*
See what we have here is a generation of sorry. Too sorry to be polite. Too sorry to be a gentleman. Too sorry to grow up. Too sorry to realize that we are all just people. Different flavors of people yes, but as long as your not using tentacles to play well then guess what you are peoples too.
I don't know how to fix this. I do, however, know what I am going to do. If I hear this kind of crap again I will speak my mind. If I see this kind of crap again I will move to stop it. Because this kind of bullshit should have died out a long time ago...its just hard as hell to smack someone through a computer screen.....
I have been silently nodding in agreement every time I read a post like this. But I guess even an "I agree" comment might be worth posting just to show support.
ReplyDeleteIt is about time that the voices that stand against that kind of behavior became more louder than the children that act that way. That they get the message that those types of actions and talk is not ok, it is not funny and it is absolutely not tolerated. That it just makes everything less fun for everybody involved and it only serves to show how much of a children they are. Because as you pointed out men, actual men, not the children who act like that, as you pointed out, will just respect women as the fellow human beings they are.
In a random note,they just don't make cheesy movies like in the 80ies anymore. I miss those. /sigh
It is like we don't want to be the whinners about it. It is so childish that the fact that we have to say anything at all goes to show how bad it is.
DeleteYeah I am a chick, yes I can whoop your butt in-game. Yes I can look smashing while doing so. If you have a problem with me in game talk to me about the game, not the fact that I can't miss the potty when I pee...
On the note: I can't wait to use some clips from The Golden Child! Epic Movie!!
I love that bikini, too. And Han Solo. He wasn't threatened by a strong woman, and he didn't have jack to say about her attire - or at least he knew better. I certainly wouldn't challenge a woman who strangled a slimy, obese alien despite being bound and wearing next to nothing.
ReplyDeleteThere's just too many insecure people with chips on their shoulders and an axe to grind online, and then they bond with other like-minded individuals and it all devolves from there.
Devolve...I think that is an excellent word to use to describe the entire situation.
Delete*sigh* What a mess.