Erik Kain @ Forbes put out another
great atricle (imo at least) in response to The Verge's.
I realize most of the regular posters ITT will undoubtably see things differently (which is fine), but I'd suggest giving it a read through to, at the very least, see things from another perspective.
The only way I see this mess being at least somewhat resolved is for gaming journalists to take the initiative by starting some form of discussion rather than pushing inflammatory narratives.
Generalizations and demonizing really do nothing to solve any of this. It really only dumps fuel on the fire.
Man, Erik Kain simply does not get it. Dude needs both a course in basic argumentation theory and an introduction theory to feminism 101. I'm going to go through his article, because I know that people listen to him and that someone thinks he's a knowledgeable voice when it comes to video games in general. Unfortunately, this article is not such a case.
Like, he states that,
I can’t help but think I’m a target here, even though this doesn’t describe me
from his reading of the Jacobin article, as if he is inserting himself into what is being criticized. He completely fails to understand that Frase is referencing a specific subset of misogynistic nerds.
And then he goes on a tirade to defend himself through his love life, as if he is an example of a Nice Nerd with a healthy view of the opposite sex. He just doesn't get the argument being made, i.e. that it's not about him and he doesn't need to prove that he's not a misogynistic nerd himself. Seriously.
Similarly he uses the "non-Gamer" argument to exclude Frase's viewpoints when Kain writes that:
These writers latch onto an entire group of people and then gleefully denounce them. I can forgive Peter Frase, a politics writer at a non-gaming website, for coming to these conclusions. It’s reminiscent of the myriad publications who decry games for causing school shootings and violence. It comes across as uninformed, the writings of someone who latches on to the type of stuff he sees written in video game publications themselves.
He then proceeds to state that "this is not a gamer problem, but an Internet problem", as if anyone is actually saying that gamers are the only vile people existing. This argument by Kain obscures the issue and takes away focus from the fact that people within gaming culture are experiencing harassment and threats. Yes, other places are terribly bigoted as well. But that does not excuse or take away from the fact that gaming culture do in fact have a problem with people who aren't white straight males.
Kain then proceeds to make the frankly ignorant and unaware assumption that anyone is saying that playing video games make you sexist, when he writes:
As far as I know this is true: We do have a sacrosanct right to beat virtual prostitutes to death in video games. Or at least a constitutional right. And nobody is worried that this right is being taken away, nor making a big deal out of the whole “beat a prostitute to death in GTA V” thing except for a group of people who thinks this means that all gamers are inherently sexist and that video games cause sexism. Which I find to be a ludicrous argument—every bit as absurd and gross as the notion that video games cause real world violence. Gamers don’t want games to be sexist for sexism’s sake, they just don’t want content to be dictated to them by the critics.
Like, Sarkeesian and tons of other people have yelled this from the mountain tops of Himalaya in every damn video and article they've made that consuming sexist media does not mean you yourself become sexist. You just have to be aware of the problematic elements of it and that is perfectly fine. I seriously can't believe Kain falls into the same uninformed and stubborn sinkhole that so many others constantly fall into because they do not listen and they do not pay attention to the people who are talking about issues concerning social and political aspects.
Kain subsequently says that the way that the discussion is going on right now, is basically "finger-pointing and moralizing", which again, is another instance of him failing to understand that criticism of video games does not mean that you yourself are a bigot for enjoying them. No one is being attacked. No one is being personally compromised in the discussion of sexist or racist or homophobic portrayals and behavior in the video game industry.
Finally, Kain steps yet again in the spinach when he writes that "For one thing, we are not all gamers.", thereby showing that he completely misunderstood Frase's point with the line "we’re all gamers now. So let’s protect each other". Similarly to Leigh Alexander's piece, Frase is talking about the fact that almost everyone plays games and is therefore a "gamer". Kain misunderstands this point as to think that it's a comment on enthusiasts versus non-enthusiasts.
And once again, Kain thinks he is personally targeted simply for playing games, like so many other people who have failed to understand what Alexander was talking about in her original piece, when Kain writes;
And yes, I say “we” because I’m a game enthusiast. I know gamers can be jerks. [...] I’m just really, really sick of hearing that all gamers are awful, that we are sexist and privileged and horrible just because a lot of us played games before it was cool, or watched cheesy science fiction before it was cool, or read fantasy novels before they were cool
Just don’t come into my hobby and then tell me I’m a horrible person because that stereotype you have about me still exists in your head.
The whole "come into my hobby and tell me I'm a horrible person" is simply a really weird statement to make. He is projecting and misunderstanding to a very large extent and I am frankly surprised that he hasn't researched and interviewed people more than having knee-jerk reactions to pieces related to social and political aspects and the toxicity of gamer culture.
In the later sections, he makes the usual "why can't we just have fun and play video games?" dismissal that once again obscures the issue and takes away the focus on how people are being mistreated and harassed within that very same culture of "fun":
Politics. Stupid, hideous, fun-destroying politics are killing video games. At a certain point all I can do is throw my hands in the air and walk away. Go play some video games. Shake my head in disgust. I was worried this issue would be spun this way, and now it has.
Then he repeats the "stop calling me sexist!" line once again.
There are sexists everywhere, so why do so many people who write about games constantly paint a portrait of the gamer as sexist? There are violent scenes and sex in movies, so why do gamers always get pinned as violent and obsessed with objectifying women? I admit, I’m just tired of all the moralizing. I expect it from the non-gamers. I expect it from FOX News and CBS and CNN and all the places where games have long been demonized or laughed at. I don’t expect it from game publications.
In sum, all I can say is that this particular piece by Erik Kain (as well as his prior coverage of the Gamergate thing and his complete unawareness of the harassment involved in the campaign) tells me that he is not equipped to talk about these issues and he would really benefit from talking to people concerned and working with gender and racial politics in media and video games. He is perpetuating false beliefs about social issues in video games and he is unknowingly using his platform as a writer to further marginalize the people exposed to harassment and threats by legitimizing a movement rooted in misogyny with the aim to silence and quell any criticism related to gender, race & sexuality and such issues.
Kain needs to sit down and learn before writing another article on this subject.
