The start of the Gamers Are Dead article was absolutely an attack piece against a large demographic of people who play games. Just calling them losers with no social skills. The same shit that has been flung at people who play games for decades. In case you've forgotten it:
In that regard, it's definitely comparable to the Jack Thompson/Fox News/Daily Mail character assassinations that game players have been through. It's clearly saying that people who play games have no life experience, have no social skills, and therefore revert to tribalism over favourite consoles. Ignoring the fact that all humans are prone to revert to tribalism over a whole range of topics.
This is the bit where it says very clearly that you should question your love of gaming because there are misogynists and harassers who also play games. You are guilty of these crimes by association of your hobby.
No idea how you can say "Which I think they patently weren't." when they patently were.
Mmmm...
I feel like the Gamers are Dead thing was an insulting article.
But I also think it's important to know what makes an insult an insult:
"We are people who need to be among people. The problem is that once we are among them, we feel compelled to sort ourselves into social hierarchies. If we were wolves, we’d fight to establish the social order of the pack. But since we are humans with outsized brains and language, we use words instead.
It is the social hierarchy game that makes insults sting. We are wired so that it feels bad to lose social status and feels good to gain it. That’s why a teasing jibe from a good friend isn’t painful—we haven’t lost status from it—but an unanswered email from our boss or a dilatory response to an invitation can diminish our sense of self-worth."
A lot of stuff she said was definitely insulting. However...I don't understand why "misogynist" would be insulting. :\
I'm an insult pacifist...(AKA, I don't swear, and I don't like saying mean things) but it's important to note that things that insult you, hurt you on a psychological level because of how you measure your worth. The things that hurt the MOST, are the things that you are most self-conscious about.
This is why I pretend not to be a minority or a woman online...because the racial or gender based insults would hurt me a lot more than a masculine homophobic insult. I'm not self conscious about my masculinity because I'm not a guy, so there would be absolutely no reaction from me. However, the "N" word might hurt my sense of worth for a multitude of reasons.
The fact that people are extremely upset over the word "misogynist" means that there is something about "hatred of women" that makes people extremely self-conscious. Soooo...if you are deeply offended by the word misogynist, you need to ask yourself why that word is so insulting for you. Because there is a tremendous amount of negative emotion being associated with that word, despite the fact that misogyny is pretty commonplace and socially acceptable. So ask yourself what it is about this word that brings out so much negative passion.
After all, the quickest way to find your shadow and end an insecurity is to list all the things that make you upset, frustrated, angry or uncomfortable. If "misogyny" makes you angry, then maybe there is something about that topic that you are avoiding within yourself. Just in general, removing yourself from the "social hierarchy" will stop all this anger.
"Withdrawing from the social hierarchy game, I should add, can also beneficially transform our relationships. Instead of spending conversations trying to convince people how wonderful we are, we will start listening, really listening, to what they tell us. They will likely take notice."
