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StudyInternational: Don’t be a J.K. Rowling. Combine your game degree (or any degree) with gender studies.

https://www.studyinternational.com/news/jk-rowling-game-development/
If you are a Harry Potter fan, you would know two things: JK Rowling and Hogwarts Legacy.

The newest Harry Potter game, “Hogwarts Legacy,” launched on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, allows players to live out their wizarding world experience.

It lets you experience life as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in an open-world, single-player, action role-playing video game (RPG) set in the 1800s.

Players also get the chance to learn subjects from the original books like Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Herbology and Transfiguration.

All good and fun — but the game’s saddled with controversy, one surrounding Rowling and her recent opinions.

What’s going on?

J.K. Rowling’s stance on transphobia​

Rowling has faced intense backlash from her tweets about transgender people.

Vox reports that the “Harry Potter” author isn’tisn’t shy about maintaining her views on trans-exclusionary radical feminism (short for TERFism), which argues that trans women are men who seek to invade women-only spaces and oppress them further.

In 2020, she criticised an opinion piece published by the website Devex, a media platform for the global development community that used the phrase “people who menstruate,” on her personal Twitter account. Shortly after, the best-selling British author would continue with another thread talking about the concept of biological sex.
Warner Bros. has clarified in an FAQ post on the game’s website that J.K. Rowling was not involved in creating the game.

Rowling’s creative agency, the Blair Partnership, did “work with the developers on creative decisions throughout the project,” according to Bloomberg.
Sirona Ryan, a character in the game, has also attracted online reactions. Her name — which begins with “sir” — mirrors Rowling’s stereotypical naming conventions.

Lol wut, she had nothing to do with that character???

“It feels like a lot of this [discourse] is manufactured, because there’s a lot of right-wing TERFs who are like, ‘Wow, look how good this [game] is selling, sticking it to trans people!’ Which is, of course, provoking trans people. It’s just so obviously targeted culture war discourse,” @JUNlPER, a podcaster and prominent trans Twitter user shares in an interview with Vox.

Other examples of when video games went too far​

Let’s analyse two popular video game franchises: Mortal Kombat and Tomb Raider.

Tomb Raider

Remember how Lara Croft looked when she first appeared in “Tomb Raider”?

Her “polygonal breasts” and breathy voice made it easy for fans to associate her with a long cultural tradition of science-fiction female robots.

Luckily, later games in the franchise — and live actions adaptations — have departed from this concept.

Mortal Kombat

Those familiar with the “Mortal Kombat” franchise would recognise iconic phrases such as “Finish Him” or “Fatality” — often referring to the finishing moves which allow players to kill or deal severe injuries to an opponent.

With the word “Kombat,” it’s not surprising that the franchise embraces its unrestrained graphic and bloody violence.

It turns out that the game was too violent — so much so that it became one of the key video games leading to the 1993 US Senate hearing on video game violence.

This led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, a self-regulatory organisation that assigns age and content ratings.

Uhhh, Laura looked like that because it was early console 3D, Science fiction robots? What does that even have to do with Hogwarts Legacy? Or MK violence?

How a minor in Gender Studies can help you become a better game developer​

As the name suggests, Gender Studies focuses on how gender identity and sexual orientation shape behaviours and feelings.

This academic discipline also investigates the causes of sex-based discrimination and harassment.

Understanding these nuances can help game developers navigate different social issues — even allowing them to tap into more interesting stories that relate to a niche audience, such as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, and asexual community.

So basically, this is an article that is recommending that if you're thinking of or actively pursuing a degree/certificate related to gaming (or any other degree), you should also include a minor in a field that will help indoctrinate you so you believe propaganda and forfeit your critical thinking.

All because of one game a women who is the focus of scrutiny, wasn't involved with.

BTW, the article site works with several colleges and student related groups across multiple countries, so that's a bit concerning.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
jack black wtf GIF
 

Loxus

Member
Why are these people so fixated on J.K.
Don't they know there are people that dislike them more then her?

I mean, there are religions and countries that dislike the trans gender beliefs. Why is it only about J.K. Is it because she's a famous Briton?
 
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Why are these people so fixated on J.K.
Don't they know there are people that dislike them more then her?

I mean, there are religions and countries that dislike the trans gender beliefs. Why is it only about J.K. Is it because she's a famous American?

J. K. Rowling is British. Harry Potter is a British Film based in the UK
 
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BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
That entire article was like the feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when the roller coaster ride begins a steep drop.
 
Why are these people so fixated on J.K.
Don't they know there are people that dislike them more then her?

I mean, there are religions and countries that dislike the trans gender beliefs. Why is it only about J.K. Is it because she's a famous American?


Because they saw her as one of their own. She is a heavily left leaning socialist. She’s just in objection with one issue. That being that as far as social classes go biological women and trans women are different. Simply pointing this out was enough to spur all the ire you’ve seen. She didn’t even say a single cruel thing and was actually very supportive of trans people. All she did was state this boring fact.
 
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LordOfChaos

Member
They're right you know. With a gender studies degree you certainly will not get paid well like her.

And then you can complain about the job choice driven pay gap. Win/win.
 
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YukiOnna

Member
Uh no thanks... one of the most boring subjects on top of zero worth in any field.

Sounds like that major is suffering with a lack of students so a petty advertisement.
 

poodaddy

Member
Right? I’d love for any of my kids to be self-made multi-millionaires who aren’t afraid to stand up for their beliefs.
Same. Never read the books or seen the films, but I adore the woman and her perseverance and independence. I think she's a wonderful role model for my daughter, I've actually recently used her as an example of how a woman shouldn't be afraid to have her own opinions and should never feel intimidated by bullies who want to tell them what to think. What these organizations don't realize is how sexist they're really being, they're telling women what to think all over again, which is precisely what men have been doing to women for thousands of years. Now men can just claim they're a woman and continue to persecute women and tell them what and how to think..... fascinating how so many transexuals don't seem to realize how that is inherently misogynist and sexist.
 

Fox Mulder

Member
Why are these people so fixated on J.K.
Don't they know there are people that dislike them more then her?

I mean, there are religions and countries that dislike the trans gender beliefs. Why is it only about J.K. Is it because she's a famous Briton?

It’s a cult.
 

Sentenza

Gold Member
Fun fact: the first time I learned that "gender studies" were a thing few years ago I was in utter disbelief and I thought I was being trolled.

I couldn't believe some could spend college/university time on this shit and then expect to actually make a career out of it.
 
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Lasha

Member
Leadership at universities should be imprisoned for putting impressionable morons into crushing debt by selling them useless gender studies degrees.

Politicians should be imprisoned for creating unlimited non-dischargeable student debt. Sticking these folks in useless departments is a more humane way to collect that free money than forcing unqualified people to try and learn actual degrees.

Never follow this advice btw. Need a minor? Take math. A math minor will do more for your career than nearly anything else.
 
Fun fact: the first time I learned that "gender studies" were a thing few years ago I was in utter disbelief and I thought I was being trolled.

I couldn't believe some could spend college/university time on this shit and then expect to actually make a career out of it.

Expensive too, several if you look into it are 60-80k in debt for the degree, along with a degree for microaggressions and being able to spot them, forgot what that field was called.
 

realcool

Member
a gender studies degree is only useful for two things: to qualify you in peddling gender studies bullshit, and also to maybe wipe your ass with in-case of emergency (like when you're inevitably homeless because you have no life skills and owe the government a lot of money).
 
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Arioco

Member
Get a degree in gender studies. Then cry a lot because you can't find a decent job and spend the rest of your life working at McDonald's. Wonderful idea. 👌
 
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