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This thread is about Serafitia
- Thread starter Kon Tiki
- Start date
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Hitokage said:
Hitokage, you're too smart to be this naive.
You of all people know that pretending to be a female, in this forum of all places, is an instant attention magnet. When we have the likes of Greekboy running around and this giant fraud to boot, compounded with the fact that a video game fan site message board is not a fortress of solitude for women, you think it's unfair for the lot of us to question the validity of someone's gender if they present it?
She was merely pointing it out, as was Lemurs, before the inevitable backlash began. We can count the high-profile female members on one hand and an event like this only makes people speculate if it's all fraud or not.
Hitokage said:
Because i've posted pics here before (rarely though), and I didn't want people thinking I was being dishonest, etc., like it matters. Well, I guess it does matter to me, because this is one of the few forums I visit.
Maybe I wanted to prove something, or maybe I was drunk, who knows really
And Willco, to be honest, i've gotten very little attention from my posting pics before, mainly because I don't do it very often. I've literally not gotten a single pm from any guys looking to cyber, and i'm thankful for that too
I don't mind pic-posting and stuff, it just has a more insidious problem of screwing up discussion. Females get fanclubs that are likely to back them in any argument....and/or threads derail into stupid flirt-fests.Azala said:
If you have a son (or did you just mean a hypothetical child?) then I can understand not having enough time to be on here. I am pretty surprised by the amount of time some of the dads around here spend on the board.
And your ex left you with nothing to play except The Sims 2? If that is not an abusive relationship, I don't know what is.
Glad to hear that it is behind you.malicious joke character and not physically female but claiming to be are totally different situations. the social reality is that gender is both physical and psychological. in short, you should know that you're being rude and inappropriate when you demand of these people physical validation (for your own satisfaction, mind you).Willco said:
Be-Ah-Hui: A damn shame, but I'm sure you're happy with that and your real life suitors.
Hitokage: I'm going to go back on something a bit--the reason why the gays, japanophiles, etc don't get this kind of treatment as much is because nobody gives a shit. GAF is admittedly a bit misogynistic, but that shouldn't force someone into posting pictures and such and forcing a fake persona down our throats.
Hitokage: I'm going to go back on something a bit--the reason why the gays, japanophiles, etc don't get this kind of treatment as much is because nobody gives a shit. GAF is admittedly a bit misogynistic, but that shouldn't force someone into posting pictures and such and forcing a fake persona down our throats.
The Shadow
Member
Hitokage said:Ok, why are some of you saying "stop making your gender an issue" when you really mean "shut up and pretend to be among the majority". Posters on this forum strut their heterosexual maleness ALL THE TIME, from Drinky Crow's innuendo to the demand for semi-erotic images. Gays aren't being told to hide who they are, and I will not condone women being told to do the same.
Furthermore, GA isn't a matchmaking forum. The whole "OMG you're a gurl. PICZ" business needs to stop, and it shouldn't be encouraged. There are other channels for that.
Way to miss the point.
Like I said in my first point, people can be as anonymous as they want to be. If you reveal aspects about yourself then you should be prepared for the consequences. It's as simple as that.
The fact that gay posters can come out of the closet and post without feeling threatened says a lot more about the openness of this forum than one person's reasons for stealing an identity.
Be-Ah-Hui said:
I never said you got attention from your pictures. I just was stating to Hito that I thought the reason for posting your picture was to curtail the inevitable backlash from this thread. And by that, I mean forum-goers questioning the validity of your pictures and gender.
border said:I don't mind pic-posting and stuff, it just has a more insidious problem of screwing up discussion. Females get fanclubs that are likely to back them in any argument....and/or threads derail into stupid flirt-fests.
If you have a son (or did you just mean a hypothetical child?) then I can understand not having enough time to be on here. I am pretty surprised by the amount of time some of the dads around here spend on the board.
And your ex left you with nothing to play except The Sims 2? If that is not an abusive relationship, I don't know what is.
Yes that's one of the reasons I haven't posted a picture. I don't want special attention, or insults, or grief. Yes the son is real, and a large part of that personal thing I was talking about. (As you've noticed women with children catch a lot of flack on GAF). He's only 2, so that's why I only play the Sims 2 (my other games are still currently packed as well, though I hope to dig them out soon). He seems to like it, joins in, and I feel uncomfortable playing Half-Life 2 when he's awake. He saw me kill someone over Christmas and was concerned that he was "owie boo-boo" and would he be ok. *cringe* Not a fine parenting moment. Since I tend to be either asleep or working when he's asleep, you can see why I have very little gaming time lately. I have plenty more PC games, though most of them are not new, but no console. Fortunately, as he's getting older and more independant the gaming time seems to be picking up again, now I just need the cash to buy something so I can stop living vicariously through the gaming forum.
If -jinx- goes, I go, so y'all better stop trying to run him out of town! (or perhaps some of you will now redouble your efforts towards that end )
Actually, that's a lie-- I'm far too addicted to this place. Still, it'd be a huge loss for the forum. Our ever-dwindling ranks of intelligent, mature posters speak, somewhat, to the state of discourse here; the last thing GA needs is to lose another valuable and constructive member over some trivial bullshit like this. Whether you agree with his take on this particular issue or not, those deriding him or trying to hasten his departure from the board are being very myopic imo. In short: EVERYBODY CHILL DA FUGG OUT, YO!
And you gotta hand it to Lonestar-- always looking to stir the pot, in typical prepubescent fashion. Incognito: never out of character. :lol
EDIT:
And Kinesis, I think we get the picture already.
)Actually, that's a lie-- I'm far too addicted to this place. Still, it'd be a huge loss for the forum. Our ever-dwindling ranks of intelligent, mature posters speak, somewhat, to the state of discourse here; the last thing GA needs is to lose another valuable and constructive member over some trivial bullshit like this. Whether you agree with his take on this particular issue or not, those deriding him or trying to hasten his departure from the board are being very myopic imo. In short: EVERYBODY CHILL DA FUGG OUT, YO!
And you gotta hand it to Lonestar-- always looking to stir the pot, in typical prepubescent fashion.
Incognito: never out of character. :lol EDIT:
And Kinesis, I think we get the picture already.
And you proceed to miss mine.
Look, I'm NOT talking about serafitia and her fraud here. I'm talking about the general attitude towards women in this place, and saying that the guys make gender an issue as much as any girl, regardless of whether or not anything can or should be done about it.
Loki said:If -jinx- goes, I go, so y'all better stop trying to run him out of town! (or perhaps some of you will now redouble your efforts towards that end
Actually, that's a lie-- I'm far too addicted to this place. Still, it'd be a huge loss for the forum. Our ever-dwindling ranks of intelligent, mature posters speaks, somewhat, to the state of discourse here; the last thing GA needs is to lose another valuable and constructive member over some trivial bullshit like this. Whether you agree with his take on this particular issue or not, those deriding him or trying to hasten his departure from the board are being very myopic imo. In short: EVERYBODY CHILL DA FUGG OUT, YO!
And you gotta hand it to Lonestar-- always looking to stir the pot, in typical prepubescent fashion.
EDIT:
And Kinesis, I think we get the picture already.
Jinx can go, I don't give a damn, but don't go Loki!
:lol
As Mike pointed out, Sera started this whole charade before she even posted at GAF, so the reason why she did this will probably be unknown to us forever. I don't really know why Sera did this, but I'm sure she had a reason(good or bad) for it.
I think that it sucks that she lied to everyone for so long, as something similar to this happened to me quite a few years ago, but the persona that Sera had on this board was cool. Liked comics, games, etc. I didn't personally know her so it doesn't really bother me that much, and I think instead of posting ' :lol pwned' and the like the situation would've been handled much better in a private manner. Who knows, GAF has a certain charm with all its flaws, but I know that a lot of people have had positive changes in their life from posting here, I wonder if the possibility existed that we could've helped Sera with whatever instead of trying to humiliate her to the point of her leave.
I think that it sucks that she lied to everyone for so long, as something similar to this happened to me quite a few years ago, but the persona that Sera had on this board was cool. Liked comics, games, etc. I didn't personally know her so it doesn't really bother me that much, and I think instead of posting ' :lol pwned' and the like the situation would've been handled much better in a private manner. Who knows, GAF has a certain charm with all its flaws, but I know that a lot of people have had positive changes in their life from posting here, I wonder if the possibility existed that we could've helped Sera with whatever instead of trying to humiliate her to the point of her leave.
there's rather a lot of volition in deliberately, elaborately misrepresenting yourself using someone else's pictures. it's not just that she put the pictures out there so actively; it's those curious extravagancies, like appropriating camilla's cat along with her image. to ascribe this to the pressures of social misogyny is rather like those literary biographies that ascribe poems to tragic events in a poet's life. our misogyny no more produced "serafitia" than a poet's grief rhymes (with apologies to martin amis, one of whose essays i am mangling here). that's not to suggest that serafitia's a poet. or that our misogyny is negligible. i just don't think that the one phenomenon meaningfully accounts for the other.
Hitokage said:And you proceed to miss mine.
Look, I'm NOT talking about serafitia and her fraud here. I'm talking about the general attitude towards women in this place, and saying that the guys make gender an issue as much as any girl, regardless of whether or not anything can or should be done about it.
A forum populated by 98%-99% of late teen boys and young men, many more likely to be single than the rest of the population with others simply not used to seeing women sharing their hobby, of course a random woman venturing around here is going to attract attention.
Well, as long as she makes it public. I know some women posting at GA keeping their gender secret and by doing so, keep a low profile on purpose.
Drinky Crow
Banned
Wait, when did *I* become a bastion of misogyny, Hito? I'm the most pussywhipped motherfucker this side of a Ron Howard romantic comedy. I'm a toss on IRC, but don't associate my IRC schtick with my forum behavior.
My take:
1. Fuck PC and anti-PC. We're the mods. We'd like to make this place more chick-friendly because we think it's the right thing to do. I'll ban for stalking, persecution, and general web-forum macking. I think we oughtta cut back on the Maxim-caliber spank threads; I think every dude on here needs to step the fuck back when a chick announces her chickness and treat it just like we would an announcement of race or hair color; and I think folks just need to shut their poser holes in general every time an attractive female enters the discussion. I don't mind game talk in specific threads dedicated to such, but lately, the locker talk has gotten outta control. If you can't remember that women read these forums, then you can sleep off the idiot hangover at OA. As for your mack skillz, save it for the bars, not an internet gaming forum -- dork.
2. AstroLad: yer wrong. If a girl posts her pic and she isn't hot, her pic is gonna be all over Opa/Mina Age and she'll get completely trashed for the apparent "crime" of posting to the hated GAF and not being super hot. Even here, we see nasty asides at Dragona and Lemurs from time to time when they "dare" to put the diss on our lamer posters (especially the OA crowd); hell, we even see shots taken at dudes' looks when the flames start flying. It's become WAY too popular a tactic to take shots at folks' looks, and chicks are usually the one who take the worst of it since the assumption is that they hurt the most from it.
In the end, there isn't any argument. I'm sure the mods all agree that if we say to clean your act up, we aren't gonna brook your asides about the "PC-ness" of it. I think it's about time we started making this place a little more hospitable to women and to insecure folks in general, and if you don't like it, well, there's a broad seleciton of alternate forums that DO allow you to bag on ugly gals to your little hearts' content.
As for Sera, she has issues. Misogyny didn't create her forum persona; raging insecurity and personal issues far beyond the scope of this forum did. Condemn all you like, but you probably don't understand what' goiong with her (I don't), and beyond completely marginal feelings of betrayal, you can all just get the fuck over it.
My take:
1. Fuck PC and anti-PC. We're the mods. We'd like to make this place more chick-friendly because we think it's the right thing to do. I'll ban for stalking, persecution, and general web-forum macking. I think we oughtta cut back on the Maxim-caliber spank threads; I think every dude on here needs to step the fuck back when a chick announces her chickness and treat it just like we would an announcement of race or hair color; and I think folks just need to shut their poser holes in general every time an attractive female enters the discussion. I don't mind game talk in specific threads dedicated to such, but lately, the locker talk has gotten outta control. If you can't remember that women read these forums, then you can sleep off the idiot hangover at OA. As for your mack skillz, save it for the bars, not an internet gaming forum -- dork.
2. AstroLad: yer wrong. If a girl posts her pic and she isn't hot, her pic is gonna be all over Opa/Mina Age and she'll get completely trashed for the apparent "crime" of posting to the hated GAF and not being super hot. Even here, we see nasty asides at Dragona and Lemurs from time to time when they "dare" to put the diss on our lamer posters (especially the OA crowd); hell, we even see shots taken at dudes' looks when the flames start flying. It's become WAY too popular a tactic to take shots at folks' looks, and chicks are usually the one who take the worst of it since the assumption is that they hurt the most from it.
In the end, there isn't any argument. I'm sure the mods all agree that if we say to clean your act up, we aren't gonna brook your asides about the "PC-ness" of it. I think it's about time we started making this place a little more hospitable to women and to insecure folks in general, and if you don't like it, well, there's a broad seleciton of alternate forums that DO allow you to bag on ugly gals to your little hearts' content.
As for Sera, she has issues. Misogyny didn't create her forum persona; raging insecurity and personal issues far beyond the scope of this forum did. Condemn all you like, but you probably don't understand what' goiong with her (I don't), and beyond completely marginal feelings of betrayal, you can all just get the fuck over it.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
Ok I'm probably repeating points here as some of these posts got pretty long and I started skimming, but nevermind.
Firstly, when guys find out someone is a girl here and ask for pics, I honestly can't remember a time when it wasn't a joke taking the piss out of the perecption of guy gamers on the net. It's a crap joke, and was probably crap the first time someone told it, let alone the thousandth time, but it's a joke all the same.
Secondly, I don't see GAF as any more hostile to women than society in general, especially when you factor in internet anonymity. I know so many people (aquaintances, not friends) in real life who literally cannot talk about a girl without mentioning how they look, and what they'd like to do to them etc. Honestly, it'd be impossible for me to say something positive about a girl to them without a response of "You just want to do her" or something. And these aren't gamer geeks who've never had contact with a girl. These are "cool" people, the people who would ridicule you within a second of finding out you post on a gaming board. So the fact that it happens on GAF really shouldn't be surprise.
Then there's the internet anonymity that I've mentioned. Forget girls for a second, just think about anything on the net where you're talking to people you don't know. How many assholes have you played on Xbox Live? How many times have you seen someone posting some shit about someone's picture and thought: "They'd never dare say that to him in real life"? The internet has allowed people to say what they think, when perhaps they wouldn't in real life, as there's no real risk involved in it. It's also allowed people to be crueler, much crueler than they would be generally. Only the complete assholes in real life tell you how ugly you are with no provocation, and these people are rare (much more so than the guys who's only way to interact with or talk about girls is sex). Come on the net though and it's rampant. Why? Is there something about the net that attracts those assholes far more than nicer people? No. It's because you can't see their reaction. You're not going to feel bad, so you feel more justified to say whatever you like. Look at road rage. Do you know why road rage happens, but if you almost walk into someone in the street you don't get angry then? It's because you can see their reactions. When in a car, the other person is basically anonymous, just like the net. You can't see their face, so you can't tell if they're sorry, if it was a mistake etc. When walking down the road though and almost walking into someone, they smile slightly at you, or they say sorry, or oops, or whatever.
Thirdly there's the fact that most GAFers aren't assholes. Yes, there's an element that can be highly derogatory towards females. Such is life, I'm afraid. And, not surprisingly, these people are noticed more than those of us being nice, or not caring. Who did the girls know more at school? The nice guys who never said anything to them, or the assholes who hit on them/bullied them at every opportunity?
Finally, there are plenty of girls here who I don't see getting much personal shit. Now obviously I don't read every topic or post, so I could be wrong, but Azala, Be-Ah-Hui, Calista (or whatever name she has now) and Dragona come to mind as examples. At the same time, there are plenty of guys who do get personal shit. Olimario is probably the most obvious example, Black Stallion (though he's really after it), way too many people to name who some like and others don't (Mike Works, Drinky etc.). Are they more deserving of that shit than the girls who get it? Probably for some, but not all (and the number of guys to the number of girls would suggest that should be the case anyway).
So basically when it comes down to it, I guess I'm saying blaming GAF for these things is probably right, but blaming GAF (or gamers) over other places is wrong, because this shit goes on all over the place. And the larger a community gets, the more it's likely to be noticed, because you can bet your ass for every 10 mostly good members who join, it'll be the one bad member who'll be noticed.
Firstly, when guys find out someone is a girl here and ask for pics, I honestly can't remember a time when it wasn't a joke taking the piss out of the perecption of guy gamers on the net. It's a crap joke, and was probably crap the first time someone told it, let alone the thousandth time, but it's a joke all the same.
Secondly, I don't see GAF as any more hostile to women than society in general, especially when you factor in internet anonymity. I know so many people (aquaintances, not friends) in real life who literally cannot talk about a girl without mentioning how they look, and what they'd like to do to them etc. Honestly, it'd be impossible for me to say something positive about a girl to them without a response of "You just want to do her" or something. And these aren't gamer geeks who've never had contact with a girl. These are "cool" people, the people who would ridicule you within a second of finding out you post on a gaming board. So the fact that it happens on GAF really shouldn't be surprise.
Then there's the internet anonymity that I've mentioned. Forget girls for a second, just think about anything on the net where you're talking to people you don't know. How many assholes have you played on Xbox Live? How many times have you seen someone posting some shit about someone's picture and thought: "They'd never dare say that to him in real life"? The internet has allowed people to say what they think, when perhaps they wouldn't in real life, as there's no real risk involved in it. It's also allowed people to be crueler, much crueler than they would be generally. Only the complete assholes in real life tell you how ugly you are with no provocation, and these people are rare (much more so than the guys who's only way to interact with or talk about girls is sex). Come on the net though and it's rampant. Why? Is there something about the net that attracts those assholes far more than nicer people? No. It's because you can't see their reaction. You're not going to feel bad, so you feel more justified to say whatever you like. Look at road rage. Do you know why road rage happens, but if you almost walk into someone in the street you don't get angry then? It's because you can see their reactions. When in a car, the other person is basically anonymous, just like the net. You can't see their face, so you can't tell if they're sorry, if it was a mistake etc. When walking down the road though and almost walking into someone, they smile slightly at you, or they say sorry, or oops, or whatever.
Thirdly there's the fact that most GAFers aren't assholes. Yes, there's an element that can be highly derogatory towards females. Such is life, I'm afraid. And, not surprisingly, these people are noticed more than those of us being nice, or not caring. Who did the girls know more at school? The nice guys who never said anything to them, or the assholes who hit on them/bullied them at every opportunity?
Finally, there are plenty of girls here who I don't see getting much personal shit. Now obviously I don't read every topic or post, so I could be wrong, but Azala, Be-Ah-Hui, Calista (or whatever name she has now) and Dragona come to mind as examples. At the same time, there are plenty of guys who do get personal shit. Olimario is probably the most obvious example, Black Stallion (though he's really after it), way too many people to name who some like and others don't (Mike Works, Drinky etc.). Are they more deserving of that shit than the girls who get it? Probably for some, but not all (and the number of guys to the number of girls would suggest that should be the case anyway).
So basically when it comes down to it, I guess I'm saying blaming GAF for these things is probably right, but blaming GAF (or gamers) over other places is wrong, because this shit goes on all over the place. And the larger a community gets, the more it's likely to be noticed, because you can bet your ass for every 10 mostly good members who join, it'll be the one bad member who'll be noticed.
Hell, I'm one of the people who made Kitsune's location a bigger issue. I was the one who did the background checking, although it was another who suggested that I do so.
Saturnman: My point is that "99%" figure is important to consider too.
Drinky Crow: I didn't say misogyny, but making known the fact you're a heterosexual male in what you post. Besides, I was half-joking, thinking of your "james earl jones" post at the time.
Saturnman: My point is that "99%" figure is important to consider too.
Drinky Crow: I didn't say misogyny, but making known the fact you're a heterosexual male in what you post. Besides, I was half-joking, thinking of your "james earl jones" post at the time.
Lemurnator
Banned
Thank you Drinky.
oh for fuck's sake, don't take away our softcore spank threads! i don't watch tv or keep up much with pop culture, and this forum is the only way i find out about new...er...talent. the ass and titties threads are a resource. they help me act out my socially prescribed gender role? or something?
Drinky Crow said:
Yeah, but what does OA have to with us? I don't think we can be arbiters of decency over the entire Internet unless every poster here wants to make that their full-time job. GA has no control over OA, and why should they? Here, when someone takes cheap shots, does some bullshit, they usually get banned (see your post #1), so I don't see how I'm wrong about anything, in fact I was basically saying how the moderation of this forum makes it relatively female-friendly compared to most other forums. And I don't really agree that women get the brunt of having their old pics brought up the most, I mean look at how many times people bring up Incog's pic, e.g. ("YOU LOOK LIKE A 12 YR OLD LOL"). I think the general rule is that if you can't stand people using your picture against you or being abused on OA, don't fucking post it, everyone here seems to be forgetting the very basic rule that you don't have to post a picture.
drohne said:
I would agree with that, but I sort of think it was more this thread that brought up mysogyny rather than anyone trying to place it as the root of the problem in Sera's case. Its more as if this whole incident has shone a light on a more intrinsic issue which we rarely address on GAF. However, any degree of mysogyny, while perhaps not creating Sera's initial identity crisis, certainly couldn't have helped it.
I don't think anyone is to blame for Serafitia's fraud but Sera her/himself.
We're dealing with a depressed, possibly psychotic individual with little to no self esteem and filled with all kinds of issues ranging from insecurities to possibly chemical imbalances. Sera started this fraud before she/he started posting on Gaming-Age Forum and the length to which said person went to craft this persona was too extreme to be blamed on the social climate of the forum. That's just silly.
I'm not going to lie and say this place isn't sexist, it certainly is, but as long as we are a videogame fan site message board, we're not going to attract relatively normal females. A female interested in video games and comics books (and other more male dominated hobbies), to the extent where she visits a video game fan site forum and a corresponding IRC channel is obviously an outcast of her gender.
I have a sister. I have a female relatives. Normal behavior has females, regardless of whether or not you think it's right, interested in clothes, fashion and other gender-related interests. We're going to attract social outcasts for the most part, either from their own depression and lack of social skills or intelligent ones who don't quite fit into cliques that females love to build. Maybe a combination of both. And there is the obvious exception to rule every now and then (usually an adult as they don't have to conform to such social definitions later in life), but at the same time they'll be few and far in between because forum-goers are more likely to skew to a younger demographic. And let's face it, adolescents are hardly stable with hormones and emotions running high.
Point is, "normal" females in general don't come to video game fan site message boards. It's not like they're hanging outside and we're chasing them away with sticks.
We're dealing with a depressed, possibly psychotic individual with little to no self esteem and filled with all kinds of issues ranging from insecurities to possibly chemical imbalances. Sera started this fraud before she/he started posting on Gaming-Age Forum and the length to which said person went to craft this persona was too extreme to be blamed on the social climate of the forum. That's just silly.
I'm not going to lie and say this place isn't sexist, it certainly is, but as long as we are a videogame fan site message board, we're not going to attract relatively normal females. A female interested in video games and comics books (and other more male dominated hobbies), to the extent where she visits a video game fan site forum and a corresponding IRC channel is obviously an outcast of her gender.
I have a sister. I have a female relatives. Normal behavior has females, regardless of whether or not you think it's right, interested in clothes, fashion and other gender-related interests. We're going to attract social outcasts for the most part, either from their own depression and lack of social skills or intelligent ones who don't quite fit into cliques that females love to build. Maybe a combination of both. And there is the obvious exception to rule every now and then (usually an adult as they don't have to conform to such social definitions later in life), but at the same time they'll be few and far in between because forum-goers are more likely to skew to a younger demographic. And let's face it, adolescents are hardly stable with hormones and emotions running high.
Point is, "normal" females in general don't come to video game fan site message boards. It's not like they're hanging outside and we're chasing them away with sticks.
if jinx goes, i go. not that it'd make much difference though. another favorite poster of mine is almost leaving as well, w/o some of these posters theres no point for me to hang around. in fact i stick around here for the music/photo threads, believe it or not.
anyway the point i wanted to make is, GAF has its bad parts and good parts. the extreme divide between the conservatives and liberals, the religious and the non-religious, arguements about world issues, GAFs openness to homosexuality...these lead to a lot of tight back and forth arguements and discussions. one has to sort of grow a thick skin and come to the realization that no matter what, we all are very different and we exist together. hell a lot of the time i am sickened by people's opinions on the outside world, american global policies, their thoughts towards people of other religions and sexuality, and i feel like leaving. but in truth by doing that i would only be ignoring reality. i totally understand wanting to leave because you feel uncomfortable and do not want to associate with some of the mentality thats brought forth by particular people, but yet these ppl do exist outside the forum, all over the world and one would have to face them, no matter what.
another point of note, one look at OPA-AGES tells me that females dont necessarily feel intimidated by guys. i mean that forum is filled with openly racist, sexist and homophobic posters, every topic is brimming with expletives, people are constantly denigrating each other. yet, mina and catzgirl are two of the moderators there, and are completely on par with the boys. admittedly i visit opa age may be once a year or so, yet they stick around, so obviously no matter how low the guys get, they dont get scared off. and obviously mina is as bad as any of the guys judging from her signature, but thats another issue.
anyway the point i wanted to make is, GAF has its bad parts and good parts. the extreme divide between the conservatives and liberals, the religious and the non-religious, arguements about world issues, GAFs openness to homosexuality...these lead to a lot of tight back and forth arguements and discussions. one has to sort of grow a thick skin and come to the realization that no matter what, we all are very different and we exist together. hell a lot of the time i am sickened by people's opinions on the outside world, american global policies, their thoughts towards people of other religions and sexuality, and i feel like leaving. but in truth by doing that i would only be ignoring reality. i totally understand wanting to leave because you feel uncomfortable and do not want to associate with some of the mentality thats brought forth by particular people, but yet these ppl do exist outside the forum, all over the world and one would have to face them, no matter what.
another point of note, one look at OPA-AGES tells me that females dont necessarily feel intimidated by guys. i mean that forum is filled with openly racist, sexist and homophobic posters, every topic is brimming with expletives, people are constantly denigrating each other. yet, mina and catzgirl are two of the moderators there, and are completely on par with the boys. admittedly i visit opa age may be once a year or so, yet they stick around, so obviously no matter how low the guys get, they dont get scared off. and obviously mina is as bad as any of the guys judging from her signature, but thats another issue.
Drinky Crow
Banned
I said "cut back", not "take away". I'm a dude, too. But do we really need threads titled "Gimme some fap material"? If you see some gal who's nutbustingly hot and you feel you'll betray your gender if you don't lay us all up with some scans, I think we'll all understand. Just use yer common sense is all.
AMEN TO THAT!!!!
How many times have I been railed against because I posted my picture? Do I bitch and moan and then decide that I need to find a new "cover" guy so people will begin to take me seriously? No, and you know why? Because it comes with the deal that when your post your picture willingly, you damn well better be ready for any insults, slights, or in my case, loads of compliments.
1 I don't think Sera's masquerade has much to do with the forum, the net is littered with broken people prentending they are who they are not. These people tend to be broken before they get to the net. Lets not take it personally.
2 lotsa people here have problems relating to women. A trawl thru off topic will give a clue who. Lots don't.
3 The net is a really hard place to get to know people because it's missing so much of the non-verbal communication and tone thats necessary to understand really what they are saying. If u are using this as a prime form, be very careful it is far to easily manipulated and please go outside and get something of a life.
4 Girls don't bite (generally) and usually only if u ask. Just talk to them, u'll find they have a sense of humour, a view, interests and most importantly friends. Don't talk to them about how awesome u think some random japanese guy is at game design, 99% of them won't care.
5 I tend to judge people here on their posts and their avatars. Eg Defensor is an Asian Chick to me. Defensor could actually be a huge black man i don't know.
2 lotsa people here have problems relating to women. A trawl thru off topic will give a clue who. Lots don't.
3 The net is a really hard place to get to know people because it's missing so much of the non-verbal communication and tone thats necessary to understand really what they are saying. If u are using this as a prime form, be very careful it is far to easily manipulated and please go outside and get something of a life.
4 Girls don't bite (generally) and usually only if u ask. Just talk to them, u'll find they have a sense of humour, a view, interests and most importantly friends. Don't talk to them about how awesome u think some random japanese guy is at game design, 99% of them won't care.
5 I tend to judge people here on their posts and their avatars. Eg Defensor is an Asian Chick to me. Defensor could actually be a huge black man i don't know.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
I would think it would be rather easy to enforce a rule of keeping all pics from FHM or whatever to threads where they're relevant. Either threads called "New Britney Spears Maxim pics" and the like, or of course a thread like "New Lost this week!" which contains someone asking what one of the girls look like as so many people think she's good looking. Same goes for pics of guys of course.
That way people can avoid topics they don't want to read, and no one's going to complain about posting relevant pics.
That way people can avoid topics they don't want to read, and no one's going to complain about posting relevant pics.
nitewulf said:
so now it's OA's fault that women here, at ga, are treated badly by the people who don't even visit OA?
great logic there, einstein.
btw, nitewulf, i want you to name the rasist, sexist, and homophobic members who post at OA. DO NOT GENERALIZE because believe it or not, there a lot of "normal" members there.
The Shadow
Member
Hitokage said:And you proceed to miss mine.
Look, I'm NOT talking about serafitia and her fraud here. I'm talking about the general attitude towards women in this place, and saying that the guys make gender an issue as much as any girl, regardless of whether or not anything can or should be done about.
People get flack here all the time but only a few girls say it's because they're girls. They're making their gender an issue. See now? Get it? This doesn't mean this is a hostile environment to all women or specifically women, only the ones that choose to make it an issue and get hostile about it. The whole fraud thing aside, did Sara get chased off this forum by all the horrible unfair men? Does the fact that Be-Ah-Hui posted her pic show that's she's threatened, or that she feels safe in doing so?
Black Stallion gets flack *ALL THE FUCKING TIME* for being an attention whore. Is it because he's a girl? Because he's gay? Because he's black? Nope. It's because he's a fucking attention whore.
You're viewing a vocal minority(and really, it is the sara fraud thing that brought this up), blaming an entire forum when it's probably only a few that are "victimizers", and ignoring a great many others who get major flack just the same. Sounds like you're selectively viewing what's going on here.
i bet seradude is sitting at home laughing behind her computer screen over what has become of this thread. here we have a lady(allegedly) who felt the need to post pictures that weren't of her and that is OUR fault because the forum doesn't treat women all that nice sometimes?
what the fuck? she needs help.
what the fuck? she needs help.
- Status