Support NeoGAF

[SuperSonic1305]

Have to admit, the childish responses like this are really not helping things



And this is the second person she told to go fuck themselves

Does she even have an interest in Giant Bomb or video games or is this just a matter of cherry picking situations to push an agenda?

 

[Messofanego]

Apparently, this was brought up in Samantha Allen and Maddy Myer's podcast? I have no opinion on this other than telling someone "go fuck yourself" isn't exactly helping the discussion. Both sides (is it really Giant Bomb users or just reddit and twitter people?) are not acting mature about this.

Just got done listening to Maddy Myer's and Samantha Allen's latest podcast 'Sore Thumbs #7'. They talk about the hire as the news breaks at 00:22:00 and again around 01:10:00. They've been two of the more vocal critics around this issue (including this blog post which was linked last week and the rumour the hires were locked in prior to the job posting) and it's worth hearing their thoughts. There's obvious disappointment there, so don't immediately dismiss them because of the sarcasm and bouts of self-pity.

What I appreciated was, between the comments around the new hires' skin colour and sex, they did also address and acknowledge the larger issue of the sheer lack of jobs out there and how it exacerbates the former issue.

It must suck to want to be part of an industry you love, but having the job market dry up and landscape change just as you're getting started. To make matters worse, gaming as a pop culture cornerstone has really blown up in the last 10 years which has resulted in so many different types of people wanting to be part of it and finding that the 'founders' of the industry still have their jobs because said industry is only a few decades old. You now have even more people wanting even fewer jobs.

That frustration seems to then be channelled (arguably slightly unfairly) into a diversity problem. If a single open position receives 1000 applicants, 100 of which are women, chances are it'll get filled by a man. It's natural to then direct your anger towards sexism than dwell on how the odds were massively stacked against you.

To make matters even worse, a lot of the more diverse candidates are newcomers who are then pitted against the hordes of recently redundant veterans with fantastic resumes and portfolios.

tl;dr - situation sucks, don't become a journalist. Let these guys vent because they're between a rock and a hard place; and it ain't gonna get easier.

Well, that's only part of it.

Part of the reason people are angry is because some games writers can barely make ends meet and need to resort to patreon or the like, despite producing content they believe to be of high quality. They're frustrated when they see the full-time jobs going to the same people who had the full-time jobs before. There is a large measure of structural unfairness there.

That said, the industry is in a really weird spot. The number of positions is shrinking, so this is only going to get worse. You can call it cronyism, I suppose, but given that it impacts your livelihood (and possibly other people's), would you give a position to someone you know or to a stranger?

 

[Mushroomer25]

Have to admit, the childish responses like this are really not helping things



And this is the second person she told to go fuck themselves

Both sides of this argument are completely enraging. It's either "Giant Bomb is sexist" or "All criticizers want to ruin the site". The moderate is getting drowned out in emotional yelping.

 

[Fuz]

That's much more civil than I would react if a bunch of manbabies started calling me a cunt because I pointed out a video game website they like is a whites-only boys club.

So, you feel entitled to the position just because you are a woman?


Edit to be clear: the misogynistics attacks are stupid and childish and they should not be tolerated.

 

[Jinfash]

I was unaware. I'm sorry.

Don't be. I don't check catchall threads, so this news warrants a new thread.

 

[danthefan]

I'd love to know what exactly she expects when she refuses to engage with a perfectly reasonable question.

Though I don't condone people abusing her obviously. But telling someone to go fuck themselves on the internet on an issue like this is pouring petrol on a fire.

 

[Balb]

If this is a true sample of how this person (never heard of him/her) usually acts towards others on twitter, I have no problem with people being rude in response.

Edit: I'm talking about people being rude to the Samantha person. Not the person asking the perfectly reasonable question.

Even when it's this rude?

https://mobile.twitter.com/RyanGreenband/status/483875092410400768

 

[The Albatross]

Goddamn, nobody can do fucking anything without somebody getting offended. Giant Bomb hires a couple dudes, someone is offended and writes something offensive; someone is offended, so someone else gets offended and writes something offensive at the offended party. Person who was originally offended is now offended that someone got offended at them and then wrote something offensive. Giant Bomb people get offended because originally offended person who wrote something offensive got an offensive comment from somebody who was offended that somebody got offended.

I'm sure my summary of the dire state that we're all in will offend someone.

 

[elektrixx]

Ugh this whole thing is just making me sad. Once again high tempers beat out the possibility of civil discourse.

I guarantee you she wouldn't accept "civil discourse". She's already insulting the new hires by implying they're the wrong people for the job based on how they look.

 

[Vyse The Legend]

Awful awful awful people are (verbally) attacking women who applied and others who dared to be critical of the fact Giant Bomb hired more white guys.

Disgusting behaviour.

[And I love Giant Bomb in case anyone decides to make any dumb assumptions, have last weeks UPF streaming on the laptop beside me]

While the Internet would've attacked them regardless for their criticism, they didn't exactly paint themselves in the best light.

Both sides are pretty mean-spirited.

 

[Avallon]

Does she even have an interest in Giant Bomb or video games or is this just a matter of cherry picking situations to push an agenda?

From her ABOUT section on her site:

Samantha Allen writes about gender, sexuality, and video games.

Never heard of her, though.

 

[GavinUK86]

Does she even have an interest in Giant Bomb or video games or is this just a matter of cherry picking situations to push an agenda?

I'm not sure. She's apparently a "Feminist and queer writer" for what it's worth.

 

[harSon]

Pretty ignorant response, but the whole "what if X was the most qualified for the position" is one of my most hated statements. It's an element that cannot realistically be measured for accuracy, and all it does is deflect blame without actually engaging the true issue at hand. I'll just say this. White males are overrepresented in a lot of areas, and by direct relation, female and minorities or minority females are severely underrepresented. So either white males are truly the right people for the job the overwhelming majority of the time, or there's some other things at play.

 

[orochi91]

To be fair. She told a guy to go fuck himself.

If anything, she is just as bad :/

To be honest, I was disappointed that the new hires turned out to be 2 more white guys.

I can't even imagine the reactions that will occur if the New York expansion ends up
with even more white dudes.

 

[SegaShack]

The affirmative action mentality needs to stop.

If it was another white male who didn't get a job no one would give a shit.

 

[fbgamer]

Okay, now I am pissed off.

 

[Nanashrew]

You hire the person with the best ability and attitude to do the job. Race or gender has nothing to do with it.

This is correct however, I do see plenty of women trying to land a job on these sites that are capable, qualified and have good attitude. More often the people hired are people they know the most within the New York or California area that they see all the time at events. And most, if not all, are men.

 

[npa189]

Why does race, gender, and even religion even factor into why people get hired? White dudes are people too, just like everyone else. What are they supposed to do? Hire someone because they fit a diversity quota?

 

[IISANDERII]

The Giantbomb response is great: Lock down all threads about the subject for reasons.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

While the Internet would've attacked them regardless for their criticism, they didn't exactly paint themselves in the best light.

Both sides are pretty mean-spirited.

There's a clear difference in what's being said.

 

[RedAssedApe]

Is Samantha someone in the industry or just a random twitter user?

sounds like she was someone who applied for a job at GB.

 

[dark10x]

You hire the person with the best ability and attitude to do the job. Race or gender has nothing to do with it.

I agree with this.

 

[chubigans]

To be fair, someone asked her "what if the best candidates were men" and she responded fuck off.

That is not at ALL what someone asked her. It was "what if he (singular, person, not an entire gender or race of people) was the most qualified person (associate game editor, Game Informer, one of the largest video game magazines out there) for the job?"

I don't see how that can be construed to "what if all men were just better?"

 

[EASTC0AST_GH05T]

this is the first time I seen a white person use the race card against another white person in a non wannabe be black type of way.

 

[graywolf323]

Why does race, gender, and even religion even factor into why people get hired? White dudes are people too, just like everyone else. What are they supposed to do? Hire someone because they fit a diversity quota?

some people are actually arguing exactly for that...

 

[Red Chocobo]

I was disappointed that the new hires turned out to be 2 more white guys.

When people say things like this, are they actually aware that it's also pretty racist?

Can't people just be humans instead of colours? Two guys got hired. Who cares what colour their skin is? Jesus.

 

[Marcel]

The affirmative action mentality needs to stop.

Uh, what? You know prejudice isn't dead, right? I don't know all the facts of this GB situation but sweeping bullshit like this isn't helpful to anyone.

 

[Avallon]

I don't see how that can be construed to "what if all men were just better?"

You're obviously not a feminist.

 

[MormaPope]

Wow, this is pretty shitty for Giantbomb, as they did absolutely nothing wrong.

 

[The Librarian]

If Giant Bomb doesn't have any other women on their staff then I can see why some women would be disappointed in Giant Bomb's latest hires.

Plus it doesn't much help with the inclusiveness in this part of the industry.

 

[BananaSprinkles]

Could somebody show me all of these rude tweets with personal attacks? All I see when I search his/her name are comments of people saying people who are attacking him/her are bad and should stop, but I'm not seeing anybody actually doing any attacking.

 

[Balb]

sounds like she was someone who applied for a job at GB.

Nope.

https://mobile.twitter.com/CousinDangereux/status/484081826370441216

 

[Castcoder]

I get the feeling Samantha applied for the position and didn't get the job.

Edit: BEATEN

 

[Avallon]

I get the feeling Samantha applied for the position and didn't get the job.

She's refuted that accusation multiple times on her Twitter account.

 

[Glass Shark]

Have to admit, the childish responses like this are really not helping things

It's probably not super easy to remain completely calm and level-headed when dozens of strangers are insulting you in the most personal ways imaginable.

Just a guess.

 

[Sylvrfonic]

sounds like she was someone who applied for a job at GB.

She didn't apply for the job.

 

[Spaghetti]

just blow it all up jeff. just turn the site off and go buy an arcade in thailand.

 

[Zeyphersan]

To be honest, I was disappointed that the new hires turned out to be 2 more white guys.

I can't even imagine the reactions that will occur if the New York expansion ends up
with even more white dudes.

I wonder if anyone will change their minds on the situation if the Giant Bomb New York ends up being all white males, or if it will be more "Well obviously they were the most qualified!"

 

[Marcel]

I get the feeling Samantha applied for the position and didn't get the job.

Edit: BEATEN

I get the feeling you're full of it as the person just before you posted something showing that she didn't.

 

[GavinUK86]

Would there be a ruckus like this if they did hire a non white/female person for the job? Probably not. Just because they didn't do that some people think they can bitch and moan about it.

 

[Mr. Enigma]

It's probably not super easy to remain completely calm and level-headed when dozens of strangers are insulting you in the most personal ways imaginable.

Just a guess.

You expect calm and level-headedness from someone like this?

 

[dark10x]

To be honest, I was disappointed that the new hires turned out to be 2 more white guys.

I can't even imagine the reactions that will occur at if the New York expansion ends up
with even more white dudes.

That right there is a sexist racist statement, you realize.

 

[Glass Shark]

Could somebody show me all of these rude tweets with personal attacks? All I see when I search his/her name are comments of people saying people who are attacking him/her are bad and should stop, but I'm not seeing anybody actually doing any attacking.

Maybe next time you want to act naive and like this isn't a big deal, hide your agenda a little better.

 

[Avallon]

I wonder if anyone will change their minds on the situation if the Giant Bomb New York ends up being all white males, or if it will be more "Well obviously they were the most qualified!"

Even if that does end up happening, why does it matter? You're literally arguing that they should hire people to fill a diversity quota...

 

[Castcoder]

I get the feeling you're full of it as the person just before you posted something showing that she didn't.

That post was made the same time. I made an edit saying "beaten" to say I was wrong. I say you're full of it.

 

[faridmon]

Is Samantha someone in the industry or just a random twitter user?

She writes for Polygon amongst others, In fact I just wrote about how much I disagree with her about her recent article about ''Videogame titles''

When people say things like this, are they actually aware that it's also pretty racist?

Can't people just be humans instead of colours? Two guys got hired. Who cares what colour their skin is? Jesus.

What?

 

[dark10x]

I wonder if anyone will change their minds on the situation if the Giant Bomb New York ends up being all white males, or if it will be more "Well obviously they were the most qualified!"

That is some twisted logic.

 

[wcoreysmith]

Didn't Giant Bomb get the memo that all things video game related need to meet the new SJW-approved diversity quota?

 

[GavinUK86]

That right there is a sexist racist statement, you realize.

No, no no no. Apparently it's not racist if it's against white males. Didn't you know that?

Spoiler

that was sarcasm. i feel the need to point that out.

 

[orochi91]

Why does race, gender, and even religion even factor into why people get hired? White dudes are people too, just like everyone else. What are they supposed to do? Hire someone because they fit a diversity quota?

I find it incredibly hard to believe that in a city as diverse as San Francisco, that
they could not have found 2 qualified individuals that are not white or male.

I'm reserving most of my criticism for now, until I see what Giant Bomb New York
ends up hiring.

Both those cities have huge gaming communities stretching across numerous
ethnicity and genders/sexuality. I will unsub from the site if they end up repeating
the same thing happening in San Francisco.