darecrowavis:

aviculor:

taleasoldastimelords:

Men of Tumblr, I’m counting on you to make this one good.

I got stuck

Pansy

bossanovabyss:

boycameron:

indieintellectual:

concerningmishas:

I’M SORRY BUT THIS REALLY PISSED ME OFF AND I NEEDED TO VENT.

So I liked this page last year for the shits and gigs, as you do. I found it funny, and let slide the few sexist posts.

Only recently- and after I got a tumblr- did I really start to notice the abundance of rape, sexist and racist jokes appearing on my news feed. And it pissed me off.

I said nothing, however, because what could I do? Send in a message to the page and get labelled a whore and a slut by the Admins as I’ve seen so many people do? 

Then this motherfucking gem popped up.

I usually don’t get involved in these sorts of things; if I do my comment gets lost more often than not and goes unnoticed. But I had to comment, I really had to.

I thought my argument was valid and whole, and I was actually rather happy when he admin directly replied to my comment. 

I narrowed down my five favourite games ever and posted them.

Of course, I got beaten and labeled down once again. 

When I asked for a rational clarification of his definitions of “casual” and “core” he did not reply. It was only when I directly insinuated the bias of his claim did I get a response. 

“A feminist I see.  No arguments need to be made. Good luck with getting them eggs fertilized”

Note the use of “feminist” as an insult.

I have had my fair share of gender specific hate regarding gaming. I get told I am a fake and a bitch if I get a high score; I get told to “suck a dick because you are better at that, bitch” if I get a low score; I get told to “get back in the kitchen, slut” without any prompt at all, simply because I have a vagina. 

I am beyond sick of this. I hate the fact that if a male who hypothetically plays a few hours of CoD can be easily called a gamer by the wider community but I if were to say that I was a level 34 on Skyrim I would immediately be called a fake geek girl, a casual gamer and a liar.

I hate the fact that, even though 45% of gaming consumers are female, developers and publishers still believe that there is not a large enough demographic for female protagonists.

I hate the fact that most women in video games are no more than sexulised objects in skimpy clothing.

I hate the fact that I cannot enjoy a game without being labeled and branded because of the fact that I posses a vagina and not a penis.

~sorry about the long post clogging up your dash. I needed to vent~

Off-topic somewhat, but important.

why this

Okay, I have a lot of thoughts on this, so bear with me.

First, as a general disclaimer, I tend to frown at the use of “core” and “casual” when referring to games/gamers as a general rule, the reason being that “casual” is often used disparagingly; i.e., “oh, you only play casual games, you’re not a real gamer/you should feel bad for enjoying those games,” etc. But when I do use them, I tend to refer to “casual” games as games like Farmville or Bejeweled; games without strategy or that don’t take a lot of thought/skill, that you just play … well, casually. Things you can play for five seconds or so when you’re bored, or waiting in line or whatever. That doesn’t necessarily make them bad—I happen to love Robot Unicorn Attack, and I’d consider that to be a casual game (though it does take skill to get high scores, but you know what I mean)—but it just makes them casual.

Even so, I hate using that word, because more often than not the core vs. casual spectrum is used as a hierarchy—a way to make others feel bad for the things they enjoy while putting yourself on a higher pedestal, and that—in my opinion—is an awful thing to do.

That being said, if you ask anyone other than the douchebag that runs this Facebook page, they would most likely tell you that the games Grace listed—Bioshock Infinite, Red Dead Redemption, etc—are not casual games. I can’t think of a single game on that list that would earn the “casual” label, even by the definitions of others (which sometimes also include games like Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, since those are simulation games rather than platforming/adventure/etc games). Ed either rates core vs. casual based on his personal preference (i.e. “any game I don’t like is casual”), or he would have said that Graces’ games were casual regardless of what she listed, even if she somehow had access to a list of his favorites and rattled them off. But either way, if we’re going to try and take a standardized rating system of core vs. casual, the games she listed would have been more on the core side of things, if that matters to anyone. He was arguing and cutting her down just to try and further his point, rather than because his words had any merit whatsoever.

Moving on, I absolutely think that Grace is right when she says that if her name was George instead, she wouldn’t have received that response. The fact is, there is a stigma against girls who are gamers within the gaming community (and sadly it stretches all the way back to development teams, but that’s not what this is about). The fact that this post was made at all and that 167 people liked it shows that. The fact that Ed had people liking his derogatory comments toward Grace shows that. There’s an attitude of “girls don’t really play games” and “if they do they’re just casual gamers anyway” and “they’re just doing it for attention/to get in someone’s pants” etc. We’re treated as if we’re so different, as if we’re such alien creatures, as if our tastes are so wildly different than men’s tastes that there’s no possible, conceivable way that we could enjoy video games/comic books/other nerdy things. We have to be faking it, making it up, just saying that we like it to get attention. We spend our money on these expensive video games and comic books, on apparel, and strike up conversations about these things and carry on long, involved discussions about them all for show, just to try and get some attention. We have nothing else better to spend our money on or spend our time talking about.

That’s the attitude that exists in nerd culture today (but especially video game culture). And it’s sickening, as well as absolutely batshit stupid, because here’s the deal:

I don’t have much money. I make it by the skin of my teeth every month. So if I’m going to spend the small amount of disposable income I have on something, you best be damn sure that it’s something that I genuinely love, that genuinely makes me happy. If I’m going to type up a nine page essay that isn’t required for any class I’m taking, you best be damn sure it’s because I’m writing about something that I’m genuinely passionate about. I wouldn’t waste my hard earned money otherwise. I wouldn’t waste my time otherwise. And you know what? I’m not an anomaly. There are millions—billions, even—of women out there just like me in this regard, that like nerdy things and wouldn’t waste their money or time on them if they didn’t genuinely love them.

But despite this—despite the fact that there are so many of us, and that this has been going on for years, as long as nerdy things have existed—we’re still treated like anomalies, like mythical creatures, as if we’re lesser than the male fans because of our supposed rarity. I think the thing that gets me the most is that I have heard, over and over again, about how guys just want a gamer girlfriend, how they wish their girlfriend was into games/comics like them, how it’s all they’ve ever wanted. But the second a woman steps up and says that she plays games, the second she tries to show her nerdy pride by wearing a shirt or joining in the discussion, she’s labeled a slut/whore who’s only looking for attention and who knows even less than Jon Snow, so she should just shut up and get back in the kitchen. Which is it, guys? Do you want to hang around nerdy girls? Or would you rather we leave you alone so you can continue pretending that we don’t exist, and that our thoughts, feelings, and experiences don’t matter because of that?

It’s a vicious cycle of misogyny. The gaming community wants to shut women out because they think we don’t exist/they don’t want to share their shiny toys with us. Because of this, game companies see this and cater to them by including misogynistic things in the games/marketing. The community buys these games because they do have good points to them, too (fun gameplay, intriguing plot lines, etc), which gives the developers money for their creations, which makes the developers think that the misogyny is okay, which makes them make more misogynistic games, etc. And all the while, treatment of female fans gets worse, and worse, and worse.

As shown by this Facebook conversation.

I’ve been a gamer since I was four years old and I don’t see myself giving up games any time soon. But gaming culture never fails to make me feel disgusted.

Just love her look here