Gamers Against Bigotry

[chrason]

Also, it comes down to choosing your audiences. Even if you're (the proverbial; not you personally) the most racist, homophobic misogynistic asshole on the planet, you could still legitimately sign the pledge. If you choose to go and discuss small-minded hate-filled opinions with your small-minded hate-filled friends in private, where it can't hurt anybody, then do what you will. To perpetuate those prejudices across a whole community of people whom probably don't share that ideology, however, is AT BEST an err in judgement.

 

[chrason]

The solution to bigotry is tolerance -- on all sides. That means tolerating that some people like to use words you don't like.

In an ideal world, where everybody is seen as equal, and there are no marginalised minorities, this would be a completely valid argument. Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world, so until equal rights becomes the foundation of society, rather than aspirational thinking, then bigotry shouldn't be tolerated.

 

[chrason]

How about
"Fuck your shit, fucklechuck mcfuckface." That's more along the lines of something I'd say.
Or
"Burn, fucker." Also more in line with me being me.
Oooor, perhaps
"Curl up and die, fucknugget." Yup.

Politically correct does not mean inoffensive. I like my lang-rage (yes, it's a word) the way it is. I know that "faggadoccio" and "*****" are incorrect, so I try to restrict my usage of them as much as I can. Racial slurs I don't resort to. That's about all I'm willing to do.

It's not even about being politically correct. It's so easy to dismiss political correctness because it's a set of ideals that becomes forced upon people. It's asking people to show empathy of their own free will.

"Curl up and die, fucknugget." is fine. It's not meant literally, and it doesn't disparage a group of people. If you replaced fucknugget with the N word, that wouldn't be fine, and a lot of people know that. The purpose of Gamers Against Bigotry is to raise awareness of that.

 

[chrason]

You're not taking away my fun while I'm still alive, you damn liberals!

Nobody wants to take away your fun; we just want you to stop taking other peoples' fun away.

 

[Keith Leung]

Bigotry in games is a mindset not a change in language if you want a more accepting gaming social culture then start by changing gamers attitude to gender, homosexuality and race.

Limiting our free speech does not change mindset.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

The solution to bigotry is tolerance -- on all sides. That means tolerating that some people like to use words you don't like.

In an ideal world, where everybody is seen as equal, and there are no marginalised minorities, this would be a completely valid argument. Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world, so until equal rights becomes the foundation of society, rather than aspirational thinking, then bigotry shouldn't be tolerated.

So, you dislike certain words and phrases being used and want them gone from the community's vocabulary? You, someone who claims to be working on the side of stopping discrimination, want to tell others not to use words they like? Because you don't like it, people have to stop? Sorry, but they have every right in the world to use any word they please. Just because you think they're bad and you're good, doesn't make it so.

I'm not straight. Am I going to tell you not to call me a ******? Not to use that word in public? Fuck no. Free world. Make whatever sound you want with your vocal chords and tongue. I choose not to be offended by the word and it is therefor of no consequence. I do indeed think men are rather hot. Why should I care if you point that out?

The word foboppy offend you? How's about I make it up right now and decide it implies you are, for example, a gay person who likes much older men. Is there any reason for you to care that I have said that? Nope. Being gay - nothing wrong with that. Liking older men - whatever floats your boat. Someone calls you a slut? Since when was getting a lot of something you enjoy a bad thing? I play a lot of video games and I don't take offense to being called a gamer. Don't actually have a lot of sex? Welp, even less reason to be offended.

If you get offended by the words, you're part of the problem. If someone uses ******, or ******, or slut, or retard as an insult and you agree that it is offensive, you're saying being gay is something to be ashamed of, that being black is worthy of offense, that having sex and enjoying it is negative, that being retarded makes you less of a person. Of course you don't think that, but it's true. It's like if someone were to call another a skydiver. Is being a skydiver bad? No. Neither is being gay. Just because the person wants to be offensive, doesn't mean you have to agree with them.

This all I've learned recently. Let the racists have their words. Let the homophobes use their slurs. Let the sexists do their worse (oh god, that rhymes). The words and opinions of the unintelligent don't carry much weight. I'd rather you ignore them, than have them lose their freedom to be stupid.

 

[chrason]

Bigotry in games is a mindset not a change in language if you want a more accepting gaming social culture then start by changing gamers attitude to gender, homosexuality and race.

Limiting our free speech does not change mindset.

It's still early doors for this site, but you're right, people's attitudes need to change, and that's the big picture. This is just another cog in the machine. Forcing people to avoid certain words won't help the cause, but asking people to think about it, and to understand why some people would want these words to be banned, now that can help.

As I've said, it's about encouraging people to make those changes themselves, not forcing them to. It's a friendly request to join the cause, nobody is being held at gunpoint to sign a legally binding contract.

 

[Doclector]

So your answer to speaking out against bigotry is to simply become the No-Cussing Club? Yeah, no fuck that shit, that's ridiculous.

If someone calls me a 'cheese-jockey' online then I reserve the right to call them an asshole.

Yeah, those lines are pretty damn bad.

That said, I'm already for this cause, effectively. I never directly insult people online, the most they've probably heard me say is "Goddammit" or "Oh Fuck/shit/crap".

Or occasionally "Oh shitshitshitshitshit".

You get the idea. I don't generally go out of my way to trash talk.

 

[General Twinkletoes]

That's terrible.
Absolutely terrible. You can still use insults like dumbass without it counting as bigotry, why would I want to say cheese jockey instead? I can understand against racial slurs, but that's never even going to happen. Trying to eliminate normal swears is just dumb.

 

[chrason]

So, you dislike certain words and phrases being used and want them gone from the community's vocabulary? You, someone who claims to be working on the side of stopping discrimination, want to tell others not to use words they like? Because you don't like it, people have to stop?

No, No and no. I keep reiterating this. I want people to understand why they're a problem and choose not to use them in a public forum where they can people can feel segregated based on archaic bigoted insults. If you want to use those words, don't sign the pledge; problem solved. It affects you not one iota further.

If you get offended by the words, you're part of the problem. If someone uses ******, or ******, or slut, or retard as an insult and you agree that it is offensive, you're saying being gay is something to be ashamed of, that being black is worthy of offense, that having sex and enjoying it is negative, that being retarded makes you less of a person. Of course you don't think that, but it's true. It's like if someone were to call another a skydiver. Is being a skydiver bad? No. Neither is being gay. Just because the person wants to be offensive, doesn't mean you have to agree with them.

To an extent, you're right. As a third party, though, if you hear a racist exchange between other gamers using YOUR ethnicity as an insult, and being insulted by it, then taking offence to that exchange doesn't make you part of the problem, it makes you the unwilling ammunition.

If someone is talking like that then you can criticise them, or laugh at how small-minded they are, or ignore them, or refuse to take them seriously, and that's all fine, it takes away their power. If That Guy was to see how ridiculous and exclusive he was being, and change his mindset accordingly, that wouldn't be taking away his freedom, it would be educating the ignorant about social justice.

I absolutely agree that people should be entitled to free speech; it doesn't mean they have to scrape the bottom of the linguistic barrel before they've exhausted the lexicon of other, less close-minded profanities.

 

[chrason]

A lot of people still seem to be totally missing the fact that the "example insults" were deliberately ridiculous, for fun, and not reading the rest of the discussion before jumping on the "I WANT TO SWEAR" bandwagon. Nobody wants you to stop swearing. Well, except maybe a few overly concerned Mothers, but that isn't me.

So your answer to speaking out against bigotry is to simply become the No-Cussing Club?

No, it isn't. I've clarified this already; you can swear as much as you like, but you should try not to be bigoted. If you were part of a marginalised group in society, would you like to be belittled every time you settled down for a "friendly" bit of computerised escapism? I wouldn't, so I wouldn't impose it on others.

Swearing and bigotry are mutually exclusive, and the latter is needlessly offensive.

They weren't meant to be taken as literal examples; it was a light-hearted joke, is all. I swear like a fish-wife when I want to, it just didn't really serve a purpose in that context, and would have come across more like "Here is a list of approved insults. DO NOT USE UNAPPROVED INSULTS" rather than the intended implication that there is a multitude of other things you can scream without marginalising a group of people. If you want to call somebody a Shit-brained fuckhammer, nobody will complain. That's not bigotry, that's just heat-of-the-moment rage.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

So, you dislike certain words and phrases being used and want them gone from the community's vocabulary? You, someone who claims to be working on the side of stopping discrimination, want to tell others not to use words they like? Because you don't like it, people have to stop?

No, No and no. I keep reiterating this. I want people to understand why they're a problem and choose not to use them in a public forum where they can people can feel segregated based on archaic bigoted insults. If you want to use those words, don't sign the pledge; problem solved. It affects you not one iota further.

If you get offended by the words, you're part of the problem. If someone uses ******, or ******, or slut, or retard as an insult and you agree that it is offensive, you're saying being gay is something to be ashamed of, that being black is worthy of offense, that having sex and enjoying it is negative, that being retarded makes you less of a person. Of course you don't think that, but it's true. It's like if someone were to call another a skydiver. Is being a skydiver bad? No. Neither is being gay. Just because the person wants to be offensive, doesn't mean you have to agree with them.

To an extent, you're right. As a third party, though, if you hear a racist exchange between other gamers using YOUR ethnicity as an insult, and being insulted by it, then taking offence to that exchange doesn't make you part of the problem, it makes you the unwilling ammunition.

If someone is talking like that then you can criticise them, or laugh at how small-minded they are, or ignore them, or refuse to take them seriously, and that's all fine, it takes away their power. If That Guy was to see how ridiculous and exclusive he was being, and change his mindset accordingly, that wouldn't be taking away his freedom, it would be educating the ignorant about social justice.

I absolutely agree that people should be entitled to free speech; it doesn't mean they have to scrape the bottom of the linguistic barrel before they've exhausted the lexicon of other, less close-minded profanities.

Right now, with no rhetoric or sensationalism, give me one reason why being gay is a bad thing. No tricks. No social commentaries. Just one reason why someone should feel bad for liking their own gender.

Seriously. That's not a joke. I genuinely want to see your reply. Because if you can't tell me why being homosexual is bad, you cannot argue that being called homosexual is bad. It's a logical fallacy and I want you to have a go at it.

 

[Hazy992]

snip

You've already clarified this, why are you telling me again?

 

[Clearing the Eye]

snip

You've already clarified this, why are you telling me again?

Just looks like a little quoting mistake, I think.

Your bio picture, by the way--horrifying, lol.

 

[Hazy992]

snip

You've already clarified this, why are you telling me again?

Just looks like a little quoting mistake, I think.

Your bio picture, by the way--horrifying, lol.

I think you've made a mistake, you seem to have misspelled 'sexy'

 

[Clearing the Eye]

snip

You've already clarified this, why are you telling me again?

Just looks like a little quoting mistake, I think.

Your bio picture, by the way--horrifying, lol.

I think you've made a mistake, you seem to have misspelled 'sexy'

Rofl. I'll have to have my keyboard fixed.

 

[Hazy992]

snip

You've already clarified this, why are you telling me again?

Just looks like a little quoting mistake, I think.

Your bio picture, by the way--horrifying, lol.

I think you've made a mistake, you seem to have misspelled 'sexy'

Rofl. I'll have to have my keyboard fixed.

Yes you should, can't be making such silly mistakes

 

[shrekfan246]

snip

You've already clarified this, why are you telling me again?

He probably got confused while quoting, seems like he messed it up anyway.

OT: I agree with both the OP and Clearing The Eye, here. I'm all for people being less close-minded and more willing to exercise decent insults instead of resorting to racist/sexist/homophobic slurs, but at the same time it can be partly dissuaded by, well, not being offended. I know it can be difficult, hell, I was overweight before I even went into high school and I've been mocked and excluded from things because of it.

It bothered me when I was even more of a social loner back in middle-school, but I got into high school and a few people worked pretty hard to drag me out of my shell (hey-o!), and while I still am overly self-conscious about myself because I've been having a hard time trying to drop the weight, I don't let fat insults offend me. Hell, over the internet it doesn't matter anyway because it's not like they actually know me or anything, it's just an angry person fishing for something to offend somebody with.

 

[Suijen]

Why not insult players using the swear words of foreign languages literally translated to English?

"Whole family executed!"
"Turtle Egg!"
"No Eating!"
"Dry your mother!"

 

[minimacker]

"Where did you learn how to play, IKEA?"

I don't get it.