The Big Picture: Not Okay

[Terminal Blue]

snip

Rape is not intrinsically female victim issue, but it is (quite justifiably) a far more emotive issue for women. Because, to put it bluntly, women suffer it hugely more. Couple this with the fact that men generally display significantly lower fear of violence or physical attack (despite being overwhelmingly more likely to suffer it) and you are left with a predictable outcome. Although rape happens to men, men simply do not fear it. Men have no reason to believe it will happen to them, and normally they're right.

Put yourself in the shoes of a woman for a moment, someone who genuinely does fear rape. If you walk into an environment where guys casually use the word, are you going to spend your time trying to work out what they mean by that. No, you will get the fuck out. Why would you hang around people who treat your worst fear as a trivial thing?

We all say we want more women to play games, but I don't think we really want "women" to play games, we want gamer girls who will fit inoffensively into the preexisting culture and adopt our attitudes and who will never demand that we grow up or behave differently. That probably isn't going to happen. Women won't look at guys using the word "rape" and dismiss it as harmless fun, just like many gay people can't hear the word "fag" without feeling an emotional reaction. It's not about "manning up" or "getting offended over nothing", because this stuff isn't "nothing" to those people.

It will push them away, and it will ultimately lead to the gaming community continuing to be regarded as nothing more than a dumping ground for poorly socialized manchildren. That alone, I think, is reason to stop it.

 

[C.S.Strowbridge]

One of the reasons I don't like online multiplayer games is the causal bigotry. It happens to often that a lot of people don't even react to it anymore.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

While it deos feel so good to here someone FINALLY call those guys out on the casual mysognoy, homphobia, racism etc., I do think he is being just a little sensitive. These things do need to be phased out, but the majority of it isnt hateful, just tastless. Im not saying no harm done because that does act as a gateway to deliberate and intentional discrimination, but if I flagged every person that used a homophobic slur, thats about a third of the worldwide gamer population.

Two example from personal experience:
Getting called a fag as a general insult by a 7-year-old: Bad but harmless
One guy calling me a muslim because I blew myself up: That deserves punishment

 

[Ashoten]

Thanks for going beyond just the sexism issue and addressing the general dushbaggery that happens in online gaming. The worst thing about any multiplayer game right now is the players. Why should I have to be subjected to angry teenagers moaning and pissing? I hope game developers take notice of this and start to crack down on abusive players. Whats that you say? Just don't play multiplayer games then noob? Well if the market wasn't saturated with a ton a multiplayer games maybe I could. Big Multiplayer games are the way of the future as long as the internet is here. So guess I gotta hope for more Skyrims and Final Fantasy games that don't suck.

But you know I have as much right as the next person to jump into a big multiplayer match with my friends without being screamed at to uninstall my game(In a match of W.O.T. where I tracked and wrecked the other team with every artillery shot, but I didn't get any kills).

Yes using rape as a simile for beating another player is vulgar and only feeds the stereotype that all gamers are insecure jerks trying to draw attention away from the size of their own "Member".

Yeah I do get angry over stuff like this.

 

[Mullahgrrl]

Why is hatespeach an important part of the fighting game culture?

Because they they don't like PC Games!

 

[BrownGaijin]

So does this mean I can't laugh at <a href=http://www.hulu.com/watch/2306/saturday-night-live-point-counterpoint-lee-marvin-and-michelle-triola>this anymore? Or does it pass under the "Politically incorrect but not being mean" clause?

 

[yunabomb]

It isn't okay to enjoy your hobby while degrading women and making other members of your hobby look like dicks who you assume share your messed-up view of the world.

Why should people have to censor themselves when their playing things like Xbox live? Last I checked, you can mute people

The burden to change behavior should not fall on the innocents.

Plus, this isn't specific to online play. In tournaments and other gaming events people experience racism, sexism and harassment.

 

[Realitycrash]

Very well, Bob. Let's talk about it. So, what exactly are we to talk about except "Sexism is bad, and the fact that some gamers feel entitled to being sexist as 'part of their identity' is ludicrous"? Seriously, what do you purpose we DO other than all nod and say "Yes, yes this is bad".
For if it is so, then I will reply "Why are we even talking about this?".

 

[Satosuke]

Yes, apologies and social ostracism were in order here, but it seems Bob is suggesting there should be legal ramifications for what he said. I'm not saying Bob openly said Bakhtanians should face government penalization for what he said, but suggesting it goes into dicey legal territory. I honestly don't want to see something like the UK's libel laws come here to the USA, where you can face fines and punishment from the state for what you say, because yeah, THAT'S CENSORSHIP.

He should be shunned by his peers and kicked off the show, but he shouldn't be fined or jailed. I know that's not what was said, but I find it important to make that distinction. But yeah, I agree with the fact that the gaming community's doing a shitty job of separating itself from idiots like this.

 

[ED-Tw0 ZeRo N9nE]

Sigh, Bob trumpeting the Political Correctness horn AGAIN, how predictable.

By this point we should all pretty much already know what he's going to say before he even says it. It would appear that he really does like to imagine himself as the Champion of Equality, no matter how hollow it truely is.

 

[Alphamarigi]

The only sentence I didn't respond "DUH" to is the rape as synonym for defeat thing I don't use it but I had no problem with it until this wake up call, thank you. Also the nerd who gets bullied thing is old hat Bob seriously it is the only people who bullied me were obnoxious thirteen year old, obnoxious kids at my afterschool care who also played videogames and other nerds. Seriously that's it. In high school I had a lot of jock friends including chicks and they weren't bad to look at either. Maybe it's cause I live in SF but I don't these stereotypes about the midwest are true RIGHT? I never heard anything about nerds getting bullied besides the media, my dad who is over fifty, memesites and you. So it gets tiresome hearing you talk about it.

 

[Realitycrash]

Main thing I disagree with is the implication that racial slurs and bigoted speech necessarily cause harm and thus should be immune to 1st amendment protections (if that's not what you were getting at, I apologize).

Nothing (and I repeat; NOTHING) cause harm "by necessity", even a gunshot-wound to the head can miraculously do more good than harm (in some convoluted way), but it is, as it is with everything else, the likelihood of something causing harm that we debate. And since racial slurs and bigoted speech are more likely than not in most occasions to cause harm, it is to be frowned (i.e faced with legal action) upon.

 

[XDravond]

I.. Well... I just..

THANK YOU!
(Goes down on knees and thanks all Gods/saints/religions for MovieBob, deep insight into a subject which is so important for my favorite medium is so often needed. If only more people could hear this and understand that most people is not like the vocal ones.)
I agree with this wholeheartedly. Sexism, homophobia, racial slurs etc is wrong, does not matter who utters them it's wrong. It's just one of the things that just shouldn't be accepted.
Now how do I shove this down into the morons throats...

Oh and Bob you know that you need thorns to see the beauty of the roses, although I still call this a "fun" episode anyhow.

 

[C.S.Strowbridge]

Main thing I disagree with is the implication that racial slurs and bigoted speech necessarily cause harm and thus should be immune to 1st amendment protections (if that's not what you were getting at, I apologize).

You do realize the first amendment only applies to the government. If someone is fired for saying something racist, that has exactly zero to do with the first amendment.

 

[yunabomb]

Very well, Bob. Let's talk about it. So, what exactly are we to talk about except "Sexism is bad, and the fact that some gamers feel entitled to being sexist as 'part of their identity' is ludicrous"? Seriously, what do you purpose we DO other than all nod and say "Yes, yes this is bad".
For if it is so, then I will reply "Why are we even talking about this?".

I have an answer to this: since you agree with the points of the video, make sure you fight against slurs, harassment etc in the gaming community. Making sure to call out bad behavior and make it unacceptable in the community will bring positive changes.

 

[Realitycrash]

Very well, Bob. Let's talk about it. So, what exactly are we to talk about except "Sexism is bad, and the fact that some gamers feel entitled to being sexist as 'part of their identity' is ludicrous"? Seriously, what do you purpose we DO other than all nod and say "Yes, yes this is bad".
For if it is so, then I will reply "Why are we even talking about this?".

I have an answer to this: since you agree with the points of the video, make sure you fight against slurs, harassment etc in the gaming community. Making sure to call out bad behavior and make it unacceptable in the community will bring positive changes.

I'm sorry, but I thought everyone already did this? Kinda why I am always surprised when these topics come up.
Then again, I hardly play online anymore, mostly because I can't handle the slurs, etc. So I just don't interact with them.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

*claps slowly and ethusiastically*

Well said bob. My friends and I discussed this just this Saturday.

I cannot believe that asshole said "Sexual harassment is part of the fighting game community". No. No it's not. Two of my best friends are fighting game NUTS, and they were disgusted that anyone could consider harassment a part of the community. Harassment has NOTHING to do with fighting games. They're about mastery, practice, showmanship and sportmanship (winning and losing gracefully, etc).

I'm glad Capcom themselves apologized for the incident, but they really should have gone farther, and BOOTED that guy out. I don't care how far into the tournament you are, find someone who isn't a total douche who pretty much destroyed any positive press that this show was getting you. Because of what that coach stirred up, when people think of cross assault, they won't think of that cool tournament used to advertise that fun looking game, they will think of "oh yeah, wasn't that the show with the sexist coach?".

 

[TheSchaef]

All these years, I thought I liked Starcraft because it was the best RTS video game ever conceived. Turns out it was just because I was socially responsible, or something.

So Bob, you know that part in The Shawshank Redemption where Andy Dufresne writes letters to the state legislature every week requesting new books for the prison library, and they give him a few to shut him up, and he just starts writing two letters a week?

You may think you've assuaged the constant cry for a Samurai Pizza Cats episode, but in fact you've only emboldened us. We WILL have satisfaction.

 

[Zaverexus]

Thanks a lot, great video. I saw a similar article just yesterday so I'll link it here for people who are interested in more strong views on the subject

Spoiler: link

http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2012/03/let-us-discuss-bigot-joesky-tax.html

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

It isn't okay to enjoy your hobby while degrading women and making other members of your hobby look like dicks who you assume share your messed-up view of the world.

Why should people have to censor themselves when their playing things like Xbox live? Last I checked, you can mute people

The burden to change behavior should not fall on the innocents.

Plus, this isn't specific to online play. In tournaments and other gaming events people experience racism, sexism and harassment.

well if your play Call of Duty Multiplayer and my saying something offensive gets you thinking about what is being said and not on the game, which in turn gives me a window of time to catch you off guard, why shouldn't I use that technique?