Machine Man 1992 said:
itsthesheppy said:
Machine Man 1992 said:
itsthesheppy said:
Machine Man 1992 said:
jmarquiso said:
samus17 said:
Complaining that videogames cater to men is like complaining that the Oxygen channel caters to women; there's going to be pandering and NO ONE SHOULD CARE
Except there are other channels to turn to. Games have less options.
Oxygen came from women demanding it, and viacom realizing it had an untapped audience to sell advertising to. Games could have the larger market, too, if they just listen.
Then make them listen! Tell developers you want more games with strong female protagonists! Tell them you want shirtless hunks to oogle! You have more power than you realize; if publishers realize they have an untapped market, they'll clamber over each other to tap that (see what I did there?).
Video series like the one there is so much resistance to are very much in line with what you are suggesting 'they' do. Raise their voices about the inequality.
Well, if negative reinforcement doesn't work, how about positive reinforcement? Surely there are plenty of female game designers and producers out there, maybe instead of complaining, Anita could say, use the loads of money she has to finance a game? Just a thought.
You, like many others, are falling into the trap of suggesting that you have better ideas for this woman about how she could be spending her time. That perhaps she should be working directly with game developers rather than being all uppity and making noise you would rather not have to hear. You may or may not be aware that you're doing it, but it's known in the feminist parlance as 'mansplaining'.
Mansplaining is when a guy tells a woman (or anyone else, I suppose) that he has a better idea about what she is trying to do, or say. Putting himself in the automatic position of authority and talking down to that individual, educating them about the err of their ways or the superior way of going about something. Even if the intent is altruistic (I have no reason to believe you have anything but the best intentions in mind), it is condescending.
There is a place in the world for commentary, negative and positive. Pointing out the negative aspects of a thing promotes a cultural conversation about it, and this is a conversation that we all should be having. It's a conversation
people want to hear. She only asked for $6k to produce the series, and given what little I know about the costs involved in producing videos, it didn't seem entirely unreasonable. That she's had more than $150k donated is indicative of the fact that
people want to hear what she has to say and it is not my place, or yours, to tell her what she should and should not do. That's up to her.
If you feel your idea is vastly superior to hers, and if you care enough about it, back up your own rhetoric and start a fund of your own, and then you can do whatever you like with it.
Oh, so just because I have dick that automatically makes my suggestions invalid? The woman makes roughly 400% more money than she needs to make her little video series, I'm offering a means for which the extra 144K can be used to fix the problems she sees. I mean god forbid she displays some agency besides bitching about on the internet and waiting for someone else to fix these problems.
See, what you're doing is exactly what detractors of the feminists use to strawperson the movement: someone who happens to be a man makes a suggestion on how they could accomplish their goal, and people like you jump down their throats for "mansplaining".
Don't post shit on the internet and expect people to refrain from criticizing it.
I went ahead and bolded for you the parts where you're doing that thing I said you were doing that you claim you're not doing.
There's a few critical points where you're not really getting it. First of all is the supposition that your suggestions are necessary or even wanted. Why exactly do you think you have a better idea than she does? Not that you respect her at all, of course, or her "little" video series, which you are so far above and wiser than, of course. She has nothing to teach you, no. Nothing she could want to say would be of any interested to you because, haha, silly girl, you
get it already. You're thinking two, three steps ahead!
See, you're not a bad guy. You're just helping her. She
needs your help; and not just yours, everyone's! $150k+ is a lot of money and we certainly expect that
she will know what to do with it! So of course you and so many others jump in with your helpful solutions; utterly unsolicited, completely spontaneous, dripping with condescension.
Nobody said your dick makes you opinions invalid. What I'm saying is that because you are male, society has been telling us, largely through the bullhorn of pop culture but through other sources as well, that we are more capable. We are smarter, bigger, stronger, faster, more capable, more reliable, more emotionally secure. Better leaders, better critical thinkers, more solid decision-makers... than women. This has been hammered home throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, bombarded from every angle. And the end result is, a woman asks for $6k to make a video series about a subject she is passionate for, recieves a lot more than that amount from her supporters and fans, and the legions of men all across the internet, among whom you are a card-carrying member, rise up in resistance because
of course she can't be trusted with all that money, she's going to screw it all up and waste everyone's time!
And the best part is you are so fully indoctrinated to the idea of male primacy, as it is the very
soup you and I both swim in, that at the very moment you are reading these words, they sound like absolute madness to you. And that's why we need videos like the one she's going to be producing. Lot's more. Because the "men are superior" message is still out there, in force, and it's deafening. Whatever noise can challenge it is sorely needed.
