Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities

[SKJAM!]

Further strips indicate the author has extra anxiety and depression issues that feed into her need for risk assessment--you may also want to check out her "radical statement" strip.

[Pattern Ghost]

I found this incredibly creepy job posting on Craigslist.  The Google doc they link is the squicky part.

 

"- Ghostwrite back and forth emails, as the client, with the end goal of getting a phone number or setting up a date."

[Cygnia]

 

Members of Gamergate Planned to “Infiltrate” Calgary Expo to Actively Disrupt Panels, Calgary Expo Has Evicted Them

[Cancer]

Probably behind a subscriber wall, but ...

 

The hiring committee is no longer an issue?

 

... the Cornell University psychologists have found that a highly qualified woman applying for a tenure-track faculty position in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) at a U.S. university is twice as likely to be hired as an equally qualified man.

Now, the study used real faculty members (the ones who populate search committees) evaluating hypothetical candidates, so there are reservations about whether this translates into real-world differences in hiring. OTOH, it seems consistent with the statistics I have seen in recent faculty hires in fields close to my own.

 

Also, there is a difference in retention after hiring, that attrition in recent faculty hires is higher among women than among men at this time.

[Cygnia]

 

What’s it like being subjected to incessant, misogynistic trolling?

 

 

What, then, is the correct way to respond to the phenomenon of online harassment? It’s a tremendous problem because the offense is so terribly easy to commit. Hiding under the anonymity of the Internet, a person can set up shadow accounts, blast targets with abuse, and then delete the accounts. Another problem is stigma and shame: women who are abused online very rarely speak out.

 

“The obstacle is having the victim come forward,” Harris said. “It causes the people around her to judge her.”

[gewing]

 

 

What’s it like being subjected to incessant, misogynistic trolling?

 

 

 

I would like to see all the trolls making terroristic threats and extreme abuse prosecuted and jailed, but I can just see the outcry about these "non-violent offenders"...

[NuSoardGraphite]

In April of this year, the Honey Badgers plan to put on a booth at the Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo! We plan to infiltrate nerd culture cunningly disguised as their own. Each of us has been carefully crafting a persona of nerdiness through decades of dedication to comics, science fiction, fantasy, comedy games and other geekery, waiting for this moment, our moment to slip among the unaware. Once there we will start distributing the totalitarian message that nerd and gamer culture is… perfectly wonderful just as it is and should be left alone to go it’s own way.

 

That’s it folks.

 

As men’s issues advocates and defenders of creator’s rights to create unmolested, that’s what we have to say to the nerds and geeks and gamers. You are fantastic as you are, carry on.

 

Yep, in today’s political climate that’s considered an extremist position. Just letting creative communities create; consumers consume what they want; and gamers get down to the business of vidya without being judged.

 

So if you share our vision of a world in which nerds and geeks and gamers roam free and unfettered, help us spread that message by throwing a few shekels our way to attend the con.

I agree with that 100%

[薔薇語]

Where is that quote from? Honey Badger Radio?

 

La Rose.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Where is that quote from? Honey Badger Radio?

 

La Rose.

Yes.

 

I dont exactly agree with their methods. Hijacking a panel isnt cool. But the gist of their message i agree with. Creators should create what they want and consumers should consume what they want without ridicule or being told their choices are wrong. By some perspectives, this is what has been happening and thus, the push back.

 

"...you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to greatly depends on our own point of view." -Obi Wan Kenobi.

[薔薇語]

I see. I was curious just because there wasn't much to to ID the quote. I have listened to a number of their shows and I find it hard to deal with. At a basic level I agree with the basic message of the show but they sometimes jump off the deep end and / or get a bit too attacky in their comments. 

As to the quote above, I am of the same mind. I agree with the basic principle that we should kind of let the air out of this big bag of Anti-this and Anti-that that seems to have come about in recent years. And rather than trying to crucify game devs or consumers, we should just be normal consumers and walk our dollars to companies and games we support. But I am also not of the opinion that discussing some of the issues present is bad. There are some interesting things to be said for the way particular groups are portrayed in games; it is just unfortunate that dishonest people with a major financial incentive to grind axes are the ones controlling the whole debate. And also there are issues with just the general way games are marketed and sold (an issue completely removed from any -ism). So their comments seem a bit to strong on the opposite side. But C'est la vie. 

 

La Rose. 

[BoneDaddy]

They whined and moaned and played the victim when they got booted. Made a big stink.

[NuSoardGraphite]

They whined and moaned and played the victim when they got booted. Made a big stink.

Of course they did. As any jackhole would in that situation. They were being assholes, but that doesnt necessarily mean they are wrong.

[gewing]

Of course they did. As any jackhole would in that situation. They were being assholes, but that doesnt necessarily mean they are COMPLETELY wrong.

Sorry, this seemed a useful qualifier. 

[NuSoardGraphite]

Sorry, this seemed a useful qualifier.

Good point.

[Sociotard]

A scholarly paper about sexual discrimination against female PhDs was rejected from PLoS One.  Among their objections?  The two female authors should have asked a man to help them write it.

 

http://jezebel.com/female-scientists-told-to-get-a-man-to-help-them-with-t-1701245887/+laurendavis

[NuSoardGraphite]

A scholarly paper about sexual discrimination against female PhDs was rejected from PLoS One.  Among their objections?  The two female authors should have asked a man to help them write it.

 

http://jezebel.com/female-scientists-told-to-get-a-man-to-help-them-with-t-1701245887/+laurendavis

Saw this one on TwitFace.  

 

THIS is true sexism.  This is the true problem.  Not picture of naked barbarian hotties in niche TTRPGs, but those institutions who still see and treat women as second class citizens.  This is the sort of thing I have a problem with.  I have a problem with the fact that Law Enforcement organizations all across the US seem to be prejudiced against certain minorities and ethnicities.  Not with the fact that minorities and certain ethnicities are underrepresented in TTRPGs (they aren't).

 

I have a problem with the fact that there are religiously affiliated organizations attempting to block the progression of marriage rights between members of the LGBT community.  Not with the fact that language in TTRPGs seem to ignore their existence. (it doesn't)

 

When a person is prevented from advancing in their field.  From living safely in their neighborhood.  Or from marrying the love of their life, there's a problem.  That's what I oppose.  It seems to me that people these days are trying to create problems where none exists or where the problem is not discriminatory (as in preventing someone from Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness).  Perhaps I have a different perspective because I have actually witnessed the KKK burn a cross in a neighbors yard, and this trend of social media activision where people gnash their teeth because of large breasts in a videogame has upset some feminists.  They have a right to be upset sure, but there are real cases of discrimination still out there.  Find and deal with those first.

[SKJAM!]

That comes across as "Appeal to Worse Problems" http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AppealToWorseProblems ; we can care about all those things, without having to pretend the small stuff doesn't matter.

[NuSoardGraphite]

That comes across as "Appeal to Worse Problems" http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AppealToWorseProblems ; we can care about all those things, without having to pretend the small stuff doesn't matter.

I have zero issue with appeal to the worse problem because well...they're worse. Which problem requires attention first, a leaky toilet or your house burning down?

 

Anlot of what people are calling "problems" in the media are simply because the media is a reflection of ourr society. Change the society and the media will reflect that change. It just takes a bit of time for the change to be reflected and there will be pushback from the old guard. Thats where we are now. However, those trying to force the change faster than society is ready to implement it will en ounter opposition. In some secters, forcing the change may be necessary (politically etc) in other sectors a more organic change based on the collective feelings of the public at large is the best approach (entertainment and media, in my opinion)

[Pattern Ghost]

I think to a degree, culture follows the media. There's a documentary on Hip Hop that gives a good example of that in action, but I forget the name of it.

[NuSoardGraphite]

I think to a degree, culture follows the media. There's a documentary on Hip Hop that gives a good example of that in action, but I forget the name of it.

It does to a degree. Media influences pop culture which has a sort of reinforcement effect. But ultimately the media cant resist a paradigm shift in the culture. It has to change with it or risk becomming irrelevant.

[Pattern Ghost]

True.

[Markdoc]

It does to a degree. Media influences pop culture which has a sort of reinforcement effect. But ultimately the media cant resist a paradigm shift in the culture. It has to change with it or risk becomming irrelevant.

 

Which to me looks to be exactly what's driving the fear and rage of the Gamergate guys. Change is (very slowly) coming to their part of the universe and it seems to drive them bug**** insane.

[SKJAM!]

NSG, I'm sure you mean well, but "appeal to worse problems" is commonly used by "concern trolls" to dismiss actual but relatively small parts of a larger issue.  The idea is to force feminists or other civil rights activists to waste time establishing that yes, they are also working on the big things, and derail the discussion of the smaller problems that perhaps could be fixed more easily.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Which to me looks to be exactly what's driving the fear and rage of the Gamergate guys. Change is (very slowly) coming to their part of the universe and it seems to drive them bug**** insane.

Yes thats definitely a part of it for sure. Gamer Gate is the inevitable push back to the video game industry embracing of this newest paradigm (And an older one thats way overdue) And some gamers feel like this change is being shoved down their throats (its not).

 

I mildly identify with the gamer gaters. Or rather more accurately, i understand their position. They like their games how they like their games and they dont want to see political correctness infest their hobby too deeply or they fear it will change to the point that it will no longer interest them. Completely understandable. I personally have experienced a change in the videogame hobby where i dont enjoy it quite as much as i once had. And i see a similar change in the TTRPG industry (nothing to do with political correctness in either industry) so i understand their hesitancy.

 

When you get a clash of ideologies, you are going to have extremes on both sides. In this gaming debate, the progressives are pushing for more diversity in gaming (a good thing) but the extremists are trying to paint all gamers and game developers as homophic, racist mysogynists and we all know thats not true. On the conservative side of the argument (gamer gaters in this case) they are saying let the public decide. Let content creators create what they want and the public will decide which games resonates with them which is pretty much how it works now. the extremeists on this side are advocating rape and murder on those who dont agree with them (quite obviously a vocal minority composed of angry teenagers and sociopaths). I think we can dismiss the extremists (or arrest them in the case of threats) and engage the debate at the moderate level of the discussion. The problem with gamer gate is that the extremists have been allowed to frame the discussion and thats what makes it seem so nutty.

[NuSoardGraphite]

NSG, I'm sure you mean well, but "appeal to worse problems" is commonly used by "concern trolls" to dismiss actual but relatively small parts of a larger issue. The idea is to force feminists or other civil rights activists to waste time establishing that yes, they are also working on the big things, and derail the discussion of the smaller problems that perhaps could be fixed more easily.

I get that. With this particular issue, i'm like a libertarian. Let the content creators create. Let the public choose what resonates them. As the public changes, what resonates with them will change and the content creators willl change with it or go out of business. I feel this is the most natural, organic approach to this particular issue.