input.jack

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities As someone who has worked in game and comic shops since the late 1970's, let me assure you that the owners and operators of those shops do NOT want to foster an atmosphere of "It is not for you. Stay out." Because thats just plain old bad business. Game store owners WANT women to become gamers, because they want EVERYONE to become gamers! If you want your games to be about male bonding, game at the kitchen table at one of your game group's house, or something. Game someplace private. Knock yourselves out! But you do NOT have the right to take that attitude out into the street and inflict it on strangers. There's a really good Mexican resteraunt in the mall near where I live. In order to get to it, I have to walk thru JC Penney's. And its always full of displays of perfume, scarves, womens' clothing, and innumerable girly-thangs I, in my Ogre-ishness know nothing about. Ive probably gone through that store over 200 times by now, in the 20+ years Ive been going to that resteraunt**. NEVER ONCE has anyone there, customer or clerk, made me feel unwelcome, or like I was an "invader". Even though the store is clearly "not for me". If you know gamers who feel they have to be hostile and rude to women to protect their domains, please be so kind as to tell them to knock that s**t off. **Yes, I know I cant spell "resteraunt"

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities ARGH! I cant Rep Enforcer either!!

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities Dang. It wont let me rep Tasha again yet.

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities

Re: Creepy Pics. Eeek!

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities In my experience, if someone is at a con in costume, they WANT people to look at them! Ive never been told "no" when Ive asked to take a picture of someone in costume, except once, when the person in question was running late to get to her next scheduled con event.

Re: A Game Of Questions Why wouldnt we?

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities Good for her for slapping that jerk-wad down! Id like to think that if Id been there, I would have started the slow clap

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities This is all really good stuff. *Slowly tries to evolve*

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities Yeah, it really reads like all the PUA "instruction" teaches a guy to do is to ignore the normal boundaries of conversation, and BECOME a creepy, space-invading cretin.

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities Thats so odd. Id have thought that the fields of science would value a person's ideas above all other considerations. I am...disappointed.

Re: Creepy Pics. That sound you heard was my porthole slamming closed

Re: Curious about your view on the current state of CO. (Anybody still play regularly I had to cancel my subscription a while ago, and then found that (at least at the time) a character could be "free to play" or "subscription", but could only be transformed from one to the other ONCE. Ever. I havent gone back.

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life. Quote from my room mate: "I went beyond the Valley of Good Taste, and camped in the Hills of Wrong!" ;D

Re: Creepy Pics. Can ya blame him? With THEM out looking for him?!?

Re: Creepy Pics. "I like my women like I like my coffee....hot, bitter, and in a styrofoam cup..." - Eddie Izzard

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities Anita Sarkeesian needs some mainstream media exposure for this. Shes an INCREDIBLY brave person, and has an absolute knack for explaining just how what these archaic-thinking misogynists are doing is so very, very wrong. Is there some way to get her on The Daily Show or something? Shouldnt mor epeople know about what shes been subjected to, just for the "crime" of asking that half the population be treated fairly?

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities That was bizarre.....

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities Sexism sucks. I think we should stop doing it. (That was my lame attempt to re-rail the discussion)

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities ANECDOTE UPDATE: I did, in fact, tell the guy at the game store I described WHY I was not going to patronize his store any more, and what I thought of him for treating female customers the way he did. There was no point in telling the manager or owner; that's him. HOWEVER Just today I was talking to the girlfriend of one of my best friends about this very thread, and she said "I go in there all the time. Hes always quick to say hello, treats me and the other female customers there very nicely, and is very helpful." So apparently the message got through to him. I count this as a win!

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities I agree that the HERO Boards are astoundingly open, well-mannered, and cool. I also agree with everything that the author said in the article. Theres a game store here in my town, and Id been there many times over the years Ive lived here. The guy who is usually behind the counter isnt exactly what Id call a "friend" of mine, but he was a genial business acquaintance. Hed say "hi" to me and be generally helpful, and my attitude toward him was generally positive, overall. And then I heard a female friend of mine, who is absolutely a legitimate Gamer Girl (shes been gaming since the late 70s / early 80s), say some angry things about the "jerk who works at [insert Store Name Here]". I said "You dont mean [Name], do you? The guy with the glasses? hes always been cool to me..." "Of COURSE hes cool to YOU! Youre a guy, and you spend like $100 a month in there!"* *(This is an exagerration on her part, but an understandable one) (And may also be completely accurate) Apparently she had gone in a few times with her husband, and had noticed that he was kind of generally dismissive of her. But recently she had gone in by herself, because she knew that something she was interested in had either just come out, or was just about to, and wanted to pick it up if it was available, or put it on order if it was not. Just like in the article, this guy basically ignored her for a little over half an hour, until she practically grabbed him by the arm and said "AHEM!" And just as was described, he treated her in an AMAZINGLY condescending fashion, and at one point said something that was so patronizing and dismissive of her (because she, as a woman, COULDNT be a "real gamer") that she felt that she needed to spell out for this guy that SHE HAS BEEN PLAYING ROLE-PLAYING GAMES AND READING COMICS LITERALLY SINCE BEFORE THIS ASSHAT WAS BORN. And that she was furious at her treatment of her. And that she would not be coming back here again. I was gobsmacked to hear all of this; the guy she described was like... the goatee-wearing Mirror-Mirror universe version of the guy I (thought I) knew. And THEN, as I was saying "Are you SURE its [Name]?!?", another of my female gamer friends who was there at the table said, "Oh yes. Definitely. Hes done that to me too. I absolutely hate that guy." And then told us of HER several bad encounters with the little creep. Ive since checked with every female gamer /comics fan I know in the area, and they ALL say that he treats them, and all women, like they are unwelcome aliens; simple-minded creatures who cant possibly undertsand the complexities of HIS world of comics and RPGs (poor things *pat pat pat*) Needless to say, I have stopped going to that shop, and have advocated that my friends also stop going there. Instead I drive up to "The City" (about 30 miles away) to do my shopping at a place called "Games HQ", where to my knowledge they do not have that kind of B.S. attitude. Sidebar 1: I HATE those "get in the kitchen" jokes. They arent funny, and they actually just seem to exacerbate the exact problem we are talking about. I know Pattern Ghost was speaking in jest, but its sad how many people who make those "jokes" are not. Sidebar 2: I avoided using the name of the store and the name of the guy, because I dont want the Hero Forum to be open to any kind of legal action in case the guy reads this. I named Games HQ because I have only good and positive things to say about them, which I think makes it OK to name them directly).

Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster "You arent free yet"?

Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster Bazinga!

Re: Creepy Pics. What IS that?!? WHO is that?