So... I have been thinking recently

And no it wasn’t painful.

I’ve been thinking that no matter where you go on the internet there is always a vocal group of dudes who are too misogynistic to be believed. I mean seriously. They honestly cannot comprehend that a woman can have an opinion on anything. Or that a woman can actually think for herself, and then when stumbling through the tweetscape I stumbled upon a tweet by author Jay Kristoff saying:

The link takes you here but the video is as follows;

Now as I watched that it really hit home that yes, it does happen way too much. And yes… most men, myself included, usually just idly sit by and ease our consciences by saying… well trolls will be trolls but this is not right. I am a gamer. I am a reader. I am a movie nut. I am a man. And I’m saying that, in my opinion, this is not OK. Too many times do I see casual sexism thrown around in forums with the ‘joke’ “what the hell are you doing out of the kitchen?”

I’m sorry, but if as a man, you are making that joke regularly then there is something wrong. And no, it’s equally not OK when everyone assumes men can’t multitask but that isn’t the issue here. The issue here is the fact that one female, wanted to assess the female representation in games and was attacked with vitriol and hate by men.

As a gamer I feel disgusted by the actions of these ‘beacons’ of the gaming community, something does need to be done so that there is a more inclusive atmosphere out there for females in the gaming world. As a man… Fuck… as a man I find these actions reprehensible and abhorrent. Guys like that make me ashamed of my gender. They need to grow up, and fast. Believe or not guys, that’s what equal rights is about… EQUALITY. You might wanna look it up. I mean if this were in any other online community there would be far more of an uproar in that community and in general online, about that community. But because it’s gamers once again coming across as dicks, and it is to be expected apparently, it is practically swept under the rug and hidden? Dafuq? Why? It isn’t right at all.

I think though, that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The whole online experience of gaming needs a major social shift. Gaming online isn’t fun anymore. It’s becoming a chore and I’m saddened by that. When I started playing games online there wasn’t half the abuse on there that there is now. Now you’ll get cursed out by a pre-teen on a game that they shouldn’t be playing because it’s inappropriate for their age group. This shows a general lack of understanding and/or an exceptional level of ignorance to the subject matter on the part of the parent. When I play Gears of War (for example) I want to play with like minded adults not pre-pubescent twits who don’t work as a team.

It’s the same in nearly every online community though. There are self published authors, published authors and even literary agents who lash out when people don’t like their books, there are fans of books and games and films and music who will come onto your threads and pretty much do nothing but abuse you for having an opinion that didn’t call their treasures genius. And it always starts with “you missed the point”. I’m sorry but that is not acceptable and there needs to be a complete shift in online interactions to wheedle out the hate and realise that, every one is entitled to their opinion and you don’t need to get all butt-hurt and defensive just because people want to look at that community (example: Gamers) and their representation of women, or because their opinion isn’t the same as yours.

I know full well that there will always be haters, and there will always be vocal trolls, but if more people actually stood up and say “actually, no that’s wrong, what you’re doing here is unacceptable” then online interactions would be a far more pleasant, and far less stressful, experience for all.

Just some food for thought

Archer.