"I am staying out of this one."

[templar1138a]

At least three times a week, I look at the Popular Forum Posts section and see a topic that just makes me think:

You know the ones I'm talking about.
"Immaturity in Gaming", currently at 31 comments.
"Should Feminism and Gaming Mix?" 87 comments.
"Poll: Do you believe in global warming?" 122.

Those are far from the only examples. Discuss, but let's try not to make this thread ironic, okay?

EDIT: Guys, I get it. "Immaturity in Gaming" is not a griping thread; it's about sharing intentionally immature things people have done for shits and giggles that only affected themselves. But that's not the point. The point is that, given the tendencies of these forums, that title doesn't encourage me to give the benefit of the doubt. A title that would have been more to the point would look like, "I know it's immature, but it's just so amusing." Or something along those lines.

 

[Cabisco]

Any topic that has the words 'Women' 'Feminism' 'Anita Sar...something' or 'Transgendered/Transsexual' I tend to try to give a wide berth as it's inevitably the same people shouting the same points at each with neither group ever relenting.

So yeah, currently this is the only topic I can comment on :/

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

I stay out of every thread, basically. However, I'll admit I read the feminism/sexism ones for no other reason than to confirm that it's the same people repeating the same things again and again and again for all eternity.

 

[Ryotknife]

any threads with Anita, religion, republicans, MRA, or patriarchy in it I tend to be wary about.

 

[shrekfan246]

Only three times a week?

Past month or so I've gone up to about three times a day.

It's like there's some unholy demonfire burning through the forums right now, corrupting everything beautiful and turning it into some nightmarish hellscape.

So instead I've been actually playing games and having fun, because really, life is too short to get pissed off about a joke that Yahtzee made, or to endlessly repeat the cycle of bitching about how terrible Mass Effect 3 was, or to mindlessly rage about Sarkeesian when she's doing no harm to the gaming industry.

 

[The Gnome King]

Any topic that has the words 'Women' 'Feminism' 'Anita Sar...something' or 'Transgendered/Transsexual' I tend to try to give a wide berth as it's inevitably the same people shouting the same points at each with neither group ever relenting.

So yeah, currently this is the only topic I can comment on :/

I refuse to comment any more on topics that include:

Social Justice (I see class as the main social justice issue in our time, not race, gender, or sexual orientation and so I spend my time - offline - trying to end class divisions. Social justice discussions of any time on the internet make me ill - if you want to make a change, get off the web and go volunteer.)

Feminism (My wife and I call ourselves humanists, not feminists, for the same reason Susan Sarandon does.)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/08/susan-sarandon-says-she-s-not-a-feminist-why-she-dumped-the-label.html

I will not get involved in any "gender wars" topic because I think it's a false argument forced on the lower classes by the upper classes to keep people distracted and fighting each other. Men and women are natural partners, I'm in a 13 year long loving marriage - gender wars are idiotic and time wasting.

And... that's pretty much it. Social justice and feminism I won't touch with somebody elses 10' pole. Let those who are interested in gender wars or fighting "who is the biggest victim" play it out, I'll be busy improving my life and trying to do something real to help those suffering in the world.

That is, when I'm not playing awesome games.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Generally speaking I don't take notice of things that don't interest me. On rare occasions I'll come into a thread imagining I'll make some comment on the OP, and discover it's become so toxic that I beat a hasty retreat so as not to get sucked into the circle of hate. Usually the calm posts outnumber the nasty posts at least 3-1 though. Even in the more controversy-baiting threads.

If I had a complaint, it wouldn't be "People are discussing things I don't like" or "People are having a controversial discussion, stop them". It would be "I see six posts on the same controversial subject on page one. We should maybe combine those into a single thread".

If you're the sort of person who sees there are already huge threads on a subject and start your own in order to harvest views and comments, then you are a bad person, and bad things should happen to you. Like, say, you go to the store and buy some 1% milk, and then get home and discover it's actually skim.

Things like that.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/08/susan-sarandon-says-she-s-not-a-feminist-why-she-dumped-the-label.html

Good article, thanks for that.

I still cannot wrap my head around dumping a word just because a group of stubborn idiots continue to misuse and misunderstand it, but I understand her reasoning.

 

[Cabisco]

I will not get involved in any "gender wars" topic because I think it's a false argument forced on the lower classes by the upper classes to keep people distracted and fighting each other. Men and women are natural partners, I'm in a 13 year long loving marriage - gender wars are idiotic and time wasting.

And... that's pretty much it. Social justice and feminism I won't touch with somebody elses 10' pole. Let those who are interested in gender wars or fighting "who is the biggest victim" play it out, I'll be busy improving my life and trying to do something real to help those suffering in the world.

That is, when I'm not playing awesome games.

Firstly that Susan Sarandon thing is pretty interesting and secondly could you explain the gender war is a class thing please? You genuinely Piqued my interest as I don't think I've heard about that before.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Firstly that Susan Sarandon thing is pretty interesting and secondly could you explain the gender war is a class thing please? You genuinely peaked my interest as I don't think I've heard about that before.

You used *Piqued* correctly and didn't accidently put "Peaked", you magnificent person!

I'll second your interest though, as it's a...curious thing to say.

 

[Cabisco]

Firstly that Susan Sarandon thing is pretty interesting and secondly could you explain the gender war is a class thing please? You genuinely Piqued my interest as I don't think I've heard about that before.

You used *Piqued* correctly and didn't accidently put "Peaked", you magnificent person!

I'll second your interest though, as it's a...curious thing to say.

Why thank you for the compliment, nothing to see here...

Edit:

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Why thank you for the compliment, nothing to see here...

Edit:

What edit? I see no edit.

 

[The Gnome King]

Firstly that Susan Sarandon thing is pretty interesting and secondly could you explain the gender war is a class thing please? You genuinely peaked my interest as I don't think I've heard about that before.

Gender wars (like race wars, religious wars, etc) are designed by those in power to keep the lower classes divided amongst themselves. If we blame women, or blacks, or gays for our problems then we're less likely to look at the actual sources of our problems. Without getting into a social justice discussion and breaking my own rules, here are a few links you might find interesting if you wish to study this further:

http://www.michaelparenti.org/ClassWarfare.html

http://www.newgirlsnet.com/how-the-gender-wars-became-a-class-war/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/hetpat/2013/05/09/empathy-and-the-new-gender-wars/

http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/en/slaughte.htm

A great book on class in America is:

http://www.amazon.com/Class-Through-American-Status-System/dp/0671792253

As I always like to say, it's better to be a wealthy minority if you have to be a minority; wealth seems to smooth out all roads in life. Nobody would argue that a rich black woman has it harder than a poor white man, would they? (I'm a member of a minority group myself and I have to say, I'd rather be a member of this persecuted minority than poor any day of the week and twice on Sundays.)

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I know how you feel OP, I didn't even know there was controversy this week as until Tueday when I got round to reading Extra Punctuation. I guess I've been so busy this week it kind of slipped me by thankfully. That and I tend to stick to User Groups a lot now as it seems the forums can't go a day without starting up the same arguments again and again. So yeah thank goodness awesome User Groups I guess.

 

[The Gnome King]

Why thank you for the compliment, nothing to see here...

Edit:

What edit? I see no edit.

You might also like

Race, Class, and Gender in the United States
edited by Paula S. Rothenberg

I don't know if the relevant page link will quote properly:

http://books.google.com/books?id=N2pyIc8VoWcC&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=gender+and+race+warfare+as+a+class+control&source=bl&ots=J34GQYljXS&sig=b1WWSquWD-Pk3belDWy4_xCqlGg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KJUfUvyjK-ewyQG4z4HoDQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=gender%20and%20race%20warfare%20as%20a%20class%20control&f=false

She explains that it's not gender but class that determines who suffers. The poor men get sent to war, etc.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Gender wars (like race wars, religious wars, etc) are designed by those in power to keep the lower classes divided amongst themselves.

Mmmnnyeeaahhhh...

I dunno man. I think any time you have a power disparity, regardless of whether it is based in race, class, gender, etc, you are going to see friction. I don't think one of them is the source of the others, any more than I think they are something sprung from the imagination of a privileged minority as a plot to maintain the status quo.

HOWEVER...I know you hate this kind of thing, so there is absolutely no need for us to have a discussion about it. Especially in this thread about avoiding discussions exactly like this one.

So hey, how about this crazy weather we're having?

 

[Queen Michael]

Anything about feminism, I'll most likely stay out of.

Also, anything about gun control.

And I try to avoid any thread discussing manga, since they might include some criticism of some manga that I like.

 

[Cabisco]

Firstly that Susan Sarandon thing is pretty interesting and secondly could you explain the gender war is a class thing please? You genuinely peaked my interest as I don't think I've heard about that before.

Gender wars (like race wars, religious wars, etc) are designed by those in power to keep the lower classes divided amongst themselves. If we blame women, or blacks, or gays for our problems then we're less likely to look at the actual sources of our problems. Without getting into a social justice discussion and breaking my own rules, here are a few links you might find interesting if you wish to study this further:

http://www.michaelparenti.org/ClassWarfare.html

http://www.newgirlsnet.com/how-the-gender-wars-became-a-class-war/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/hetpat/2013/05/09/empathy-and-the-new-gender-wars/

http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/en/slaughte.htm

A great book on class in America is:

http://www.amazon.com/Class-Through-American-Status-System/dp/0671792253

As I always like to say, it's better to be a wealthy minority if you have to be a minority; wealth seems to smooth out all roads in life. Nobody would argue that a rich black woman has it harder than a poor white man, would they? (I'm a member of a minority group myself and I have to say, I'd rather be a member of this persecuted minority than poor any day of the week and twice on Sundays.)

Thank you very much, thats tonights reading material sorted

What edit? I see no edit.

Why can't everything be this lighthearted and cheerful?

 

[EternallyBored]

I like to get involved in a good debate, and even the sexism and Anita threads have been interesting and entertaining from time to time. There is certainly room to discuss most anything even if the two sides vehemently disagree, challenging your own views and those of others is a valuable exercise even in less serious hobbies like gaming.

That being said, some topics get too toxic and just become both sides circle jerking to their own opinions. The current "Should feminism and gaming mix?" thread is the perfect example of this, an inflammatory first post filled with enough logic holes to mistake the thing for Swiss cheese, people shouting the same opinions at each other in smug sarcastic tones as if everyone should obviously agree with them, enough straw to smother the state of Texas, and logical fallacies as far as the eye can see. I got to about page 2 before telling myself, "Bored my boy, I think it's best if we stay away from this one, nothing good can come from this abomination against civility and common decency".

I also tend to stay out of obvious repeat topics where the poster is making a new thread in order to share something that could have easily been said in one of the other 4 active topics on the subject. Seriously it's just a dick thing to do, your opinion is not so revolutionary that it deserves its own thread, stick it in a relevant thread and be done with it.