Legally are gamers overly descriminated against?

[pdgeorge]

This'll sound wierd but bear with me.

If you call a homosexual *a list of words I'd get banned for saying, refering to their choice of lifestyle* you will get in alot of legal trouble potentialy (and on forums banned etc. etc.)
If you refuse to hire someone and they are gay they can turn around and accuse you of bigotry (whether its true or not you generally still have to fight the allegations against you)
Same thing goes for any race other then white (If your white and someone insults you for being white it's not racist in most situations sadly in most peoples minds)
Ditto for women (any form of bigotry against women we all know heaps of things. Refering to them belonging in the kitchen, not hiring them in favour of hiring a man etc.)
Same goes for different religeous groups. Make a comment about that... you can be sued.

2 out of those 4 are choices, 2 out of them are how your born.
Being a gamer is a choice. However people have free reign to insult, berate and degrade gamers and they don't classify it in any way the same field as the other 2 (and theres alot of other examples of 'hate crimes' I just can't think of all the groups)
If certain groups get protection for their choice in lifestyle then why don't all groups? do you think it's fair (this can apply to more then just gamers... basketballers, mechanics etc. heaps of different groups of people) that some groups get extra protection in legal ways then other groups of people do? That some excuses work for some groups of people and not other people purely on the basis that one group is generally more liked/accepted then another group?

 

[Dys]

Would we really want to be sugar coated and given false opportunities when that's not really how the world works? People don't like nerds, we know this when we decide to be nerdy.

With minority groups they have a problem with being treated differently, as a gamer we often aim to be treated differently. We are, in general, elitist assholes who look down on the general population as below us, should we really expect to accept us, even to the point of forcing them to?

 

[NimbleJack3]

This is everywhere, at the highest and lowest level, in all shades. There is the underlying human philosophy, 'Different Is Bad'. It's the reason for all conflicts. When we come up against an abnormality, our first instinct is to make it normal again. I think it's maybe due to how we perceive our environment. The human brain is trained to recognize changes, not constants. This is why we tune out to repetition and accept it as the norm.

 

[crudus]

It is seeming like gamers are this generations Hippies (E4 being Woodstock). The current bosses right now grew up right before video games so they have looked down at gamers our entire life as lazy beatniks who blow their money on our drugs (actual drugs or the endorphins released during the play of a good game). As far as protection goes: Homosexuals and such have been discriminated against for years prior to now (whereas gamers have been getting it recently) and now that society are more accepting of homosexuals they are fighting for their rights. They may get them, they may not.

 

[WrongSprite]

People don't like nerds, we know this when we decide to be nerdy.

That made me chuckle, but it's bloody true.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Hrmm, I think you'll find that gay folk may have issue with you describing their sexuality as a choice. It's a little bit of prejudice right there in assuming that homosexuals are choosing their sexuality. Anyway, we gamers may get a little bit of light mocking from other members of the public but I would never go so far as to say that we were discriminated against. I mean, come on, it's not as though we've got any real problems in living in today's society compared to, say, Black people in America prior to Martin Luther King.

Just saying, it's not really discrimination to get called a bit of a geek for playing games.

 

[pdgeorge]

I understand that gamers want to be different from alot of people. But in the case of the law and legal stuff, since it is supposed to govern everyone fairly (and cater to minority groups which it does to an extent) is it acceptable that certain groups (IE: geeks nerds gamers etc.) don't get the same protection as other minority groups? The fact that some minority groups get defence where other minority groups don't puts the legal system in a hypocritical stance where they literally are prejudizing against certain groups while being accepting of others.

(edit: btw, I didn't want to say this in my first post because I didn't want people to focus on this instead of the actual content of the post but my personal belief is that you can't say "this is how we were born" for homosexuals, because if that rule applies to homosexuals (they were born with a certain sexual prefference and where they will find stronger emotions) then the EXACT same thing can be said for pedophiles etc. I don't want to justify pedophilia or any of the other sick perversions out there by saying it's alright for one group to use that excuse. Because if gay people can use that excuse why can't pedophiles? I DO NOT APPROVE OF PEDOPHILIA AND I DO NOT THINK GAY PEOPLE ARE ON THE SAME MORAL LEVEL! I DISAGREE WITH THE STATEMENT BECAUSE OF ITS FLAWS!!!)

 

[loremazd]

Technology is becoming mainstream and cool, and nerds with it. I mean, you still likely wouldn't discuss anime with a coworker, but it's getting there. Nerds are good workers. But I've got to say, no employer is going to know or care about your personal life enough to know if you are or aren't a gamer. There are harassment laws, not "He's making fun of me!" laws, that goes for anti gay, racism, and masochism. In general it's a good thing, freedom of speech and whatnot, even though they are morons they have rights, they lose them when they persist with harassment, physical contact, or disturbing the peace with excessive shouting.

I guess my point is this.... if you think people can go to jail for saying rude things to other people, it's not like that. Discrimination laws are for the workplace, and your employer wont know or care if you are nerdy, as there are tons of nerdy folks in the workplace.

 

[Dys]

I understand that gamers want to be different from alot of people. But in the case of the law and legal stuff, since it is supposed to govern everyone fairly (and cater to minority groups which it does to an extent) is it acceptable that certain groups (IE: geeks nerds gamers etc.) don't get the same protection as other minority groups? The fact that some minority groups get defence where other minority groups don't puts the legal system in a hypocritical stance where they literally are prejudizing against certain groups while being accepting of others.

Gamers are not a minority group, nor do we need any protection.
I'm yet to here of anybody going "nerdbashing" or refusing to give someone a job based on them playing video games, I don't understand how you can compare pregidous with mild teasing, it seems absurd.

 

[NoriYuki Sato]

now for all of you saying "nobody gets harrased for being a gamer or a nerd" that is untrue, i am one of the cases where in junior high, i was picked on because i was a gamer, when they couldn't get to me by insults, they started to insult my friends for hanging around with a gamer, and i'll be honest, i almost broke the kid's nose that started the whole thing. i was also tripped down the stairs a lot for the same reason. all because i was, am, and always will be a gamer. so don't say we don't need protection, because some of us do. however we don't need protection via the law. just from fellow gamers, nerds, and geeks. my band is all about helping the little guys that get stepped on and being their voice, well....we ARE some of the little guys that get stepped on, you have to take that into account before you say we aren't discriminated against, because we are. not anywhere near enough to bring the law into it, but we most certainly are discriminated against. if you play WoW or Riddick, FEAR or Fluffy Bunny 12: Escape from Fluffy Bunny Prison, you are discriminated against in some way shape or form, so stop arguing and stand together to support those that DO get picked on and beat up because they are nerdy or geeky or a gamer.

*EDIT* like one of the guys before me, i didn't want ppl to draw away form my rant of inspiration-ish things, but my best friend is gay, and i support him, because he chose that path, and it's hard enough being in high school and being gay for him, and he's also a gamer, he deserves protection, but i say WE give it to him. *EDIT*

 

[bad peanut]

Not sure what legality has to do with it but I think gamers are discriminated against. Like many other guys out there my girlfriend bloody hates me playing games. At the end of the day though, sticks and stones. I like to think of my gaming as a hobby. And if people don't like my hobby that is fine by me, I just won't ask them to play Cod4.

 

[coakroach]

Homosexuality is a choice? Huh.

Is being a gamer that noticeable? Do I emit some kind of nerdly aura? Wha...Who?...

 

[NoriYuki Sato]

it is a lifestyle decision that they chose to follow, because of how the feel. therefore yeah, it's a choice, and it's noticable when you talk to a friend about it who is asking for advice on how to get past a certain part, or you recommend a game, and the list goes on =D

 

[scotth266]

Just saying, it's not really discrimination to get called a bit of a geek for playing games.

This I cannot agree with. You see, this line has the same sort of thought behind it as the Science Channel's commercial promoting their "Geek Pride Day" special. Apparently, if you've ever took apart a computer, you're a geek... This made my dad laugh: he's taken apart computers and put them back together and he's NO geek.

When you consider that the Wii targets basically everybody who can PLAY a game as their target audience, I think that the stereotype of videogame player = geek is already far on the way out.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

When you consider that the Wii targets basically everybody who can PLAY a game as their target audience, I think that the stereotype of videogame player = geek is already far on the way out.

This isn't really what I meant in my post. I was basically just saying that comparing being discriminated against for being a geek (whichever way you want to define it) in everyday society isn't exactly going to stop you from getting a job, is it? Nobody gets uncomfortable about finding out you're a geek in real life or stops you from doing any of the things that anyone else can, do they? If anyone can name an example that applies to normal everyday society then I'll accede defeat.

A homosexual not being allowed to give blood - that's discrimination.
A qualified black guy not getting a job because he's black - that's discrimination.

Gamers don't recieve protection from society because, after high school, we don't NEED protection! We are not discriminated against in any major way! Sure, I had a rough time at High School for being socially awkward and wanting to play computer games and get drunk but after high school it didn't matter any more! THIS is why it's not discrimination.