The American media really hates video games huh

[Milanezi]

Brazil's view of games is, in my opinion, worse: the media either reinforces the idea of games=violence, but mostly downright ignores them as a form of entertainment, it's seem as toy, and even then it's seen as a "stupid children's toys", that's because the culture here never really got into the real game deal. Basically, outside the game community (which is big) the community in general (way bigger) couldn't care less.

 

[thiosk]

Our media outlets are notorious for drumming up bloody-minded fervor in people with average IQs. Most individuals don't have any information on the matter, with which to formulate an opinion, so if a media outlet wants to "sell papers" (or clickthroughs, in modern parlance) they can simply beat on the war drums of whatever topic is convenient- sex in the military, mass murder, benghazi-- and they certainly favor sound bites over reasoned journalism. People don't think critically, often on either side of any argument, and they certainly don't base their arguments on observations and data. That makes them perfectly willing to accept a scapegoat, in this case, videogames, because its no longer appropriate to scapegoat a demographic based on ethnicity.

 

[Gorrath]

I don't want to get all kinds of defensive, but having served in the U.S. military for a good deal of time, some of the broad-brush strokes really do needle at me. I realize that I'm probably going to get hammered for victim blaming here, but I want to let people know about a particular issue that's somewhat unique to the military. When you are deployed and even sometimes in garrison situations, sex between soldiers is forbidden. So when you're in a mixed male/female unit, you have instances where people are copulating against the rules. Once this gets found out, the soldiers can get in VERY hot water and sometimes this leads to the female claiming that she was not a willing participant. Once all of the evidence comes out, there are times when the charges of sexual assault are dismissed.

The reason I'm explaining all this is that I've often seen people ready to demonize any dropped sexual assault charges as the military just trying to cover things up. While tehre are instances of exactly that, there are also instances where the charges being dismissed are absolutely justified. I myself witnessed no fewer than three instances where a long running consensual relationship turned into sexual assault or rape over night once someone higher up caught wind of it.

This is not me attempting to deny anything. The military has a sexual assault and rape problem caused by extraordinary stress combined with a bunch of young adults who are taught to be agressive. No matter how many rules the military puts in place, if you stick two twentyish year old people together you are going to end up withs exual relationships and sexual assaults/rapes. Short of keeping male and female units completely seperate (an almost impossible task) I don't think there is an easy solution to this.

 

[DaedricDuke]

Thinking about it, I do remember a QTE sequence in Battlefield 3, where I had to tap B repeatedly to sodomize my comrade with the butt of my rifle...

Wait... the butt of the rifle?

Would that even work? Surely you'd be better advised to use the barrel.

...

I'm just sayin', y'know, practical considerations.

Make sure the...safety is on.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

I don't want to get all kinds of defensive, but having served in the U.S. military for a good deal of time, some of the broad-brush strokes really do needle at me. I realize that I'm probably going to get hammered for victim blaming here, but I want to let people know about a particular issue that's somewhat unique to the military. When you are deployed and even sometimes in garrison situations, sex between soldiers is forbidden. So when you're in a mixed male/female unit, you have instances where people are copulating against the rules. Once this gets found out, the soldiers can get in VERY hot water and sometimes this leads to the female claiming that she was not a willing participant. Once all of the evidence comes out, there are times when the charges of sexual assault are dismissed.

The reason I'm explaining all this is that I've often seen people ready to demonize any dropped sexual assault charges as the military just trying to cover things up. While tehre are instances of exactly that, there are also instances where the charges being dismissed are absolutely justified. I myself witnessed no fewer than three instances where a long running consensual relationship turned into sexual assault or rape over night once someone higher up caught wind of it.

This is not me attempting to deny anything. The military has a sexual assault and rape problem caused by extraordinary stress combined with a bunch of young adults who are taught to be agressive. No matter how many rules the military puts in place, if you stick two twentyish year old people together you are going to end up withs exual relationships and sexual assaults/rapes. Short of keeping male and female units completely seperate (an almost impossible task) I don't think there is an easy solution to this.

Perhaps that's true but aren't men and women in the military taught to be of the utmost discipline and and moral fiber? I'm not expecting monks in terms of their self-control of their body's urges but i'm expecting someone to be able to control themselves for several years, a fair number of us probably had restraint in high school, couldn't it apply over in the military. Perhaps, i'm missing something though so correct me as you wish

 

[Gorrath]

I don't want to get all kinds of defensive, but having served in the U.S. military for a good deal of time, some of the broad-brush strokes really do needle at me. I realize that I'm probably going to get hammered for victim blaming here, but I want to let people know about a particular issue that's somewhat unique to the military. When you are deployed and even sometimes in garrison situations, sex between soldiers is forbidden. So when you're in a mixed male/female unit, you have instances where people are copulating against the rules. Once this gets found out, the soldiers can get in VERY hot water and sometimes this leads to the female claiming that she was not a willing participant. Once all of the evidence comes out, there are times when the charges of sexual assault are dismissed.

The reason I'm explaining all this is that I've often seen people ready to demonize any dropped sexual assault charges as the military just trying to cover things up. While tehre are instances of exactly that, there are also instances where the charges being dismissed are absolutely justified. I myself witnessed no fewer than three instances where a long running consensual relationship turned into sexual assault or rape over night once someone higher up caught wind of it.

This is not me attempting to deny anything. The military has a sexual assault and rape problem caused by extraordinary stress combined with a bunch of young adults who are taught to be agressive. No matter how many rules the military puts in place, if you stick two twentyish year old people together you are going to end up withs exual relationships and sexual assaults/rapes. Short of keeping male and female units completely seperate (an almost impossible task) I don't think there is an easy solution to this.

Perhaps that's true but aren't men and women in the military taught to be of the utmost discipline and and moral fiber? I'm not expecting monks in terms of their self-control of their body's urges but i'm expecting someone to be able to control themselves for several years, a fair number of us probably had restraint in high school, couldn't it apply over in the military. Perhaps, i'm missing something though so correct me as you wish

Discipline is very important to every branch of the military, that's certainly true, but I'll be the first to tell you that people look for outlets from that discipline whenever they can. When you spend days, weeks and months under extreme stress while keeping yourself composed despite being depressed, terrified, shocked and beaten down all of those emotions have to go somewhere. Often they go into what little physical relationships you can have, which is why sex is rampant among mixed sex units, whether that sex be consensual or not. Discipline can only keep so much of that stuff back, and internalizing it all is one of the things that leads to PTSD. Trust me when I say I've seen all this stuff first hand.

As for highschool, in the U.S. at least we have an epedemic of teenaged sex, so taking all of those kids a year or two later and putting them under some of the worst stress imaginable only serves to make the problems worse.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

I just get the impression that americans hate everything.
On the other hand the British are cynical about everything...

I think it's more that Americans divert attention from big issues with scapegoats and that British make dark comedy around it
(please correct me if i'm wrong)

Actually that's a wonderfully succinct way of putting it. Although the Daily Mail provides a good portion of moral panic, scapegoating, paranoia and misrepresentation. So it's not all dark comedy.

Moral crusaders of all countries hate vidya games. The actual reason for the (unexistent) rise of crime, violence and melting of the Arctic is: video games, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, "we've moved away from god" and "the government is behind it all", usually coupled with aliens.

I wouldn't say 'all' countries. It's mainly you guys and then a couple of trashy British papers. I don't think they're having this debate in France or Germany or Sweden or wherever. I could be wrong, though.
Try saying something bad happened because 'we moved away from God' in Britain though and you'll get laughed out of the building...

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Perhaps that's true but aren't men and women in the military taught to be of the utmost discipline and and moral fiber? I'm not expecting monks in terms of their self-control of their body's urges but i'm expecting someone to be able to control themselves for several years, a fair number of us probably had restraint in high school, couldn't it apply over in the military. Perhaps, i'm missing something though so correct me as you wish

Discipline is very important to every branch of the military, taht's certainly true, but I'll be the first to tell you that people look for outlets from that discipline whenever they can. When you spend days, weeks and months under extreme stress while keeping yourself composed despite being depressed, terrified, shocked and beaten down all of those emotions have to go somewhere. Often they go into what little physical relationships you can have, which is why sex is rampant among mixed sex units, whether that sex be consensual or not. Discipline can only keep so much of that stuff back, and internalizing it all is one of the things that leads to PTSD. Trust me when I say I've seen all this stuff first hand.

As for highschool, in the U.S. at least we have an epedemic of teenaged sex, so taking all of those kids a year or two later and putting them under some of the worst stress imaginable only serves to make the problems worse.

So there are two possible methods of resolving this issue. One would be have more releases of stress such as games, activities, and generally hobbies while overseas. This could help with PTSD and emotional release but the expenses and materials would be tough to manage.

The other is to increase the amount of discipline required to pass bootcamp and make it into the service. Have the men and women be able to fully shut out all body urges if possible, It was what I did in high school to keep my lust in check (it did drive me into slight depression and insanity though but I have a feeling that the military men and women are tougher people than me)

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

I just get the impression that americans hate everything.
On the other hand the British are cynical about everything...

I think it's more that Americans divert attention from big issues with scapegoats and that British make dark comedy around it
(please correct me if i'm wrong)

Actually that's a wonderfully succinct way of putting it. Although the Daily Mail provides a good portion of moral panic, scapegoating, paranoia and misrepresentation. So it's not all dark comedy.

Moral crusaders of all countries hate vidya games. The actual reason for the (unexistent) rise of crime, violence and melting of the Arctic is: video games, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, "we've moved away from god" and "the government is behind it all", usually coupled with aliens.

I wouldn't say 'all' countries. It's mainly you guys and then a couple of trashy British papers. I don't think they're having this debate in France or Germany or Sweden or wherever. I could be wrong, though.
Try saying something bad happened because 'we moved away from God' in Britain though and you'll get laughed out of the building...

It would seem that America has some ways to go before a separation of church and state is completely accomplished in the mental state of the nation given the amount of religious lobbyists (note: you can have grievances based off of religion but you must provide non-religous arguments for your case)

I still wish this age of scapegoats would just die because no progress would be done on the real issues

 

[Grant Stackhouse]

Our news agencies, especially print and television are mostly viewed by the older generations, who neither understand now want to understand video games. In general, older people assume that the recreations of their children are leading them astray, so the news plays into that. If you want to get any real news in America, you have to go online to get it, which is something that older people are afraid to do. At least, that seems to be the case with many of the "Over 40" crowd that I've met.

 

[Gorrath]

So there are two possible methods of resolving this issue. One would be have more releases of stress such as games, activities, and generally hobbies while overseas. This could help with PTSD and emotional release but the expenses and materials would be tough to manage.

The other is to increase the amount of discipline required to pass bootcamp and make it into the service. Have the men and women be able to fully shut out all body urges if possible, It was what I did in high school to keep my lust in check (it did drive me into slight depression and insanity though but I have a feeling that the military men and women are tougher people than me)

The military does do its best to provide outlets for that stuff, but its not as easy as simply giving guys board games. Crouching in a 120 degree hole for three months before driving for three days striaght and then engaing in firefights is not the kind of stress that can be cured by playing monopoly. I won't say that having the games and such are useless, as fun is a great way to unwind and let go of things (Look up Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders vs military for an example of how we make our own fun.)

As for simply requiring more discipline, I don't think it's as easy as all that. Simply being more disciplined more of the time isn't going to relieve the stress, it will just help you internalize it for longer. I was very good at both internalizing stress and coping with it, which made me mostly immune to the effects of war, but I saw a lot of people around me break down when we hopped from Kosovo to Afghanistan to Iraq all in the space of two and a half years.

Also, I just want to be clear again for anyone reading. I am not being an apologist for rape or sexual assault here, I just want to make sure people udnerstand the reason why it happens in a group of disciplined individuals who have the weight of the world on their shoulders. YOu can't come away from this stuff without having very strong coping mechanisms or having things in you snap.

 

[COMaestro]

So there are two possible methods of resolving this issue. One would be have more releases of stress such as games, activities, and generally hobbies while overseas. This could help with PTSD and emotional release but the expenses and materials would be tough to manage.

The other is to increase the amount of discipline required to pass bootcamp and make it into the service. Have the men and women be able to fully shut out all body urges if possible, It was what I did in high school to keep my lust in check (it did drive me into slight depression and insanity though but I have a feeling that the military men and women are tougher people than me)

The military does do its best to provide outlets for that stuff, but its not as easy as simply giving guys board games. Crouching in a 120 degree hole for three months before driving for three days striaght and then engaing in firefights is not the kind of stress that can be cured by playing monopoly. I won't say that having the games and such are useless, as fun is a great way to unwind and let go of things (Look up Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders vs military for an example of how we make our own fun.)

As for simply requiring more discipline, I don't think it's as easy as all that. Simply being more disciplined more of the time isn't going to relieve the stress, it will just help you internalize it for longer. I was very good at both internalizing stress and coping with it, which made me mostly immune to the effects of war, but I saw a lot of people around me break down when we hopped from Kosovo to Afghanistan to Iraq all in the space of two and a half years.

Also, I just want to be clear again for anyone reading. I am not being an apologist for rape or sexual assault here, I just want to make sure people udnerstand the reason why it happens in a group of disciplined individuals who have the weight of the world on their shoulders. YOu can't come away from this stuff without having very strong coping mechanisms or having things in you snap.

So basically, if relations between male and female soldiers was approved and no longer a violation of the rules, the "cover my ass" accusations of rape would disappear and we would see the real number of sexual assaults and actual cover-ups in the military? Makes sense to me.

 

[GonzoGamer]

American parents are less likely to think something is their fault or listen to something/someone who tells them its their fault. So when some kid goes nuts, media/politicians will tell the older people its the fault of something else: preferably something that spends little money on tv advertising/lobbying.

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

H. L. Mencken

 

[Gorrath]

So basically, if relations between male and female soldiers was approved and no longer a violation of the rules, the "cover my ass" accusations of rape would disappear and we would see the real number of sexual assaults and actual cover-ups in the military? Makes sense to me.

While condoning sexual relationships among members of a unit might banish the need for false accusations to be leveled in order to shift blame onto a single partner, it isn't something that can happen. The whole reason sexual relationships aren't allowed in war zones is because of the other issues such relationships cause, the biggest being pregnancy. When you serve in an MOS that has a nine month training period and a very high wash out rate, you cannot afford to have members of that unit having to go home because they got pregnant. And this is exactly what happens too. It isn't the only reason sexual relationships aren't allowed, but it is one of the biggest.

Having sexual relationships be against the rules does not stop people though, it just makes them try to cover it up if they get found out. Condoning those relationships might make the issues with unit readiness even worse for a variety of reasons. This is where the military differs so significantly from civilian life, as unit readiness has to come before even the laudable ideals of integration. Losing a third of your unit strength to unanticipated pregnancy and then trying to complete missions where people might get killed is a huge problem.

 

[Kennetic]

So basically, if relations between male and female soldiers was approved and no longer a violation of the rules, the "cover my ass" accusations of rape would disappear and we would see the real number of sexual assaults and actual cover-ups in the military? Makes sense to me.

While condoning sexual relationships among members of a unit might banish the need for false accusations to be leveled in order to shift blame onto a single partner, it isn't something that can happen. The whole reason sexual relationships aren't allowed in war zones is because of the other issues such relationships cause, the biggest being pregnancy. When you serve in an MOS that has a nine month training period and a very high wash out rate, you cannot afford to have members of that unit having to go home because they got pregnant. And this is exactly what happens too. It isn't the only reason sexual relationships aren't allowed, but it is one of the biggest.

Having sexual relationships be against the rules does not stop people though, it just makes them try to cover it up if they get found out. Condoning those relationships might make the issues with unit readiness even worse for a variety of reasons. This is where the military differs so significantly from civilian life, as unit readiness has to come before even the laudable ideals of integration. Losing a third of your unit strength to unanticipated pregnancy and then trying to complete missions where people might get killed is a huge problem.

Perfect response, Gorrath. In the US Army, the first line of the Warrior Ethos is "I will always place the mission first." Pregnant soldiers in a combat zone hurt everyone around them.

 

[Comocat]

I would venture that it has more to do with the fact print media is dying in the United States. When you are paying one reported to do the work of 3, they aren't going to spend the time interviewing relevant experts. It's easier just to rewrite what you heard on the news last week with some juicy sound bites than it is to do an in-depth expose on sex assault in the military. Also, being a member of a gaming community probably primes you to pick up on gaming related issues moreso than the dozens of other topics that have been written on the recent reports of military sexual assaults.

 

[Galletea]

We have the Daily Mail. They hate everything.

The American media seems to like to go heavy on the scaremongering aspect of the news. The news is almost like another entertainment show where every segment has to be over-analysed and exaggerated, usually finding something ridiculous to focus on, such as gaming.
Perhaps it stems from the fact that a lot of Americans are more traditional about this sort of thing. There are definitely more crazy religious types who believe this sort of sensationalism.

 

[Frotality]

american media has currently divided every aspect of reality into conservative and liberal, and scorns anything not representative of the particular group whose power assures them paychecks with equal vitriol. because video games are a relatively recent industry originating from nerds, they have been associated with those pesky progressive elitist liberals and thus conservative media scorns them. our news industry doesnt exist for news right now, please disregard all american news broadcasts, papers, and websites until such time as we stop desperately trying to start a second civil war because none of the other respectable countries will declare war on us and only the fat kid(north korea) will play with us.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

What you see happening in US is only something that can exist in a truly decadent society. It's a first-world country with endless money and power, great living conditions, and a lot of people with a lot of idle time...the perfect recipe for massive over-exaggerations, over-reactions and blamefests going on regarding pretty much any issue. Face it - if there is nothing to whine/blow trumpets about, people will find something to whine/blow trumpets about.

Prime examples range from animal rights activists who take offense to a soldier stabbing a sewer rat in Battlefield 3, to the new wave of internet-feminists who think portrayal of women in videogames is more concerning/important than what is happening to women in the REAL FUCKING WORLD, especially in countries that are stricken by poverty or war.

Really, there is no better example of what happens when a massive chunk of the country's population is completely disconnected from the rest of the world and free of any real issues so they spend their idle time, all that money, etc on things that all other countries can only point at and say "...seriously?".

Mind you I'm not generalizing about people in US and trying to perpetuate the stereotype of "hurrr Americans lol" because it's far from the truth, there are tons of smart US citizens. But unfortunately there is also an uncomfortably large "dumb" portion as well and they tend to make a lot more noise than the smart people, making the whole country look silly.