The Felicia Day/Destructoid situation

[MrMorphine]

Recently Destructoid writer Ryan Perez made a couple comments about Felicia Day on his Twitter account

''Ryan?s questions to Felicia were as follows: ?I keep seeing [you] everywhere. Question: Do you matter at all? Do you even provide anything useful to gaming, besides ?personality?? could you be considered nothing more than a glorified booth babe? You don?t seem to add anything creative to the medium.?''

Following total uproar Ryan was pressured into resigning from his position with Destructoid as D-toid issued apologies to Miss Day. Other figures such as Adam Baldwin and Wil Wheaton have come out in support of Felicia. But quite frankly...isn't he right? What of substance has she contributed to the gaming medium?

While some of his comments could be interpreted as insulting he made a valid point that much of the gaming community has echoed previously. And besides that,it was his private Twitter which was in no way associated with D-toid and he never claimed he spoke for D-toid. People now flock to his Twitter, calling him ''sick'' and a ''misogynist'' (the latter is quite confusing as he never made any comment that was anti-woman,simply anti-Day). Does a man deserve to lose his job for some opinions he holds privately?

 

[Kahunaburger]

Hmm... I wonder what Ryan Perez has "provided to gaming." Oh, wait, nobody asks that question because he has a Y chromosome and it's not a good question.

 

[DoPo]

Who is Felicia Day and why should we care about what she contributed to gaming or not?

OK, I actually know who she is, but the question stands - how is she connected to video games and all the rest?

 

[Cheesepower5]

Hmm... I wonder what Ryan Perez has "provided to gaming." Oh, wait, nobody asks that question because he has a Y chromosome and it's not a good question.

Yeah, far be it to see anybody EVER being cruel to a man. Not like losing his job for a few dumbass comments, that'd never happen.

Would a female games journalist get fired for saying that? Be it to Day, or any man/woman. Not that I agree with his comments, I neither give a fuck who he is nor what he said, and have just the tiniest inkling of who Felicia Day is. That being said, I've heard this question before, so perhaps it's not one man's issues with sexism.

 

[bells]

It's not what you say, is how you said it.

Did he had any validity to his questions? Perhaps. Was he professional about posing these questions? Absolu-fucking-lutely not.

He deserverd to get canned for it, because in lieu of being "the voice of gamers" he was a douche. You can make the same questioning and rise the same topic with much better arguments and without being a dick.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I don't even know who she is, but on his case:
- he did not do it privately
- all companies advise you to not associate yourself with them if you are doing your own public shindig
- but he already did so he should know better
- and he was just a straight up dick

If you want to trash talk do so drunk with your mates, and if you intend to keep your job you do not do it in a professional capacity.

 

[Don Savik]

On his personal twitter? That's pretty goddam stupid if you ask me. Firing sounds a bit extreme in this situation, but we know how the video gaming community feels about about women. We can't can't handle anything calmly.

[sub](past 2 months of rape and feminism threads on the escapist)[/sub]

 

[Kahunaburger]

Hmm... I wonder what Ryan Perez has "provided to gaming." Oh, wait, nobody asks that question because he has a Y chromosome and it's not a good question.

Yeah, far be it to see anybody EVER being cruel to a man. Not like losing his job for a few dumbass comments, that'd never happen.

Yeah, because getting in hot water over sexist remarks is totally the same as being the target of sexist remarks, guise. (Like, seriously, did anyone call, for instance, Nathan Fillion a "glorified booth babe" for being in and helping to promote a Halo game?)

 

[Phasmal]

That's kind of dumb.
Why on earth would you single someone out and be like `justify your existance to me!`.
Sounds like a bit of a prick.

 

[Hazy992]

Whether his comments were technically right or not is irrelevant; he was being a dick to her for no reason. It's uncalled for.

And to ask a question that way when you're supposed to be a journalist is completely unprofessional.

 

[Cheesepower5]

Hmm... I wonder what Ryan Perez has "provided to gaming." Oh, wait, nobody asks that question because he has a Y chromosome and it's not a good question.

Yeah, far be it to see anybody EVER being cruel to a man. Not like losing his job for a few dumbass comments, that'd never happen.

Yeah, because getting in hot water over sexist remarks is totally the same as being the target of sexist remarks, guise. (Like, seriously, did anyone call, for instance, Nathan Fillion a "glorified booth babe" for being in and helping to promote a Halo game?)

Prove it was sexist. He never said anything to women, he said it to Felicia Day. Last I checked, Felicia Day is not women.

And okay, I misspoke in my previous post. I didn't mean to imply what's-his-name Perez, was the target of sexism. He's not in hot water because of his gender, it's because of the gender of the person he's speaking to. That's just as bad. It's like dropping two people in a warzone for no reason, and saying to the girl: "Oh yeah, here's your bullet proof armour. You get it because you have a vagina."

 

[bells]

Also, the guy is totally a douche

https://twitter.com/PissedOffRyno/status/219343681575063552

 

[Kahunaburger]

Hmm... I wonder what Ryan Perez has "provided to gaming." Oh, wait, nobody asks that question because he has a Y chromosome and it's not a good question.

Yeah, far be it to see anybody EVER being cruel to a man. Not like losing his job for a few dumbass comments, that'd never happen.

Yeah, because getting in hot water over sexist remarks is totally the same as being the target of sexist remarks, guise. (Like, seriously, did anyone call, for instance, Nathan Fillion a "glorified booth babe" for being in and helping to promote a Halo game?)

Prove it was sexist.

"Why is this woman visible in this industry? Is it just because people find her attractive?" is pretty textbook, and not just for video games.

How about Nolan North? He's pretty visible as a voice actor & is involved in the promotion of games he's in. People apparently find him attractive. Does he ever get shit being an attractive person of his sex participating in the industry?

He's not in hot water because of his gender, it's because of the gender of the person he's speaking to.

Or, more specifically, for making a specific kind of gendered attack that is pretty much only ever used against women. If he wanted to critique marketing strategies that hinge on participation of celebs people find attractive, that's a critique he could have made in a much better way than going after a specific actress as a "glorified booth babe."

 

[DustyDrB]

I like Destructoid, but this guy is a dick and his comments had no validity. And yes, it is sexist. I wasn't ready to go there until he made the "glorified booth babe" remark.

And for people defending the contents of his remark (even if you admit how he said it was wrong), what makes Felicia Day worth singling out? She's an actress. She's voiced characters in games. She's done a damn good job in some of those (Veronica from New Vegas being a great example). If you have a problem with her in games, then you should also have the same problem with Patrick Stewart or Seth Green. Do you? I highly doubt it. She has a lot more relevancy to gaming than Mr. Perez.

Sexism is a thing. There's nothing wrong with pointing it out when it actually happens. You don't have to tip-toe around the issue when some some douchebag shows his true colors.

 

[DoPo]

And because nobody answered my question, I went crying to Google. To my surprise, I found this article [http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/07/01/the-wreck-of-the-s-s-censorship-or-how-writers-steer-their-careers-into-the-rocks/] on top. So go and read it because it's by Chuck Wendig. I still didn't get my answers, but I love the dude's writing.

 

[Nomanslander]

Wait a sec, they fired a guy for asking a question? Has the whole world been P-whipped?

Being a prick or not, he asked a simple question, and because he asked it towards a women everyone got sensitive and Perez became the villain.

I'm sorry, this isn't like when that one sexist and racist DJ called a bunch of women from women's basketball "nappy headed hoes,' this is completely different.

He asked a questions that is honestly on a lot of peoples minds towards a lot of women in gaming. The fact is the industry wants more women involved, but name me a female personality in gaming that isn't "cute" at least and I'll show you the only reason they have their jobs. So the industry is sexist to begin with and firing a man that asked such a simple question is OUTRAGES!

OUT-FUCKING-RAGES!!

 

[Launcelot111]

I've never understood her popularity either. What's she done? A tertiary role on Buffy, a couple game voiceovers, and a decent web show. Am I forgetting something? I like her just fine, but I've never understood why her presence in something is noteworthy. That said, I don't hold her success against her at all, and this guy's comments are way too aggressive in any case. I don't see him as sexist as much as tactless and rude (except for that booth babe line).

 

[Kahunaburger]

https://twitter.com/PissedOffRyno/status/219343681575063552

Ahahahaha

Mad detected. Truly this is the way a professional presents himself on social media.

 

[Acier]

The fact that this is even being debated as being sexist is awful. Of course it is.
I'm pretty sure acting is her medium of choice and and she's well regarded in that and this carries over into voice acting in games, and she's been in a few AAA games sure, but I don't really remember her claiming herself as a major part of the games industry so the comment is completely out of tact.


What an asshole.

 

[Nomanslander]

And I don't know if any you understand this, but we're in a recession. Getting fired is a very BAD thing, and over a matter like this with this publicity--well, he's probably not going to be able to find a job in the game industry ever again. That is so fucked up in so many ways I don't know how to comment any further.

Now any of you under the age of 18 that would say it was just, if you haven't worked a day in your life or had to deal with unemployment, than you have no right to speak! NONE!