I want to preface this post by first saying I do not; in any way, shape or form condone or support harassment. This topic only serves to examine and compare the gaming community to other western subcultures when it comes to what the collective perceives as "radical" criticism.
I don't know if it's been posted here yet and if it's already been discussed I apologise for wasting your time, but a few days ago I came across this parody article;
https://medium.com/@OppressEggplant/hip-hop-heads-dont-have-to-be-your-audience-and-hip-hop-is-dead-1c8343f1b8bc
It's word for word a replication of Leigh Alexander's "Gamers are Dead" article, but instead of being about gamers and the gaming community, it is instead about the Hip Hop community and the members there of.
What's immediately noticeable, at least to me, is how blatantly offensive it is by simply changing the subculture that's the subject of discussion. I imagine it would remain offensive, regardless of any other subculture you'd make the article about.
It made me think about some of the other criticisms levied against the gaming community recently and much of the communities response to it. Particularly Anita Sarkeesians "Tropes vs Women" web series.
Imagine, if you would, another Anita Sarkeesian but one who criticises the Hip Hop genre of music in the same ways Anita does the gaming industry. Someone who finds the majority of the genres lyrics objectionable, offensive and misogynistic. So it can't just be ignored and for the sake of fairness, these videos are featured in articles on and linked to by most of the big Hip Hop websites. Their response when criticized by their communities for signal boosting these videos is that it's always important to offer a differing view. How do you think it would fly with the online Hip Hop communities?
Another hypothetical Sarkeesian, but this time tackling the Football/Soccer/Rugby(whatever's popular near your locale) culture. Discussing how cheerleaders objectify women and how the common drinking environment and the heavy ratio of males at games makes women feel unsafe. How difficult it is for women to climb the occupational ladder in that industry. Users log on to ESPN or another big football site and once again we find them signal boosting these critical videos for the sake of offering a different view. How do you think it would fly with sports fans?
The gaming community has been called many things the last year or so when it comes to how it responds to what it perceives as "radical" criticism, particularly when the criticism is supported by the communities own media, but frankly, I don't think the response would be any different from any other entertainment/competition centered subculture. For that matter, I doubt their media would support and signal boost the criticism for the sake of inclusivity and offering a different point of view to make the communities aware such criticisms exist to begin with. Am I wrong?
I don't know if it's been posted here yet and if it's already been discussed I apologise for wasting your time, but a few days ago I came across this parody article;
https://medium.com/@OppressEggplant/hip-hop-heads-dont-have-to-be-your-audience-and-hip-hop-is-dead-1c8343f1b8bc
It's word for word a replication of Leigh Alexander's "Gamers are Dead" article, but instead of being about gamers and the gaming community, it is instead about the Hip Hop community and the members there of.
What's immediately noticeable, at least to me, is how blatantly offensive it is by simply changing the subculture that's the subject of discussion. I imagine it would remain offensive, regardless of any other subculture you'd make the article about.
It made me think about some of the other criticisms levied against the gaming community recently and much of the communities response to it. Particularly Anita Sarkeesians "Tropes vs Women" web series.
Imagine, if you would, another Anita Sarkeesian but one who criticises the Hip Hop genre of music in the same ways Anita does the gaming industry. Someone who finds the majority of the genres lyrics objectionable, offensive and misogynistic. So it can't just be ignored and for the sake of fairness, these videos are featured in articles on and linked to by most of the big Hip Hop websites. Their response when criticized by their communities for signal boosting these videos is that it's always important to offer a differing view. How do you think it would fly with the online Hip Hop communities?
Another hypothetical Sarkeesian, but this time tackling the Football/Soccer/Rugby(whatever's popular near your locale) culture. Discussing how cheerleaders objectify women and how the common drinking environment and the heavy ratio of males at games makes women feel unsafe. How difficult it is for women to climb the occupational ladder in that industry. Users log on to ESPN or another big football site and once again we find them signal boosting these critical videos for the sake of offering a different view. How do you think it would fly with sports fans?
The gaming community has been called many things the last year or so when it comes to how it responds to what it perceives as "radical" criticism, particularly when the criticism is supported by the communities own media, but frankly, I don't think the response would be any different from any other entertainment/competition centered subculture. For that matter, I doubt their media would support and signal boost the criticism for the sake of inclusivity and offering a different point of view to make the communities aware such criticisms exist to begin with. Am I wrong?