"We are not your shield"? Gamergate, you need a new motto.

[The_Darkness]

We are not your shield. #NotYourShield.

Imagine if you knew nothing about Gamergate other than that sentence. What does that sentence convey? To me it conveys passive aggressiveness. A lack of inclusion of other people. The sentence is saying to the reader "We are not on your side." And it's saying that regardless of who is reading it.

That's... not a good way to promote diversity, and it's certainly not a good way to get people on your side.

The irony here is that it was meant to mean diversity. It was meant to be a way of saying "We gamers are diverse, we're not all straight-white-men, we're certainly not all straight-white-fat-misogynistic-men who live in basements, and stop treating gamers as if that's all we are." It was meant to be a message to the journalists who attacked gamers that, well, not all gamers fit the stereotyped image that they were attacking, and that the journalists should stop hiding behind those stereotypes. That they should stop using those stereotypes as a shield.

(Do correct me if I'm wrong; I'm getting my information from KnowYourMeme at the moment. I came across the sentence before I knew what people meant by it, and that's what spurred me to create this thread.)

Do you agree? Or am I completely in the wrong?

And if you do agree - what would you propose as a better motto?

EDIT:

So, I got the origins of "We are not your shield" slightly wrong. To be specific, it's about journalists speaking on behalf of minorities but using that cause to deflect criticism - even when criticism comes from a member of the minorities they claim to represent.

For the direct origins of the phrase, see here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.860604-We-are-not-your-shield-Gamergate-you-need-a-new-motto?page=3#21404918]

 

[madwarper]

Imagine if you knew nothing about Gamergate other than that sentence. What does that sentence convey?

So, if you are completely unaware of the context of a statement, then the statement will be taken out of context?

Spoiler

(Do correct me if I'm wrong; I'm getting my information from KnowYourMeme at the moment. I came across the sentence before I knew what people meant by it, and that's what spurred me to create this thread.)

Really? Because, it's plainly spelled out there;

Spoiler

http://knowyourmeme.com/forums/meme-research/topics/29150-the-notyourshield-hashtag

Okay, this hashtag has its roots in the Quinnspiracy/Gamergate debacle, as a way for minorities to speak up against this, as well as tell gaming journalists to stop using minorities/women as a means of deflecting the issue at large. It originated in this particular thread. I will quote the conversation;

?WHO /MINORITY/ HERE? I?m like 2/3 of the things these faggots say they are fighting for, and when I engage them on Twitter (WITH MY FUCKING PERSONAL ACCOUNT) they ignore me. Jesus Christ this is getting frustrating, I might as well be a white male for these faggots.?

?Something like
>#NotYourShield
And demand the SJWs stop using you as a shield to deflect genuine criticism?

Currently, it is having a great effect on Twitter and tumblr, and I felt that it deserves an article for extra visibility.

As much as I hate hashtag articles, I felt that this one could use the KYM oomph.

And I want SJWs to suffer trying to comprehend this.

 

[tilmoph]

Have to disagree; as a tag, I find it pithy and effective; it conveys frustration at being spoken for, not wanting to have your identity used to malign another of your identities, and at having your identities (gebnder, race, sexuality etc) denied because you are part of a group (gamergate) that your opponents want to mean something other than what it means.

 

[RexMundane]

So first, game journalists start writing articles about how the conventional image of the "gamer," the mid-20s heavy white male with stunted emotional development, is in fact not representative of gaming today, nor the world at large, and start declaring that stereotype "dead."

Afterward, gamers who don't fit that stereotype somehow feel like those articles are attacking them, or claiming to speak on their own behalf somehow. So they form the hashtag as a way to demonstrate to the world that gaming is filled with all sorts of people, and that the stereotype is, effectively, "dead."

That's what #NotYourShield means to me. You have two seperate groups, both with the same enemy, yet fighting each other. Tragic, yet poetic, in its way.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

So first, game journalists start writing articles about how the conventional image of the "gamer," the mid-20s heavy white male with stunted emotional development, is in fact not representative of gaming today, nor the world at large, and start declaring that stereotype "dead."

Afterward, gamers who don't fit that stereotype somehow feel like those articles are attacking them, or claiming to speak on their own behalf somehow. So they form the hashtag as a way to demonstrate to the world that gaming is filled with all sorts of people, and that the stereotype is, effectively, "dead."

That's what #NotYourShield means to me. You have two seperate groups, both with the same enemy, yet fighting each other. Tragic, yet poetic, in its way.

I thought Gamer's Gate was about kicking feminists (Well, their attempts to change everything for no reason) and stuff out of our hobby where it has no relevance. The not being their shield meaning the gamers who aren't white males are sick of people like Anita S or Zoe Quinn forcing their opinions through as the opinion of every gamer that isn't part of the white-male-oppressive-cis-scum group.

 

[Something Amyss]

If I didn't know anything about #Shamergate, "we are not your shield" would be meaningless to me.

 

[Silvanus]

The not being their shield meaning the gamers who aren't white males are sick of people like Anita S or Zoe Quinn forcing their opinions through as the opinion of every gamer that isn't part of the white-male-oppressive-cis-scum group.

Did they ever actually do this? Did either of those people actually ever claim to speak for every member of a demographic?

Or is this just another invention?

 

[Guerilla]

The hashtag is very effective and to the point. It's what I've been saying all long, feminism and SJWs pretend to represent all women and minorities without their approval and a lot of them are pissed off by it. So I'm glad there's a popular hashtag that can start a discussion about that behavior.

Btw Devi Ever a trans dev was just blocked by these self-righeous assholes the moment they heard that she supports the gamergate movement.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

As madwarper already pointed out, of course it's gonna come across differently if it's without context.

A hashtag, or any twitter comment for that matter, is the shittiest way possible of trying to get a point across.

From what I've gleaned from it, it's there to tell oversensitive nutbags that not all (insert demographic here) like being used as excuses for racist and sexist crap. Most black people think you're a complete fuckwit if you tell a white person to shut up about racial issues, for the sole reason that they're white. Most women think you're an idiot if you tell a man to not "mansplain" (seriously, if you use that word I hate you) things and stop criticizing/refuting a point a woman has made, purely because you are a man and the other person is a woman, regardless of any flaws or lack of merit the point has.

tl;dr, It means "Stop using crying racist/sexist/somethingphobe to defend your point, because most of the people in the demographic you claim should be offended, aren't.

 

[DaWaffledude]

It completely fails to communicate what it's meant to mean without context. On Twitter, that can be... Dangerous, especially if it's inserted into a heated argument (which it was).

 

[Platypus540]

No offense (seriously), but I think you misunderstood this pretty badly. I think the "NotYourShield" hashtag is actually very effective; it's being used as a backlash by women/minorities/LGBT against people crying sexism/racism/homophobia when the issue does not exist. Specifically, in the "GamerGate" context they're referring to the radical feminists ("SJWs", or Social Justice Warriors) who are, among other things, claiming that their arguments are valid based on nonexistent discrimination and harassment toward others. They're "Not the SJWs' shield" for their harassment.

 

[carnex]

#NotYourShield actually is much more to the point than #GamerGate since it focuses on people who are actually worst off from the actions of certain "journalists". So, no, it shouldn't be changed. It, perhaps should have explanation following it, but not changed.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

The not being their shield meaning the gamers who aren't white males are sick of people like Anita S or Zoe Quinn forcing their opinions through as the opinion of every gamer that isn't part of the white-male-oppressive-cis-scum group.

Did they ever actually do this? Did either of those people actually ever claim to speak for every member of a demographic?

Or is this just another invention?

I don't follow gamers gate and I think the whole thing is just extending a stupid phase that will end soon enough anyway.
From the top of my head though, Anita at least presents insults to her as insults to every female ever. No matter the context. And Zoe Quinn was trying to shield herself, or at least her thousands of SJW minions were trying to shield her by saying in the opinion of everyone who isn't a white-male-gamer-etc she done nothing wrong and that taking issue with what she done was sexism.

Spoiler

A little google search came up with this gem too. A single tweet, which was indeed uncalled for and insulting, apparently "Exemplifies the male privilege and male entitlement endemic in the gaming community" and how you can't be a female critic because of such things. I didn't find one where she explicitly states 'We female gamers are appalled' or anything, but I'd count blatantly untrue claims about what being a female video game critic is like for everyone as speaking for a demographic. I'm guessing someone like Hex (Female host of Good Game) would disagree with her.

Again, this is all just research I done then. I don't know much about gamers gate and the statement in my first post was my interpretation of their ideas, not my own. If what I think about said people is true though, I do agree with them. From what I can tell, people like Anita are around to cause controversy we could do without.

 

[Vault101]

snip

I feel like this is a bit like saying "you shouldn't say something without a great big JUST MY OPINION disclamer"

there comes a point where certain things are a "given" in any statement of conversation....I think that was the idea of "not all men"<-yeah dude...we [I/]know[/I] stop derailing


[quote/]"Exemplifies the male privilege and male entitlement endemic in the gaming community" and how you can't be a female critic because of such things.[/quote]
[sub/]I kind of think this it IS a thing[/sub] AND I think women get a whole lot more shit because of their gender than someone like Jim would get...I am sure

[quote/]I didn't find one where she explicitly states 'We female gamers are appalled' or anything, but I'd count blatantly untrue claims about what being a female video game critic is like for everyone as speaking for a demographic. I'm guessing someone like Hex (Female host of Good Game) would disagree with her.
.[/quote]

I never watched Good game before like...2012 so I don't know the circumstances of the host who left..I DO know that Hex got A LOT of shit due to the previous circumstances and exasperated by the fact she's a woman (I belive she saw someone had photoshopped her head on some porn) she broke down and cried at one point pre-show...I think I read this on their reddit AMA

 

[small]

having never heard of it before it comes across as a negative when you first hear someone say it. not a good start

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I feel like this is a bit like saying "you shouldn't say something without a great big JUST MY OPINION disclamer"

there comes a point where certain things are a "given" in any statement of conversation....I think that was the idea of "not all men"<-yeah dude...we [I/]know[/I] stop derailing

The difference is that she actually is presenting herself as the spokesperson for a group of people. If I felt she was just presenting her own opinion, without trying to present herself as more than I would not have made the post.
And given or not, I find the use of the cis-white-male-scum-oppressive title thing funny. Sorry it disturbed your reading.[quote/]

[quote/]"Exemplifies the male privilege and male entitlement endemic in the gaming community" and how you can't be a female critic because of such things.[/quote]
[sub/]I kind of think this it IS a thing[/sub] AND I think women get a whole lot more shit because of their gender than someone like Jim would get...I am sure [/quote] The point I was making wasn't that it isn't a thing, but she is willing to accuse every male gamer of it based on the tweet of one person. And I honestly believe it isn't as much as a thing as people like to make out. Most cases it is just a person that would attack Jim as well, they just see gender as an easy thing to target about them as opposed to being gay for example if Jim was gay. Whatever they see as an easy target. The fact that nobody cares about Jim copping just as much shit as Anita doesn't mean he gets less.
There are of course people that do target someone for their gender, but to talk about it being an "endemic in the gaming community" is beyond stupid.

[quote/]I didn't find one where she explicitly states 'We female gamers are appalled' or anything, but I'd count blatantly untrue claims about what being a female video game critic is like for everyone as speaking for a demographic. I'm guessing someone like Hex (Female host of Good Game) would disagree with her.
.
[quote/]
I never watched Good game before like...2012 so I don't know the circumstances of the host who left..I DO know that Hex got A LOT of shit due to the previous circumstances and exasperated by the fact she's a woman (I belive she saw someone had photoshopped her head on some porn) she broke down and cried at one point pre-show...I think I read this on their reddit AMA[/quote][/quote]
The people giving her shit done so because they believe she got the job because she was a woman. Whether or not this is true I cannot say, but I can say that if somebody got the job because they were a man rather than because they earnt it then the shitstorm would be the same. If not bigger.
Of course, this post is an entirely separate argument. My point in replying to Silvanus was not to argue either side, just to show that they are speaking for people that don't necessarily agree with them. By picking apart my post and ignoring what I was replying to you completely ruin any context. The way everybody seems to do it on the escapist makes posting here a chore sometimes.

 

[WindKnight]

having never heard of it before it comes across as a negative when you first hear someone say it. not a good start

essentially it was invented on 4chan as a way to prove it wasn't about misogyny, and was started by white dudes pretending to be women and POC in an astroturf (IE fake grass roots) campaign. not sure how far its gotten though.

 

[DC_78]

having never heard of it before it comes across as a negative when you first hear someone say it. not a good start

essentially it was invented on 4chan as a way to prove it wasn't about misogyny, and was started by white dudes pretending to be women and POC in an astroturf (IE fake grass roots) campaign. not sure how far its gotten though.

Essential it was started by a black man on 4chan as a way to prove it wasn't just white male cis neck beard virgins complaining in gamergate, and some white dudes pretended to be women and PoC in a grassroots campaign. And it has spread to include a lot of folks of every gender and race as a trending hashtag for over three weeks I believe.

There fixed that for you. FYI the term astro turf equates to corporate funded.