When is the all male focused issue of the escapist?

[InsanityRequiem]

Well, let's put it into this perspective.

Imagine a space craft containing ambassadors of an extraterrestrial race come to our planet. They know absolutely nothing about us. Not a thing. As they look through our history books and our news (Internet, TV, radio, newspaper, etc.) and many other forms of communication, would they see a society they want to introduce to whatever galactic community they come from?

I have my doubts. From an objective view, they'd see us as many things. Sexism, 'racism', intolerance, a lot of things that would lower us in their standings. And it's not just men sexist against women, whites racist against 'minorities', Christians intolerant of other religions. They'd also see women sexist against men, all minority groups racist against each other and the white 'majority', all religions facing against each other.

From the objective stand point as an outsider, we're a species that hates itself. Always fighting against each other, always blaming each other for different reasons, willing to kill each other over many different things?

Would they want a race that has all those bad marks to join their galactic community?

Even though this is hypothetical, remember that this extraterrestrial would also not have 'nice' past, but they had to have reach a peace amongst all to be able to get into space in the first place. Or it could have been an enigmatic species, that by some fluke of the cosmos never had divisions like we have as a species.

So basically what I'm trying to say is that it's never just 'one' group that says things badly. It's all groups. Each with their own divisions as well and looking at others as what's wrong with them and society. Men pointing fingers at women for 'feminizing the world' and women pointing the fingers at men for 'keeping them down'. I can go into the rest, but I hope this can be just it to get my point across.

 

[Void(null)]

However, there are folks who really can't contribute anything to the conversation, because their immediate reaction to its mere existence is to try to shut it down. And, well, is it any surprise that those who introduce their middle-class-white-male-ness just to shut everyone up ("Where's my white pride parade?") get their experiences dismissed rather than affirmed?

-- Alex

Between the KKK and affirmative action, you are not allowed to take any pride in being a White male, in fact you have to languish in guilt, tread on eggshells and take the blunt of the blame for every social/political/religious problem on the face of the planet, apologizing for being born with a Penis while lamenting that you cannot belong to a more diverse culture.

Even though we have grown up with an education system with an emphasis on tolerance and equality in a world which has given birth to the internet, a place where upon first meeting no one is judged by race, gender, religion or creed but rather by the content of their character. On the internet, everyone is automatically a middle class white male.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

...the greeks weren't 'white'. The Romans weren't 'white'. The Venecians weren't 'white'.

Whoa, whoa, wait, what? Italians and Greeks have been broadly accepted as whites since the 40s or so. Even before that they were only lumped into the catchall racist-bait "colored" group because they were recent immigrants.

Not to flame but... sorry, they're European. It's a fact of geography.

EDIT: Allow me to demonstrate.

Greeks [http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/classics/achillesmosaic.jpeg]
Romans [http://booksofart.com/wp-content/gallery/roman-art/roman-art-08.jpg]
Venetians [http://portraitxpress.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/mona-lisa.jpg]

European does not mean -white-. And then you have to ask yourself how you define -white-, because if you define white purely by melanin content (and I will point out those of the Italian Pennensula are more olive toned then the Northern Europeans). Are Romanians white? Russians white? Your dealing with cultures vastly different from the Amerocentric idea of 'white'. It's easy to make that distinction in the Western world but once you go further east or south then Germany and you find vastly multiethnic groups that define themselves by their culture group, not race. The Russians are a multitude of ethnicities, as are the Spanish.

Why is it ethnic groups from islands like the Phillipines are allowed differentiate themselves from the Mexicanos or the Iberian Spanish even though they're all "Spanish". There seems to be this myth that you can easily lump people together into these broad, vague ethnicities and that somehow white is 'white' just because it's not black. If the people of the Aegean are white then 'white' is pretty goddamned broad and it's no wonder we're considered a 'majority' (even though demographics have revealed there are more latino and african descent individuals in America then any European)

Well, let's put it into this perspective.

Imagine a space craft containing ambassadors of an extraterrestrial race come to our planet. They know absolutely nothing about us. Not a thing. As they look through our history books and our news (Internet, TV, radio, newspaper, etc.) and many other forms of communication, would they see a society they want to introduce to whatever galactic community they come from?

I have my doubts. From an objective view, they'd see us as many things. Sexism, 'racism', intolerance, a lot of things that would lower us in their standings. And it's not just men sexist against women, whites racist against 'minorities', Christians intolerant of other religions. They'd also see women sexist against men, all minority groups racist against each other and the white 'majority', all religions facing against each other.

From the objective stand point as an outsider, we're a species that hates itself. Always fighting against each other, always blaming each other for different reasons, willing to kill each other over many different things?

Would they want a race that has all those bad marks to join their galactic community?

Even though this is hypothetical, remember that this extraterrestrial would also not have 'nice' past, but they had to have reach a peace amongst all to be able to get into space in the first place. Or it could have been an enigmatic species, that by some fluke of the cosmos never had divisions like we have as a species.

So basically what I'm trying to say is that it's never just 'one' group that says things badly. It's all groups. Each with their own divisions as well and looking at others as what's wrong with them and society. Men pointing fingers at women for 'feminizing the world' and women pointing the fingers at men for 'keeping them down'. I can go into the rest, but I hope this can be just it to get my point across.

QUOTE FOR TRUUTTHH.

 

[Void(null)]

Don't worry, in a few centuries the racial divide between the remaining races will vanish as well thanks to interracial propogation, and then NO one will have a reason to *****.

And yet they'll countinue to do so probably.

Viva la melting pot.

Then our only divide will be class and we can finally answer the question:

"Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?"

 

[Nerf Ninja]

Why is it that even if you have a valid opinion you're not allowed to share it if you're white? It seems to me that the older I get the more racist I become, not because my opinions are shifting towards racism but more that anything I might potentially think about a subject is immediately jumped on because I'm white and therefore my opinion is null and void because I don't know what it's like to not be white.

 

[DoctorDisaster]

Er, Wombat, in order to definitively state that those groups are NOT white, you have to have a working definition of "white." If you're going to dismiss the generally accepted definition, "of European descent," (as well as the less precise but still current "light skinned") you should probably provide your own definition.

Certainly different white people can belong to different cultures, as can different Africans and different Native Americans and so on. And as I happen to be of Italian descent, there's no need to point out that white people vary in coloration -- again, as do individuals within every race.

This is educational! Before this discussion I had no idea that I was (a) not white, and (b) hopelessly 'Amerocentric.' Learn something new every day!

Added response for NINJA EDITS: Also you can certainly subdivide big huge groups like "white" or "black" or "Arab" into tangles of many smaller ethnicities and nationalities, just as you can with cultures. But again, the statement "the Romans were not white," carries several implicit ideas, including:

1. "White" exists
2. "White" can be defined
3. "Roman" does not fit the definition of "white"

For instance, you could argue that whiteness as a race -- or race itself -- is an invalid concept. Many do! But that position does not support statements like "the Romans weren't white."

 

[Slayer_2]

Well it is a gaming site and most games are only for men... I kid, I kid, don't kill me, please.

Really, who cares? Until feminists rise up, take over, and make a "mandatory castration" law, I don't care much either way about this little crusade. Fact is we're never going to be 100% equal, because of our physical differences, and our society. Until then, I'll try to treat you the same, whether you have a dick or not.

 

[Aesir23]

I am personally offended and appalled at the mainstream portrayal of males as nothing more than mindless macho punks in video games. It's about time we guys took a stand in the female-dominated industry of complaining about our rights.

More power to you! (Seriously, I mean it. I may be a girl, but I am tired of other women complaining about female stereotypes in games or women being misrepresented in the gaming industry. Bah!)

 

[Void(null)]

I thought this topic was about men??

Not so thrown together shit storm for whites,gays,women to attack each other

can we get back on topic???

I think a guy of any color,creed or sexual orientation can play a video with a male lead that doesn't have to look football player. Maybe we can get some lean,taller guys with some muscle and speed to play as???

That is one of the reasons that Max Payne is one of my favorite games.

Max isn't a muscle bound super hero... he is an ordinary guy, thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Its not a tale of wanton murder, its a tale of desperation, a man who has had everything he ever loved stripped away from him, a man pushed beyond the breaking point, who has nothing to lose.

It may be violent and possessed of a 1950's chauvinism, but its a story that hits a man hard in a very vulnerable place and asks the question "How far would you go to seek justice against those responsible for killing your wife and child?"

It's also one of the things that makes Silent Hill 2 so powerful. The story and the journey get to you in a way that no other game has yet accomplished, simply because James is a normal guy torn apart by guilt and forced to suffer a hell of his own making for doing the "right" thing.

While we are on the subject. When did the word "Chauvinism" become replaced with Misogyny? When was the devolution in our vocabulary where we could no longer make a distinction between the belief that men are superior to women... and hatred of women?

Not that either is an acceptable belief, but so many times do I see people make mention of the misogyny in video games when they mean Chauvinism.

Killing hookers in GTA is misogynistic.

A Female character not being able to make it through a combat without "The man" coming in to save the day is chauvinistic.

There is a world of difference.

Just because the average 10 year old boy doesn't think a woman can hold her own in a fire fight (probably because no one has let him watch Aliens [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=Aliens%20Vasquez&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw&tbo=0] yet) does not mean he has a hatred of women.

 

[Labyrinth]

My recommendation is that you send in an email to the editors [mailto:editor@escapistmag.com] and make a suggestion. Or an article pitch. Or hop on IRC some time and have a chat to them. They're not adverse to listening and you might find yourself surprised.

Otherwise, keep an eye out on the Editorial Calendar (can be found here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/content/contact]).

 

[SsilverR]

never cared before .. why should i start now? .. people can think whatever the hell they want

 

[AngloDoom]

Wasn't the 'Vaginaphobia' one foused more on men than women? It was men fearing women...

Did I just /thread?

 

[The DSM]

We dont need one, we know we are EXCELLENT! *Guitar riff*