02-27-2014, 08:19 AM
Yo lemme just jump in here and preach a little. (Because as a White Dude that is what I do)
For the record, this isn't directed at anyone in particular, I'm not trying to spark an argument, just I know we've got young-uns here and there are various cultural, social and educational clashes involved, I'm not passing judgement here or claiming I'm any better or worse, that's just the situation as it stands.
Anyway, this is the statement; in any discussion of minority issues where you are not directly a part of that minority, your job is essentially to shut up and listen.
I know that sounds blunt, but that's only because it's so important, and because we're discussing female perspectives and experience here, I say that as someone who's job is to shut up and listen.
Obviously you can ask questions and if invited, to share your perspective, but the important thing is to make sure the experiences and feedback from the minority in question are the ones that are represented.
(And before anyone chimes in and makes themselves look silly, a "minority" doesn't simply mean "less people", in this case we're talking about groups that are under represented, misrepresented or in many cases absent entirely from popular media or social/political/cultural discussion or debate)
Oh, and the argument that you think everyone should be treated equally everywhere and forever is a poor rephrasing of "I refuse to acknowledge the problem and will do nothing to try and fix it but want to be praised anyway", I agree that if everyone thought that way and acted that way there would be no need for these types of discussions, but that's not the world we live in and pretending we do isn't about to change it.
I don't want to go off on a tumblr-esque ramble here, but the reason for this is something the majority doesn't need to consider and so naturally it doesn't occur to them, let's pretend we're in a thread about the experiences of female gamers, because we are, the reason there aren't threads specifically to share the experiences of male gamers is because those are everywhere else.
I wouldn't even be bringing this point up, but this thread has pretty quickly shifted from being "Questions for a female gamer" to "Male opinions on female gamers", and to be brutally honest I can find that anywhere, so I actually only care about the former.
For the record, this isn't directed at anyone in particular, I'm not trying to spark an argument, just I know we've got young-uns here and there are various cultural, social and educational clashes involved, I'm not passing judgement here or claiming I'm any better or worse, that's just the situation as it stands.
Anyway, this is the statement; in any discussion of minority issues where you are not directly a part of that minority, your job is essentially to shut up and listen.
I know that sounds blunt, but that's only because it's so important, and because we're discussing female perspectives and experience here, I say that as someone who's job is to shut up and listen.
Obviously you can ask questions and if invited, to share your perspective, but the important thing is to make sure the experiences and feedback from the minority in question are the ones that are represented.
(And before anyone chimes in and makes themselves look silly, a "minority" doesn't simply mean "less people", in this case we're talking about groups that are under represented, misrepresented or in many cases absent entirely from popular media or social/political/cultural discussion or debate)
Oh, and the argument that you think everyone should be treated equally everywhere and forever is a poor rephrasing of "I refuse to acknowledge the problem and will do nothing to try and fix it but want to be praised anyway", I agree that if everyone thought that way and acted that way there would be no need for these types of discussions, but that's not the world we live in and pretending we do isn't about to change it.
I don't want to go off on a tumblr-esque ramble here, but the reason for this is something the majority doesn't need to consider and so naturally it doesn't occur to them, let's pretend we're in a thread about the experiences of female gamers, because we are, the reason there aren't threads specifically to share the experiences of male gamers is because those are everywhere else.
I wouldn't even be bringing this point up, but this thread has pretty quickly shifted from being "Questions for a female gamer" to "Male opinions on female gamers", and to be brutally honest I can find that anywhere, so I actually only care about the former.