I don’t know what to do, you guys
fredrikdeboer.com
I don’t know what to do, you guys
1–10 of 216 posts
Re: I don’t know what to do, you guys
#2Wizards of the Coast posted a story today that featured a transgender character. I thought, and continue to think, it was a shit story. I've no experience with WOTC's writing, and I don't know if shit is the norm for their fluff, but nothing about the story engaged me, and the one 'interesting' piece was heavy handed; Oh, no, a sexist orc is literally a pig to the trans character and then put in his place! For that, it seemed like everyone I know who plays videogames or card games had posted it to facebook.
I don't know why I'm supposed to care. A demographic with a tiny tiny minority is getting represented? A few years back, being indistinguishable was the highest compliment you could pay a trans person. Now, it seems anything they do is 'brave' and you have to constantly praise how 'proud' you are of their transition, even if they become an utterly unlikable person with it. In my world, you try to build the best world you can by lifting everyone up, not by stacking praise where least praise is warranted out of some form of 'equality'.
Maybe if WOTC had made us like the character first I'd care. Maybe if it had been a bombshell, or something quietly unacknowledged, but it took two paragraphs before it was clear where this one was going. Maybe it was just spoilers; The subset of people who had posted it and their praise told me exactly what the moral was. Maybe if it were treated as just another trait; a birthmark, a minor disability, a past struggle worked through. Maybe then I'd care.
Re: I don’t know what to do, you guys
#3[deleted]
Re: I don’t know what to do, you guys
#4To leftist politics, and the "social justice" movement in particular: separate the bullies from the revolutionaries. Shun the bullies; don't let them use your name. Then we'll stop being afraid of the name, and of the revolutionaries.
Re: I don’t know what to do, you guys
#5Angus Johnson has a reply at http://studentactivism.net/2015/01/29/stop-whining-freddie-d... ... Freddie deBoer makes a brief appearance in the comments. I gather the two of them don't care for each other.
[The URL's a good examples of "perils of permalinks": the post is now titled "A reply to Freddie deBoer" and he mentions in an update that "The original title of this piece was more obnoxious than was necessary. I’ve changed it" ... but not the link.]
Re: I don’t know what to do, you guys
#6The Chait article should be required reading.
Re: I don’t know what to do, you guys
#7To leftist politics, and the "social justice" movement in particular: separate the bullies from the revolutionaries. Shun the bullies; don't let them use your name. Then we'll stop being afraid of the name, and of the revolutionaries.
This is easy to beat: just go to the source. If there's a howling white man going on about injustice and how he's going to tell you about the struggles of women of color, First Nations and Imperialism.. ignore that person. Go talk to a (well.. several, actually) woman of color, member of a First Nation or a nation ravaged by European and/or American imperialism.
"But what can I do as a white man/white women/generally privileged person?" - Amplify. Your voice unjustly carries more weight than that of other people. If you can be the "Retweeters" of Social Justice, you'll be doing a lot of good. Just be sure to retweet the people with firsthand knowledge.
Re: I don’t know what to do, you guys
#8The author spends a lot of time decrying Chait, his article, and his views, but seems to end up in a pretty similar place.
Other than the fact that deBoer has scrupulously chosen to only call out white authors, this article seems to "scold" its subjects for their tactics just the same as Chait's did. What's the basis for the great distinction between the two that's the basis for the first and last paragraphs? That Chait is a "centrist Democrat" instead of "more left wing"?
Re: I don’t know what to do, you guys
#9Angus Johnson has a reply at http://studentactivism.net/2015/01/29/stop-whining-freddie-d... ... Freddie deBoer makes a brief appearance in the comments. I gather the two of them don't care for each other. [The URL's a good examples of "perils of permalinks": the post is now titled "A reply to Freddie deBoer" and he mentions in an update that "The original title of this piece was more obnoxious than was necessary. I’…
Yeah,
deBoer's post speaks to a culture of not knowing the right language, of general intemperance and how poor and working class actually wind-up more likely to be victims of it because they are less likely to know the game even if the game itself is intended to protect them.
Re: I don’t know what to do, you guys
#10Wizards of the Coast posted a story today that featured a transgender character. I thought, and continue to think, it was a shit story. I've no experience with WOTC's writing, and I don't know if shit is the norm for their fluff, but nothing about the story engaged me, and the one 'interesting' piece was heavy handed; Oh, no, a sexist orc is literally a pig to the trans character and then put in his place! For that,…
...Okay. Maybe you could submit that story and post a comment to it, instead of hijacking this story's comments?