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You Don't Look Like a Gamer: On Toxicity, Gatekeeping, & Women Who Share Gaming

gardinerbryant.com

1–10 of 29 posts

Re: You Don't Look Like a Gamer: On Toxicity, Gatekeeping, & Women Who Share Gaming

#3
The first thing that socially excluded nerds do after they find a community that accepts them is, of course, raise barriers and gates to keep out other people who don't confirm to their particular monoculture.

Which is a shame. It's a digital medium, it's not a limited consumable, you should derive nothing but joy from other people sharing your hobby.

It is getting better, though. Every year, it feels like there are more and more spaces with a cardinal rule - if your behaviour on the net, makes other people feel unwelcome - you are not welcome.

Re: You Don't Look Like a Gamer: On Toxicity, Gatekeeping, & Women Who Share Gaming

#4
post #3

The first thing that socially excluded nerds do after they find a community that accepts them is, of course, raise barriers and gates to keep out other people who don't confirm to their particular monoculture. Which is a shame. It's a digital medium, it's not a limited consumable, you should derive nothing but joy from other people sharing your hobby. It is getting better, though. Every year, it feels like there are…

Virtually every community excludes people in one form or another. Describing this as a fault of “socially excluded nerds” is a weak ad hominem. Subcultures have a right to be monocultures if they like.

The Boy Scouts of America, for instance, were weak & foolish to allow girls to join. Men’s clubs exist for a reason, just as women’s clubs do. Sanctimoniously valorizing “everyone is welcome” as an unqualified good is foolhardy.

Re: You Don't Look Like a Gamer: On Toxicity, Gatekeeping, & Women Who Share Gaming

#6
post #3

The first thing that socially excluded nerds do after they find a community that accepts them is, of course, raise barriers and gates to keep out other people who don't confirm to their particular monoculture. Which is a shame. It's a digital medium, it's not a limited consumable, you should derive nothing but joy from other people sharing your hobby. It is getting better, though. Every year, it feels like there are…

That rule is a rule that excludes many socially excluded nerds. So if there are more and more spaces like that, then the nerds that those spaces exclude, are probably going to go make new communities and attempt to keep out the people who just excluded them.

Re: You Don't Look Like a Gamer: On Toxicity, Gatekeeping, & Women Who Share Gaming

#7
post #3

The first thing that socially excluded nerds do after they find a community that accepts them is, of course, raise barriers and gates to keep out other people who don't confirm to their particular monoculture. Which is a shame. It's a digital medium, it's not a limited consumable, you should derive nothing but joy from other people sharing your hobby. It is getting better, though. Every year, it feels like there are…

Virtually every community excludes people in one form or another. Describing this as a fault of “socially excluded nerds” is a weak ad hominem. Subcultures have a right to be monocultures if they like. The Boy Scouts of America, for instance, were weak & foolish to allow girls to join. Men’s clubs exist for a reason, just as women’s clubs do. Sanctimoniously valorizing “everyone is welcome” as an unqualified good is…

Except for the "Boy" part being explicitly stated... There is a distinction between safety, discrimination and inclusion.

Re: You Don't Look Like a Gamer: On Toxicity, Gatekeeping, & Women Who Share Gaming

#9
post #3

The first thing that socially excluded nerds do after they find a community that accepts them is, of course, raise barriers and gates to keep out other people who don't confirm to their particular monoculture. Which is a shame. It's a digital medium, it's not a limited consumable, you should derive nothing but joy from other people sharing your hobby. It is getting better, though. Every year, it feels like there are…

The nerds have reason to believe that if their community accepts new people, eventually they will be excluded from their own community by the most popular newcomers. That's the whole reason they started their own exclusive community in the first place.

I wouldn't want to live life like a Sentinelese tribesman, I think the uncontacted tribes in Sentinel island would be happier in the long run if they integrated to the global community. But I understand why they don't.

Re: You Don't Look Like a Gamer: On Toxicity, Gatekeeping, & Women Who Share Gaming

#10
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Virtually every community excludes people in one form or another. Describing this as a fault of “socially excluded nerds” is a weak ad hominem. Subcultures have a right to be monocultures if they like. The Boy Scouts of America, for instance, were weak & foolish to allow girls to join. Men’s clubs exist for a reason, just as women’s clubs do. Sanctimoniously valorizing “everyone is welcome” as an unqualified good is…

Except for the "Boy" part being explicitly stated... There is a distinction between safety, discrimination and inclusion.

I personally loathe the kind of shithead bullies highlighted in the article. It's not a crowd I like and it's not the kind of crowd I associate with and in fact they're the kind of dickheads that I have a rather consistent streak of dismissing and actively degrading. In that, I am the majority. These shitheels have little genuine clout or influence in broader communities. The wheat tends to separate itself from the chaff. Isolating a few social media examples of pig-headedness ought not be used as a broader indictment. If some fellas wanna start a discord called "real gamers no wannabes no sluts" then, well, I hope they find some sort of satisfaction there.
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