thread: 2006-04-10 : A problem for feminists/pro-feminists
On 2006-04-10, Tom wrote:
See, I feel the script runs a bit like this:
Bob: Roleplaying games are important and meaningful. They're fun sure, but with that fun comes a chance to handle stuff in your life that you might not otherwise choose to deal with. We're not a bunch of losers living in our mom's basement, we're engaged in a significant creative endeavor.
Pat: Huh, that sounds interesting, please tell me more.
Bob: Well, you see, first you have to PLAY WITH YOUR PENIS!
Pat: Er...yes....good day. exits, stage left
—-
I don't think this has much to do with inclusion/exclusion or pushing boundaries, it's more of a warning flag. It's saying "yeah, dick jokes, ha-ha, but you run the risk of lowering the overall quality of your discussion because some people won't rise above the jokes, and others won't appreciate it and join in".
It's like gaming in general. There are lots of games people won't play mainly because the content doesn't suit them. It doesn't mean that they're afraid to address the themes of the game, merely that they don't care for the presentation (color, setting, et. al.).
By way of example, you (yes, you the reader) probably do not play FATAL. Now, for one thing, the design is a hopeless train wreck. More importantly, the game is pretty much a racist, mysoganist screed, a pean to the worst parts of humanity. No one wants to play a game that obsesses over vaginal opening circumfrences and with good reason. It's poor design, it's moronic content.
I certainly don't think that any of the recent conversation has really fallen to that level, but I simply want illustrate the point that the way in which you present your message determines how interested other people will be in what you have to say.
Further, if you start from the statement "Let's talk seriously about roleplaying" and then follow that up with "you must be willing to heft your man-sack up on the table if you really want to play", well, you've kinda shot yourself in the foot now, haven't you?
So, in answer to your question, I guess the solution is simply "I'm sorry you feel excluded. I don't feel like making compromises on how my discussion is running. You are, however, free to start your own conversation. It's not like there's only one conversation, there are hundreds, thousands of them going on right now. More importantly, I encourage you to create games that address the major role-playing issues that you want to address. That's pretty much how our community got started."
