zotofmu: For those interested, RPS posted a follow-up to the original article, which seems to address many of the topics brought up in this tread, i.e. "it's just a game", "no political stuff in games, please", "games are art, don't criticize", "don't censor", etc.
MaximumBunny: Here's a quote from the end of it:
"
Oh, and here’s the real kicker: this stuff matters in MOBAs. Tangibly and overtly so, no less. MOBAs like LoL and DOTA are infamous for their often toxic communities, and women – unsurprisingly though very depressingly – get the special insults. “Jokes” about their inherent inability to play well, very specific swears, crude references to body parts, “humor” about weight, propositions – all of that good stuff. And again, while scantily clad, disempowered female character designs alone aren’t going to “turn” someone sexist, they do contribute to an environment in which it feels more natural to disregard or otherwise demean women. "
So basically, calling a female player a c*** or b**** is wrong because it demeans women but calling a guy a d*** or f****t is fine because men are men. The only difference he's implying here is that
men can take it, women cannot, which again is the anti-equality that people claim feminism strives for (see first quote of post). And this is the kind of political bullshit that everyone is hating on them for, Mr. zoto. The reason feminism is silly is the same reason menism (men fighting for man rights to not be called male slurs and to be treated fairly by the oppressed women who continually bash them for being men) would be silly. Everyone's equal until they make themselves otherwise.
I'll admit that I don't play in the MOBA community, but is it really rife with special insults for men (without regard for sexual orientation): "jokes" about their inherent inability to play well due to their gender, very specific swears loaded with centuries of sexual and social oppression, crude reference to their unique body parts, "humor" about weight, propositions?
I think it's disingenuous to imply that men and women should react equally the same to insults and hostility when they don't receive nearly an equal level of such. Most men simply don't face the kind or amount of abuse that women do in gaming.
To my knowledge, feminism (or other such movements), don't say everyone should be equal. They merely say everyone should be
treated equally. And that is not what is happening.
MaximumBunny: Not to say that there aren't places in the world where oppression is real and not just a fashion statement, but fixing broken cultures/societies/countries isn't something we're equipped to do yet.
So... don't bother trying to make things better? We can't make it perfect, so just ignore it?