The mess that has become gamer gate has gone far enough for me. With the announcement of Movie Bob Chipman from the Escapist, I now realize that what I thought was a foolish and misguided mens right reddit internet torch and pitchfork session has become a bonafide movement that now is being supported by institutions within the gaming community. I saw Escapist as a website that rivaled Kotaku as a source of information for gamers. For a long time I thought I could look the other way, but now I realize that those who fight for social justice need to be heard in the video game community.
So let me make this clear. I don't blog as much as I used to, but now I will and the goal of this blog changes today. Instead of reviewing old games, I will be doing cultural dissections using critical race theory as a lens for games and geek culture as a whole. I will be an incessant voice that constantly brings up issues of class/race/gender/sexual orientation and any other targeted identity that finds itself often shunned in the community. I will actively call out gamer gate and I may even create a reddit just to combat those who so far have a "louder" voice in the community. If you are a gamer and you believe gamer gate has become a racist and misogynistic parasite in the gaming community, then join me in voicing your opinions. Let's create our own materials. Our own games. Our own reviews. Our own discourse about what it means to be a gamer. Let's rewrite stereotypical characters and use the medium to make meaningful progress in the gaming community. You might think "pssh, I just wanna play my games." And I understand where that's coming from, but there are so many people who don't feel they can have a voice in the community because of the horrible actions of gamer gate. Geek culture has always had a mark of the outcast. Geeks by definition are unpopular and therefore confided in each other for community. Where will the outcast go if they are outcast by their own people? I will no longer be silent and I hope you are not either.
Note: Before I get lambasted by the technical nay-sayers, I'll make my own correction. Bob has stood fast that his leaving had nothing to do with his politic. I don't believe it and many others don't believe it. I certainly believe his leaving was planned, but the sudden removal certainly leads me to believe that politic was involved. Regardless, I got rid of the portion that suggested that was the main reason.
So let me make this clear. I don't blog as much as I used to, but now I will and the goal of this blog changes today. Instead of reviewing old games, I will be doing cultural dissections using critical race theory as a lens for games and geek culture as a whole. I will be an incessant voice that constantly brings up issues of class/race/gender/sexual orientation and any other targeted identity that finds itself often shunned in the community. I will actively call out gamer gate and I may even create a reddit just to combat those who so far have a "louder" voice in the community. If you are a gamer and you believe gamer gate has become a racist and misogynistic parasite in the gaming community, then join me in voicing your opinions. Let's create our own materials. Our own games. Our own reviews. Our own discourse about what it means to be a gamer. Let's rewrite stereotypical characters and use the medium to make meaningful progress in the gaming community. You might think "pssh, I just wanna play my games." And I understand where that's coming from, but there are so many people who don't feel they can have a voice in the community because of the horrible actions of gamer gate. Geek culture has always had a mark of the outcast. Geeks by definition are unpopular and therefore confided in each other for community. Where will the outcast go if they are outcast by their own people? I will no longer be silent and I hope you are not either.
Note: Before I get lambasted by the technical nay-sayers, I'll make my own correction. Bob has stood fast that his leaving had nothing to do with his politic. I don't believe it and many others don't believe it. I certainly believe his leaving was planned, but the sudden removal certainly leads me to believe that politic was involved. Regardless, I got rid of the portion that suggested that was the main reason.
