Drowning out the echo chamber: a rant about cliques, bullying and #GamerGate
If you went to a public or private school, you may have observed cliques of people who thought they were better than others. Maybe those people even resorted to bullying and name-calling to make themselves feel superior. I feel like I’m beginning to observe a similar, incredibly unfortunate trend on Twitter.
To be honest, I don’t have a serious attachment to games journalism anymore. The sheer amount of content available today overwhelms me. I used to read blogs and magazines but stopped when my RSS feed count clocked in at over 2,000. Now most of my opinions are formed by doing my own research, and I like it that way.
Due to this lack of attachment, I don’t particularly care about #GamerGate. However, I do care that people are being mocked, silenced, and narrated by the same people who talk about being marginalized and discriminated against. Is it not hypocritical to demand a certain type of treatment, then not give that treatment to others? What exactly does generalizing a *massive* group of people accomplish? And why in the hell is it that people, even people I so highly respect, constantly forget that “gamers” aren’t just white, basement-dwelling men? I have loved games my entire life, I am black, and I am female. You are effectively erasing my narrative (and that of other people of color and women who have been consuming games for years).
I know what it’s like to want to respond to negativity with negativity. When someone comes at me railing on SJWs and feminism, it takes everything in me to not immediately curse them out. I hold back all those feelings of bitterness and breathe – as a Black woman, I know how easy it is to play into stereotypes, and I don’t want to do that. I want people to remember what the core messages of the things I believe in are. So, as long as they’re not violent, sexist, or racist, I treat them like a human being and have a mature, insult-free conversation with them.
You can’t block out voices of disagreement in the real world. Therefore, that’s not how I believe we should work to build change. I have a suggestion: try to listen to people who disagree with you and/or have been insulted by the something you’ve said. In that case, you could be the one the one silencing a person who might have a valid opinion. Instead, talk it out with them and try to understand their position. It is not easy, but it might make you a better person.
I was once blocked for expressing my disagreement with a white person’s notion that Weird Al’s “Word Crimes” was created to shame people of color for their poor grammar. The person acted like they were an ally despite having said something incredibly insulting in multiple ways. They proceeded to try to school me on discrimination against people who speak AAVE, then blocked me when I replied in respectful disagreement. I’ve been incredibly skeptical of many people on Twitter ever since this incident, especially white people that claim to be allies who fight for social justice. And now I see why.
Just like Anita should be able to critique games without being silenced, we should all be able to express our opinions in a mature way. I hope you’ll consider treating people you disagree with with more respect in the future, and if not, let’s agree to disagree.
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