This sort of behavior, particularly when used in what should otherwise be a safe space for a minority group traditionally excluded from society (young male gamers), serves only to exclude and already disadvantaged group.
Incidentally, do you also believe black men playing basketball (who often use language similar to gamers) are also bad human beings?
(Note: not a hypothetical.)
Are they bad human beings for doing so?
Honestly, it sounds like you don't play basketball, and certainly not with said "black men". I recommend trying it - I think it would change your mind.
So you're saying that white people playing basketball don't talk trash? Why would you even mention race and skin colour here?
And what is the culture of computer gaming of which you speak. The chances are that I've been gaming longer than you have, and while i recognise that there are certain juvenile elements who love shouting "cunt nigger i owned you" when playing, they do not represent gaming, and while they might be a feature of certain parts of gaming, they are, for the most part, denigrated and dismissed by their peers - not just women.
Are you a male gamer? It would be interesting to understand your clear bias here.
The only time I've ever observed it is when non-blacks play in a primarily black group. I admit I've never played basketball at the Harvard Club (and only a few times in a group which wasn't majority black), however, so I could be wrong on this.
I specifically mentioned race because I want to disambiguate behavior and membership in a protected class.
Specifically, if cosgroveb is being intellectually honest, he will criticize a protected class just as harshly as he criticizes low status male gamers for the same behavior. I suspect he isn't, however, and he will merely say "it isn't exactly the same" and instead attempt to lower the status of young male gamers and people he disagrees with.
As for my biases, I am male and I have games installed on my computer (I doubt I've played in the past year, however). I've never engaged in smack talk during video games, however - only during basketball.
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It appears that this ban is because the gender jokes there are targeted offensive. Otherwise, as hardcore gamers I doubt the girls would be offended after having spent time and known that such treatment is distributed uniformly. It is the isolating and targeting that hurts, if everyone got such treatment and you didn't you would be a different kind of hurt. A left out pitied pariah kind. Such a ban is just as offensive on a metalevel, being disallowed for my own good is telling me I am not strong enough to handle this and need rescuing. I suppose there must have been prior complaints but I would not be surprised if it was a small number and that the majority have their own coping mechanisms e.g knowing that those who would speak so despicably are not worth the effort to adjust your emotional state over.
Why say you've never played at the Harvard Club? I'm assuming that's some bastion of white male privilege. Is that the only place where white males play?
People who trash talk during gaming situations are often regarded as immature, juvenile dicks. If you're on a basketball court and you call me a cunt, I'm going to think you're a juvenile, immature, dick. If a black man calls me a cunt, I'm going to think he's a juvenile immature dick.
Why is this so hard to understand for you?
This is a tempest in a teapot for sure, but seriously, that's your concern here? The poor young male gamers?
I also like how yummyfajitas states that young male gamers have traditionally been excluded by society. I'm a geek. I grew up as a socially maladjusted "gamer," but I'm not blaming society for my own lack of social skills. Cry me a river.
Their female attendees have been harassed and disrespected. You need to understand that there is no such thing as an objective experience; context is the trump card every time. You don't feel threatened when someone trash talks or hazes you at a conference/tournament. Most women do feel threatened. It's up to us as a culture to decide which of those views is "reasonable". I prefer to consider both of them reasonable and search for a viable compromise.
