@tiedtiger @gamasutra Copied here in the event I am censored. My response to http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TadhgKelly/20140831/224548/The_Sorry_State_Of_Gamings_Truthers_And_Their_Gamergate.php

Okay, I signed up here to speak my piece about this, and other articles appearing on Gamasutra.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/parker-marie-molloy/2013/10/15-crazy-examples-of-insanely-ableist-language/

I'm going to use this as a starting point. Ableist and body-shaming language permeates this latest string of editorials by supposedly social justice-minded game journalists and supporters alike. I would even go so far as say I can't imagine this narrative existing without it.

Many gamers are introverse. Many gamers are on the autism spectrum. Many gamers suffer from social anxiety disorders. Many gamers have physical health-related issues with which they struggle every day. When you invoke stereotypes of gamers and include words like "lazy", "shut in", "socially awkward", "emotionally/socially stunted" or even "retarded" as some have, "ugly", "fat", "virginal", "unygienic", or as this author has "crazy", you are trivializing the real struggles against which gamers -- not just white, cisgendered, heterosexual males, but ALL people who play games -- face on a day-to-day basis, and capitalizing on their lack of privilege.

You're harming the people for which you're claiming to stand up, as collateral. This needs to stop.

When you engage in body-shaming and ableism in the name of inclusiveness and acceptance, and intersectional feminism, you have a serious problem. I'd go so far as to say it's emblematic of the very grievances levied against you. Shame on you.

Reply · Report Post