A Crash Course in Feminism Mk. II (or, why everyone should be a feminist)

[eldargal]

TFW2005 continues to be trash.

[Erik Setzer]

Now, I don't think there was any true maliciousness in this, and the manager said as much when we all talked about it afterwards. In his eyes, there's no point pretending that he wouldn't be the only black guy here, and that we already have an atmosphere of ripping on each other, so that's what he considers friendly chatter.

I could see his viewpoint, but it really didn't sit right with me or a couple of others. I mean, telling someone flat-out they're a minority, pointing out their skin colour to them, and then patronisingly congratulating on not being like 'the others?' What does that even mean? We ended up back and forthing in an argument for a while, and ultimately we put a new store policy in where we keep the ripping to a relative minimum around new customers.

One more thing that makes me super-happy about the manager we have at our local GW. Once he found out that one of the guys playing at the store was gay, he told him that he wouldn't tolerate anyone doing anything to harass him. Luckily, he hasn't had to step in. This guy opened up to a few people at first, just those he trusted, and eventually felt more and more comfortable with others, so it's pretty much common knowledge.

There's still the occasional "that's gay" said in response to something, a sad leftover from too much exposure to modern video game websites and people playing said games who over-use that phrase. But I think we also all know that if someone makes a joke about his sexuality, they better be prepared to receive at least as good as they gave.

Ethnic diversity does seem to lack a little, but it's not all white guys (and occasional women) in there. Saw an older black guy in the shop picking up some stuff a couple weeks ago, sounds like he's trying to build enough of an army to play games, so that'd be good. I used to play against a couple of black gamers, one of them dropped out of the scene (think work got busy), the other was fun to play against and we had memorable games and it was an awesome feeling when he told me he always enjoyed playing against me because we had crazy fun games no matter who won (his skin color doesn't matter for that... I like hearing that from anyone, because I'd hate for a game to be unenjoyable for anyone). No idea why there's not much ethnic diversity in the hobby, though I think it's growing over time.

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TFW2005 continues to be trash.

An Internet forum? Yeah, don't expect any serious discourse there. Heck, most Internet forums, you should expect to see the worst of people. People who wouldn't even act that way in person, they'll do it because they think they're safe on the Internet.

[Gotthammer]

It's not thought-provoking, because any amount of thought would show the problems with such things.

The rest of the above kind of comes off as someone who's just going to extremes because it gets attention.

The divine right of kings and emperors was once considered immutable.

And the point is that simply putting women into an unequal system doesn't change much about the system for women in general. As an example: poverty was horrible during the industrial revolution. However there was also unprecedented class mobility as "common" folk had the ability to become rich through industry. That a few who would previously never had opportunities suddenly became the nouveau riche only helped those who got the money - it did nothing to change the plight of the rest of the lower classes.

Similarly western (and by extension global) society is inherently unequal. And from a feminist point of view how can I claim to want equality for all women by becoming head of a company that exploits third world women? I don't agree with her points fully but to dismiss them out of hand is as foolish as you claim her argument to be.

[40kGamer]

The divine right of kings and emperors was once considered immutable.

While no longer explicit it has simply morphed into the modern 'divine right of the wealthy aristocracy'. They've simply learned to disguise it from an uninformed, under educated populace.

[Kirsten]

really really messed up ad

[URL=http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/KirstenIGMB/media/axe_zpsdsywgssw.jpg.html][/URL]

[Mr Mystery]

Wow.

[Kirsten]

a friend on Facebook disagreed with me and said there are far worse ads out there, and linked me to this:



but I think he is wrong.

The Lynx ad is crass, it is over the top and unnecessary, but it is also pretty straightforward. here are some hot women, here are some boobs, buy our deodorant. Ax on the other hand are saying, here are some hot women. don't be friendly to hot women, be a man and **** them. that is incredibly sinister, especially when society is facing a sexual assault pandemic.

[Mr Mystery]

Same product different name I believe.

Both are pretty offensive.

[Kirsten]

I know they are the same product but we need to differentiate between the two ads.

[40kGamer]

really really messed up ad

[URL=http://s1216.photobucket.com/user/KirstenIGMB/media/axe_zpsdsywgssw.jpg.html][/URL]

So some marketing genius is revisiting the tired old trope that 'women are only good for one thing'. This advert really is disturbing on many levels. What's wrong with male-female friendships? Platonic relationships are typically far more fulfilling than physical ones anyhow.