Girls of Starcraft - Page 20

In addition to what KingPwny said, I would encourage you (whiterabbit, that is) to think through the flip side of the argument: How would it be possible to do what GoSC does, without gaining the "advantage" of the attention of the male gamers (an "advantage" that more often than not, it seems, turns into flame wars by people who think the girls shouldn't have that attention).

If they find themselves harassed and want to play with other girls instead, what would be the best thing to do? Well, post on TL.net, because that's a huge hub for SC players, so maybe some of them feel the same way. However, that will also draw the attention of male players, so what to do? Give up that medium because they don't want to grab extra attention? If that were the case, it would be the prejudice of the males which essentially ruined a perfectly proper chance for the girls to reach out to other girls.

If the girls want to set up a tournament for their own group, for whatever reason (be it the same as the reason there are bronze-gold tournaments, local tournaments or whatever), or if the girls want to showcase up-and-coming female players, to show other girls what the scene is like, or to give other girls someone to look up to, what would be the best thing to do? Well, post on TL.net, because that's a huge hub for SC players. However, that will also draw the attention of male players, so what to do? Give up that medium because they don't want to grab extra attention? If that were the case, it would be the prejudice of the males which essentially ruined a perfectly proper chance for the girls to reach out to other girls.

Now, say a girl wants to be a streamer with a webcam, just like countless male counterparts. Shouldn't she just be able to do it? Just like that? Isn't that what the internet is all about, getting to do stuff and reach out to other people who are far away? Should she give up that dream, just because she's a girl and having a webcam would give her extra attention? What if she believes that having a webcam and communicating with her viewers actually raises the quality of the stream. (Would Day9 be the same if it were a radio show inbetween the games?) So does that mean that the girl should produce an inferior product, just because she's a girl? Again, it would be the prejudice of the males which essentially ruined a perfectly proper chance for the girl to make a good stream.

One last example and this time an analogy (and I ask in advance that this analogy not derail the thread, but let's focus on the gist of it here): What if a girl looked really sexy. Huge boobs, nice ass, pretty face, whatever turns you on. What if she wanted to dress like other girls, with tank tops, tight jeans or whatever. This (because the girl was so gorgeous) would give her lots of attention from guys in general. What should she do? Should she give up dressing like other girls just because she's pretty? Should she wear a niqab because she doesn't want to be seen as an attention whore? In that case, again, the prejudice of the males would ruin her personal freedom to wear the clothes she want (including, of course, a niqab if she wishes it). All in the name of not drawing unwanted attention. Personally, I think that's a too high price to pay. And again, let's not derail the thread into an islam/niqab thread, but I felt the analogy is fitting.

So my point is: Given that the girls don't do this just for attention, is there some other way they could have done it, which was equally good? Actually, I don't think so. Sure, there are always attention whores, but judging the entire group on the actions of a few is usually called racism and I'm kind of hoping we could leave that behind.

P.S. Although I didn't mention it, I don't buy your argument about gender neutral nicknames either. It's basically just the same: Limiting your options because of other people's prejudice.

P.P.S. We can continue this via PM's.

Also with non-gender specific names just everyone (and I mean 99.9%) assumes you're a guy even if your handle is 5exyazzGr1. Being seen as a male might be your default, but it isn't mine. There was a topic about female discount on ticket prizes for guys who want to take their GFs to events - and pay for them - a while back. I was called a 14 year old virgin fag for saying that IMO not every girl wants special treatment (because I don't want to be a second class visitor along with most of the other girls that are actually interested in video games and not just get dragged to events by their BFs) it never even occured to them that I may have any kind of insight on the topic. I was seen as the lonely, forever-alone nerd who hated on guys who had all the chicks.