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QOTD 12: Just because I'm a sexist, doesn't mean you're not an asshole.

There are some days the Internet makes me want to throw things at other things. Over the course of the past week I've had to argue with 'feminists' about how GTA V would be a far better game if it had a female protagonist or was more 'respectful' to women, which is nuts. To paraphrase my point, Misogyny is the point, sexism is the point, the racism is the point of Grand Theft Auto. GTA isn't painting our world as we know it, it's painting our world with the darkest of brushes and applying a shiny Entertainment Tonight veneer that peels away. It's South Park by way of cheap-shot.

Several of these women THEN went on to say that Saints Row 4 is a far more sex positive game because it let you create overweight female characters and put them in a position of power. To which I say that is such bullshit it might as well have come from that Triceratops in Jurassic Park's butt.  If you think that simply slapping a pair of boobs, long hair, and different voice on a character who is going to act, talk, and walk the same as a male character is progress, you don't quite understand what womanhood means. Because that is literally saying a woman comes down to her objects - boobs, legs, hair, voice, which, I think, is exactly opposite the point.

So, Blog Otters, what are you thoughts on sexism, racism, and all the other isms that separate humans from one another, that ultimately stymy dialog between people for fear of being labeled one? On a micro level it's entirely possible to have intelligent conversations about serious issues, but when you open it up to the masses, you're bombarded with words like "Mansplain" and "Ally" and other specific terms that make feminism seem like a skill set, versus belief system.




It seems like feminism is a concept that men aren't allowed to wrap their heads around. It's so nebulous and impossible to define. I understand women are my personal equal, but at the same time, I understand women are biologically different from men in a variety of different ways, and those very biological differences lead me to perceive women as both humans, and people I would like to throw my penis in.  Sexual attraction is literally what humans were put on this earth to do, and as we progress as a society, figuring out the appropriate way to approach that sexual attraction is becoming more complicated. I respect women, but they also terrify me in social situations because there are no rules outside of gut instincts, and I worry my gut has shit for brains (Thank You, High Fidelity). Therefore, when I, or really anyone who is confused about the concept asks serious questions, their throat gets jumped down like reverse bulimia.

Perhaps because I spend 40 hours a week as a woman I like to think I have a little more insight on this than most. I have a high voice and answer phones every day. I'm also friendly - so everyone thinks I'm a woman, and I stopped correcting people after I realized it was hopeless. I have men across the country call me darling, sweetheart, babe, sweetie, honey-pie, and one guy even said he wanted to dip me in peanut butter. I experience unintentional sexism every day, but, being a man, I can understand these terms aren't coming from some sense of malice or derogation, it's just who they are. They call girls sweetie because they think it's a nice thing to do. They call girls honey because they want to be nice, don't know my name, and appreciate my positive attitude. I don't know what that says about sexism, but I think its something.

Look, when I kill a woman in Grand Theft Auto V, it's not because she's a woman, it's because she's in the way. That's about as feminist as you can get, right? In case you don't know, Grand Theft Auto is the ultimate troll, giving Americans a broken world with broken people, where morals and righteousness are such afterthoughts they might as well be the 4th quarter of a preseason football game. It thinks everyone is JUST as full of shit, regardless of race, class, gender, or creed.

And we eat it up. We eat it up handful by handful, barely stopping to use a fork or wipe our grubby little mouths. For this game to stop and make a point that objectifying or being mean to women is bad, they're, in effect, saying that murder, the slaying of innocent civilians, officers of the law, and stealing are A-okay.  GTA V takes cheap shots at everyone equally, and if you identify as one of the people they take cheap shots at, you'll feel that sting, but hopefully realize that the cheap shot was made in the name of entertainment and crafting a world that's devoid of the political correctness.

More over, I think if we were to think critically about GTA V, it's probably one of the 'smarter' games I've played in quite some time. It's brutal, it's sophomoric, it's gross,  violent, and mean spirited, but its done with such care that it really does challenge the gamer to think about why exactly they enjoy such horrible acts. Without spoiling anything, there's a scene in the game involving trevor and a bunch of tools that literally made me want to stop playing.  Seriously, if you're playing this game and seriously into story telling, world building, subtext, and nuance, tell me this game isn't seriously one of the most beautifully crafted things you've ever played.

As (mostly) men here, its easy for us to avoid discussing blatant sexism or simply dismiss it, or, otherwise, simply agree with every woman we see that things are sexist in order to not start an argument we will surely lose. Why would we surely lose these arguments? Because we're not women, and no matter how hard we argue, it simply becomes a situation we "don't understand" and should probably avoid debating. It's prima facie -  ultimately saying that if you disagree with me, you're a bad person, or a bigot, or simple minded.


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Blog Otter Award:
Officer Farva, again, for letting us live vicariously through his life.

1. I want to do a GTA V spoiler QOTD sometime in the future. I know we're all playing at our own pace, but goodness gracious is this game freaking good. It seems to borrow that 'Family Guy' style of genius, where it's so fucking stupid it circles back to being near genius. It needles everyone, smokers, athletes, new-age thinkers, e-cig smokers, facebook obsessed jerks, and there's quite a few short films in there that are actually sorta good in a bizarre way. I'd check them out.  Lets shoot for two weeks from Today for the official spoiler-riffic QOTD.

2. PS I have no idea if the above made sense, I tried being rational, then I got upset, then I got rational again.

Comments

  1. I'm in Blaine county right now as Mike looking like Walter White.

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  2. Of course I do. I guess my main point there is that, when you attempt to critically study media they give you a lot of flack for recognizing stereotypes, but then on the flip side give you a lot of flack for writing characters who aren't true to their culture.

    I know no two people aren't the same, but there are things in culture that are similar. That guy sounds British, that guy sounds Irish, that guy sounds southern are all typically fine social identifiers, buy when you say that guy sounds black, you kind of get into trouble.

    Is the better term Urban talking with an 'ax" I honestly don't know. I mean it's a real thing (google African American Vernacular English), and I'm not saying 'sounding black' is bad, but it's definitely a thing.

    CJ, Franklin, Lamar, Tonya, are all different sounding and different acting characters, but they share similar cultural phrases and words and tropes. What do you call that in a PC sense?

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  3. Still throws a monkey-wrench into the whole evolutionary argument.

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  4. Several hours in and the only women in GTA V who haven't been sex workers or objects of ridicule are a counter girl and a crew member who have maybe two lines of dialogue combined.

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  5. I dunno, Tonya the crack addict is a pretty sympathetic character - even though she has problems, I think Taneisha, Franklin's ex girlfriend has a lot of quality dialog.

    I don't find Tonya to be an object of ridicule, I find her to be a sympathetic character that i'm rooting for.

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  6. *gets popcorn ready*

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  7. I.E the worst thing you can do it pity and placate everyone who has been marginalized.

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  8. I used to be the only man in an office full of women. The sexist bile that spewed forth was a real eye opener.

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  9. Because a male is not required to ejaculate in order to have an orgasm. Hell, they're not required to even be near a female to have an orgasm. If it truly served an evolutionary purpose, that would be the only way to experience an orgasm. As it is, a woman can experience an orgasm without any chance of procreation, or can procreate without an orgasm, and a man can experience an orgasm without any chance of procreation, or can procreate without an orgasm.

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  10. P.S. I like a lot of shit that is sexist or whatever-ist (for instance: pro wrestling, which is all the ists), but I think it's kind of shitty to just kind of dismiss people's understanding of their own experience (in this case, telling a woman -- even if it's the dumbest woman in the world -- that she doesn't understand what womanhood is about) as a basis for complaint.

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  11. It's shitty, but at at the same time, something you look for personally shouldn't be something you want for 'the cause' so to speak.

    For example I'm a fat guy and I really fucking hate these memes about how big is beautiful and all of that, because, NO, Big is not beautiful, it's probably very unhealthy and will kill you at a young age unless you get that shit in check, but if it helps you sleep at night, go for it.

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  12. This actually may be true, I remember reading about paraplegics who can still have orgasms despite not having a functioning penis.

    The guy who told me this went home and hung himself that night, but hey, I had no reason to believe the information was invalid.

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  13. What? Evolution of the central nervous system for men has ensured that 99.999 percent of the time orgasm accompanies ejaculation. Orgasms feel good. This ensures that men will continue to ejaculate and have sex. If A=B, and B=C, A=C.

    Its the same reason our CNS has evolved so millions of nervous cells are in our dicks and clits, it allows sex to be pleasurable and gives us a biological reason to have sex?

    Do you believe in evolution on a whole?

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  14. Yea, but thats bc the rest of their body was fucked up. The reasoning is still valid.

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  15. For sure, I'm not arguing with you, it was just something I heard and was curious about.

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  16. 99.999%? You have a link to back up that assertion?

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  17. There are women who do not act pretty and dainty, and I doubt they'd "admit" that they are only women on the surface level.

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  18. He's a doctor? Can't he be his own link?

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  19. But my point is that if you are a woman who breaks away from what is expected of you in society, that should be a part of your character.

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  20. Slight exaggeration but that doesnt change the reasoning. There are disease where kids are born without limbs, does that mean that evolution didnt dictate that bilateral symmetry isnt the most effective form for survival. Thats what youre saying. Do you believe in evolution as a concept?

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  21. How exactly am I saying that? You're taking what I say and trying to manipulate it wildly. I merely said that the argument that the male orgasm serves and evolutionary purpose with the female orgasm does not is easily disputable.

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  22. Your whole "having to be around a female to orgasm" statement. Just because Im not using my asshole right now doesnt mean theres not an evolutionary purpose for it.

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  23. http://m.netdoctor.co.uk/sex-and-relationships/facts/dry-orgasms.htm

    to paraphrase men should ejaculate when they orgasm if theyre fully healthy or have any amount of semen in their balls. Orgasms feel good due to the evolution of our CNS, this means well continue to do it. This means well always have a biological reason for ejaculating. This means procreation. I cant make it any easier

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  24. Men can have an orgasm without ejaculating any time they choose to. If a male orgasm's evolutionary purpose is to ensure procreation, that wouldn't be true.

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  25. Again with these strange extrapolations.
    But if a fish rode a bicycle, would he put baseball cards in the spokes?

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  26. Only if they played for the Marlins.

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  27. Q: So, Blog Otters, what are you thoughts on sexism, racism, and all the other isms that separate humans from one another?

    A: They're really awesome.

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  28. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:02 AM

    Yeah, I was surprised on how much sexual harassment charges the women could have been hit with at my old job.

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  29. Naturally they shouldnt. If your putting clamps on your dick veins r have practiced beating off so much you can do it, sure. I can cut off my arm anytime but that doesnt mean arms dont serve an evolutionary. For the third time, do you not believe in evoluyion as a concept?

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  30. I remember when Scott Keith's blog used to be about wrestling.

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  31. That can't be true - the only time woman think about sex is when they're thinking about how they can avoid it with all those perverted men out there.

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  32. And yet another strange example that is irrelevant in this discussion.

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  33. Do you remember Eric S. writing the first half of his Smackdown reviews about North American politics and foreign policy?

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  34. It is of course bad to cast anyone of any particular demographic into one
    box. Every individual is unique, and deserved to be treated as such... that
    said stereotypes, and therefore "isms" become those things for
    a reason.

    I have gotten a lot of heat on here for being open about my dislike for most
    women... but I stand by it. I think women are governed almost entirely by their
    emotional responses to the world around them and generally struggle with being
    rational or logical and in turn make poor decisions. They are usually self-centered
    and shallow. They make a majority of the population and have never had an era
    in human history where they dominate what happens in the world.

    This doesn't apply to all women... and I have many women I love, like, or
    can do more than 'tolerate' but my position is supported by overwhelming
    evidence that an objective observer would agree to that it does apply to a
    majority of women.

    Disliking or disregarding someone entirely because they fit a certain
    demographic is Xism and is a sign of small mindedness, and morally reprehensible...
    but looking at what wide characteristics someone fits into can both help you
    relate to them and somewhat predict their behavior making a prosperous
    relationship more possible... it also helps avoid the other type of Xism...
    pretending that everyone is the same just because everyone is equal, to ignore
    the common characteristics certain groups share is an insult to their heritage
    and is every bit as insulting to them as writing them off because of what
    groups/demographic they fall into.


    Now let the flaming an down-voting begin because I didn't pretend we are all the same and having per-conceived ideals is a bad thing.

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  35. And spyware removal.

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  36. How's the golf course in GTA? Anyone played that yet? Unfortunately I've only been able to spend just under 7 hours playing so far but I'm hoping to hit it hard tonight.

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  37. I don't know if I entirely agree with you, although I do find that these days we're not supposed to say anything negative about woman, which I find unfair. Men, as a gender, are grouped together and slandered all the time by woman, but if we do the same it's sexist, or we're attacked as being weak men who can't handle strong woman - it's like that person who nobody can stand because they're an asshole/bitch and they say the reason nobody likes them is because they "just call it like it is". No, sometimes people don't like you because you're a bitch and it has nothing to do with jealousy or your gender.

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  38. Given how college-freshman cynical the world of GTA5 is, it might be for the best that women play little role in it. Everyone and everything is hideous on its surface, and everything a person can do- investing in stocks, playing video games, buying a magazine- makes them guilty by implication. Your main characters are absolved from their wrongdoings because the game world goes so far out of its way that they're just directionless cogs in a jaded, overprivileged society. If women had a larger role in this awful world, it would be anything but flattering.

    This by no means makes GTA5 a bad game, in fact, its humorous, relentless cynicism is one of its hallmarks. But this game isn't the one to make a stand for women, because it revels in taking a stand for absolutely nothing.

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  39. Yep. Those were good days.

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  40. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:30 AM

    "-isms" aren't annoying to me. The politically correct, thin skinned people of the world are.
    I'd rather someone tell me that they don't like me because I'm black and get it over with. This way I know and I will not try to make idle conversation with you and keep it business-like. My old boss had a problem with me. He told me this to my face. And I told him that "I don't like you either, but I don't have to like you to work with you." He had this look of surprise that I said that. From then on I went through his National Sales Manager/Lackey.

    That being said, it's funny to see how people that are not used to being around black people act when they get near me when I work them. I don't know if it's so much racism though.

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  41. That "college-freshman cynical" view can absolutely make it a bad game for critics or players who don't share or enjoy that perspective, or who find it tiresome or insulting.

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  42. For the record, by definition, a feminist is simply one who believes men and women should have equal rights in all arenas of life. I'll proudly admit to being a feminist, based on the actual definition.

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  43. Shouldn't this conversation be on jezebel or one of the other ridiculous "feminist" sites?


    GTA started out aimed at a particular target audience. It's grown and developed one hell of a lot since the original GTA, but still embraces/reaches out to that core target audience (unlike, say other companies - sorry - This Business - that can't figure out who they're marketing to.)
    For the most part, people way too oversensitive to political incorrectness are not part of that audience. Go buy another fucking videogame then, or find something else to watch.


    ... eh, one more week or so, and they'll go back to complaining about how Game of Thrones is really patriarchal and dismissive of women, blah blah blah.

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  44. For them, yes. I admit that, now that I'm in my 30s, the crapsack worldview is wearing on me as well- it's the reason I stopped watching South Park, though I still consider that to be a good show as well. But I chalk it up to a personal distaste, rather than an indictment of its quality.

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  45. When a critic pans a movie, does that mean the movie just isn't for them?

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  46. the reason peeps dont like you is cause you stopped posting .gifs


    damn the man!

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  47. Possibly/probably so. Or maybe it's just not a good movie.


    I CANNOT stand the "new" Star Trek, as I consider it an insult to the 40+ years of material that the original series, and its successors, have created. So, I just don't watch the "new" ones.

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  48. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:44 AM

    I got into this discussion over the weekend.
    Women want to be treated like men, but when they are they do NOT know how to act. Younger men now are acting like women (because they are being raised by women) and it's forcing the women to be the man in the relationships.
    These militant women want the best of both worlds and they ruin relationships just as much as the weak man does.

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  49. Can you give some concrete examples beyond divorce and family court where men are at an institutionalized disadvantage?

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  50. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:46 AM

    ...here, but just this once:

    http://i.imgur.com/rrliX.gif

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  51. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:48 AM

    I don't mind the occasional random topic.

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  52. I'm 90% certain Scott's the one who got me onto Malwarebytes. And I still use them today.

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  53. After all, it's the Blog Of DOOM. Not the Blog Of THIS BUSINESS. ;)

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  54. Ok, that opinion is too subjective to warrant any kind of debate over it. Clearly, that's something that you observed in a specific case. That's not how it is generally. And younger men acting like women because they are being raised by them makes no sense.

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  55. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:51 AM

    Young men with no positive adult men in their lives to show them how to be a man will have a harder time in relationships then ones that do.

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  56. There are valid reasons to dislike GTA V or any other piece of media. There are valid criticisms that can be made about this game, just as there are valid criticisms of any movie or book or record or TV show. And everybody is free to disagree with anybody else's criticisms. Only in games though do I see readers starting petitions to have a critic fired because she's a woman who "dared" to only give GTA V a 9 out of 10. Only in games do I see readers complain about a lack of objectivity in reviews, as if reviews could ever be objective. It's kind of funny.

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  57. It'll be great when online roles around.

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  58. no we're attacked for oh "poor you" as if all the advantages dudes have prevent them from being annoyed for things said about us that aren't true. We're all humans.

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  59. "Only in games though do I see readers starting petitions to have a critic fired because she's a woman who "dared" to only give GTA V a 9 out of 10."



    Those readers are idiots, end of that discussion.

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  60. I'm glad one woman has been attacking all the men at once. She must be pretty fucking awesome if that is the case.

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  61. hi the man!

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  62. I don't think it's college freshman cynical as much as it removes every single semblance of political correctness from that world. A shampoo commerical in that game, will, for instance, say you BETTER FUCKING USE IT OR YOU'LL FEEL OLD, whereas in real life that SAME EXACT message is communicated, just more subtly.

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  63. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:02 PM

    But that is they way things are. Men can't say or do anything anymore. It's weird because if I have an issue with someone the first thing they go at is, "You don't like me because I'm a strong woman/openly gay/etc." and I say, "No. I don't like you because you're an asshole.
    And don't get me started on the whole, "Stop hatin'!" default cop out answer.

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  64. Yeah, I mean, Jef, as a white guy who grew up in the burbs, I think honestly, its more fear of the unknown versus like, hating people who have a different skin color then me. I've had black friends, etc, but there's always that cultural disconnect.

    I think the thing isn't so much black people it's just as a white guy I have no idea what to say or how to relate, anything I say that attempts to relate to a person on a cultural level can come off as a racist.

    There was a Doctor awhile back who diagnosed a woman with a 'Ghetto Booty" as a joke, and the woman went to the TV and got the guy run under the bus.

    I know it's impossible to ask one person to speak for a culture, but considering you are a part of that culture, any tips you may have for folks trying to cross the very murky racial boundaries would be great.

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  65. Yeah, I think the problem is that when you strongly identify as something, it BECOMES what you view yourself as, not as a part of yourself, so even the slightest challenge to that comes off as a personal attack.

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  66. Yes! I hate the "Call it like it is" nonsense. "Just being honest" is often an excuse for being an asshole/bitch. Being truthful isn't always virtuous.

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  67. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:06 PM

    I went to an elementary school with 1500 kids...4 of us were black. Two of the four were related to me. I saw a LOT of direct/indirect racism. I didn't fault anyone that has never been around black people, but the old guard that shot me dirty looks could kiss my ass.

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  68. I will say that it does feel like kind of a bummer that a game that is literally the APEX of interactive entertainment in terms of graphics, gameplay, storytelling, and immersion has to be so violent and gross and awful all the time, but that's its prerogative.

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  69. Pornography and Nursing.

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  70. I'd throw Education, at least pre-secondary Education, in there.


    Although calling it "institutional" might be a little extreme.

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  71. Maybe. It'll be hard to focus on the shot when a helicopter lands in front of you, though.

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  72. Wow, The Last Of Us lost its title fast, didn't it?

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  73. I'm married, and I treat my wife with the utmost respect. We didn't have a typical courtship, where we would go out on dates and I would hold the door open for her, and pick up the check and all that other stuff. We met online, where we had daily conversations. Intelligent conversations...stupid conversations, you name it. In the past, I treated all women the same: with respect. It's just something I always did. Most of the time, in my college years, it netted me directly into the friend zone, while watching my female friends pine over guys who would constantly disrespect them. In the 90's, women were clamoring to be treated equally, etc. But when it came to relationships, the majority of the females I knew, were total suckers for the guys who were total douchenuggets. Sexism is one of those things, I believe, that still go over the head of most women. What one woman perceives as sexism, eight other women perceive it as "just guys being guys". And hey...guys, don't forget to buy Axe body spray....it gets you laid by hot women. So Axe tells us.

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  74. That's what we call challenge. This isn't Augusta or Pebble Beach after all... ;)

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  75. Why should blue and pink be gender-specific? Why can't we just have toys as toys and just let kids pick what they like rather than BOYS GET TRANSFORMERS, GIRLS GET OVENS?

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  76. Theyre not strange, youre just missing the point. There are evolutionary mechanisms that enable us to survive. Orgasm, and subsequently ejaculation, is the mechanism to ensure that there is a biological incentive to have sex. Just like an unproportional amount of nerve cells being allocated to our dick. An incentive for sex to feel good.

    An arm or a leg is an evolutionary mechansim to help us prey, hunt, survive. The narrative between the two are the same.

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  77. "Don't get me wrong, I understand...but I don't really try to understand," has been your argument this whole thread.

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  78. So we'll evolve to big dicks with arms and vaginas with arms? This sounds scary. Count me out.

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  79. But you're saying and doing stuff right now?

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  80. Third wave feminism (radfem) has done away with most of the goodwill that feminism has built up over the years. Feminism at its core is about equality, not just between women and men but for all. Feminism helped bring intersectionality into the world of social justice but third wavers have basically done away with this. Third wavers increasingly identify themselves as TERF (trans* exclusionary radfem) which is so counter to the central tenets of feminism that it makes my head hurt just thinking about them. Third wavers are the ones who singlehandedly derailed the Occupy protest movements and are an increasingly racist movement.


    I believe in equality and I believe in people being treated equally AS INDIVIDUALS and not as members of different groups. I believe that this isn't what feminism believes in anymore due to third wavers infiltrating and hijacking the movement. I believe that the "no true scotsman" argument that people use to distance themselves from third wavers when convenient but not fully denounce them has watered down and ruined what feminism actually means and has made it a bankrupt joke of a movement.


    As a dark skinned hispanic (or as third wavers insist I call myself, a "PoC") I take more offense with the current feminist movement than most white people will but this is my perspective.

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  81. I tried making this easy to understand but I guess only those with an education level over high school, and those who dont flip burgers can understand it. Freshman level college biology is required I guess

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  82. You know how you relate? You talk to them like you would anybody else. Bring up a sports game or some bullshit like that. You don't have slang your way through a conversation to be on a cultural level.

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  83. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:19 PM

    Yes, I am. I'm expressing my opinion without fear of what someone thinks. Will I get offended by what people say? Sure will, but it's their right to say it.

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  84. http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/09/17/male-female-pay-gap-hasnt-moved-much-in-years/?mod=WSJBlog

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  85. As annoying as Militant Feminists are, the misogyny on this board was a lot more unsettling to me (probably cause I genuinely like a lot of you people)

    The "girls can't be real hardcore fans of something" douche attitude stood out. Beyond the fact that my best friend is a chick, who is as much a "geek" as anyone, yet is called a "phony" because she's attractive. On a grand sale, the Twi-Hards made the franchise a bajilion dollars. I think Twilight is shit but it kills the idea women can't be "hardcore" fans (why that's even a necessary trait to have in being an awesome person, I'll never know).

    I've got a theory, I might know why you guys don;t know any quality women is because no quality girl would want to spend time with such a pig-headed, uneducated fuckwit.

    /Rant

    See also, my views on people who feel persecuted by reverse racism, and that society somehow fucks over white people now that some social programs target minorities or the poor (overlap is prevalent). Over simplified but poignant

    http://amptoons.com/blog/2007/06/13/a-concise-history-of-black-white-relations-in-the-usa-2/

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  86. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:24 PM

    This is true. When I got into a conversation with someone they were intrigued with what I am because I'm light-skinned with curly hair. When they asked what I was I tell them I'm human and keep it moving.
    I use my tag on here as a joke and play on words, but I try not to categorize myself or do everything from a "black" point of view unless the situation called for it.

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  87. Place your bets, who responds to my comment below first, Jobber, Satin, or that fucked up guy who say being Male and White AUTOMATICALLY makes me both sexist and racist regardless of my beliefs!

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  88. You're right. I forgot the legs. Not as scary anymore.

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  89. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:26 PM

    I saw that on a comedy show (the name escapes me) where the guy said that white men are blamed for everything now.

    ReplyDelete
  90. All I know about -isms is that when I'm alone I sing along to my Dr Dre albums faithfully, n-bombs left and right, and if that makes me a racist then I don't ever want to be anything else.

    ReplyDelete
  91. "although I do find that these
    days we're not supposed to say anything negative about woman"

    Not really true I was with a group of guys on the invite of a friend recently--it was all horrible things about women that they said once they were by themselves. Made me really uncomfortable knowing that the girl I was seeing the next day could beat the shit outa all of them with her blackbelt


    I'm not excusing the women talking bad about men, that's not ok either, but lets not pretend that Chauvinism isn't alive and well.

    ReplyDelete
  92. Been there. Agree totally.

    ReplyDelete
  93. I know some guys at school that always rail against the injustices being perpetrated against straight, White men (usually tied to how Christians are persecuted against in North America) in class and I want to beat him with a stick and tell him to stop making us look bad

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  94. I think the thing with assuming attracting females being hardcore nerds is actually the thing we're talking about. As a gamer who grew up from NES to now, I still have an inital 0.o whenever I talk to a HARDCORE gamer girl because I sometimes have a hard time believe they exist, because for awhile they didn't seem too. I don't question their credibility more than I would anyone else who says they're a gamer.

    It's like a sexy female wrestling fan. They exist, I'm glad they exist, I'd love to meet one, and I welcome their presence. But It's not what the generally accepted norm is, so there's sometimes a cautious / negative reaction initially.

    ReplyDelete
  95. The Dam Vaninator!

    ReplyDelete
  96. I have to ask... are you referencing the graph, or the article. Because the article, in part, makes the graph look misleading.

    ReplyDelete
  97. Start here

    http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution

    its a little more intensive then burger flipping manuals but I can fill in the gaps for you.

    ReplyDelete
  98. I could write pages on the friend zone and how those memes about how "Because a woman isn't a vending machine you put karma points in until sex pops out" annoy me to no end.

    ReplyDelete
  99. She would actually beat the shit out of them WITH the black belt? That seems as if it would be challenging...

    ReplyDelete
  100. The Current feminist movement IS predominantly bullshit. Unfortunately that leads assholes to somehow figure it to be a world were men are persecuted against...and their own sexism is justified

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  101. You should probably read your own source material instead of just googling and being a troll.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-hoff-sommers/wage-gap_b_2073804.html

    http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/08/gender_pay_gap_the_familiar_line_that_women_make_77_cents_to_every_man_s.html

    http://www.stanford.edu/group/scspi/_media/pdf/key_issues/gender_research.pdf

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  102. Traitor Alex asserted the other day that there is no gender wage gap. Apparently The Wall Street Journal says that there is.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Well said. I still listen to "Doggystyle" regularly feel the same way.

    ReplyDelete
  104. Using porn as an example of MEN being treated by society is...dicey

    ReplyDelete
  105. 1) That's not what I said.

    2) You didn't reply to me telling you to read your own source material last time and you won't this time.

    3) You're a poor troll

    ReplyDelete
  106. What the what? I'm not even going to touch the porn one. And men are accepted into nursing programs, when they choose to apply. But very few do.

    ReplyDelete
  107. Read the article PAST the first paragraph.

    Analysts caution that the annual earnings comparison is a crude measure of a complex reality. The raw wage-gap figure doesn’t reflect meaningful nuances such as whether women negotiate their pay as much as men do, which can influence earnings over an entire career. The pay comparison also fails to capture intangibles such as health-care benefits as well as some women’s choices to forgo salary in favor of fulfilling work and more flexible schedules.

    The pay gap persists in part because men are more likely to pursue college majors and advanced degrees in fields that lead to higher-paying careers.

    “Women are getting graduate degrees, but not necessarily in fields that give the best salaries,” said Sarah Jane Glynn, associate director of women’s economic policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal group in Washington.

    Discrimination remains a factor, albeit one that is difficult to document and measure.Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, a libertarian think tank, said, “There’s no doubt that some level of residual discrimination exists out there.”

    Meridith Pushnik, a 30-year-old web designer, said she experienced such discrimination early in her career. In 2007, Ms. Pushnik and a male friend with similar education and experience both landed jobs designing web sites and creating software applications for a Denver firm. Four years later, she learned from the colleague that he earned $20,000 more a year than she did.
    Ms. Pushnik didn’t bring up the matter with her manager because company guidelines prohibited employees from discussing wages among themselves. She left in December and in March joined EffectiveUI, Inc., another Denver technology firm.

    At EffectiveUI, “when we discussed pay, I got offered a really fair wage, reflective of how anyone with my experience, male or female, should be paid,” Ms. Pushnik said.

    Studies show that her experience isn’t isolated. Research published last year by theAmerican Association of University Women found a pay gap emerging one year after college. A year after graduating with engineering degrees from similarly competitive institutions, men were earning annual salaries of $55,142 and women $48,493. That translates into women earning 88 cents for every $1 men did.

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  108. "Because a woman isn't a vending machine you put karma points in until sex pops out" annoy me to no end."


    This is a statement predicated on the guys intentions. If you are a nice guy and she picks a douche, then yeah, bad decision making on your part.


    But I've BEEN the guy building karma points for the vending machine (worked too)

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  109. Haha one of the stats that I like to bring up to be facetious is that women make more money than men in both pornography and nursing programs.

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  110. If that's true, I'll give you nursing. one profession doesn't really discredit the majority however

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  111. Let me start out by saying I am a member of the Saints Row IV dev team, so take that as you will. I won't comment about GTA V's content as I have not played it yet. I will say that IF you're doing a game with three main characters it is probably good marketing to make sure one of them is female if for no other reason than >30% of all gamers are female. And that is after removing the people who play solitaire or only ipad games, etc. >30% of the people playing sixty dollar, high end games are female.

    Now as to the subject I know more of. Yes, Saints Row is more inclusive to gender than most other games out there and I will explain why, at least in my biased opinion, through the time honored use of a numbered list...

    1. Saints Row IV is one of only two mainstream games out today where you can play as a straight man, a straight woman, a gay man, a gay woman, a bi man, a bi woman, a transgendered man, a transgendered woman or someone completely neuter. You can also play any of the above as any race. The only other game that does this is Saints Row the Third.

    2. SR IV's supporting female characters kick ass. They are just as tough and important and outspoken and well developed and fantastic as the men in the story. They save themselves. They grow and change during the course of the game. Note, I am not blowing my own horn here. I was not one of the writers on the game (I am a designer). I just think the writers did an amazing job.

    3. Even if you play as a male, Saints Row IV passes the Bechdel Test in the first THREE MINUTES of the game.

    4. Saints Row IV also passes the Mako Mori Test (http://www.dailydot.com/fandom/mako-mori-test-bechdel-pacific-rim/)


    5. SR IV makes fun of EVERYTHING. Much like the South Park reference in the above blog entry it lampoons everything on both sides of the sexual fence equally.


    Not going to claim I am not prejudiced here but there are my reasons above. Take them as you will and hey... Thank You For Playing.

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  112. Youre the target of extreme feminists.

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  113. "Even if you play as a male, Saints Row IV passes the Bechdel Test in the first THREE MINUTES of the game"


    It's kind of sad that's an accomplishment--but it really kind of is

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  114. The guy that said it to me was a White guy though. He uses it as a twisted logic to feel better about being a sexist, race-ist, homophobic piece of shit.

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  115. phew. I thought you were being serious with the porn one. FWIW, here's an article suggesting the opposite trend in nursing (i.e. men do get paid more than women):
    http://scrubsmag.com/do-male-nurses-get-paid-more-than-female-nurses/
    Just one source so it's not definitive. I think a stronger argument could be made that male nurses may face social stigma in their job.

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  116. But that wasn't the argument. He argued there was no gender gap and even third wave feminists wouldn't say there was. When in fact:
    Women earned 76.5 cents for every dollar that men did last year, moving no closer to narrowing a gender pay gap that has barely budged in almost a decade.
    The reasoning behind it doesnt matter. The fact is that there is a gender gap. That was what I was saying.

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  117. What does "show them how to be a man" even mean? There are millions of men in this country raised primarily by women who turn into productive members of society and participate in successful marriages. There are also millions of men raised by men who turn out like jackasses. Generally, quoting Fight Club in an intellectual discussion doesn't end well.

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  118. Bullshit.

    "how to be a man" He can be whatever he fucking wants to be, if that means he's effeminate, then good for him! If He's Rugged and KICKS ASS, then Good for Him!

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  119. This comment is a breath of fresh air in this thread. The general attitude around here caught me quite by surprise - I guess after having seen several convos about gay rights go well on this board, I wasn't expecting ideas of male/female equality to draw out so much hate.

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  120. Men suffer more injury and death on the job than women, even excluding military applications.


    Men face the death penalty more and face harsher sentences for sex crimes or really any crime whatsoever. The best demographic group to be when accused of drug crimes is BY FAR white women. Women get lighter sentences in violent crime as well.


    Men are systematically discriminated against when it comes to sex crimes; in many states in the US it's not legally possible for a female to rape a male.


    Google "disposable males" and you'll find a lot more on this

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  121. She'd find a way. She has a nack for making the impossible happen--especially if it means she gets to smash in some faces!

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  122. How is this getting downvotes?! If women are getting paid less b/c fewer women are choosing engineering (for example) as a college major THAT'S STILL A FUCKING PROBLEM.

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  123. The Judicial system is the area I generally agree with the need for better male representation--but that gets drowned out by "NO, MEN ARE TREATED LIKE SHIT, FUCK YOU UPPITY WOMEN. WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME SEXIST!?" types.

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  124. Lets blow the roof off this motherfucker...thoughts on affirmative action!!

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  125. So it fails the Bechdel Test miserably? I can't say I'm shocked.

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  126. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:57 PM

    I was watching "Deadly Women" and the woman on there said that a woman is 30% less likely to be convicted of a violent crime.

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  127. I don't watch the new Star Trek b/c it's terribly written.

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  128. I'm curious, as a video game insider why do you think games don't include more substantial female characters? Especially if 30% of the population is female. It's fucking pathetic that passing the bechdel test in 3 minutes is an accomplishment. But kudos to your team for what they've put together. HOpefully it's a sign of the future.

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  129. Eric, most of the " wage gap" is accounting tricks and miscomparisons, as the article itself points out. As does TA's links.

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  130. Many of the people on this board are or were "losers". Either disenfranchised as children/teens or Adults working dead-end jobs in the workplace. This leads to lower self esteem--which in turn leads to little success with women, which turns into a dislike/mistrust.

    you know what forget the "this board" part, that's condescending and stereotyping--I'm talking about people in general here

    I do much better with girls since I stopped feeling like the victim, that I was owed companionship. Still a loser in love, but baby steps into adulthood right?

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  131. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:03 PM

    Hell, Let's go all out. I find it funny how people blew a gasket when they made Miles Morales the new Ultimate Spiderman.

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  132. Possibly because society has programed people to believe that you have to learn to "be a man", and as such are more juxtaposed to violence.

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  133. Baby, I could say it was a nice day outside and get downvotes. Doesn't bother me.

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  134. Ben Affleck, batman?!?!

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  135. Was Hitler THAT BAD?

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  136. Again, you're being subjective and kinda borderline ignorant IMO. There's no way on how to be a man. Most men these days don't even know how to talk to women. You would think they would if they were raised by a woman right? There's a lot more parallels then what you're saying. You kinda sound sexist

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  137. The wage gap is meant to measure discrimination and not choice. The point of articles that disprove the 77 cents wage gap (which I've now posted twice on the board and troll dougie has yet to read or respond to) show that a big factor of this is due to choice.

    Women make healthier choices when it comes to how they work. Fewer women work 80 hour weeks for example. More women do what they choose to do and what fulfills them as opposed to what makes more money. Yeah we joke about someone getting a PhD in women's studies but if that's what you want to do then more power to you. You go into that knowing that you're going to have no career outside of education and you're looking at $40,000 a year best case scenario but if that's what you want to do with your life, then that's fine.

    The problem is in measuring that PhD in women's studies against a medical doctor. Both are doctors but saying that they're equal is BS and statistically dishonest as is any method that purports to uphold the 77 cent statistic as I've already proved in this thread. As long as women aren't systematically discriminated against (as is are they being systematically discouraged from being medical doctors or psychiatrists) then you can't chalk this up to discrimination, only choice.

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  138. Uh, no.
    Women earned 76.5 cents for every dollar that men did last year, moving no closer to narrowing a gender pay gap that has barely budged in almost a decade.
    The reasons are irrelevant to what I said. Women earn less. A lot less.

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  139. (hands Godwin Award to Kyle)


    Enjoy.

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  140. This is AWESOME that you're reading and posting here, for the record. I have no problem with Saints Row 4 at all. I liked it, reviewed it, and loved its devil may care attitude. but if you don't mind I do have some questions.

    First, let me say that Saints Row 4 generally takes itself a lot less seriously than GTA, which is great. Saints Row 2 is one of my favorite games of the generation - Shaundi is my jam and I also got real bummed when the pop singer girl got whacked, and overall just love picking up what SR puts down. The 4th one takes nothing seriously, so taking the content in that game quote unquote seriously is a little hard to do. Which is great. Make us laugh and you have the audience hook line and sinker.

    I have some questions though:

    I know you're a designer, but do the writers write what they think would be entertaining first, not really keeping personal backstories / nuance / subtext / thematic stuff in mind right? I guess what I'm saying is that you guys tackle the game from a perspective of LETS SEE HOW MUCH FUN WE CAN MAKE THIS FUCKER, to put it bluntly. I love that.

    2. When playing as a female character are there distinct differences in the ways characters react to them based on their gender? I.E Can a lady Boss romance Keith David while a male boss cannot?

    3. I understand you have gay characters, but are they only gay because they sleep with men / women, or gay in the sense that they've had the experiences associated with that lifestyle choice.

    I guess ultimately my question is, while I love Saints Row 4, its very much a "Funny Hat" game - meaning a lot of the content is funny because it is. There's a lot of joy to be had in that - wearing a funny hat, hooking up with a robot, and so on, but it's really basic in terms of character motivation and experience. As a result, it seems a little harder to find fault because things are so binary. Essentially what i'm saying is you're not going to give the main character of The Naked Gun shit for slapping a woman comically. Saints Row 4 is literally the funhouse.

    GTA V takes itself a little more seriously, but does it via this insane world where there is no political correctness, everyone is ugly, and no one is happy because they're so wrapped up in themselves. It's a different kind of parody from what Saints Row goes for, I think. Grand Theft Auto IV is the funhouse mirror.

    PS - If you kind folks can get the geomod engine up in Saints Row 5, you can have my money for the rest of my life.

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  141. They don't know how to talk to women because talking about feelings isn't MANLY! they have to BE A MAN

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  142. I just googled that and found this page

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law


    I feel enlightened

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  143. Yeah, I'm 100% in agreement with this. Also, let's not forget that black men, especially, are at a disadvantage in the judicial system so there's more prejudice going on there than we've discussed. But, in general, men having a disadvantage in the judicial system does not even stack up to the advantages given in other aspects of daily life.

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  144. Im drunk, (yea I know its 300 fuckers) so dont get it. Ill upvote in anyway as I like your style.

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  145. but here its your choice of phinneas or henry

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  146. I think that's more of a mindfuck then anything else. People weren't upset that a half hispanic half black was the Ultimate Spiderman. People are upset because it broke away to what they're use to. It happens with anything when you're a hardcore fan about a specific product. Look how many people got upset for the new Star Wars franchise.

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  147. i watched an ep of family ties the other night where alex pretended to be a feminist in order to score with a girl

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  148. If I had to guess because of money and controversy. It's 'safer' to make games with male leads because we're come to accept them as being two and even one Dimensional characters that often times begin and end with gruff features and macho bravado.

    Putting a girl into a game as a protagonist would require a lot more effort and a lot more nuance, and that kind of thing is hard, especially when these games cost millions of dollars and the ability to experiment creatively can lead to cries of sexism and inauthentic portrayals.

    Writing complex characters is hard, and it's easy to accept a crummy 1D character if he's a regular guy, versus something outside of the norm when there's a bunch of societal and sociological pressure. It's not right, but that's probably why.

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  149. As long as we're going sideways:

    http://www.wrestlecrap.com/headlies/headlies-mizs-dad-watches-son-get-pummeled-wins-father-of-the-year-for-not-stopping-it/



    :)

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  150. Well it's not like GameInformer was objective when they were getting bribed by the game companies to give glowing praise to every shitty game that hit the market.

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  151. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:10 PM

    No, I saw outright racist posts. Same thing when they made the character in Thor black.

    ReplyDelete
  152. Back when ea sports made the NBA live game you could always count on them secretly making the big dumb white guys really awesome. Like you could be down 25 points and bring a Brian cardinal/Adam Keefe/Chris Quinn type and guy and dominate. Always worked.

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  153. As a kid I was fucking pissed when they turned the punisher black. Not due to racism but for how stupid that plot twist was

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  154. How can you know it's terribly written if you've never watched it?

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  155. Ha. Todd Maccullouch, bryant reeves, mark madson?!?!

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  156. I LOL so hard going back and reading Gamespot call GTA IV the greatest game ever.

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  157. You can count me in that list of recovering "losers" and "socially awkward." Guess I just never had the negative experiences with women that you're inferring others did. You got rejected? Put in a bunch of "work" and you're stuck in the "friend zone"? Oh well...there's still a decent chance one of the women you know is at least a tiny bit into you. Keep trying until you find her/don't fuck it up.

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  158. "I used to love comics until all those fucking spiderman started dunking and swinging on the rims"

    Guy who mixes up his racist rants.

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  159. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:13 PM

    If wanting a father to be in his sons life to teach him responsibility, i.e. "be a man" makes me a sexist pig then:

    http://youtu.be/Si186d57Ra4

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  160. I'm gonna get a tattoo with a giraffe with a big penis and huge arms that says "Evolve or die" in a banner. That's all the evolution talk I'll be having thank you very much.

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  161. Speaking of white stiffs, did you hear about the 1-1 tournament scalabrine held? He opened it to the public and took the best players. Went 4-0 and won like 11-1 every game. Loved it.

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  162. Can I be a wussy yet also kick ass?

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  163. I think that's a given but not the majority of the public's opinion.

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  164. You've all heard my story, I was her best friend, I loved her--she isn't attracted to me, I fall into a wallowing depression...but she helped me back out of it herself. I'm incredibly thankful to her

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  165. I did that in college. It was working too and I was "thisclose" to hooking up with her as finals were ending. We came back in Sept. and I called her 2 or 3 times and got no response. Assuming she had cooled on me, I called a final time to leave a voicemail saying that it's fine if she doens't want to hang out but she could at least tell me that. Got a call the next day - her grandma had died and she was taking a semester leave to be with her family. Yeah...I felt like a real jackhole after that one.

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  166. Answers to the best of my limited ability below..

    1. The writers approach different games different ways. I know for SR IV the approach was "Let's see how much fun we can make this fucker while staying true to the characters".

    2. No. That was a conscious decision on our part. The idea is that your sexual orientation/skin color/weight/fashion choices etc make NO difference in the Saints Row world. The President of the United States could be a heavily tattooed 300 lb Asian transgendered woman with the voice of Nolan North.

    3. As above. There are no differences in lifestyle. Our theory was simple. it doesn't matter your sexual orientation once you have been kidnapped by aliens and trapped in a virtual world with superpowers.

    Thank you much for the compliments on the game. I refuse to answer anything about SR V as I like my job. -)

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  167. mid 90's Shawn Michaels says YES!

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  168. Honestly, there's plenty of guys here in Miami that feel that way. A lot of these dudes are territorial with their women and get resentful if a woman isn't interested in them

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  169. Do you believe in the friend zone? Because it's about as imaginary as the dead zone.

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  170. Youre deflecting to third grade humor. Defense mechanism when someone knows theyre wrong or just unknowledgable about a topic. Its ok, you can school me on the correct burger flipping form .

    ReplyDelete
  171. I hope you're not referring to the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone"... That one is quite real.

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  172. The 1-9 Marines that beat his ass say NO!

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  173. Yeah, I remember somebody wrote a letter to GameInformer that actually called them out on them not giving a bad review to anything that came out and the letter was even put in the magazine.
    GameInformer's response was along the lines of "Well, we can't help that there's so many great games on the market now".
    I have a feeling their viewpoint would be considerably different if they were not in the game companies' back pocket.

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  174. Madsen was like Larry bird. His stats would suck but bring him in and he would just nail 3's and steal the ball. Also I once scored 91 pts with Todd McCullough.

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  175. Easier to just ignore them Farva. Helps the brain.

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  176. I think there are a few reasons.

    First, there is still the perception that video games are a guy thing.

    Second, the insanely vast majority of video game developers are male. Honestly I think maybe 10% of the industry is female and if you subtract out project management and support those numbers plummet even more. It's sad and it has to be fixed, though to be honest I have no idea how to fix it. If 90% of the people making the product fit a certain description then the product tends to be skewed towards that description. One look at "flesh" colored crayons from the 80s tells you that.



    Third, much like the film industry the games industry is loathe to plop down lots of development money on original ideas when retreads have been shown to make money.

    There are more, but those are the top ones imho.

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  177. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:22 PM

    I'd use them to cheat. I could be up 45 points and the pc would make one player go on a 46 point run. Then I learned when the computer was lighting me up I'd bring a bum like Madson off the bench to flagrant foul that player and put him out of the game. Magically the run would stop.

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  178. Is one game...and does it pass the Bachdel test?

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  179. Unfortunately the rare exception only helps to highlight the issue rather than solve it.

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  180. No, it does not. The number of action games that pass the Bechdel test is insanely low. Like single digit percentage low.

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  181. I'm glad you're reacting to jokes with being a complete turd-monger. Also, use an apostrophe college boi.

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  182. I don't know what that is

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  183. Good game though. Saw the new one on the PC, pretty sweet

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  184. Ugh, I'm not saying every game has to pass the Bachdel test (especially stuff were the only dialogue is Main character and people like Pokemon) But surely that number has to go up in the near future

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  185. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:25 PM

    Actually the FemShep character in Mass Effect is pretty popular.

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  186. The Bachdel test asks if a piece of media has...
    1. two or more females of relevance to the plot.
    2. that they talk to each other and
    3. they aren't talking about a man

    ReplyDelete
  187. Yes, there are exceptions. But the point is that they are vastly outnumbered. Just like some movies do pass the Bechdel test. The real point is that almost no movie would fail a male Bechdel Test.

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  188. I thought it was funny that Georghe Muresan was always made to look dominant in those games when in reality his basketball playing was just as awful as his acting performance in "My Giant".

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  189. Yeah I didn't say they couldn't be hardcore fans, I said there aren't any. Someone brought up teeny bopper shit and it is true that young girls are teenybopper fanatics.

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  190. That all makes sense. Hopefully things are moving in the right direction. Thanks for the answer.

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  191. Aren't any hardcore female fans of what?

    ReplyDelete
  192. I've watched both. More than once. I should say "I won't watch them again." And I definitely won't be seeing the third in theaters.

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  193. Excellent point.

    ReplyDelete

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