Nerds and Male Privilege

[DinnerX]

To expect man's sexual desire to recede because some women can't handle their own existence is ridiculous. Especially within a primarily men's hobby/sub culture. I mean really, the whole argument is nonsensical.

What?

[Gunstar Green]

scikoolaid's post is impressive in that I think it equally offends both genders.

[Flake]

I actually see his point, a little.

[Erik_Twice]

I squint my eyes but I still don't know what he's saying. I mean, I could see something but nah, can't be it.

[Flake]

As I see it, it's a conflict between re-evaluating how the hobby treats ladies versus the needs of the ladies in the hobby.

[Zing]

Here's a first hand account from a female journalist at this year's E3 about the kind of thing I found most troubling/discouraging in that original article from the OP: http://kotaku.com/5919386/so-what-if-im ... -damn-game

I read the article and didn't see any clear indication that the behaviour was due to the person being a woman.

[J T]

Here's a first hand account from a female journalist at this year's E3 about the kind of thing I found most troubling/discouraging in that original article from the OP: http://kotaku.com/5919386/so-what-if-im ... -damn-game

I read the article and didn't see any clear indication that the behaviour was due to the person being a woman.

That's a major part of the problem of prejudice. It's slippery. While there may be far more incidents of the guy in that story making bad assumptions about women (sexism), he will always be able to claim that he wasn't thinking anything bad about her or intending to treat her any differently (and he would probably be right; however, just because he's not aware of what's happening doesn't mean sexism isn't at play). It's stuff like this that makes me never trust people that say things like "I don't see race" or "I don't see gender". How can you NOT? I'm not saying that the stereotypes are all true, but you have to be aware that you have them in your memory banks because they get programmed into your sub-conscious and you need to actively work to counter them. Any given minority group is well aware of what the stereotypes are for themselves. When the majority group pretends that stuff doesn't exist or is just blind to it even when it's right in front of them, then that is really maddening.

[MrPopo]

It's stuff like this that makes me never trust people that say things like "I don't see race" or "I don't see gender". How can you NOT?

I don't see race. People tell me I'm white and I believe them because I like Hootie & the Blowfish.

[Erik_Twice]

he will always be able to claim that he wasn't thinking anything bad about her or intending to treat her any differently (and he would probably be right; however, just because he's not aware of what's happening doesn't mean sexism isn't at play).

And what if he really wasn't treating her differently? Or is that an impossiblity?

To pressume guilt is a terrible move.

[J T]

he will always be able to claim that he wasn't thinking anything bad about her or intending to treat her any differently (and he would probably be right; however, just because he's not aware of what's happening doesn't mean sexism isn't at play).

And what if he really wasn't treating her differently? Or is that an impossiblity?

To pressume guilt is a terrible move.

Exactly. It's also a terrible move to deny sexism/racism. That's why it's slippery. The only way you could really conclusively determine this is if you watched the guy secretly for a long period of time to see if you noticed a difference in how treated women and men. Of course he's always going to say he's not sexist. And as a woman who has experienced many sexist acts, she's going to be more likely to interpret his behavior as sexist. But who is right? We don't know for sure unless we add it all up over time. That's why this is such a maddening issue whenever you are dealing with people unaware of their own biases.