Are you a Quiet Speculation member?
If not, now is a perfect time to join up! Our powerful tools, breaking-news analysis, and exclusive Discord channel will make sure you stay up to date and ahead of the curve.
Gaby Spartz wrote a great article over on Channel Fireball that you've probably already read.
The article has caused a lot of buzz, mostly good, but some bad. Of course, if you're not getting negative feedback then you're probably not doing anything interesting. The long and short of it though, is that all of Gaby's terms are agreeable, and ones that we should abide by- some should even be expanded upon.
Brush your teeth. Wear deodorant. Embrace the "other". Don't be a dick.
Very interesting article, and it bears mentioning that all points made by Gaby Spartz are applicable to expanding Magic’s audience in general, not just to women : there are also many guys who tried to move from the kitchen table into their LGS for an FNM or Prerelease and who are driven away by exactly the same kind of behavior described in the article (bad hygiene, swearing…).
I have the chance to be L1 Judge for a very nice community at my LGS, and we work hard to keep it that way. It helps that we have a few children playing, including my 12-years old daughter. I certainly wouldn’t take her to some places where I’ve played Magic in the past, though.
My wife plays with us from time to time, and has done some decent finishes at a couple local tournaments (Game Day…), but even in our nice communtiy she has been the subject of some patronizing comments like “You play well for a woman”. Still some work to do, I guess. 🙂
Make sure to read the comments for some good trollage.
Many of the comments are just pure brain poison.
Those trollish comments remind me of GamerGate. 🙁
You mean Crack-gate? Ugh, don’t remind me. Set this whole community back ten years. I really hope everyone reads Gaby’s article and grows up. Its the main thing inhibiting the growth of magic IMO.
No, he probably means Gamergate. You know, that amorphous mass of people venting anger at women invading the video game market, people who are emotionally invested in video game journalism (hehehe), and — the best — those who can’t tell the difference between the two.
There are some hilarious comments in the article that remind me of that whole fiasco. They sound the same themes, too, most particularly this ridiculous idea that this hobby is some kind of MAN SAFE SPACE and any attempt to act mature is an attack on the sanctity of hahahahaha nevermind I can’t keep a straight face about this.
Some choice examples:
“To the extent that there’s a hypothetical multitude of women who really want to play in tournaments but don’t because of male hygiene issues or whatever, sure, the tournament community could improve at those things, but you know what? Those issues equally harm the experience for me.”
Yes, sir, being forced to address “male hygiene issues” would “harm the experience” for me. I NEED A PLACE WHERE MY LACK OF PERSONAL GROOMING IS RESPECTED.
“But saying we “need” to have more women playing is false. Magic is getting along just fine, in fact, it’s been better than it ever has (See GP Vegas) and continues to climb in popularity and success.”
Yeah, what the hell. Why should we bathe regularly just for the benefit of DEM WIMMIN? The article’s suggestions about ways to be decent to other human beings is wrong! Change is bad! Change attacks my safe space!
“pretty good article for a girl”
I tip my fedora to you, good sir! Way to tell the women what-for!
“I actually don’t use deodorant or shampoo. It’s a conscious decision. Basically my body actually smells good (or neutral) on its own … Personally I don’t mind a little deodorant, but it really bugs me when people just slather it on.”
OH. OH. Okay! Well, never mind then! Better not “slather on” that deodorant, wouldn’t wanna offend those of us that choose not to ever use soap on our hair!
“If more women would be the change they want to be, there would be less of that simply because you would have more women established and the boys in search of a nerdy girlfriend would not jump at the first cutie they see like hungry piranhas. They would be sated piranhas and totally harmless.”
Yeah! It’s the women’s fault! If they would only “sate my piranha,” then everything would be fine and people would be harmless! Lemme jump at dat cutie.
<a href="http://40.media.tumblr.com/69229e79e81d06dab4df7d49f1098183/tumblr_ne3nykBFzA1u25jd0o1_500.jpg” target=”_blank”>http://40.media.tumblr.com/69229e79e81d06dab4df7d49f1098183/tumblr_ne3nykBFzA1u25jd0o1_500.jpg
I think the bottom line is quite simple. Treat all people the same. Get rid of all gendered notions, like that women don’t like to think. I find it pretty ridiculous that a sizable portion of men, perhaps one in every three, can never understand something this simple.
If only there were consequences (e.g. jail time – I have absolutely no sympathy for these people) for bullying other people, women or otherwise. Punishment is the only thing that will force some people to change.
Not exactly. Treating everyone the same isn’t good if you’re treating everyone badly. The message is treat everyone with RESPECT. That includes not being rude and not stinking up the place.