Conventional Wisdom the What The ? Edition

I have just caught up on the latest on Gamergate and I am appalled on so many levels. Just to add to the mess is what happened at Utah State University and Anita Sarkeesian

When it is become OK to threaten people with bodily harm or wishing that they would off themselves?

And free speech doesn’t cut it here as an excuse. Most of these threats are anonymous individuals who are real surprised that they are in trouble when their true names are discovered. The excuses are myriad and really don’t matter because they threated someone with harm. ‘I was just kidding’ is not an answer to the cost of what they are doing.

I have dealt with this kind of carp all my geek life. Not the death threats but the ‘you’re a girl what are you doing here’ part of it along with the ‘having a girl here ruins it for us’ club.

I love to game. I started with Chainmail back in the day. I played Car Wars and Traveller. I had a group of friends that I would game with and we had a lot of fun. It was at a convention when I wanted to play Car Wars that I found myself on the outside looking in because why would a girl want to play that game. That annoyed me a lot so a couple of us started another game of Car Wars but were informed we couldn’t do that because we weren’t with the convention and it is confusing to have two games going at once.

The owner of one of the comic book shops I worked at got a lot of flack that he hired me rather than the two other guys that applied for the position. Why would a girl want to work in a comic book store? I dunno maybe because I like to read and discuss comics? And I know for a fact I knew more about comics and retail than the other two guys did. I showed up ready for an interview rather than a meet up with a buddy. Now funny thing that happened after a while, there started being more female customers in the shop especially when I was there.

I have held my own in debates about various topics. I thank my parents for instilling in me that my opinion was just as important as my male counterparts. Recently I was on a Sherlock Holmes panel that was covering the ACD stories and current media. I got into a rather heated debate with one of my fellow panelists, all of whom were male, about Elementary vs. Sherlock. We agreed to disagree and shook hands at the end of the panel. As I left the panel a woman not much younger than me came up and expressed how surprised she was that I could take on the boys and win. That I let my voice be heard and didn’t back down from my point. She was amazed that I shrugged this off as just another day at a convention. I have done the same online.

I have been dismissed or minimalized because I am female and therefor can’t be a (fill in the blank) in fandom. I have never been scared to voice my opinion on a topic and I have used my name to what I say both in real life and on the Internet. What I say here is what I would say to your face. Which makes me all kinds of bad words to certain segments of the population.

Guess what kids, girls like things that boys like and boys like things that girls like. Build a bridge and get over it.

My sympathies to all the women who are dealing with these threats and the turmoil that speaking out has brought into their lives.

I am grateful that my parents raised me to speak for myself.