jadedmusings | Only Toph Can Express What I'm Feeling (see icon) (Reply)

In Texas it's apparently just too hard to expect men not to be misogynistic assholes. In fact it's so hard that if you're a woman wanting to attend a Battlefield 3 LAN party at one particular establishment, you're just S.O.L.

A large launch party and LAN for Battlefield 3 is being held in Texas, and women are disallowed from attending in order to protect them from misogynistic insults. While the original text in the FAQ has now been removed, the FAQ declared that women are not invited with the following statement:

Nothing ruins a good LAN party like uncomfortable guests or lots of tension, both of which can result from mixing immature, misogynistic male-gamers with female counterparts. Though we’ve done our best to avoid these situations in years past, we’ve certainly had our share of problems. As a result, we no longer allow women to attend this event.”

After being called out on this behavior on Reddit and on Kotaku, the text was removed and replaced by declaring the event as a ‘gentleman’s retreat’.

I was alerted to this via

girlgamers where the poster said "The reason seems to be that a girl gamer, and other MALE gamers, complained about some asshole who in conclusion got banned from the LAN party." I can't vouch for the veracity of this statement, but sadly it wouldn't surprise me if this was the case.

By banning women, you aren't solving the problem of sexist language. You're saying it's permissible so long as no woman is around to hear you say it, which it shouldn't be. Here's a hint: Just because nobody hears you saying offensive crap doesn't make it suddenly unoffensive. It's offensive no matter what, and offensive language carries social consequences.

Our findings demonstrate that sexist humor is not simply benign amusement. For men who have sexist attitudes it can create a perceived social norm of tolerance of discrimination against women, and as a result, increase personal tolerance of discrimination against women and even increase willingness to engage in sexist behavior without fears of disapproval.

Again, by banning women and not the language you've only become part of the problem you claim you're trying to address. Congratulations.

Also, I want to repeat something Tami B. said at the first link:

I will say that preventing women from attending gaming events doesn’t solve the problem with misogyny and hate speech towards them. Instead, it puts the blame on the women for even being present, and removes the obligation for men to be decent human beings who respect women gamers. It basically is saying that the organizers either don’t want to put the effort into policing language at their event, or don’t trust the men to be mature and responsible enough to adhere to event policies. [Emphasis added]

And that's the bottom line. Punish women for being women and treat men like children who are incapable of controlling themselves and their mouths. Sound familiar? It should. It's part of Rape Culture 101 and Misogyny 101. Men are animals with no self control and we can't expect any better out of them.

Now you see why only Toph could express my anger appropriately.