I've been holding off posting this for a while, as I realize regardless of what I post here, I will ironically be ostracized by some. That being said, I feel I have a valid point that is not often considered when discussing bigotry. Especially in the gaming community which continues to grow out of a straight white male dominated subculture as more people of color, sex, and diverse sexual preference join the ranks.
I'm going to start this off by saying these are observations I have made over many years
amongst a diverse group of friends. I also wan't to say that in and of itself, does not make me immune to racism or sexism. Just because I have friends, who are black, or women, or middle eastern etc, does not naturally make me less racist/sexist then those without. But I digress.
My observations may have been made over many years, but most recently came to a head while playing an MMO(WOW) in a guild that preaches inclusivity (In terms of sex, sexual preference, and race) in one of the most exclusive pastimes in gaming. Heroic raiding. On the surface this seems great, a guild with no bias against people who are different than them, in an environment of skill that show's equality? Sign me up! This is where things fall apart. Much like the political and media arena. Many online communities have a ZERO tolerance policy against racism/sexism. This is to protect people from being shunned because of their race, sex and or beliefs. Because sadly we still live in a society where people need to be protected from those who seek to do others harm based on their differences. However, in my opinion the same policy meant to protect those people also hampers the growth of the mentality of equal treatment, by insisting there are people that need protection and are therefore Inherently DIFFERENT, and thus should be treated so respectively. This also creates a fear of reprisal so great that when confronting issues that arise within those certain sub groups people are often unwilling to act for fear of being called racist or sexist. Or people who think they are somehow being heroic, or championing inequality by allowing standards to become lax for specific people.
For instance, we have a few female members, and a few African American members in our guild. Some of which are vying for spots in different raid teams both normal and heroic. I consider recruitment in raiding as being akin to hiring in the job market. Many of them are incredibly skilled and have earned their spots over everyone else. But a few, simply put are there to be carried. This in turn has caused other, more qualified people in our guild to have to sit out entirely. When I brought this up with the lacking members, I and others offered to help them hone their skills. A few accepted and have since excelled. The other's have blown us off and have only marginally increased in skill. Thus are consistently a handicap to the raids success. So, as a lead, I brought it up with the other officers and the guild leader. They promptly removed the low skilled white male members who had not shown improvement, but kept both of the other people who were far less skilled, than the aforementioned white members. When I asked the guild leaders why they hadn't removed all of the weak members, they only had convoluted answers about showing promise. Which I know is bullshit as I worked with both of them. A few officers agreed, the others stayed quiet, and the guild lead basically told me at this point he would not show clemency if I pushed the issue further.
THIS IS BIGOTRY. Not against the white males (That is a byproduct imo), but against the the members who they chose to include based on sex and race. By cultivating the concept in our guild that these members were somehow not held by the same standards as their peers, and were off limits to scrutiny. Innately means, you do not see them as your peers, and is that not sexism/racism?
The problem is I see this everywhere, especially in gaming. People rush to the aid of people they feel are weaker, or oppressed, in virtue completely ignoring those right under their noses who are just as worthy of their help because they don't fit within the spectrum of needing protection. I also see a vast amount of people in that situation taking full advantage of this knowledge. In reference to the guild thing, If I felt like I was a detriment to the raid group, or couldn't hold my weight. I would feel highly guilty and do my best to improve (Which I do anyways, any chance it improve is good imo). Yet many people regardless of color, are perfectly happy getting things handed to them. Normally this is not an issue as we can just say sorry, you aren't able to carry your share so you need it step out. But when we create a barrier based on sex/race, that essentially says, "Hey you can't treat this person the same way as that person" which just encourages racist/sexist thought as some people begin to think that is just natural, and other's begin to feel resentment towards people who were given preference.
Even if we as people become more "Accepting" of diverse peoples. Acceptance in this fashion is only a facade that is easily broken. Accepting someone as your equal, does not mean you should change your standards to meet that person, or else, you inherently are recognizing that person is in fact not your equal. If we choose to stay quiet for fear of reprisal in situations we know bother us, then how does anything get better? Aren't we just doing patch jobs and covering up the issue? To me it seems in mind with our societies view of quick answers to complicated issues. Akin to that of giving someone with depression medicine to balance them out, but not promoting the need for counseling to resolve the deeper issues.
I don't see the issue of inequality improving in gaming, In fact in some ways I see it getting worse. We continue to pander to certain behaviors both inside and outside of gaming under the guise of equality. People are people, if you won't treat everyone the same, then why not stop lying to yourself and admit you are in fact biased, then work from there? I know I'm biased, it sucks to say it, but I am jaded against certain types of people, especially in gaming. Like unskilled twitch streamers, especially female, I have to force myself to consider they aren't just there for money, and possibly for the love of gaming. I know that I am biased though, and so I am aware, and work at improving my perception. But I feel like too many people just pretend that it doesn't bother them.
I realize most of this is just stream of consciousness and Ill organized, but I hope I got my opinion across without sounding too idiotic. This is kind of just a frustrated rant at the state of gaming/inequality as it presently is.
