All Men are Pigs

"Men are pigs, susan."  ~Manos Kdo, CEO of Ka Pow Pow, Late Night Alliance

I wasn't planning to write a response to Corelin's post 'Sexism in EVE' but it seems to be a topic that's been bouncing around everywhere so I thought, being one of the few female EVE players and bloggers, I should try my hand at sharing my opinion on the matter.

And I'm going to be very frank with you.

My Experience

If I seem offended, there's a 99% chance that I'm trolling you. I simply don't get offended that often as I find it's a waste of my time. I pay little attention to local, generously use the 'block' feature in EVE, and don't stick around in channels where it's obvious the inhabitants got the short end of the stick where the gene pool is concerned.

Yes, it would be nice to relax and play EVE without being bombarded on occasion with rude pictures, videos, or crude humor on coms. Sometimes, when things start to approach too close to the line, or cross it, I take a break and go find something else to do--because, when things reach this point it usually is indicative that there's really nothing to do at the moment game-play wise anyway.

In the past, I can remember only one time where I was specifically targetted and harassed by a corpmate. I believe he was more humiliated in the end then I was, when all of his corpmate friends turned on him,  and forcably removed him from corp. He mysteriously quit EVE shortly after that....



The group I currently fly with is pretty laid back. But, I don't think they'd stand for a new guy coming into alliance and harassing me or anyone else. Bahamut420 is a cheerful fellow, but I'd hate to make him angry. And then to have Galdorane, Sigma Pi, Djan, Tyrolen, and Sneaky Noob irritated as well...lets just say it would suck to be that dude. I see pain...and WOW in his future.


"What's in a Word..."

While I agree with Corelin's sentiments in making EVE a relaxing atmosphere that anyone can enjoy, I don't agree with his logic.

First, let's address this issue of the terminology he finds so offensive, particularly freely using the word 'rape.' Rape train, Rapage, Rape Cage, etc etc etc.

The word 'Rape' was not always used to describe a situation of sexual assault. Nor is it always used now in this manner. One of the official, Dictionary meanings of the word is, "an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse; despoliation; violation." ie: the rape of the countryside.

In literature, it is often used to describe situations of war where something was completely taken over, demolished, ravaged. It is also used to describe the effects of disease and plague on a country, etc.

In this context, it would be legitimate to use this word in combat situations in EVE where an enemy was completely taken over, or in situations of complete and utter destruction, without any sexual context or meaning implied.


And now I'm going to be blunt.

You are ignorant if you think that anyone who uses the word 'rape' is part of some sort of evil, sexual assault 'culture' that delights in thoughts of abusing women, just because this is where your mind goes when you hear the word.

You are ignorant if you think that proclomations of removing this one word from your vocubulary makes you look less profane or more feeling when the rest of what you say is saturated with other profanity.


Sexism

Secondly, the topic of sexism does not equal the topic of harassment to women.

Sexism is a topic that deals with men and women placing stereotypes on genders, and differences in behaviors toward a specific gender as a result of these held stereotypes.

I find it ironic that Corelin does not address the fact that a large percentage of rape victims are young boys raped by older men. I find it ironic that he addresses the sensibilities of Women, without any discussion to the sensibilities of victimized men/boys in the same situation. Do Women deserve special treatment?

The very idea that the issue of rape is a women's issue alone, is a stereotype. And, talking about protecting Women's sensitivities without also discussing equal measures to protect Men's sensitivities on this topic or in general is in and of itself sexist.

Harassment is a completely different topic. While harassment can be the result of extreme sexism, there are plenty of sexist attitudes in EVE that are not necessarily considered to be harassing. For example, it is sexist to think that a woman is not good at pvp because she's female. Thinking this does not mean you are being harassing. It just means you're ignorant, and sexist.

Harassment in the sense of in-game persecution, and threats to your RL self should be reported and will be dealt with by CCP. Sexism, like ignorance, can not really be dealt with as doing so will remove nearly everyone from the game. (We all stereotype each other whether we're conscious of it or not. To think otherwise is naive.)


In closing,

I agree with Corelin inasmuch that the anonymity that people find online tends to spawn crude behavior and discussion. However, I believe this behaviour is across the board and not targetting women in particular. In other words, you are not just rude toward women. You are rude in general.

I also don't think 'rape' always means what he think it means, and I'm somewhat frusterated by his fixation on it as merely a sexual term.

I would say that this tendency to think that everything has to do with sex is most definately a male trait. Though, that thought would be particularly sexist of me, wouldn't it.