Gamers Unite: Read This Article

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/22786_To_My_Someday_Daughter.html

Link courtesy of @pokketsays on twitter.

This article is written from the perspective of a father forewarning his 'Someday Daughter' about the male-dominated gaming scene. It focuses on a recent date between a known Magic Player and a Tech Crunch Writer (known to the i-nets as #FinkleDate), resulting in a petty internet troll-a-thon that evoked feelings of anger, entitlement, and negativity all around.

While it is true that Finkle's female companion of the evening was less than enthusiastic in a follow-up article she wrote, something to consider is that she should not be made to feel guilty or stupid over her apparently lack of interest with regard to Finkel's gaming skills. She shouldn't be rewarded for using such bitter and potentially hurtful phrasing,  but she shouldn't be condemned for making her own decisions.

While I don't believe that two wrongs make a right, it can honestly be said that guys write scything articles about women they don't like all the time. What bothers me is why people feel the need to publicly showcase their dislike of someone. Veteren internet enthusiasts refer to such defamatory literature as trolling. Trolling can serve two purposes:
a) Satire;

In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement.

Or b) Character assassination;

...an attempt to tarnish a person's reputation. It may involve exaggeration, misleading half-truths, or manipulation of facts to present an untrue picture of the targeted person. It is a form of defamation

Without going into too much depth, it can be said that the usefulness of satire far outweighs that of character assassination. What also made a lot of sense to me is this quote describing the more flamboyant reactions of gamers to this event,

'In that instant, gamers felt so much pride, and so much fear, that they became not the evolved renaissance men of gaming to which Day[9]'s Manifesto had so cheerfully referred, but the knuckle-dragging apes of their ideal

Not apes, but trolls, and bad ones at that.

**

As a whole, Tait, the author, sheds light on a well-established social issue that's plagued the world of gaming for years, that of female gamers, their place in the industry, and how they are treated. No genius is needed to see that there are huge obstacles for females devoted to traditionally male-oriented arenas such as gaming, whether it be in the form of stereotyping, disrespect, or disregard. Just like in the world of literature, females with talent should never be dismissed or ignored on the basis that they are female, because when people are enthusiastic about something, and love something, then their interest in it should never be shunned or discouraged, but cultivated and nurtured, so that they might be themselves, and be happy.