A couple of months ago, I got asked to be on a panel at PAX East 2011. I’d attended the IGDA Leadership Forum in October and been kind of a bitch (aka myself) on Twitter throughout the conference, mocking the verbal fuck-ups of men speaking about an industry that’s supposedly trying to be less of a sausage fest. (Free Tip From A Lady: Stop saying “guys” when you talk about your employees or potential employees. One of the men, from Sony I believe, even talked from the podium about the impact of employee relocation on, “girlfriends and wives.” I’m now assuming Sony has an all-lesbian development team on God of War 3.) This got the attention of someone who was (and maybe still is, for all I know) working with the PAX East team to put together some less sausage-fest-ish content for the convention, and I got offered a spot on a panel about women and video games in some way or another.
I said no, which given the circumstances probably doesn’t surprise you. Leaving aside the fact that I think it’s a little wrong-headed for people in the industry to get too tied into a fan convention in general, what I want to say is that as someone working in the game industry, I think the recent merchandising decisions of Penny Arcade have made PAX and PAX East into spaces that I don’t want my industry to align itself with, and I’m not going to give Penny Arcade content as long as they keep selling that merchandise.
I’m not alone in this decision to not give Penny Arcade content for their events. I’m also not the person organizing this boycott. That person, for several valid reasons, doesn’t want to be identified or to publicize their protest, and I respect them and their decision. I do want to speak out a little about my participation. While conventions like PAX East are spaces for me as a fan in theory, and providing content to PAX East is something that I should want to do as a game producer in theory, Penny Arcade has, by their decision to market shirts that use rape as a punchline, made PAX and PAX East into events I won’t (and kind of can’t) set foot in. Which is ironic, when you consider that PAX began as the only overtly non-creepy convention to attend, as a woman.
For real, it is true! PAX and PAX East don’t allow booth babes, something I definitely noticed at the first PAX East last year. These conventions also actually have decent security and enforced sexual harassment policies — again, breaking new ground in the name of making the event less threatening to women. Awesome and appreciated decisions that I really value as an attendee. Now, if you’d taken a poll before the first PAX and asked, “Do you like booth babes?”, I would guess the majority of respondents would have said, “yes” because the majority of attendees at conventions like PAX are straight guys. I obviously don’t have data on this, I don’t think the Penny Arcade or PAX teams had data on this, but I also don’t feel like the statement, “straight guys who are active in video game culture like to look at semi-naked ladies,” is a radical or controversial statement.
ETA: Thanks to the magic of the internet, I’ve been linked to the results of a survey that Penny Arcade did in May 2010 regarding lifting or keeping their Booth Babe ban. The first PAX was in 2004, so I’m guessing this survey was a check-in to see if people still supported the ban. It’s been suggested that the PAX team did a survey before ever holding PAX, but I haven’t seen data supporting that. Also, to any straight men who are offended by my suggestion that there is an intersection between your enjoyment of video games and your heterosexuality, I’m sorry. Based on the lady characters that game companies design, and given that straight male gamers are the majority of players, I was under the impression that your market was the driving call for that type of thing. (Does Activision know how you feel?) So anyway…
And yet, PAX: No booth babes! Paying attention to the threat of sexual assault! It’s like the PAX team was interested in protecting and making room for the minority (women attending without being surrounded by objectified women), even if there was a small cost to the majority (straight men attending without random girl eye-candy).
I’m going to…not so much *make* this personal as *point out* the personal connection (I can’t really make this not personal)…as a rape survivor, the Dickwolves tshirt is disgusting as all hell to me. The idea of being in a room full of mostly men (if the demographic holds true to last year, anyway), where some of those men are wearing it, feels like a threat against me. (Which, given the shirt basically says, “Team Rapist!” on it, doesn’t seem too far-fetched). Penny Arcade has gone out of their way to make sure that the floor of PAX East is no longer a safe space for me.
This is not just me and it is not just women. One of the problems with rape culture is that there is a very rigid cultural narrative about who does or doesn’t get raped. So please let me assure you, if you work in the game industry, you probably know at least one male survivor of sexual assault. I’m not relying on statistics here — I’m saying that *I* know at least one male sexual assault survivor, and he’s pretty fucking popular. If we *do* look at statistics 1 in 33 American men has been sexually assaulted, and the video game industry is still rather male-dominated. I’m saying that *at least* one guy you know and count as a colleague is noticing your silence about this.
Penny Arcade’s continued use of rape as a punch line on their merchandise, and their sale of that merchandise on their site and at their events, is poisoning video game culture and video game fan events. If their charity work and structuring their cons to be less creepy to women were in the name of positively changing the perception of video games and gamers, then I do not understand their decision to pander to a puerile, sexist portion of their fan base, especially when it is so starkly prohibiting the participation of the people whose lives are being used as a punch line. In short: Why have they stopped following Wheaton’s Law?
This company doesn’t represent me or the type of culture I want to work in or create for. Fortunately, I can keep being a producer without speaking at PAX East…but I’m pretty sure that they can’t keep claiming to be a place for “all” of us if we stop showing up and stop giving them content to market and sell.
And for anyone saying, “but think of the women and girls you could reach out to who might be interested in the video game industry!” — the first monthly meeting of Women in Games Boston is tomorrow night. 
UPDATE 01/26/2011: In the third paragraph of this post, the target for the link on, “recent marketing decisions,” now leads to a 404 Error on Penny Arcade. That link originally pointed at the page where one could buy a Dickwolves t-shirt. That t-shirt is no longer for sale on Penny Arcade. Even if Mike and Jerry don’t want to acknowledge it (the shirt appears to have been removed without comment), it deserves to be acknowledged. Thank you, guys. Thank you for listening to whoever you listened to, and thank you to whoever that was who spoke up and managed to convey what I, and a lot of others, have been trying to convey for months. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Does anyone else see this as blowing a World of Warcraft joke way out of proportion?
Lemme sum it up so y’all don’t waste your time reading her drivel:
“Kirby” has so far been unable to make any concrete argument regarding why dickwolves = condoning actual rape, only flim-flam and poor attempts at skirting the main question.
Oh and you need to be somebody first if anyone even cares about your boycott. I mean, what the hell is DINO Interactive anyway? A nobody?
Well.
I find this argument depressing. Not depressing because PA posted a comic that included an offcolor or triggering piece of dark humor. I am depressed by this because it is too pointless for words.
There are real scary terrible IRL things happening in the world right now, things that need exactly THIS kind of attention and drive to mend. We could be talking vehemently about the areas of the world where a woman is still killed for BEING raped (Pakistan), where, up until recently, knowledge of homosexuality without relaying information to the authorities was a crime (Rwanda), where women who wear fur coats and smoke cigarettes are labeled as sluts or prostitutes (Turkey, personal experience). But no, up in arms over a webcomic. Black humor is offensive folks— “a sub-genre of comedy and satire in which topics and events that are usually regarded as taboo are treated in a satirical or humorous manner while retaining their seriousness. Synonyms include dark comedy, black humor, dark humor, and morbid humor.” They satirized a situation that happens in almost every single MMORPG I can think of. How many people have played Fallout only to not save every person, or kill every bad guy because it 1. isn’t required and 2. would be too difficult/annoying.
Being trigged is not a great thing. I have had more than enough experience in my life to know about that topic in depth and detail. You know what though? You get by. It is not the worlds responsibility to take care they do not tread on your triggers. Because of the violence that used to exist in my life, any loud shouting (angry, happy, whatever) of any kind— in the past— would make me want to run and hide in the farthest corner of the world. Do you think that the world should have turned down the volume just so I wouldn’t trigger? No. Because my perception is not everyone elses, and as such it neither informs or influences.
During this period of time, until I reached a point of balance, I avoided movies/shows guaranteed to portray violence in a way I could not handle. Because I am a big girl and can take care of myself. I would honestly be offended if someone tried to protect me from something because they thought it would “trigger” me. When someone does accidentally trigger me by grabbing my hair in a certain way, or holding me too tight, I tell them, walk away, breathe and move on.
Oh and before you go on about how your experiences inform you “better” in this situation, the obligatory first response this comment thread seems to throw back? You don’t know shit about me, so don’t even try it. Kthnxbai.
“There are real scary terrible IRL things happening in the world right now, things that need exactly THIS kind of attention and drive to mend.”
People cannot multi-task their arguments, part CVII.
“We could be talking vehemently about the areas of the world where a woman is still killed for BEING raped (Pakistan)”
Yeah, how DARE you say that thing I didn’t agree with and FORCE me to reply to this; you’re taking up my precious time! I was totally going to write about Pakistan and Turkey but now that you MADE me write my response here telling you how you should be complaining about other things I do not have any time to write it! I hope you’re happy.
I just have to say that while horrible things happen in the world, it is important to fight our fight here in the USA too, because forwarding the movement (whatever the movement may be: racism, sexism, etc) is the priority, not the backpedaling. We have had the fortune to have already done the heavy lifting. Women have the vote, etc. Other countries are in different stages. We must forge on here, with our own issues which are more nuanced and subtle. They are damaging because they ARE subtle thereby allowing most people to think they are not a big deal.
Can we get back to basic computer use. If you don’t like something then don’t look at it. If it offends you then don’t look at it.
Not everything in this world can live up to everyones expectations and perception of funny. If it didn’t live up to yours then too bad. Stop trying to censor the world. If you keep censoring others then eventually you too will be censored yourself.
The Penny Arcade comic strip was a joke. The joke was not justifying rape. It was not saying that rape is ok. It was not putting down those that have gone through that ordeal themselves.
It was about a guy not doing something because it was not required by the quest. It was showing that no matter how horrible the NPC says their life is that people will only do the bare minimum when questing.
Quote take from comments “I’m afraid you are missing something – regardless of what kind of imaginary thing they attribute the action to, the character is explicitly described as a rapist in the comic. The line could have been, “every night, we’re raped to sleep by Santa Claus,” and I’d still be speaking out. It’s not about the imaginary character (which yes, I am aware – I watch L&O too), it’s about the (not remotely imaginary) action.”
How are you a gamer? You want to start complaining about brutal realism in comics, video games, etc then you’re going to have nothing left.
You know murder is a very traumatic thing to witness yet your up here complaining about a web comic using their right to free speech talking about an imaginary rape. Yes it was an imaginary action because the action itself NEVER HAPPENED. Unless of course you believe that the little cartoon guy lives in your computer and has a real life once you turn the monitor off… but then your just crazy.
if you don’t like dick, that’s fine and dandy, but if you think the term dickwolves is attack towards rape victims or lesbians, you need to step out of your little fantasy world. it’s easy to take something out of context and make a big deal out if to try to make yourself famous, (i.e. westboro baptist church). and by the way, i doubt you pay any attention to penny arcade, or any know who gabe or tycho actually are. so step off your soap box and into the real world. and yes i did compare you to westboro baptist church and i meant to.
I know I shouldn’t give people like Mason the respect of a response, but I will try, just a little, to get through. And I will try to use small words.
It. Is. Not. The. Word.
The term “dickwolves” has not been the main concern throughout this entire debacle. It has been the issue of buying in to rape culture, of mocking and even attacking those who are survivors of sexual abuse, and the total refusal to accept any responsibility for their actions.
Do you get that?
As for stepping outside the fantasy world – holy crap – it is the fantasy world of gaming that is stepping out into the real world where people are really suffering. Many of the comments against the protest are amazingly self-centred. You don’t have a problem so you don’t see why anyone else should. To borrow from Bob Geldolf (and I humbly and sincerely apologise if this seems to trivialise the issue) there is a world outside your window, and it’s a world of dread and fear. People like you, Mason, just refuse to look out at it.
And before you make “soapbox” accusations, how about you look at your own grand-standing.
Then we have Pandora with “if you don’t like it don’t look at it”. Try that approach when a train is coming towards you. Just because you close your eyes does not mean that the evil goes away.
And again I make the comment – you talk about the right to free speech. How come, then, you seem to be keen on denying our right to free speech?
You know, I was so pleased when there were no replies from drooling morons last night; I’d thought the worst was over.
The magnitude of ignorance shown in this post is breathtaking. There is LITERALLY OVER ONE THOUSAND COMMENTS on this discussion over four posts and you’ve read approximately zero of them.
You are stupid, stupid, stupid. I want the twenty seconds of my life that I wasted reading this post back.
Gravey, moosenz, this so called controversy is lead and followed by just this one person, the author. Yes, I was being inflamatory, and yes I went to the edge, and crossed over it as well, I however stand by what I said. This was a joke to other gamers about a game, not an attack towards lesbians or those who are sexual attack victims. The author has twisted the joke to allow her to stand on a soap box and attack Mike and Jerry and video games in general. These two have gone out of their way to make all people welcome at any event they hold. They also go out of their way to help charties. When this one person, and one person alone raise a fuss, they immediately took down their sale of those shirts and posted the reason why they did. If the auther did any research about the topic she would know they did this. All she did was make up facts, throw out accusations, and make a deal out of something that was not something. So yes she does need to wake up and smell the coffee and step out of her fantasy world that if anything that offends her should be done away with. I’m against abortion and the war, and yet I don’t think the should make it illegal, nor do I not support the troops(to make myself clear, I am 100% behind the troops, just don’t believe in the war we are fighting). So please unless you have at least have done some research and not just over reacted, just shut the fuck up.
“this so called controversy is lead and followed by just this one person, the author.”
You’re deranged. Kirby was not the first person to post something; she certainly would have formulated her own opinion (just like so many did ON THEIR OWN), but the first recognized statement was via Shakesville: http://debacle.tumblr.com/post/3041940865/the-pratfall-of-penny-arcade-a-timeline
“This was a joke to other gamers about a game, not an attack towards lesbians”
What the FUCK are you talking about lesbians for?
“When this one person, and one person alone raise a fuss”
You’re wrong.
“they immediately took down their sale of those shirts and posted the reason why they did”
Let’s give Gabe a chance to tell you how you’re wrong. Gabe?
“It was a small group of very vocal people… like a couple dozen.”
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showpost.php?p=18157336&postcount=15
“When I heard from a few people that the shirt would make them uncomfortable at PAX, that gave me pause”
“These were not rants on blogs but personal mails to me from people being very reasonable.”
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2011/1/28/#1296348819
“If the auther did any research about the topic she would know they did this. ”
The fuck? She posted about the same blog post! How can you accuse her of not knowing
It’s worth noting that those last two quotes were FROM THE SAME POST YOU SAY OTHERS DID NOT READ.
“So please unless you have at least have done some research and not just over reacted, just shut the fuck up.”
So, I look forward to you shutting the fuck up any time now, you self-important douchenozzle.
NO, Mason. This is a subject that has been picked up and discussed in many forums. Yes – mostly these are feminist forums, but it is not isolated to kirkybits. You’d know this if you actually applied yourself and read something. Stop fucking telling others to do research and do some yourself.
And what the fuck is your fixation with lesbians, dude?
Quite frankly, I don’t give a shit if they channel the spirit of Mother Teresa. This is about a specific set of actions that have not been properly redressed. And it is about their contribution to a massively damaging culture that people like you buy in to.
One of those actions was to deliberately antagonise (and threaten in a passive-agressive manner) those who complained about the original issue. So no – they did not make everyone feel welcome.
And if you want to be fucking inflammatory, you piss off and do it in your own little corner of the world.
And what is it with all this shit about the troops (way to make your point by contradicting yourself within a few words). Derailing much?
And you conveniently forget about all the men (like me) who have supported this protest.
If anyone needs to wake up it’s you – and smell the shit you are standing in.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but to me it is not about stopping people from doing anything they like. It is about holding people to account for their actions. It is about exhorting people to think about the consequences of their actions, and how other people might be harmed.
And how many times to people have to say it. It was a joke, yes. It was (probably) not malicious, granted. But it was extremely ill-considered, hurtful and more than anything it generated the sort of attitudes expressed by people like you.
I find this happens so often. The initial incident is seldom as shocking as the violence and prejudice it brings out in people.
To everyone else reading these comments: I humbly and whole-heartedly apologise for engaging with this … thing.
How did I exactly contridict myself, Mister Holier than thou. And by the way the term was created by Mike and Jerry, for a gaming joke and nothing else. This author is the root of problem, and the reason why it is being discussed in other forums. That is why I pin the blame and if she hadn’t spoke up and made an nonissue an issue, I wouldn’t have to argue with a dickless wonder. And you used the word yourself, exhort, or force others to think like you. Mike and Jerry have done nothing wrong, and people like you and the author have chose to attack them, even though they have admitted to a mistake, even though no mistake was made, and apologized. And yes it is stopping people from doing what they like all because someone might find something offensive about it, and people like you want to police them. It’s called the freedom of speech buddy, it’s why you and me get to have opposite opinions and express them on here. Now unless you are the author, please shut the fuck up, I am done talking to you.
“How did I exactly contridict myself, Mister Holier than thou.”
Refer to my previous post where you not only insist that people who don’t know what they’re talking about should shut the fuck up whilst being the most ignorant person on here. At least some of the other idiots pretend to argue the point rather than flat-out ignore them.
“even though they have admitted to a mistake, even though no mistake was made, and apologized.”
Got a link to that apology?
“And yes it is stopping people from doing what they like all because someone might find something offensive about it, and people like you want to police them. It’s called the freedom of speech buddy”
Explain how when we complain it’s censorship but it’s not when you complain and I’ll take back everything I said about you. You moronic shitmeat.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2011/2/2/
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2011/1/28/
Ah yes, THAT apology. So sure, AN apology but not an apology for the whole debacle.
So, why did you ignore the part where they weren’t censoring?
easy, i’m not trying to twist an innocent joke to fit my own agenda.
No, you’re just twisting the words of everyone else (or willfully lying) for your agenda.
And that is still not how censorship works. You human shitstain.
Mason, I let your comment through without response because I figured others would point out the flaws in your logic without me having to expend additional effort. They’ve done so admirably. Please feel free to read the 1,000+ comments regarding this issue in my blog, or read the already-linked Debacle Tumblr timeline and the dozens of articles you can find there.
You have yet to make a point that hasn’t been made before multiple times, and hasn’t been shown to be poorly-constructed multiple times. Mostly, you comparing me to Westboro Baptist Church struck me as funny, so I let the comment through. It’s not my job to protect you from dissenting opinions or intelligent discourse; you volunteered your opinions for analysis when you offered them up here. You can either value the criticism and engage with people who disagree with you, or you can stop providing responses for people to criticize. The only person around here who can reasonably expect people to listen when they tell someone to shut the fuck up is me, and that’s only because this is my blog.
Ah, here we go. Freedom of speech. Do you realise you just said “yadda yadda yadda freedom of speech yadda yadda yadda shut up?”
So freedom of speech is ok for you, but not for anyone else, huh?
“If she hadn’t spoken up” – so when people are offended, they should just shut up and deal with it? Is that what you are saying? So why are you here? Why don’t you just deal with it?
You also keep talking about “the term”. From my reading (and I have actually done some) the issue is NOT about the term “dickwolves”. Why is that so hard for you to understand?
You **have** to argue, huh? Get over yourself. Gosh, I didn’t know I had that sort of power over you.
my last comment to you, reread the article it is about that term.
Is this meant to mean anything?
Free speech is good for everyone. You want to complain that’s one thing but on this topic the people seem to expect the world to censor things that they find offensive removing a persons right to free speech.
Has anyone else thought about the people who deal with traumatic experiences with humour. For those people it’s a way of coping.
I’m not saying you cant discuss it but I am saying that you don’t have to look.
Now a reasonable suggestion would be if you wanted something like a warning “Beware! Mature and controversial content ahead!!” then why don’t you take the proper channels and get something reasonable like that put in place for those of you who cannot handle seeing such dark comedy.
But all I’ve seen are complaints and people wanting others to be censored. No proposed solutions beyond that.
People blame those that complain for inringing on others’ rights to free speech.
Let us say I complain about something someone has used their right to free speech to say or do. It turns into a campaign where there is a lot of support for my view. That person then removes the offending article.
That person made the choice. I did not make them do anything. They exercised their right to free speech, I exercised mine, they then exercised their free will to act on my words.
And yet it comes down to the conflict of “rights” (I’ll get to why quotes are used in a minute). If two sets of rights are diametrically opposed (the right to free speech and the right to feel safe) you cannot have both rights in force. Someone has to lose. How do you decide who it should be?
An alternate is someone has the right to smoke, I have the right to breathe fresh air (as nature provides it). One of us has to lose out. We can’t stand together and both enjoy our rights.
So then, why should kirbybits give up her right to free speech? And see my comments below to Mason about how he so brilliantly says that they have a right to free speech so I should shut up. I guess the idea of freedom of speech is selective, huh?
Now, “rights”. It seems most people misunderstand what rights are. For starters we have the old line “just because you have the right to do something doesn’t make it right for you to do so”. Closely followed by how rights are associated with responsibilities.
Massive TW two paras down.
“Rights” are about choice – the ability to choose. Not wanting to turn this into a philosophical argument, but even then our ability to choose is compromised by the influences in our lives. By pressure placed upon us. By things that have happened to us. So even “choice” isn’t as clear cut as some would make out.
So I ask again to those who are critical of kirbybits on the basis of taking away PAX’s right to free speech: Why should she give up her right in favour of someone else? Give me a logical (or even legal or constitutional) argument. Hell, I’d even settle for a halfway decent social argument.
The “if you don’t like it don’t look” just ignores the problem. If you don’t like child pornography – images of children being abused for other people’s pleasure – don’t look at it. Because if it doesn’t affect **you** then it doesn’t matter, does it? We fight against these things not because we don’t like it, but because of the harm we believe it causes. Not just to the viewer, but to society in general.
You wouldn’t believe how often I see the “if you don’t like it don’t look” comment come up. For me personally, the tee-shirt, the so-called joke, they don’t affect me in the way they affect others. I could just ignore it all as you suggest. But these things contribute to great harm. They go far beyond the mere act itself. They’re part of a much bigger picture.
If something really horrible is happening, closing your eyes does not make it go away. I thought people gave that idea up at 2 years old. I can choose to turn away from monsters. However I choose to look them full in the face and call them out on their nature.
sigh.
invisiblemoosenz: what do you think? a lost cause?
Who cares? This is fun.
yes gie up on me. i will never side with the dark side.
The Dark Side? Seriously? Fuck you.
I take back my previous statement. Yes, they are completely an utterly a lost cause.
Well, I take back the first part. It’s still fun.
What I find funny is how often these types of arguments have the repeated “that’s the last I have to say on the matter”. Several times.
How can I respect anyone who can’t keep to their word.
Don’t you love it when people know so much about things they’ve never read?
I’d been reading some local posts on this, and was angered. I finally took the time to read all the original blogs and every single comment. Then I was really fucking pissed off.
Apart from the obvious, the attitudes seen here piss me off also because they give men a bad name and make my job harder.
Rape culture is fundamentally a male problem. It is our job to change it because we created it. And I take that job bloody seriously. And I hate it when people make my job harder than it needs to be.
“What I find funny is how often these types of arguments have the repeated “that’s the last I have to say on the matter”. Several times.”
They can check out any time they like, but they can never leave.
Ah yes. and still those horses are calling from far away. better than that is the warm smell of colitis.
sorry. can’t think of the song without thinking of the mis-heard lyrics. mmm… colitis