Trigger warning for discussions of rape, rape culture, and directly quoting trolls.
So Mike Krahulik aka “Gabe” from Penny Arcade went and posted himself a message just now. (Note to self: you will have to update that link later. Thanks, past-self!) Twitter is just not the right venue for some things. Also, you are about to witness how ridiculously rambling my writing gets when I don’t spend a day and a half editing it first. And yes, I seriously just went through and wrote a fuck-ton about a Penny Arcade news item, it’s almost like I think words matter and carry meaning.
“It’s true that we have decided to remove the Dickwolves shirt from the store. Some people are happy about this but a lot more of you are upset.”
“You” being the people reading the message, aka the fans. So not, “some of you are happy…” just SOME PEOPLE. To me, this sounds like my mom when someone jaywalks in front of her car, “I swear, some people!”
“You think we’ve caved into to pressure from a vocal minority and you’re not entirely wrong. let me at least break down why we did it though.”
So their own narrative is that they caved in to people. SOME PEOPLE made them go and do something “a lot more of you” (aka fans) are upset about. In case you were worried this little story wouldn’t have a bad guy: I THINK ONE IS COMING!
“First of all I would never remove the strip or even apologize for the joke. It’s funny and the fact that some people don’t get it, or are offended by it doesn’t change that.”
ETA: I debated waiting a until I wasn’t the combination of sleep deprived from Global Game Jam and under the effects of half a bottle of wine, since I want to do this properly, but I also don’t want to wait 9 or 10 hours to do it. In my original response to this bit, I erroneously labeled Mike with PTSD. That’s not a label he’s publicly claimed, and it’s fucked up that I did that. Hell, I recently blogged about labeling other people’s mental health, so way to go missing your own point there when it hits closer to home, Stanton. Remember when I was all, “you’re gonna fuck up at some point?” This is a point when I fucked up, and I’m very sorry. I appreciate getting called out on this – I’m sincerely not being sarcastic or begrudging when I say that – and again, I’m sorry. I’ve removed references to PTSD related to Mike and altered the text of the first line below. Hopefully this is less assholish, over-stepping language for linking the clip with Mike’s statements, which I have found and still find relevant to the larger discussion.
Something you may not know about Mike Krahulik – he actually has some feelings he can’t “choose”. (The subject comes up around the 8:00 mark.) The quote that I found extremely moving was, and still is, ”There’s things that happen in your brain, like, connections, that you just don’t have any control over.” That’s Mike, talking about his feelings surrounding drug use/abuse. His description is pretty close to how I’d describe my (rarely triggered, thankfully) PTSD. That came out in May, 2010.
So, as a reminder: This man who I dunno, might have some understanding of other people’s mental health triggers, is the man who mocked trigger warnings and said that people identifying the comic as triggering had, “decided to find [it] offensive.” Also, the full line of the header in that last link is a Mel Brooks quote, “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die.” The score, then, is Mike’s feelings: something that happens in his brain that he cannot control. The feelings and PTSD of rape survivors: mockable, a decision rape survivors are choosing to make somehow, and held in the same category of injury as a cut finger.
“People complained about the strip and that’s fine with me, my response as always is “if you don’t like it don’t read it.” It is very easy not to log on to Penny Arcade and read our bullshit. We’ve always made offensive comics and that’s not going to change anytime soon. If jokes about violence,rape,aids,pedophilia,bestiality,drugs,cancer,homosexuality, and religion bother you then I recommend reading a different webcomic.”
This is a really tired bullshit argument, which has gone on in the comments of my blog, other blogs, random forums, etc. There is not a Sovereign Contract of Protest that requires you to speak out against every offensive thing in a definite order. There also isn’t a statute of limitations on identifying offensive content. Additionally, the Internet of yore, back when Penny Arcade started, was a lot smaller, with a much smaller demographic of people. Also, the same fans that might have laughed at something 10 years ago when they were teenagers are all older now and it’s possible that what you thought was funny in previous years isn’t something you identify as funny or acceptable now. AND, let’s say you’re a fan and you laughed at all that other stuff but hey, this IS totally the first thing they’ve ever done that you found really upsetting. Your past silence somehow prohibits you from reaching out to the creators of this site you love so much and asking them to please consider you, a very engaged fan, since they’ve crossed a line for you as a fan? That seems to be the rule Mike is trying to put forth.
Here, let me link this up for you so it makes more sense:
“It is very easy not to log on to Penny Arcade and read our bullshit.”
“PAX is a different matter though. We want PAX to be a place were everyone feels welcome and we’ve worked really hard to make that happen.”
So the web comic they built a fan base around, which grew so large it spawned its own convention…that convention welcomes everyone! But not the web comic which is the source of the convention! Or the people who created the convention, since they also run the web comic!. They’ve still got Very Important Offensive Jokes to tell about all kinds of people who aren’t, if you’ll recall, the “you” this letter is addressed to. They don’t want SOME PEOPLE on their site, which they use to organize and promote that convention where some people are toooootally welcome to come hang out. Glad we cleared that up.
“From not allowing booth babes to making sure we have panels that represent all our attendees. When I heard from a few people that the shirt would make them uncomfortable at PAX, that gave me pause. Now whether I think that’s a fair or warranted reaction doesn’t really matter.”
This whole bit: golden. When I was reading this, I was like, “wait, is he actually recognizing his privilege and acknowledging that he can’t just pass judgment on whose experiences are or aren’t deserving of respect?” Because you see, I was a very long time fan of Penny Arcade. I found it eight or nine years ago, and when I did, I spent two days mainlining reading all the previous comics and have been reading every new one as it comes out ever since. [ETA: Fixed the language referring to drug use/abuse] Yes, really. (Did I laugh at shit I might find offensive now? Possible/probable. Am I the exact same person now with the exact same worldview I had when I was 18? No, thank fuck. People learn shit, people grow up.) I would love to be able to go back to reading Penny Arcade, the way I had been for almost a decade, without feeling gross in a variety of ways that are sort of akin to re-dating an abusive partner. The prospect that this Letter From Mike to the Fans and Some People might actually turn out to be mature and respectful was really exciting, for all 20 seconds it lasted.
Also, because despite coming from a website that “everyone” isn’t welcome at, PAX events have managed to be way less gross than your average fan convention, and I can’t speak for anyone else, but I had me a good time at PAX East last year, at least for the parts when I didn’t have a suck-o migraine (not caused by anything at PAX East, just to be super ultra clear).
“These were not rants on blogs but personal mails to me from people being very reasonable.”
Two-fold hilarity:
1) I appreciate them making it clear that this wasn’t on account of some RANTS ON BLOGS. This is, much like that dude who trolled me with, “you are a harlot slut succubus who needs to mind her own business,” one of those hilarious comments that is shockingly insightful about me. “She ranted on blogs,” is totally going on my tombstone whenever one of the trolls gets around to making good on their threats to rape me until I die. (Similarly, but not really on topic: I got a comment today that just said, “bitch, be cool.” This has become my mantra, feel free to borrow it.)
2) If you’ll recall, Penny Arcade’s comic The Sixth Slave came out in August of 2010. Their responses, both in comic form as well as news posts, tweets, and trolling feminist safe spaces, were also in August, 2010. They released the Dickwolves shirt in October, 2010. Other Dickwolves merchandise followed. The messaging coming from Mike and Jerry has always been very consistent – we’re not listening to you, and if you talk to us, we’ll make fun of you and the things you tried to talk to us about. Given the way I’d seen them treat other rape survivors and their concerns, NATURALLY, I should have just sent them an email! I MEAN COME ON! Duh, obviously they were soooooo willing to listen.
To anyone “reasonable.” Guess who gets to play Judge and Jury of Whether Your Behavior is Reasonable! Good ol’ Mike. SOME PEOPLE weren’t reasonable, obviously. We were overemotional (being triggered is, after all, a choice we’re making!), we were way too sensitive (I mean come on, all they did was tell a joke about how a guy gets raped! why can’t you just laugh?), we were mu-mu-mu-mean to them when we told them we didn’t like being triggered, and that meant that nothing we said mattered.
If you’re getting the sense that somehow, the creators of Penny Arcade don’t want to listen to the part of their fan base that were offended, triggered, or otherwise strongly disagreed with their rape joke or the way they responded to fans calling them out on their rape joke? And that maybe the creators of Penny Arcade would, seriously, rather you just go be fans of something else and stop participating in their communities, either online or in person? That feeling’s coming from somewhere.
“It’s how they feel and according to them at least, removing the shirt would make them feel better about attending the show. For me that’s an easy fix to the problem. I really don’t want to have this fight and if not having it is as simple as not selling a shirt then I’ll do it. Contrary to what they might think I’m not a complete asshole.”
Right, cause a COMPLETE asshole would have left that triggering, shitty merch in the store for longer than THREE MONTHS. A COMPLETE asshole would have refused to pull the merch no matter how many game developers refuse to speak at your conferences, no matter how many event partners refused to co-brand with you, no matter how many personal friends in the video game industry you had that were telling you and your team that This Was Not Making You A Good Business Partner. You’re not an asshole in the face of the video game industry turning up the volume louder and louder letting you know that you’re being an asshole.
I am so. fucking. glad. I quit my better-paying cushy corporate job last year, sold my suits, and transitioned into making games with people. I have got nothing but (a professionally appropriate level of) love for you folks. And if you’re in the industry and disagree with me, I’m sorry because I realize that this is coming across like I’m speaking for you. So: I am not speaking for The Industry At Large. I’m just saying, it is my personal opinion that we have got some fucking awesome people in high places. (Also, if you’re in the industry and disagree with me in some way that you feel warrants discussion, I am totally into talking. My RANTING is not limited to blogs, but I’m into hearing you out. I am aware that not everyone is comfortable just throwin’ statements out there in public for all to see.)
“Now for some people removing the shirt isn’t enough. They don’t want to come to PAX or support PA because of the strip or because they think Tycho and I are perpetuating some kind of rape culture and that’s a different matter. First off it assumes a lot about us that simply isn’t true but more importantly it’s not something I can fix.”
I would like to thank the entire Feminist Internet (an amalgam of blogs and personalities that, though containing much Magical Lady Power, does not actually constitute a ‘controlling body’ and is not actually capable of censoring people, omg I do not want to EVEN get into that (again)) for teaching these guys some new vocab words. I mean, sure, they seem to be arguing against it by saying, “Yes but what are words?” The ever-popular, “This unflattering characteristic cannot be attributed to me so long as no one believes I know what that characteristic is,” followed by the, “I’m CERTAINLY not responsible for changing my behavior, since DUH, I TOTALLY don’t know what you’re talking about and so that can’t be true and I can’t be in the wrong.”
Also, and seriously I WISH I was having to stretch for rhetorical call-backs, but guess who has SOME KIND OF RAPE CULTURE. Fans? Do “you”, the fan, who is reasonable in all your expressions of love or dissatisfaction, have SOME KIND OF RAPE CULTURE? Wait! Wait! I remember! SOME PEOPLE. SOME PEOPLE, who clearly are incapable of appreciating Penny Arcade, who are unreasonable, WE HAVE SOME KIND OF RAPE CULTURE.
Also, no shit, what island of illusion did these guys move to that’s free of rape culture? Because I totally wanna lower property values by moving there.
“I’ve gotten a couple messages from people saying they are “conflicted” about coming to PAX. My response to them is: don’t come. Just don’t do it. In fact give me your name and I’ll refund your money if you already bought a ticket. I’ll even put you on a list so that if, in a moment of weakness you try to by a ticket we can cancel the order.”
Hey remember that time when you may have gotten a creeping feeling in your gut that Mike was dumping you? He was. He’s just not that into you. I mean, it was cool and all, but you just have like, feelings and stuff. And he’s gotta get some bro time in, y’know? Like, his friends don’t think it’s cool if he hangs out with you, and while he’ll still take your money and your web traffic on the side, he’s not going to make you feel good about it. He won’t hold your hand in public or anything. I mean, you keep asking him to like, listen to you and y’know, think about you like you’re a person and not a punchline. And bro, for real, rape is so fucking hilarious, so like…He’s just gotta peace on this, but it was a good time when he took your money last year and stuff.! You can keep his other merchandise you own, to remember him by.
“So there you go. It’s not a simple decision. No matter what we do we’ll have people mad at us. If you want to talk more about it we can chat at PAX.”
Yeah, I can see how this was a tough call. I mean, how DOES one manage to stay on the good side of the people who make one of the products your job indirectly depends on, while still clinging to the the privileged delusion that you never have to say sorry to anyone, not ever.
Some random shit:
1) I am not fucking American Greetings. If you mistake an outpouring of hurt, confused fans who are telling you about one of the worst things a human being can do to another human being with a C&D letter from a major corporation, then your life is very different than mine. Since the Feminist Internet is not an actual like, organization or anything, I have no real idea what kinds of messages Penny Arcade received in response to the original comic, the response comic, etc. I don’t feel comfortable saying, “NO ONE ASKED YOU TO TAKE YOUR COMIC DOWN,” because fuck, maybe someone did. It’s just really hard for me to imagine the circumstances where the decision tree of, “how should we respond to rape survivors who are talking to us about having their PTSD triggered,” leads to the way they chose to respond.
2) WHY WILL I JUST NOT STOP TALKING ABOUT RAPE. ohmygod I know right? You know who wants to never say the word, “rape” again? Me.
The thing is, while I would, genuinely, LOVE to never hear about rape again, I think there are some strikingly different approaches to the assumedly mutual sentiment of not wanting to hear about rape anymore. To me, I think that raising awareness about rape and sexual assault, making it safer for survivors to press charges, trying to perpetuate the idea that people have the power to consent over their own bodies regardless of how much your partner or person you like or very close friend or other person you trust pressures you, trying to increase legal protection and social support of rape and sexual assault survivors, educating people about the fucked up rape culture we live in and the bizarrely horrible ideas it gives us about each other and ourselves…these things will help stop rape and sexual assault from happening.
I want kids to some day be like, “people used to do what?!” when they learn about rape. In history class. I want it to be like stoning or witch burning in this country – something we don’t do any more to each other. (Yes, I realize those things happen in other countries today. No, me changing topics completely right now to talk about that instead is not a suggestion that will make it through moderation. It’s derailing, do some research.) I want this to stop being something I have in common with people.
It seems like the alternate approach to not talking about rape is to just to shout down and silence me and other rape and sexual assault survivors. And uh, have we met? That’s not going to happen.
>Point by point rant with no actual substance
>Clear sign of butthurt
tldr
It’s ridiculous how much it’s grown, and how downright vicious it’s gotten. Any moral high ground the objecters had, in my view, was lost when they let their outrage become basically a public stoning of Mike in the community’s open forum. Of course he’s defensive, he’s being persecuted. So much of the argument is now focused on the question of whether or not he’s an asshole–with the overwhelming sense that he is indeed since his defenders are either not very vocal for the sake of letting the argument die if they’re mature enough, or aggressively vocal if they’re not–when it should be focused on the supposed actual moral issue. They don’t realize the effect their own posts have had, are having, and will have on these two comedians, and tragically they aren’t going to see it, because that’s not the injustice they’re concerned with. Which is funny in a sad sort of way if you consider that’s the same kind of selectivity they’re accusing him of.
But hey, they could have avoided this by doing the right thing in the first place. They should have known what would happen.
They shouldn’t have gone outside dressed that way.
I see what you did there.
And what of the moral high ground of the other side? Teamrape on twitter, mocking trigger warnings, et al?
Maybe people are calling them assholes because a person who ridicules an already oppressed group based on a twisted version of their argument is being kind of an asshole. They’ve shown regret at how bad it’s become now, if they had’ve been this way about it at the start (or better yet, SAID NOTHING like they have done with countless other offended parties that’ve approached them about stuff) they wouldn’t be in the middle of this shitpile they’re in.
Regardless of what you think of them personally, this argument shouldn’t be based on personal attacks. What they’re responding to, and have been ever since the response comic, isn’t the notion that rape and the emotions of rape victims are serious matters; their concern is the implication present in so many of these complaints that they personally are becoming some sort of accomplice or ally to rape. That’s a HEAVY accusation precisely because rape IS HORRIBLE.
Now, could Mike have made some better decisions? Yeah, there were certainly some poorly thought out tweets from him, but try understand the sense that your image is being publicly stained in front of your entire community. In their fight against rape culture and rape apologists, the complainants have turned him into some kind of symbol for the other side. The implication being that he stands for all of these horrible things no one on either side approves of. That’s not a fight against rape, it’s a fight against rape as represented by Mike Krahulik. THAT is an incredibly unfortunate and actually just kind of mean tactic, as it makes his image an acceptable loss in this fight. Even if you wanted to say that maybe from a utilitarian sort of view it is overall, it certainly doesn’t feel that way for him.
Following that sensation, yeah, he took a defensive position and made some decisions that further polarized and escalated the argument. That’s regrettable, but continuing to personally attack him and call him an asshole for those choices isn’t helping. That’s damaging him further, but nothing else.
How about actually speaking out against rape culture and trying to raise awareness for the cause without the public shaming of a person? If this truly is still about the purported moral issue, then engage that, not another person. Try beating rape, not beating Mike. That’s not fair.
Rape IS horrible which is why people have tried again and again and again to call him out on what he is doing. An unwitting accomplice to rape is still an accomplice.
“but try understand the sense that your image is being publicly stained in front of your entire community.”
The only person who was ‘staining’ his image was Mike who continued to exacerbate it at every step. If he said nothing, nobody would have anything to reply to. If he said nothing right from the start, it would have been just the same as all the other complainants about Penny Arcade.
“Following that sensation, yeah, he took a defensive position and made some decisions that further polarized and escalated the argument. That’s regrettable, but continuing to personally attack him and call him an asshole for those choices isn’t helping.”
Why? He has not backed down from his position. he continues to Not Get It. Why does he deserve a break?
“That’s damaging him further, but nothing else.”
“How about actually speaking out against rape culture and trying to raise awareness for the cause without the public shaming of a person?”
BECAUSE HE IS AT THE CENTRE OF THIS ENTIRE THING. Without Mike (and Jerry) there would be no comics mocking rape survivors, no trigger warning jokes, no dickwolves shirts, no half-assed retractions, no @teamrape, no people demanding proof of a rape, no people feeling scared to attend a supposedly inclusive con, nothing. Some of it is indirect but plenty of it was done at THEIR hands supporting the whole thing.
As someone who actually HAS been raped, might I just suggest that you may be overreacting just like they seem to be stating. Rape victims do not have any more rights than anyone else. If you’re actually so vulnerable that you can be ‘triggered’ (I have no idea what being triggered is other than your mind making connections to past events which is how the mind normally works and isn’t really the fault of the person or people bringing up the topic.. If you don’t see this, how can you watch the local news or even go outside into the real world without suffering severe mental trauma)… If you’re that vulnerable, you in all seriousness should see a therapist or some type of mental health professional because that’s not normal, and not a healthy way to live. This whole argument seems to be not actually about the seriousness of rape at all, it seems more about political correctness, and you seem to have misconceptions of the typical penny arcade fans or maybe even gamers themselves like they’re stereotypical violence-idolizing sexist pigs that you portray quite vigorously if I might say, considering I’ve only read 2 blog posts from you so far and I can read that message quite clearly. I’m a sensitive individual but I am just simply stating the fact that what the creators of PA wasn’t wrong, they’ve stated their opinions on the matter pretty clearly and I didn’t think it was immature or offensive of them, I thought it was simply *REAL*. I seem to get it, maybe you just don’t yet, but quit acting like you’re standing up for people like me cause you’re not.
I particularly love the response PA has had to this entire issue. They have openly mocked it as it should be openly mocked. People are far too easily offended in this day in age, it really is quite hysterical if you sit down with a rational mind and think about if for a second. This day and age is ripe with unintentional comedy in the form of people like Kirbybits. Let me use your tactics to mock you: REALLY? You, a so-called “professional” in the gaming industry, are going to go out of your way to bitch and moan about a COMIC STRIP? You’re going to “rally the troops” about a COMIC STRIP? Really? They proceeded to mock you, as you and your crowd of overly sensitive cry babies should have been mocked. You got, predictably, over-sensitive about it and you did what people with any sort of sway, no matter how small, tend to do, you exerted that sway. You went out of your way to make sure that “dammit, if my feelings are going to be hurt and mocked, I’m going to land some sort of blow” and you did. They removed their shirt. Happy? You should be. You scored a major victory for overly sensitive people everywhere. Take a bow lady. I know how I’ll celebrate, I’ll get my own Team Dickwolves shirt made in celebration of you. But hey, that isn’t enough for a big asshole like me. I’m going to find a way to make sure that my personal dickwolves brand shirt is the biggest selling shirt on the internet, just to celebrate your great victory for rape survivors everywhere. I mean, it isn’t hollow or anything like that, not at all. I mean, you didn’t help any actual victims of rape. You lost your shit over the imaginary rape of a nameless imaginary person by a made up imaginary creature in an imaginary world in a totally made up three panel comic strip. Huzzah for you! Oh God, they made light of rape! Fuck me, I guess I should go yell at the Monty Python people, I know they made light of rape once! Someone should say something! For the rape victims people, for the rape victims!
Oh dear, look at me, mocking a rape victims, how utterly insensitive of me…Maybe I should make a successful web comic…no?
Now by all means Kirbybits, do what you want. You are a sovereign and free human being. You have all the power in the world to make your choices. But hey, maybe consider for a second that Mike and Jerry do as well, could you please? I mean seriously, how did they hurt you in any real way? (beyond your poor little hurt feelings) How did they hurt society? (do you honestly think they “created rapists” “enabled rape-culture” (whatever the fuck that even means) or *gasp* “triggered” someone? Just saying that last part out loud just broke my bull-shit-o-meter. So you are going to go out of your way, mostly because they openly mocked you and your group, to hurt their event and their business? How petty of you. You’re such a big person. Your crusade is so noble. I would stand up and clap for you, but it seems it would conflict with my desire to chop off both my hands before I ever did that. Sorry
.
This is a fun post. I rather enjoy mocking this whole sad affair. I love people who get their pant-suits in a bunch over imaginary things. Rapists are real, dick-wolves are not. So really, why? Team rapists? Let me pause for a quick “lol”…OK done. Trigger events? Trigger warnings? Trigga what?! Therapy really is amazing, it seems to allow people the ability to disassociate and to talk down to people who don’t buy into the program.
Anyway I’m done. George Carlin rolls over in his shallow grave when discussions like the ones in this post go down. So much P.C. victim complex garbage, hilarious and sad at the same time. Life is short, why not have a laugh or two? This motto might serve over 9000 of you all very well. Don’t bother reading or replying to any of this unless you want to talk amongst yourselves, I won’t be back to this blog.
You will be missed.
Thank you for your responses and posts on this. My favorite part of the Mike/Gabe That’s-Enough message was, “Kara was certainly upset…” Not *I* was upset, but “it’s affected the wife.” Is he totally clueless about the amount/kind of threats women bloggers put up with *every friggin’ day*? Or do those just not matter, because the women don’t matter?
Your take is simply incorrect. They ARE saying they caved to a “vocal minority,” said minority being the people who emailed and told them they would prefer the Dickwolves shirts be taken down. These people are the ones they caved to, only they didn’t really cave to them. Instead, they listened and agreed to remove it so they would be more comfortable at PAX East.
Maybe it was offensive to mock trigger warnings and rape culture. As one not effected by rape, I cannot take personal offense, although I find it insensitive. But I don’t blame them for it since they aren’t one for sensitivity. When they made fun of something I had personal connection to, yes, I was offended. I just didn’t let it be the only judge of them or their comic, or believe it made them sexists and misogynists.
Mike isn’t saying that people who are offended once or for the millionth times can’t email him about it. In fact, he made it pretty clear his problem with it was how people emailed him. Some were antagonistic, pushy and rude, and that is not the way to get people to listen to your point. It only annoyed him, which I can’t blame him for seeing as he’s human.
If something in Penny Arcade offends you, you have every right to complain about it or, as Mike suggests, stop reading. But the point is that he and Jerry make offensive, disgusting, violent and inappropriate comics on purpose and that being offended at one particular thing does not equal the right to demand it be removed with an apology for something they did not intend. From the comic following the dickwolves one, it seems they have taken the offense is at the idea they are promoting rape in some form. To me, this indicates obliviousness (which I can forgive), not purporting rape culture. And no, they don’t seem willing to listen to people about why they are wrong—who does? Especially after they, their friends and their families have been threatened—yes, threatened.
And why are you angry at them for wanting PAX to be a friendly place just because the comic is not? The comic spawned the Penny Arcade company, but that doesn’t mean they have to take their personal mission from it. And this is a bad thing? Yes, they still aren’t apologizing, yes they still plan on being offensive in the comic. Because that is what the comic is about, not the company. There is no reason they cannot be morally discrete.
Also, you criticize Mike by writing that he isn’t acknowledging that he shouldn’t pass judgment others’ experiences. I’m sorry, but where did you ever get that he was? He pokes fun at things, sometimes rudely, but never have I noticed him being judgmental. I was upset with the “bat-shit crazy” comment but besides the fact that he was speaking out of frustration at the time, I don’t believe it was specifically critical of rape survivors. I am not in any way saying it wasn’t insensitive to the difficulties they go through. I am simply saying he isn’t judging them.
Honestly, your post seems to be looking for ways to take what Mike has written the wrong way. Because if you want, you can forgive them their ignorance or even email them saying you were upset with their glib reaction to the pain of rape victims. But you don’t do that. You just take what they’re saying as some form of criticism towards rape victims and people who disagree with them. And it’s not. In his letter, he does not brush off anyone’s feelings or perspectives. In fact, unlike what you were offended by with the continuing dickwolves merchandise, he seems to be listening. The way you talk about “rants on blogs” and how people are saying you are ranting…frankly, it implies you are offended they aren’t listening to YOU.
You are angry Mike is playing “Judge and Jury of Whether Your Behavior is Reasonable!” But…you are doing the same. You are condemning them for this one offensive act, as if it is the only thing that would count for them being evil. You are insisting everything they write is only more insensitive bullshit rather than their attempts at compromise or understanding, that the only reason they pulled the merchandise was so people wouldn’t pull out of PAX, because their words can’t in any way be sincere. You aren’t giving them a chance to make up for what they did. I know they haven’t apologized, but is that really the only thing they can do? You say they are assholes because they kept the merchandise, which is apparently a trigger for you, and that they should have removed it earlier. Why? Because it is a trigger for you? The world cannot be cleansed of everything that might upset anyone without the entire population and planet being destroyed. You really do have the power by just ignoring the site and not going to PAX. Because what you wrote here will not change the minds of people who don’t believe rape culture exists. It further convinces them by giving a biased, hostile post to point to when they say people are overreacting.
I agree, this post is uncharitable and hypocritical.
Some other specific criticisms:
I bet you’d hate to have your bad experiences pointed out in the way you pointed out Mike’s.
Also if you want to remove a phrase you think is offensive, actually remove it, then stick a note at the bottom, “edited to remove drug references” if you have to. Or at least spoiler tag it out.
But I know why this isn’t the best example of your work, obviously, and this makes me pause in my criticism. This is serious stuff. Serious hurt, and that’s all I’ll say about that.
You said before it seemed like they were desperate, and I think that’s exactly right. Desperate because they are being asked to change their way of working in a way that might break it, and shut down chunks of their history.
Because if it’s not the fact that they wrote it but the fact that people read it that is the problem, ie the PTSD triggers of readers, then an argument for not writing it again is an argument for taking all similar comics off the site. Because for the person who reads it, it doesn’t matter if it was written today or yesterday. So logic requires if they accept this they must trawl through and remove all such references, and things that could trigger other forms of PTSD, then altering their creative process in order to avoid them. From that very video you reference can see that Mike was willing to sacrifice his mental health for the sake of continuing what they were doing.
From that you can recognise what a serious threat it is to him, something coming in and potentially breaking their way of working, disrupting their creative flow to the point they can’t make the stuff they value anymore.
That’s something that can make people defensive.
As said above, he doesn’t recognise the concept of rape culture, you do, but the only way he is likely to come to terms with the idea is helping him get to an alternate way of working that is compatible with it. You’re probably not the person to do that.
I’m (not really) amazed at how many men just don’t want to get it and will spend hours over days trying to mansplain how the ladiez are overreacting and wrong. And then turn this into feminist vs. gamers. Uh, women are gamers, too, dudes.
Kudos to you for dealing with this bullshit and all the dudes who have come here to defend their pathetic positions. It was just a little comic, right? RIIIIIIGGGHHHHTTTT. So much so that hours over days were spent explaining why no rape culture exists. Fuck this noise is right.
“And then turn this into feminist vs. gamers. Uh, women are gamers, too, dudes.”
Pro-tip: not all women are feminists of your particular belief. As everyone here is so fond of saying, you’re not a monolith, remember?
Spoken by a female gamer who considers herself a feminist, but still supports Penny Arcade’s original comic.
“Mansplain”.
You know? I really hate that word. Just because a man is trying to explain his point of view (perhaps is lack of point of view, even) it becomes “mansplain.”
Does that mean there’s a “Femsplain” too? “Mansplain” has been used a whole lot and it’s a very derogatory word, as if every man who is trying hard to make a clear and concise point is being condescending and rude/mysoginyst/what have you. Certainly, some men are those things, some men aren’t. Hand in hand with that, some women can be those things too (is there a word for woman-to-man discrimination? if not, there should be, since feminism is about equality in everything), so it stands to reason there must be a femsplain going on somewhere.
Point is: “mansplain” is a pretty dirty word, and using it must imply the “femsplaining” you’re doing yourself.
No
Mansplaining is when a man will try to explain the problems women face frequently TO a woman. It’s not only stupid, but arrogant to think he has the authority over her to explain things she deals with pretty much every day to her like she’s an idiot.
Ah, so there IS a femsplain too.
Since many of the women I know act as if they have authority over men and explain things they deal with every day, too.
Nice to know it’s a two-way street.