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Companies & Freelancers Distance Themselves From The New TSR
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<blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 8324641" data-attributes="member: 59082"><p>I think a lot of this issue comes down to the difference between the cultural context of the 70s-80s of early D&D--especially that of nerd culture, which was very white and male--and now. I mean, this should be obvious, but it bears repeating, because not really getting the ramifications leads to a lot of unnecessary strife or, at the least, it magnifies the problem tenfold.</p><p></p><p>To some extent, these things are changing organically, due to changing cultural and media contexts. The geek demographic is far more diverse now than it was back then, so will naturally include more diverse depictions - in terms of ethnicity, gender, and other aspects of identity. </p><p></p><p>We tend to see our own demographic as the norm or baseline, so back in the 80s, when white males made up a huge percentage of the D&D population, it follows that the default was white male. I'm not justifying it, but just pointing out that it is a direct result of demographics.</p><p></p><p>Geek culture in 2021 is aware of and influenced by the entire world in a way that it wasn't in the 70s and 80s, when it was far more Euro-American-centric ("Western"), and most peoples' only window to the outside (non-Western) world was the boob-tube. White Americans (and Europeans) are finally realizing that they are actually a minority; only 10% of the world population is white, therefore only 5% are white males. Some, unfortunately, are slow to accept this.</p><p></p><p>I think a lot of younger folks--digital natives for whom the internet has always been part of their lives--don't really understand the cultural context pre-1995ish, and how much the internet and other media technologies have broadened our understanding of the world. So it is a bit too easy to look back at the founders of D&D in a negative light from the perspective of where we are today. And of course, many of these folks have evolved since then (I would assume and hope).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mercurius, post: 8324641, member: 59082"] I think a lot of this issue comes down to the difference between the cultural context of the 70s-80s of early D&D--especially that of nerd culture, which was very white and male--and now. I mean, this should be obvious, but it bears repeating, because not really getting the ramifications leads to a lot of unnecessary strife or, at the least, it magnifies the problem tenfold. To some extent, these things are changing organically, due to changing cultural and media contexts. The geek demographic is far more diverse now than it was back then, so will naturally include more diverse depictions - in terms of ethnicity, gender, and other aspects of identity. We tend to see our own demographic as the norm or baseline, so back in the 80s, when white males made up a huge percentage of the D&D population, it follows that the default was white male. I'm not justifying it, but just pointing out that it is a direct result of demographics. Geek culture in 2021 is aware of and influenced by the entire world in a way that it wasn't in the 70s and 80s, when it was far more Euro-American-centric ("Western"), and most peoples' only window to the outside (non-Western) world was the boob-tube. White Americans (and Europeans) are finally realizing that they are actually a minority; only 10% of the world population is white, therefore only 5% are white males. Some, unfortunately, are slow to accept this. I think a lot of younger folks--digital natives for whom the internet has always been part of their lives--don't really understand the cultural context pre-1995ish, and how much the internet and other media technologies have broadened our understanding of the world. So it is a bit too easy to look back at the founders of D&D in a negative light from the perspective of where we are today. And of course, many of these folks have evolved since then (I would assume and hope). [/QUOTE]
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