Scott Christian
Hero
Considering I play with some of the kindest people on earth, most of whom have devoted their lives to helping others with their career choice, and have done so for years, I really think the only fallacy occurring here is someone who thinks they are better than others.The important part is justifying our insensitivity
What's really insulting is when they pretend the issue is 'fantasy vs reality' in order to maintain a damaging status quo they clearly either don't understand or whose sufferers they don't care about.
I notice when people try and slippery slope, they still keep their eyes on 'acceptable' targets like fat people or apparently the mentally disabled and never slide the other way into racial stereotypes. Why is that? It is because they know that would be wrong?
And your verbiage is incorrect. They do not "target" heavy people or people who have a lower IQ; they roleplay a person to highlight a character trait. I have never seen a player decide to play an obese or low IQ character. I have seen almost every DM I know do it hundreds of times, because they are highlighting a character's trait. So when the party asks the sailor who is way down on the scale of IQ, and he responds with a smile and says, "I don't know," to every complex question, then they are highlighting one of his traits. They may also describe them as kind-hearted or charming. The fact they have a childlike intelligence is one of their traits.
Again, part of elitism is believing in one's superior intellect, which in turn, leads to issues being black and white. The opposite of intellect.