Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="MechaPilot" data-source="post: 6871147" data-attributes="member: 82779">Who is it you would say who has misled me?&nbsp; I do hope you don't think it was the material linked to in the OP.&nbsp; That inflammatory and overly general piece only caused me to stop and ask questions about how bad the issue is in those kind of public gatherings.&nbsp; I have my own experience, plus the experience&nbsp; [MENTION=9037]Elf Witch[/MENTION] related, plus the experience Umbran related earlier that a friend had shared with him, and the word of a trusted and respected friend (who is something of a habitual people-watcher) who attends cons and says that harassment and assault is a problem that is significant.&nbsp; In his own words, &quot;particularly at gaming cons and anime cons.&quot;There is also the OP of the We're All Gamers Together thread.&nbsp; That OP links to the same material as the OP of this thread, but the OP of the We're All Gamers Together thread is not simply parroting the material linked to.&nbsp; Instead, the OP of that thread claims to have collected stories of harassment and assault from female con-attendees on his own.And now I have the articles that&nbsp; [MENTION=9037]Elf Witch[/MENTION] linked to as well.It's not as if I think that all, or even most, gamers are bad.&nbsp; The vast majority of the gamers who I've met and gamed with have been decent people.&nbsp; Even most of the people who I have disagreed with (at times vehemently) on gaming forums have not been the type to spout vulgarities, or sexual threats, or to proudly post examples of partaking in player or character sexual assault or harassment.&nbsp; But the truth is that even though I am not pretty and I don't cosplay (which should reduce my chances of being assaulted, though not necessarily of being harassed), I am a woman, raised with the rules that we were all raised with, and subject to the same wrong cultural judgments about somehow deserving what we got when we violate those rules.Let's face a very simple reality, when people I know and respect tell me that I will probably have to pony up my dignity and my right to go unmolested if I attend a con, I would be taking a significant risk if I ignored their advice and went anyway.&nbsp; And if I did go and was harassed or assaulted, there would inevitably be the judgement of, &quot;well, you knew what you were walking into when you went.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MechaPilot, post: 6871147, member: 82779"] Who is it you would say who has misled me? I do hope you don't think it was the material linked to in the OP. That inflammatory and overly general piece only caused me to stop and ask questions about how bad the issue is in those kind of public gatherings. I have my own experience, plus the experience [MENTION=9037]Elf Witch[/MENTION] related, plus the experience Umbran related earlier that a friend had shared with him, and the word of a trusted and respected friend (who is something of a habitual people-watcher) who attends cons and says that harassment and assault is a problem that is significant. In his own words, "particularly at gaming cons and anime cons." There is also the OP of the We're All Gamers Together thread. That OP links to the same material as the OP of this thread, but the OP of the We're All Gamers Together thread is not simply parroting the material linked to. Instead, the OP of that thread claims to have collected stories of harassment and assault from female con-attendees on his own. And now I have the articles that [MENTION=9037]Elf Witch[/MENTION] linked to as well. It's not as if I think that all, or even most, gamers are bad. The vast majority of the gamers who I've met and gamed with have been decent people. Even most of the people who I have disagreed with (at times vehemently) on gaming forums have not been the type to spout vulgarities, or sexual threats, or to proudly post examples of partaking in player or character sexual assault or harassment. But the truth is that even though I am not pretty and I don't cosplay (which should reduce my chances of being assaulted, though not necessarily of being harassed), I am a woman, raised with the rules that we were all raised with, and subject to the same wrong cultural judgments about somehow deserving what we got when we violate those rules. Let's face a very simple reality, when people I know and respect tell me that I will probably have to pony up my dignity and my right to go unmolested if I attend a con, I would be taking a significant risk if I ignored their advice and went anyway. And if I did go and was harassed or assaulted, there would inevitably be the judgement of, "well, you knew what you were walking into when you went." [/QUOTE]

Verification