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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 6883990" data-attributes="member: 22779">Well, I guess it kind of boils down to why the harassment is occurring.  I believe that most of it is done through ignorance, rather than straight up malicious intent.  Someone telling dead baby jokes or commenting on someone's appearance.  That sort of thing.  The people aren't really deliberately trying to force others out of the game or the hobby, they're just ... well... stupid I guess is the best word here.  Socially oblivious?The problem, and where the notion of terrorism is coming from, is that so much of it is directed at women.  From a woman's perspective, does it really matter if that guy (who, from demographics is almost always white) is just stupid or malicious?  All that really matters is that guy is making someone uncomfortable to the point where they feel unwelcome.  And it has to start feeling pretty pointed after a while.I will freely admit that I've never faced the degree of harassment that people are talking about here, but, I did live in South Korea for about five years.  I'm a 6'2" big white dude.  Living in a country where immigration just isn't a thing.  It's about as homogenous as you can possibly get.  So, I lived with daily cat calls of people shouting "Hello!  HELLO!" at me every single time I walked out the door.  Yeah, it sounds stupid to complain about it, but, after years of unrelenting harassment like this (people would scream this at my back after I'd passed, from across the street, as I was driving by and they were walking - and not children, adults were doing this.  Constantly, every single day, usually multiple times per day) I had to leave the country.  I started out really enjoying my time in Korea, but, by the time I left, I absolutely loathed the country.  Went back for a quick trip years later and fifteen minutes after I got off the train in Pusan, someone screamed "hello" at me as I walked by.  I'll never go back.Never minding events like getting on a bus or train and every single conversation stops as the entire bus or train turns to stare at you until you get off.  Constant total amazement that I could speak such a difficult language as Korean.  Complete bafflement as to why I didn't hate the Japanese.  So on and so forth.So, I do have some idea what constant, relentless, never ending harassment feels like.  It shocks me that more women don't go postal considering the crap they are putting up with.Rolling this back around to the hobby, it's not like we've covered ourselves with glory.  Game rules that are obviously sexist, art that is pretty targeted at men, and behaviour that is just brutal.  I'm reminded of the Big Bang Theory episode where the girls go to a gaming store:[video]https://youtu.be/I2Gghi6FObY[/video]Now, it's played as a joke, and sure, it makes gamers look pretty bad.  But, how inaccurate is it really?  And, Stuart, the store owner, reacts exactly the way he should - he steps in and tells the guys in the store to back off and cool it.  I wonder how many women in the hobby have faced something similar and a whole lot less funny.</blockquote>

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