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Lorraine Williams: Is it Time for a Reevaluation?
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<blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8436843" data-attributes="member: 7023840"><p>In the end, people can have the opinions that they want.</p><p></p><p>I'm just no longer comfortable parroting the opinions I have heard about Lorraine Williams. When I look back at a lot of the stories about her, I find that many of them are either completely untrue on closer examination, are contested by other people, or are hearsay. More importantly, looking back at some of the "ha ha she's an evil witch and fat too" stories makes me deeply uncomfortable.</p><p></p><p>I think her faults are well-known and obvious- TSR didn't adapt and survive in the 90s. More and more, though, I think that it's ... interesting ... that one of the only women heavily involved in TSR is the single most vilified figure that we have in our gaming history. And as I wrote, it was fascinating to read a book that had the receipts (Game Wizards) and see how completely different that account of Gygax's ouster was from the accounts of the many people who didn't actually know what happened, but are comfortable using it to vilify her.</p><p></p><p>In the end, I keep thinking back to the same thing. It's a shame we haven't heard her perspective on this. Look, D&D (and the TTRPG hobby in general) wasn't exactly super-welcoming to women in 80s and 90s. I'm just thinking that, perhaps, some of the people at TSR might have been predisposed to feel unfavorably to a woman who was in charge, and not a gamer. Just maybe. It doesn't exonerate her, but perhaps we should have a more nuanced view (and/or see who has actual receipts). That was why I started the thread.</p><p></p><p>YMMV.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Snarf Zagyg, post: 8436843, member: 7023840"] In the end, people can have the opinions that they want. I'm just no longer comfortable parroting the opinions I have heard about Lorraine Williams. When I look back at a lot of the stories about her, I find that many of them are either completely untrue on closer examination, are contested by other people, or are hearsay. More importantly, looking back at some of the "ha ha she's an evil witch and fat too" stories makes me deeply uncomfortable. I think her faults are well-known and obvious- TSR didn't adapt and survive in the 90s. More and more, though, I think that it's ... interesting ... that one of the only women heavily involved in TSR is the single most vilified figure that we have in our gaming history. And as I wrote, it was fascinating to read a book that had the receipts (Game Wizards) and see how completely different that account of Gygax's ouster was from the accounts of the many people who didn't actually know what happened, but are comfortable using it to vilify her. In the end, I keep thinking back to the same thing. It's a shame we haven't heard her perspective on this. Look, D&D (and the TTRPG hobby in general) wasn't exactly super-welcoming to women in 80s and 90s. I'm just thinking that, perhaps, some of the people at TSR might have been predisposed to feel unfavorably to a woman who was in charge, and not a gamer. Just maybe. It doesn't exonerate her, but perhaps we should have a more nuanced view (and/or see who has actual receipts). That was why I started the thread. YMMV. [/QUOTE]
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