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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest User" data-source="post: 9527343" data-attributes="member: 7046455">Me: Have at you, vile Sexism! (lunges with sword)Sexism: (parries sword attack with his sword) I have existed since humans began stacking stones, and I shall always exist! Your petty words count for nothing! (makes sweeping attack)Me: (parries sweeping attack) Ha, villain! Arrogance and a foolish disregard for your ever-growing list of foes shall be your downfall! (tries for a neck slash)Sexism: (ducks and avoids head removal) Fool! I am like Hydra! Reform a sexist, and two more shall grow in his place! (raises blade into a guard position)Me: (pause) Hey kid, don't look now, but yer shoelace is untied...(sigh) If only it were that simple. Speaking strictly for myself, of course, eight years of being bullied in public schools and in rather creative ways - and about the time when the woolly mammoth was trampling on dinosaur bones - has given me but one gift. It has permitted me to feel empathy for anybody who has to suffer cruelty just because they're different (yes, birds too). Anyway, all the discussions of late regarding subjects such as Chris Danielson's paper on gender stereotyping, Jean Wells' treatment at TSR, the essays of Aaron Trammell, Jon Peterson, and Gregory Alan Fine and, of course, the legacy of Gary Gygax - including the pushback letter to Dragon's editor from Gary's daughter Heidi, got me to asking myself "In what ways are you contributing to this fight?"And that, to me, is the real crux of the issue moving forward. I'm not at all suggesting anything glib like "yeah, yeah, we all know Gary Gygax was this, and Lorraine Williams was that, and let's like, you know, leave it in the past." On the contrary, the issue and its anchors to the past need to continue to be discussed until sexism (at least at the gaming table) is in the ground. That being said, I submit that discussion alone will not prevent the ugly head of sexism from rearing. In combatting sexism, as with anything worth fighting against, discussion is best paired with action. To that end, here's a couple of things I do in my corner of the TTRPG world:1. Since about the mid-1990s, whenever I author a gaming adventure or module, I always refer the DM/GM as "she". Example: "If the GM opts to enforce this rule in her gaming sessions, she may also wish to consider...". Since the founding of the TTPRG hobby, a myriad of otherwise memorable commercial rule books, supplements, and adventure modules have always referred to the DM/GM in the male context. That always irked me (a little).2. To date, I have pushed/prodded at the point of a battle-lance three of my lady gaming associates into the GM's chair*, and I'm bugging a fourth (my DM's GF) even unto this day. In fact, this morning's phone call featured these words: "I really like role-playing, but I could never do what you and Josh do; I'm not that creative." We'll see about that.* -- Rebbecca in particular is much feared.Could I do more? Probably, although what exactly I am unsure of. That's why I'm pestering you people. Readers who believe that I'm doing little more than paying lip service need not reply.</blockquote>

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