Sexism in D&D and on ENWorld (now with SOLUTIONS!)

[ProfessorCirno]

Why.

 

[Pig Champion]

Funny this thread should be brought back, I was told to "Get out ya dick" by a young lady passing by in a car.

I hate subjects like this. It basically comes down to the women themselves. In my area there is a pretty big discrimination trend going on at the moment about a race I happen to belong to. If I hear anyone at the table utter such nonsense then I'll gladly say something.

My girlfriend and her friend when playing with us have also said when the sexist jokes were crossing the line as well.

I think instead of looking for solutions you should probably let the individual women or girl deal with it in the way they see fit. Everyone is different and a lot of people can be a tad insensitive but not really mean any harm just like some people can be oversensitive and take every reference as a sexist or racist remark.

That's just me though.

 

[S'mon]

In my area there is a pretty big discrimination trend going on at the moment about a race I happen to belong to.

Aye, it's tough being a pig.

 

[Pig Champion]

Aye, it's tough being a pig.

HYYOOOOOH! He's here all week folks!

 

[Afrodyte]

Everyone is different and a lot of people can be a tad insensitive but not really mean any harm just like some people can be oversensitive and take every reference as a sexist or racist remark.

IMXP, the people who call others "oversensitive" about racism and sexism are generally not the ones on the receiving end of such treatment, so it tends to make their assumptions about things pretty suspect.

 

[pawsplay]

It basically comes down to the women themselves.

In what way? Are you saying women are responsible for dealing with insensitive comments directed toward them?

 

[Wik]

I've yet to see actual reliable numbers on particular genres broken down by gender...though I'd bet that Romance is generally read by women and Horror by men. Beyond that?

I'd just be guessing.

Anecdotal evidence on my end says that you're wrong on the horror part - I know a lot of women love horror in the vein of Stephen King and whatnot. I'd say the readership in that area is female dominated, too (just look at the book "The Lovely Bones", which was clearly aimed towards a female audience, and contains some definite horror influences).

***

Onto the subject at hand... this thread always amuses me. I game with two women right now, which is exactly one third of my gaming group (do the math, folks!). There isn't any problem or real difference - one loves killing things, the other tends to like solving problems... so, sort of like the male members of my group. I can't think of any time they were stereotypical "girls" in play - during an encounter where the PCs had to buy clothes for a party, I think they spent less time worrying about what they wore than everyone else, if memory serves.

All of these people who go out and say "we need to get more women in the group!" are kind of silly and too politically-correct in my view. If there are no women in your group, well, that's fine. Do you need to go out and recruit women into your game? No. Are you sexist for not having women in your game? No.

So long as your game is open to the possibility of women gamers joining, I think you're fine. Hell, even if it's not, and you're just running a gentleman's club, that's fine too - we're not here to fix some huge social problem. We're here to have fun. Encourage women to join the game when you talk to them in the same way you're encourage males, and worry less about demographics.

To use a flawed example, I have gamed with probably around sixty or seventy people in my life. Not a single one has been black. Now, I live in Canada, so our demographics are a bit different than the states (ever notice how there are so few black hockey players? ), but by the numbers, there should have been at least one. Does that mean I'm a racist? Nope. Does it mean I should go out and recruit black players? God, no - that'd be about the most racist thing I could do.

Incidentally, I think there is a decent comparison, here - there is at least as much racism in D&D game art and presentation as there is sexism. Ever notice that most of the characters in the game are caucasian? Ever notice that the darker-skinned races tend to be much more animalistic... such as, say, shifters, which are even described in the PHB as "humans with animalistic features... their faces have a bestial cast... shifter skin and hair are usually some shade of brown". While the game has made obvious strides in being multiethnic in presentation (much like it has with the presentation of women), it sure as hell ain't equal yet.

Anyways, to sum it all up: Live and let live, and stop worrying about the numbers. We're not here to fix the world... we're here to save an imaginary world from being overrun by orcs.

 

[Mark Chance]

So long as your game is open to the possibility of women gamers joining, I think you're fine. Hell, even if it's not, and you're just running a gentleman's club, that's fine too.

Amen.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

So long as your game is open to the possibility of women gamers joining, I think you're fine. Hell, even if it's not, and you're just running a gentleman's club, that's fine too - we're not here to fix some huge social problem.

But gaming IN a gentleman's club will get you ridiculed.

 

[Aramax]

I think it's probably my second post, actually; my absolute first was my creating an account to add to the tribute to Col Pladoh's passing.

Rel, thank you for the policy clarification. I understand completely.

Back on track; that was admittedly a lot of man-part to be flinging around, but my point is as such:
There is good evidence (both physical and social) of a female imperative to have multiple partners. Surprise surprise; the more people they have sex with, the more likely they are to pass along their genetic legacy! It's not just the boys.
Also, there have been a handful of polyandrous households in historical earth, usually in jungle settings. No clue whether the authority was with the women.

Jumping to the "my own experiences" thread, I have a definite male bias for monsters and villains, but for NPCs I usually flip a coin. After realizing this, I have started intentionally injecting female opposition.
I've been DM for an all female group, mixed groups, and all males. I can only hope I'm doing a good job keeping everyone engaged and welcomed.

I had a male friend who always said he wanted to have multiple women to father children by to insure his line would continue,I have since found out that children not raised by thier biological father have a much higher chance on dying(from a multitude of reasons)than children raised by thier biological father.sorry but monogomy is the correct form of child rearing.