D&D 5E What happened to the Hermaphrodites???

[MechaPilot]

Certainly, there are terms that are pejorative and they have no place. At a certain point, it is reasonable to deny another person the privilege of deciding for you that a term is "now" considered pejorative because they said so.

A term becomes pejorative through its use to insult or degrade people, not simply because someone says it is. However, language is a living, evolving thing, and the people who're targeted by such words will first come to know them as pejoratives by their use. Those of us who aren't the target of a given word, when we're told it's being used as a pejorative need to ask questions and try to understand, and not to immediately tell the person "you can't tell me that word is a pejorative."

 

[MechaPilot]

If there's no reason to expect retaliation but the writer is trying to curry favor from a powerful figure, then I would not call that censorship, though it fits the description of 'soft-censorship' that wikipedia gives.

So then "soft-censorship" is just "pandering," only it also shifts the unseemlyness of pandering from the panderer to the panderees. It's no wonder somebody in the political sphere coined that term.

 

[MechaPilot]

What highly upsets me is that I can't play a character with green eyes. I mean, I don't have green eyes, so it isn't about playing a PC that is exactly like me, but then again I do know people with green eyes and the absolute lack of rules allowing for green eyes on PCs does kind f exclude them from playing characters that they can most relate to...

Yeah, I know it is not the same. Wouldn't it be nice if they were equally as unnecessary to address?

Well no. It would be nice if it was as unnecessary to address as the gender of male PCs, which is to say necessary in a general description but otherwise not needed (unless your campaign focuses on things like romance and/or sexuality).

Allow me to put the green eyed comparison more in line with a character whose gender is non-binary:

A: "I want to play a character with green eyes."

B: "Green eyes? Really? You know people aren't going to treat your character well, right? Or that you'll be an outsider?"

C: "People don't really have green eyes, they just wear color contacts because they want to be special snowflakes."

D: "Why do you want to play a character with green eyes? Are your eyes really brown? Or are those color contacts?"

E: Sits quietly, embarrassed because he thinks people with green eyes are attractive.

 

[LordEntrails]

Once more a thread devolves into various lectures on political correctness.

Yes, education and expression of diverse issues and viewpoints is of value.

I don't see this thread educating or clarifying views any more, but rather just an uninteresting set of diatribes of people speaking past one another.

 

[SmokeyCriminal]

I just think that Crawford and Mearls got tired of people doing that thing where you politely look away or involuntarily wince/cringe when they said the word Hermaphrotide (Kinda like when your around that old person that says the word negro way too often - It's like, come on grandpa. Unless we're talking about ol' timey baseball or something, could you please not-.) During their panels and talks, and got tired of it. So they decided to just can it.

 

[Arial Black]

Actually, that Conservapedia article (unlike most of their articles, I hasten to add) struck me as admirably fair-minded despite coming from a worldview wildly different from my own. You read the first sentence and then laugh at the writer's superstitions, while the writer states the facts about D&D, calmly walks through the diverse perspectives on its controversial aspects, and comes to some practical and sensible conclusions. So between the two of you, I've got to favor the writer as far as the state-of-humanity thing goes. It's a timely reminder: just because somebody disagrees with us doesn't mean that they can't be a reasonable person, or that we can't build bridges through common interests like tabletop gaming.

Oh, I had the reaction to that sentence and then carried on and read the entire article.

It was, as you say, a (surprisingly) well-balanced and fair article. The writer showed themselves in a good light. Well done.

My reaction to the first sentence didn't go away though. The two reactions (first sentence 'semi-fictionalised demons', fairness of article as a whole) are not mutually exclusive.

When I think that we live in a world where its greatest superpower is ruled by people who think that demons are real, and the people who are actually looking forward to the 'End Times' with Holy glee are one step away from the Nuclear Button, then the geeks who think that demons are a fictional game monster are not the one's that worry me!

 

[Zak S]

Not trying to join Derren in his nonsensical rants, but none of these articles give any indication that there is a significant, much less large, community of alt-right D&D players. I know that there ARE alt-right D&D players, I've encountered a few of them on this message board, but just because they are loud doesn't mean they have any weight of numbers. Sure, Zak S and RPGPundit seem to be real pieces of work, and they clearly have fans, but again, no evidence of significant numbers of alt-right D&D players. Sadly, even small numbers of people can have significant impact, as is claimed in the Fall Forward blog post.

Then again, I rarely stray from the relatively safe waters of ENWorld, and purposefully avoid various internet cesspools where a lot of this dickery seems to be happening.

Please do not make personal attacks on me and please do not lend credence to the smear/harassment post ad_hoc just linked.

I have nothing to do with the Right, alt or otherwise.

 

[Zak S]

Here is a starter.

http://failforward.co.uk/post/93348768153/how-dungeons-and-dragons-is-endorsing-the-darkest

That article is a smear written by conservative a troll from Something Awful, part of a harassment campaign that links to no primary sources or any evidence. Here's a total debunking with receipts and proof:
http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2014/08/how-dungeons-and-dragons-is-totally-not.html

 

[Dire Bare]

Please do not make personal attacks on me and please do not lend credence to the smear/harassment post ad_hoc just linked.

I have nothing to do with the Right, alt or otherwise.

That article is a smear written by conservative a troll from Something Awfiul, part of a harassment campaign that links to no primary sources or any evidence. Here's a total debunking with receipts and proof:
http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2014/08/how-dungeons-and-dragons-is-totally-not.html

Zak, you're right, sorry dude. I took what was posted in the links above as the way it is, rather than just one person's perspective. I should not have assumed that you and the RPGPundit are "pieces of work" with the lack of evidence presented. All I really know is somebody out there in the internetosphere doesn't like you, and, you disagree with their attacks on you. Sorry to pass along rumor and libel.

There are certainly jerks and "pieces of work" in the D&D community, just as there are in every community. But I see no evidence of a large and powerful "alt-right" movement within D&D fandom. I realize now that I also haven't seen any evidence of Zak S and RPGPundit being jerks, harassers, or otherwise.

 

[MackMcMacky]

A term becomes pejorative through its use to insult or degrade people, not simply because someone says it is. However, language is a living, evolving thing, and the people who're targeted by such words will first come to know them as pejoratives by their use. Those of us who aren't the target of a given word, when we're told it's being used as a pejorative need to ask questions and try to understand, and not to immediately tell the person "you can't tell me that word is a pejorative."

I'm not simply going to take someone at their word that there is now a reason not to use a term that I have used in its proper place. Won't do it. There are far too many claims that this word or that word has now become a bad word for me to accept on its face that these claims are always justified.

Also, let's remember for hateful people who choose to denigrate someone because of their gender identity - any word that is used to express their gender identity will be used as a pejorative by hateful people. Hermaphrodite has a very clear meaning. If it is used in its proper context it is not a pejorative. Folks who are offended by it being used in its proper context may need to read a book or two.