MRA: The National Rifle Association needs to stop talking about video games and fight the real enemy: feminists.
Video Games: Super Serious Man Business
Our old friend over at the Pro-Male/Anti-Feminist Technology blog is angry again. This time he’s mad at a legitimate target: National Rifle Association president Wayne LaPierre. But not because LaPierre is the head of an organization that has stood athwart every attempt at sensible gun control, making tragedies like the one in Newtown an all-too-predictable side effect of the easy availability of semiautomatic weaponry.
No, Mr. Pro-Male/Anti-Feminist Tech is made at LaPierre because he thinks the NRA big gun has turned into a feminist. No, really. Noting that in the wake of the Newtown shootings LaPierre launched a transparently opportunistic attack on violent video games, Mr. PMAFT accuses him of doing the work of the grand feminist conspiracy against men and manhood:
The most important reason why LaPierre is wrong is because what he is doing is feminist. Video games are an activity predominately enjoyed by men. So are guns. Both activities are under attack from feminists (just like other predominately male activities like science fiction are) because men are interested in them and women are mostly not interested in them. LaPierre is shooting himself in the foot (pun intended) by alienating allies among the video game community and helping out feminists in their war on male activities.
Never mind that nearly half – 47% — of those playing video games these days are girls and women, according to the Entertainment Software Association. (I await the inevitable comment from a troll telling us all that whatever games these women are playing just don’t count because blah and blah.)
What LaPierre should have done is form an alliance with the video game community. While the Newtown shootings are being used against gun owners right now, the next target will be video games and other mostly male interests and activities. Both the video game community and the gun community are fighting the same enemy, feminism. They should be working together to point out facts like how the Newtown shooter was raised by a single mother and how homes where the father is kicked out lead to more violence.
Never mind that the shooter — like virtually all mass shooters — was a dude; a woman is always to blame.
The NRA is in a position of weakness now because they are attacking video games and not the real causes of the Newtown tragedy, single motherhood and feminism. The NRA is in the same boat as the Republican Party where it needs to become an explicitly anti-feminist and pro-mens rights organization to survive. (Lots of conservative and right wing organizations are in this situation.) Guns aren’t the problem here, but neither are video games. The NRA needs to realize this and realize that its only way forward is by fighting feminism. Anything else leads the NRA to irrelevance.
So one of the most powerful lobbies in American politics needs to team up with a Men’s Rights “movement” that can’t organize a single event that draws a crowd bigger than 8 people, or else it will fade into irrelevance?
I dearly hope the NRA fades into obscurity, and I am hopeful that public opinion about guns is beginning finally to shift in the right direction, but I’m not sure the NRA needs any pointers from MRAs on political relevance.
Posted on January 7, 2013, in a woman is always to blame, all about the menz, antifeminism, men who should not ever be with women ever, misogyny, MRA, no girls allowed, playing the victim and tagged antifeminism, guns, men's rights, misogyny, MRA, video games. Bookmark the permalink. 806 Comments.
Actually I think that the last couple of Doctors ruined Dr Who for men*. Also that one companion who all the dudebros thought was “too fat”. Both of these things were obviously results of the feminist conspiracy to ruin sci fi.
*Men who are asshats. Most non-asshat men seem to be quite happy with the way things are going.
So, freitag, I should add Doctor Who to the things feminists are ruining?
I got my ass handed to me at Wii Sports fencing by a 5-year-old girl, but I’m sure that doesn’t count as a “real” game.
Donna was my favorite companion! I loved that she didn’t get sucked into a romance with the Doctor, and she had an actual character arc! And that she became the moral voice for the Doctor! And then the writers sent her back without all that development! And I was sad!
I used to have a conservative sit next to me at work (he’s since been fired, probably due to the feminist matriarchy). The one topic we found in common to discuss was science fiction. You should have seen his face the day that I said they should have someone of color or a woman play the Doctor for once. You’d think I just squatted and took a crap right in front of him, lol!
“Actually I think that the last couple of Doctors ruined Dr Who for men*. Also that one companion who all the dudebros thought was “too fat””
Craig! Who I hate for a completely sensible reason, he defeated cybers with love…no, just no.
I love watching the old Doctor Who episodes on Netflix, because they are so mindbogglingly racist and sexist. It makes me appreciate the new Doctor all that much more. Madam Vastra and Jenny, anyone? :D
I should add, he is also the most MRA-ish type man I’ve ever met in the real world — he didn’t identify as such, but his attitudes were full-on MRA.
@Some Gal, I hope it’s been ruined for MRAs. I like Doctor Who, and am not an MRA. And if feminists like it, then MRAs, by definition, have to hate it, which makes it even better for all of us.
And Donna was awesome. I had a bit of a crush on her, to be honest. That’s the kind of woman I could go for.
“Madam Vastra and Jenny, anyone?”
They’re married per the Christmas special, I totally squeed at that. Also, that bit about Jack the Ripper “how did you find him?” “Stringy” is one of my mother’s favorite Doctor Who lines.
WordSpinner — Donna’s also her favorite, though I have some serious Bad Wolf love — not even Rose really, just that bit, the all powerful goddess that is the Bad Wolf, and wtf she does with that power…gets me every time!
Word to all the Donna love. (Although I also love me some Martha, I just make myself forget her unrequited- nope, I don’t remember anything to dislike about Martha.)
all videogames operate on the same push a button, get a treat in your brain principle
I think this is what Dan Dennett would call a deepity. To the extent that it’s true, it’s no more meaningful than saying that all music operates on the ‘hear a sequence of tones, get a treat in your brain’ principle, or that all sport operates on the ‘perform a physical activity, get a treat in your brain’ principle – the fact that the human brain enjoys being entertained is no big shocker.
As an accurate description of the processes involved in ‘all’ video games, on the other hand, it’s so simplistic as to be completely false. I, for example, have never played any Farmville/WoW-type games; if I wanted to click on icons and do basic maths, I’d turn off the Xbox and do some work. I’ve just been playing Tekken (a martial-artsy game for thse who didn’t know – sorry for the mansplainin’) against other players online, and you do not get the ‘rewards’ from simply ‘pushing a button'; you get them from out-thinking your opponent, from bluffing and double-bluffing, from improvising approaches that your opponent hasn’t thought of and from adapting to approaches that you haven’t encountered before, just as you would in chess, poker or any other brain-based competitive game.
On the topic… Does everyone hate Rose with all her simpering uselessness as much as I do?
“Push a button, get a reward.” This guy has clearly never played Dark Souls. It’s probably too hard for him, the manly man who loves video games for manly men, because he is a total man.
Yeah, I really only love Rose as the Bad Wolf, other than that, Martha please! Amy was even more useless though, Rose at least got the Doctor to answer useful questions, but maybe this is more a complaint about 11.
I like Rose. I’ve liked all of the companions, although not that crazy about Amy and Rory.
“I know I should be more offended that single mothers are being blamed for horrible tragedies (their lives are nightmare mode), but it just irks me so much when people equate a hobby of mine (video games) with horrible stuff like MRAs and Second amendment fundamentalists.”
It’s the divide-and-conquer tactic of banal evil.
“Single moms, not to blame. Why does no one ever talk about the men who made them single mothers?”
Same reason there’s a reddit thread going around right now about “Why are these raped whiners in Dheli getting all the attention when far more men are victims of violence in India?” while completely ignoring that the majority of violent crimes are committed by men.
And to be fair, the reason I’m a single mom right now is because his dad was the single dad for awhile -by mutual agreement- and now it’s my turn to parent our kid -by mutual agreement. But yes, the statistics prove repeatedly that far more single parents are female because they end up being the begat-upon while the fathers run off whining how their lives are being ruined. Or that the whore was lying and it was some other poor sap’s kid.
Parts of reddit are the online version of a cesspool.
“I got my ass handed to me at Wii Sports fencing by a 5-year-old girl, but I’m sure that doesn’t count as a “real” game.”
Wow, she sounds a bit young to be a Game of Thrones fan O_O
“But yes, the statistics prove repeatedly that far more single parents are female because they end up being the begat-upon while the fathers run off whining how their lives are being ruined. Or that the whore was lying and it was some other poor sap’s kid.”
Or the even mor common “he’s in jail” option (thank you racist and classist prison system, go ahead and create more single mothers and just continue that cycle…can you tell I hate the American prison system?)
And I think my favoritest companion was Wilf actually. 11 should really pop in to tell him he’s fine, considering how they parted ways.
@kiki
It is the neuroscience look at what is going on in your brain and also a (slightly exaggerated) summary of the field of ludology, which looks just at the mechanics of play and ignores the narrative (which is what you identify as different). The narrative means a lot, to me, but there are quite a few scholars who discount it. I think you are underselling casual games when you claim the rewards in the brain are so fundamentally different. And, yes, play against real opponents, as opposed to NPCs is very different, but that is because you add social interactions (also things our brains are big on) to the basic button/learn/reward mechanics. Even if you don’t talk or chat, just knowing they are real people as opposed to NPCs makes a difference in how you deal with them in your brain.
“Or the even more common “he’s in jail” option (thank you racist and classist prison system, go ahead and create more single mothers and just continue that cycle…can you tell I hate the American prison system?)”
Yes, thank you for pointing that out. And yes, I have shipping-container of rants on our prison system…..
@ kiki
One of the reasons it is important is because videogames are rather unique in how fast and how well they stimulate both learning and reward.* There is a lot of research into how to use games in education because almost everyone would get more out of a really well-designed educational videogame than they would a classroom environment or books or what have you. So I wouldn’t say it is a deepity because it actually does unite videogames by a quality that nothing else seems to have.
*Games in general are every good at this, but the teaching as you go and speed of learning aspects of videogames seem to be unique. I shouldn’t discount all the sensory data than makes, say, Halo very different than chess.
And I compulsively spell-checked you, Argenti, sorry lol
Heathenbee, I’m on an iPad with damn you autocorrect, feel free to correct it!
@heathenbee
I would think that is better than the passive-aggressive (sic). :)
iPad autocorrect does some truly bizarre things.
“iPad autocorrect does some truly bizarre things.”
TRUFAX! It’s learning though, sadly, it knows misandry already.
And, yes, play against real opponents, as opposed to NPCs is very different, but that is because you add social interactions
Again, I must disagree – the closest I come to socially interacting with people when playing Tekken is when I delete the inevitable sore-loser PMs calling me a fag or a scrub or whatever. The reason playing Tekken against a human is more satisfying than playing against the CPU is that Tekken is far too complicated to create an AI opponent that is anything like as challenging or as much fun to play against as even a moderately competent human opponent. It’s not just because playing against another human feels more like social interaction, it’s because the AI opponents really are very predictable, and playing against them feels more like running through a rote set of routines rather than responding to another player’s gambits – like hitting a tennis ball against a wall when you don’t have anyone to play tennis with, it just ain’t the same, purely in game terms.
I don’t really tend to play games where narrative is important – the characters in Tekken apparently have back stories and friendships and rivalries with each other, but they don’t affect the gameplay, so I’ve no idea what they are. My favourite open-world game is Just Cause 2, because it’s got hardly any story, and lots and lots of sandbox. I remember finishing Red Dead Redemption and thinking, ‘For the four or so hours of mediocre cowboy movie you squeezed onto the disc, you could have included another thousand bad guys for me to shoot. Priorities, people!’
I love the artform, and there’s no reason why a video game couldn’t have a story that’s equal to the finest movie or book, I just don’t think any have come remotely close yet.
Isn’t that just edutainment, an enterprise generally made of fail? Or are they going for a different angle?
I shouldn’t discount all the sensory data than makes, say, Halo very different than chess.
One of the things that I think is fascinating about videogames is that while they can’t be described as a ‘sport’ by any means, they often do have a ‘physical’ element – not in the sense that you have to physically press the buttons, but in the sense that they take place in a virtual ‘physical’ space. You can’t play Halo by mail or in your head, as you can with chess; it has to happen ‘live’ within that three-dimensional physical space.
I think there are some gamers that refer to videogames as ‘electronic sports’, and while that does seem a little precious or silly, it is quite an accurate descriptor for something that cannot be considered a ‘game’ in the same way as chess.
Isn’t that just edutainment, an enterprise generally made of fail? Or are they going for a different angle?
There are those really annoying Youtube ads for Lumosity which say that it ‘works with your neuroplasticity’ but ‘in a way that just feels like videogames’. Yeah, I know something else that does that – it’s called FUCKING VIDEOGAMES.
Feminists have also ruined politics, the last bastion of manhood known as the bathroom, urinals shaped like womens mouths, shopping for anything at all, job promotions and the hiring process and the comfort of a mans “castle” also known as home where dinner is served at six sharp.
Is it wrong that I’m mad that this MRA has brought Sci-fi into the fray, last I checked, a genre of fiction wasn’t a gendered interest…
You know, it’s funny. Most series of the reboot of Doctor Who have 13 episodes. Series 6, for some reason, only had 12. I felt cheated.
For the life of me, though, the phrase “Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All” has been floating around in my head associated with Series 6, but I can’t find the episode it comes from …
/silly
This graphic puts ‘false rape accusations’ into perspective.
@Falconer, it’s from the one where he hangs out with Craig again. It’s what the baby calls himself.
I think it’s important to back up and look at exactly which video games and movies Wayne LaPierre blamed for the Newton massacre. From his December 21 press conference:
There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people.
Through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse. And here’s one: it’s called Kindergarten Killers. It’s been online for 10 years. How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn’t or didn’t want anyone to know you had found it?
Then there’s the blood-soaked slasher films like “American Psycho” and “Natural Born Killers” that are aired like propaganda loops on “Splatterdays” and every day, and a thousand music videos that portray life as a joke and murder as a way of life. And then they have the nerve to call it “entertainment.”
Come to think of it, American Psycho is a satire of violent movies made by…a FEMINIST WOMAN! Pro-Male is right! We are through the looking glass, people!
Anyone who thinks sci-fi fandom is for men hasn’t been to a sci-fi convention in, oh, the last 30 to 40 years.
@Shaenon not to mention the whole swathes of fandom that are female-dominated, like fanfiction.
(Speaking of cons, were you a GoH at Arisia last year? I wish I’d been on this blog back then – I’d have asked you to sign a printout of the Book Of Larnin’, or something)
By LaPierre’s logic, it is more dangerous to play Mario than it is to have actual man-eating plants and fire-breathing turtle monsters in your house.
Given Star Trek’s role in fighting gender/racial stereotypes as far back oh, I don’t know, the 60s, it is especially hilarious that sci-fi is somehow the domain of dudes-only. Watch out, Mr. PMAFT, the feminists already invaded! 50 years ago!
katz
It stands to reason.
After all, most people can read much faster than a teacher could speak, and the interactivity would prevent boredom.
When I was a high school teacher, I discovered my students could follow me better when I spoke more quickly. I also stopped at regular intervals for a little banter. Worked well.
“For the life of me, though, the phrase “Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All” has been floating around in my head associated with Series 6, but I can’t find the episode it comes from …”
It’s that one, Stormageddon is Craig’s son (who takes his parentally assigned name when daddy saves the world with love >.< ) — it’s 6.12 Closing Time. And season six had 13 episodes, the last one is just a Moffat wank fest until the last 10 min (or 2 min according to my mother)
Ninja’ed!
wut
It is very important not to overfeed your trolls. Please join the “put the annoying troll on a diet” campaign today.
Anyone else feel like this when you see a certain dark green avatar belonging to a very needy troll?
Has everyone forgotten the lesson that Gremlins taught us?
Oh yeah. What I came here to say.
I used to read American Rifleman (the NRA magazine) regularly, up until Wayne LaPierre began getting on my nerves. The NRA is a great resource for gun safety lessons, but holy hell do they talk out of both sides of their mouths.
http://manboobz.com/2012/12/19/national-review-writer-men-and-husky-boys-could-have-prevented-the-newtown-school-shootings/comment-page-1/#comments
I’ll be even more boring than usual, and repeat myself.
1. If you put people on the defensive about their hobbies, they wont meet you halfway.
2. Most gun owners are worried about confiscations, which is why they fight tooth and nail against new laws.
3. The priority here is creating an American culture that produces fewer sociopaths.
4. We do #3 by not spanking children, fix up our prison system, and make mental health service in this country non-punitive.
I think the NRA has their back against the wall right about now. They’re the biggest, and most well known gun organization in the country, so all eyes are on them. They feel like they have to say something, and all their choices for a response are derptastic.
They aren’t going to alienate their members, so they resort to the violent video games, and movies manouvre, like its still the 90’s.
Post Script, since I’m sure this will come up. The NRA is member supported, and not by the gun manufacturers. And yes, they are a lobby.
Post Post Script: I don’t think lobbies are a bad thing. If you lead an organization that represents the interests of millions of Americans, you should be able to walk up to the White House, and invite yourself in.
kiki: I think the reason that games haven’t become narratives on par with books or movies is because the interactive element needs to be taken into account, and game companies are just now starting to get a handle on it.
The best games are ones which manage to keep the narrative and the gameplay flowing smoothly, like Portal or the recent “The Walking Dead” adventure game. A lot of games have a permanent wall between the narrative and gameplay portions, or the plot exists in service of the gameplay (I.e. modern Legend of Zelda games which tack a decent narrative structure to the gameplay template of the original nintendo version). I think there’s still a long way to go before we consistently see games where the story and gameplay are fully integrated in a unique way, or manage to make the interactive nature of the player’s choices a cohesive and powerful story.
This is what happens when trolls, like pigeons, are fed too much.
Aw crap. Dio’s here. So much for that discussion.
Or do you feel like this?</a?
See what happens when you don’t carefully monitor the dietary intake of your troll?
Cloudiah: I was just talking about that show too. :D Love it!
Close tag fail!
When a troll addresses you by name.
I love the nope octopus. Now I have to finish up a boring presentation I’m making tomorrow (boring, but with FANTASTIC GRAPHICS because if I’m going to bore people I like to give them eye candy), so I hope you will carry on ignoring the pathetically needy without me.
During the golden age of trolls this is what happened when you fed them.
Alas, those days are no longer with us.
This is just as stupid and banal as it was the first time. If the only thing you can add to the discussion is “People like guns!” and “Don’t spank” then just admit that you: 1) don’t really have any ideas about how our country can address this problem beyond simplistic platitudes and 2) you don’t really give a shit.
Nobinayamu
So, can you suggest anything better?
When you feed the trolls you train them to come back later for more food.
My reaction to trolls:
Hmm, so much for that share link. Though the blank is appropriate.
http://gifb.in/6OsV
A troll that is fed will never become full, it will just want more and more and more. The only way to stop the process is not to feed them.
Hi thenatfantastic
I agree with you. When I was not born, I was thinking that the world is a very bad place, and then oups I was born.
@ Kittehs
Link is broken
French Bulldog puppies!
Yeah, neither of the links from that site worked. Never mind. They were gifs of yawning cats.
Even the gifs were bored.