I am not sure how long this section will be but I suppose I'll chime in with an additive to the narrative going around in the internet these days, I will also attempt to tie in my games and correlation thereof, as much as I would like this blog to be a rallying call for equality and the rights some genders or nationalities are being robbed of, this is a Pathfinder and GM'ing blog, though I sure as hell will state my opinion. Firstly let me state that I have grown up in an extremely progressive household, my mother was and still is a powerful individual with all the same rights and privileges as my father, in fact in some cases she is given more control over most situations, as my father says "The mother is the backbone of the family" More or less, I was slightly paraphrasing, but this is indeed true, though the male has some role in that, I would like to believe. As for gaming, throughout my gaming...life? Career? I would say there has always been this unintentional biased that girls are somewhat...like precious minerals or extremely rare in reference to Dungeons and Dragons, or any RPG for that matter, and not much has been done to change that fact. All if not most of the people I have played with haven't shown a strong aversion towards gamer girls, in fact we welcome them, I especially because they seem so immersed and imaginative in many ways that many of us men lack.
Let me make a quick foot note, this is not intended to bash on any one gender, I am just making observations, and stating what I've experienced and what I would like to see more of, namely more gamer girls.
Now I recently read an amazing piece by a woman speaking about women developers and women gamers, and honestly I'll admit I was taken aback as I felt not even I had been fully aware of the true nature of the wide web and....well I'll be candid terrible disposition, to women, and honestly terrible to people and everyone and everything. It's truly become a nesting ground for so much bigotry and hatred, most of which I see as a cry for attention or insecurities in one's own faculties. Not surprisingly this comes in large quantities from males, or male sounding people out in the web, I was literally playing GTA V online and kept hearing "Faggot, you're a faggot bitch ass" surmise to say I was shocked, almost to the point of sardonic humor, as it is almost impossible to believe someone would be this way in person
The piece that this woman wrote spoke louder to me due to the timely conjunction of such obscenities, which had me thinking, is the same awful atmosphere experienced for people, and namely women, within the Pathfinder universe, are they BEING driven away due to some hidden attitude that we display without even our knowing, women that is? I am certainly left to wonder, and hope my games to not fall under this category, though in all honesty I would like to believe they don't or ever will. As of this moment I have three girls gaming in different groups, and I am absolutely ecstatic to have them part of my game, they bring a jollity and creativity that I thoroughly enjoy and promote, and of course our friendly male segment as well! In fact one of them, whom I wont name unless she doesn't mind (not as if I have millions of views a day ;] ), is leading the way for less sexism in the development arena of software and games, and whether she intended to or not, is getting a rather large following and others thanking her for her stepping up to show that one can be a gamer and a woman in the wide expansive geek world, and not be looked down upon or harassed.
But this all leads to my header, am I just uneducated? For all few of you out there reading this, I'm sure you've never suspected me of sexism or attacking a person due to gender, but I hope that I am only a very very small person in a massive crowd of men and women attempting to change that staunch and obvious sexism in the gamer and rpg tabletop world. I truly hope that instead of focusing on the fight that needs to be made for more acceptance and less bashing of women in the gamer and software world, that instead we can focus on the human side, the story side, the imagination side, and that sexism is actually not even a factor anymore, in the gaming and software world. I know this is wishful thinking, and that hoping and supposition wont change a damned thing, but I will continuously allow and welcome gamer girls and women with a counter argument to what I say, lest we men remain petty and insecure, I will welcome and hope that my fellow GM's and players welcome our sisters into the rpg tabletop, gaming, developer, world as well. Cause in the end, we are just all humans, living and dying, and to harbor resentment and fury towards another person, due to gender, is something this strange and complex world just doesn't need right now, solidarity is our only way out of this massive sink hole we're digging ourselves.
I almost forgot! My games are fast evolving and expanding, I think I may in fact have a premise and game idea down for Pacificon, I just now need to get it in electronically, and from there see what the grand master pooba's of Pacificon say, but should it work out, I think I'll have finally taken that step into Master Game Master, having ran a game once already, albeit PFS, if I successfully complete this task of running a game purely from my own insane creative mind, then truly a new achievement will be unlocked, Master Game Master...or perhaps something more poetic sounding. In any case, you shall all be up to date on my progress, and lets raise some wine in hopes that I get this game finished and GM a kick ass game for both women and men, respectively, in my game! :D
As always my thoughtful audience,
Till next time, Roll your D20
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