Entry tags:

hide our sins, it's different if it's my friend, misconceptions about feminism, rape culture, schedule your rape accusations, sj means never having to say you're sry, social justice, transfail

Heartbreak & Heroines
Kynn created a RPG called Heartbreak & Heroines, and used Kickstarter to get $3000 in funding in 48 hours. Over on LJ, Jack posted his response to his ex's success, in two minds because he's glad someone he knows did something cool, Kynn raped him. A couple days later, alexandraerin posts as well, expressing dismay at Kynn's behavior.

Jack posts Tweets from Kynn and later, emails,. At some point, the Kickstart for the RPG is canceled.

Some responses are laudable. Others, not so much.

ETA: Kynn tried to get a new name on RPG post-ban.

ETA2: Elf has a post about it.

ETA3: Kynn denies the rape happened.

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	dere 2011-07-30 04:08 pm UTC (link)
	Seriously, yes. I was fucking pissed that THAT is the take-away. 1. The world is full of competent feminist gamers who could have taken in the project. 2. No one asked that the project be scuttled. 3. What happened to RL > Gaming? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

jackandahat
2011-07-30 04:19 pm UTC (link)

That's what's baffling me! I've been in a lot of games and with the exception of the one I started, they've all been set up and run by women. I don't know how many of them ID as feminist or whatever, but if you want "A woman who knows what she's doing", you can't really sneeze without hitting one.

In terms of the project being scuttled... I don't think it had to be scuttled, I do think it wouldn't have been possible (or right) for it to have kept being run by Kynn. But that doesn't mean it had to have been abandoned - why couldn't it have been handed to someone else? (There may be reasons, perhaps to do with funding, but it seems like the sensible thing to me.)

For RL to trump gaming, people would have to actually care about the issues they claim to stand for, instead of using them to score points.

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dere
2011-07-30 04:36 pm UTC (link)

I've been gaming in every form except LARPing* for thirty years and the misogynist attitudes in the community and the industry have always been painful to me. I feel like feminism in gaming is vital, finding a way to infect the industry with anti-misogyny, at least... because I think that gaming can be a gateway to social consciousness without being preachy or restrictive. I think you can develop mores in a game that allows you to blow people's heads off. Really. And if I can get the money to go back to school for my MFA in Game Design, I'll find out if I'm right or not.

*can't do it—first LARP session I was ever in someone backed me into a corner and made a sexual advance "in character" and I kneed him in the groin out of sheer panic and never went back.. wasn't welcome back either d/t "no physical contact" rule. It freaks me out to this day. Sorry LARPers.

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jackandahat
2011-07-30 04:44 pm UTC (link)

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with LARPing. There are some dickheads, and some people who use "character" as a way to get away with shit - we physically removed a guy who would harass girls and claim it was in-character.

The game tended to involve a lot of flirting and a somewhat sexualised atmosphere, but he felt he was entitled to people's attention, and that's really not how it worked. (He'd say "But so-and-so does it!" Yes, but so-and-so is polite, and the lady in question was sat on his knee at the time. Totally different to pestering someone at the bar.)

Good luck with getting the money and going back to school - I think the world needs more people who are actually thinking about what they're doing and why they're doing something, and putting intent into the design beyond "It's shiny!".

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dere
2011-07-30 05:08 pm UTC (link)

Knowing some younger, male game designers has made me pretty hopeful. There are some out there who are feminist and LGBTQI-conscious, and they're good. I've held off on the idea of going partly out of finances and partly because I expect "who will listen to me?" and "seriously, I cannot take ANOTHER harass-er/hater/stalker over all this shit" and "I would like to be more than boobs"... because that's always been my experience. But I'm old now and have less to lose and my silence is worn out with age.

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	jackandahat 2011-07-30 05:44 pm UTC (link)
	nods I feel (as a queer guy, obviously I know shit about it in female terms) that there is more inclusiveness now than there used to be, even going back ten years. But it is going to take a tonne of work. Good luck to you! (Reply to this)(Parent)

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