[ZiggyD]

Recently I was approached by Doji and a few members of Team Legion Gaming to write up an article on a topic that is close to their hearts, racism/sexism/homophobia and general hate within the Starcraft 2 community. This is a heavy topic so I was nervous but I agreed to do a write up as It's something I consider extremely important.

My main goal with this article is not to tell people what is right or wrong but simply to promote thought and discussion on the topic within the community.

Here is the article on LearningSC2.com.

My reason for sharing this here is that SEA is a community that is just starting to get it's international footing. As such every thing that our community members do forms the early opinion of us in the international mindset. Remember that for every community leader/streamer/caster that throws around racism/sexism etc there are a dozen, a hundred or even a thousand people behind them that think it's normal and perfectly acceptable.

Here is the Reddit link (Shared by Doji) if you would like to pop in and comment and upvote/downvote to get some more discussion going!

I'd love to hear your thoughts positive or negative. Discussion is the only way forward, the worst thing you can do is just not think about it.

Quick Comments

	VoxMSI.Rogue:	XD yay Ziggy <3 I always love your writing broski!!!
	Apth:	Nice.
	xGKingdelete:
	NOM:	Glad this was done. Need more chicks in sc2.
	Nemo:	Great article ZiggyD
	nirvAnA:	nice OP, nice article. awesome stuff ziggy :)
	Thoth:

[nGenLight]

I think you'd have much higher success if you went to the internet cafes in Bankstown, to find the CS players to do this peice. Hopefully bringing along Jim "The Zealot on a Bus" Diddy with you will help you!

Quick Comments

PiG:

lol!

[ZiggyD]

Originally Posted by xGKingLight

I think you'd have much higher success if you went to the internet cafes in Bankstown, to find the CS players to do this peice. Hopefully bringing along Jim "The Zealot on a Bus" Diddy with you will help you!

Is this a post in the wrong thread or am I missing something? x-D

[nGenLight]

Sorry just an injoke, what I'm trying to say you'd have much more success if you went after the CS scene if you want to write abt normalisation of sexism, racism etc.

Will definitely read when I have a chance, thanx for the share!

Quick Comments

ZiggyD:

Ah I see! The fighting game community is like that also.

[Baldie]

Great read and well written.

Always a fragile area to write what you want without making people feel bad or wrong.

[iM tgun]

Originally Posted by xgkinglight

hopefully bringing along jim "the zealot on a bus" diddy with you will help you!

oh god i cant stop laughing **** you ray

[ZiggyD]

Originally Posted by Baldie

Great read and well written.

Always a fragile area to write what you want without making people feel bad or wrong.

Yeah, I was very nervous that I wouldn't get this right. Thankfully AuRora, Doji and many others liked it so I'm happy!

The truth is it's not something that you can simply 'fix' or even discuss in one article. It will take many years to make a permanent change but just getting the ball rolling is satisfying for me for now.

[Security]

The thing is, people only find things offensive because they still consider it to be different, If EVERYONE did not care about what makes someone different and then put a negative spin on it, you wouldn't have racism/sexism/homophobia.

Unfortunately, there are always going to be people that will be negative and/or complain, sometimes for the pure fact of having to be negative or whiny about something, not that they genuinely believe it to be offensive.

TL;DR: Whiners will be whiners.

[Apth]

I think it's important to remember that a lot of the 'racism/homophobia/sexism' that goes on during streams or ladder matches isn't intended to be discriminatory, just insulting.

The problem with asking people to tone down the racism/etc/etc is that people who hop on the ladder and call their opponents n***ers won't necessarily consider their own behaviour as racist - they're not intending to be racist, they're just trying to be insulting.

Telling people not to be dickheads isn't going to happen - the perceived anonymity that the internet provides means that the social and moral checks and balances in play in regular social situations often don't pop up online.

IMO, it's more important to discourage the language people are using, rather than the intent behind it. People who are genuinely racist assholes aren't going to listen regardless; people who are just assholes might be content calling people fuckmuppets instead of n***ers.

Quick Comments

	Maynarde:	Stealing "fuckmuppet" from you
	syfCabracan:	If only I managed claim fuckmuppet before Maynarde...
	FvRphoneheha:	Yesh, alot of people aren't intending to be racist/sexist/homophobic, but perpetuate it anyway.
	SLCN.Kez:	omg I would love to be called a fuckmuppet LOL

[PiG]

NA ladder is disgusting. Every time I go there I'm surprised by how retarded the comments you get after every second game are. Dunno if it's as bad on eu and elsewhere.

But yeah, angry kids are angry kids.

Btw yeah I definitely agree with the idea of trying to change the culture but for some reason the really pitiful behaviour of players like Idra and Destiny is actually looked up to by some. I get why people like to see them rage and abuse people, that's just like why people watch reality tv, it's drama. But why people look up to it I don't know. The number of Idra fanboys who try to emulate his behaviour are just...erk.

Quick Comments

ToRSpartaz:

Exactly dude.

[VoxMSI.Rogue]

Yeah I think this is why I love the SEA community so much. I played one game on NA yesterday and the way I was spoken to by my opponent made me log off and back into SEA so I could play without being messaged constant abuse about how girls shouldn't play games and how im a bitch etc etc.

Whether a word is meant to be racist/sexist etc or meant to be insulting doesn't matter. There are plenty of ways to insult or BM people without lowering yourself to being racist/sexist/discriminatory. At the end of the day you gotta take what people say pretty lightly, unless they are harassing you on a regular basis and just shrug it off knowing its going to clearly affect their game being in that mindset.

I guess we have it pretty damn lucky that not only is this behaviour frowned upon in the SC2 community, but also that it is discussed and those who do continue to discriminate are effectively ousted by the community entirely.

I just wish people could embrace how awesome it is to have all sorts of people playing this game regardless of their ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, I have met amazing people and learned so much about others lives from this game and community and it has made me realise how much I want to travel and experience different cultures and ways of life.

Dear people of SEA, I love you for being a welcoming, tight knit community who support each other and don't stand for any bullshit, it really really does make this game so sooooo much more amazing

Quick Comments

	Security:	It's k :P
	Maynarde:	<3 you too baby gurl
	ROOTPetraeus:	:]
	Bash:
	NOM:	NA makes me want to take a massive dump.
	FaDeKerrigan:
	ZiggyD:
	x5_dot:
	Nemo:	<3

[|Erasmus|]

Originally Posted by TARogue

Yeah I think this is why I love the SEA community so much. I played one game on NA yesterday and the way I was spoken to by my opponent made me log off and back into SEA so I could play without being messaged constant abuse about how girls shouldn't play games and how im a bitch etc etc.

Retards like that guy are why there are not enough girls out there that accept the fact some guys enjoy playing video games even though they are out of high school, let alone actually enjoy them to the level that they may even enjoy watching something like GSL in the evening rather than regular tv/sports.

Don't change for them rogue. .

Quick Comments

VoxMSI.Rogue:

<3 =^_^= <3

[NOM]

This is the main reason why most chicks don't play seriously or admit they play it.

I'm just lucky that my experiences haven't been so bad (i don't really play on NA, only practice matches and i don't bother talking to the other players).

I'm fine if guys make sexist jokes if i know them, but it pisses me off when strangers are like.
"Why are you here, you don't belong here?"
"Why arn't you in the kitchen"
"Play girly games like Sims"
"Women are hopeless at SC2"
"As if you play games for fun, you do it for the mass cock"
"OMG YOU PLAY GAMES I WANT TO MARRY YOU"
"TITS OR GTFO"
"DO YOU PLAY NAKED?!"

.... you get the idea.

Quick Comments

	nGenLight:	my ex played SIMS LOL
	Asrathiel:	Hey Sims is fun too :p

[faithHunter]

I used to write "sup ******" as a joke on the public SC2 chat as a joke...I'm gonna stop now. Don't wanna promote racism.

But well, those racism comments that people make are usually flames that people make when they lose a match. They just find something from you to make fun from and use it to flame you. For example, if they know that you're a chick, they'll call you a "bi***". It's a good thing that someone has stood up against racism in Starcraft 2 before it became a major problem though.

Might I add, that on QuanticFlo's stream, some of her viewers made jokes that are sexually harassing Flo. Not sure if that counts as racism or not, but might as well point that out.

Quick Comments

ZiggyD:

[FvRphoneheha]

Have to agree with Apth. A lot of people are so used to calling others "faggots, bitches, ******" as a way of asserting their authority over their opponent. If you asked them, a large amount would say "Oh no, I'm not racist/sexist/homophobic, it's all just in fun man", or "It's just a game, I wouldn't say that stuff in real life". What they don't realise is that by saying it, they make these sorts of insults commonplace and everyday. Even if the people they say it to are 'man enough' to take it, by spreading the language they make it more likely to be used in truly offensive/harmful ways.

We saw all the drama with Orb using the word '******', and it causing him to lose his job with EG. Even Alex Garfield said he didn't believe Orb was racist himself, but he stated that he found the use of such language unacceptable. I feel that's the right way to progress. We have to understand that even if we mean no harm, using such slurs can unintentionally cause us to be perpetuators of hate. And we don't want that, SEA's way too nice

[syfCabracan]

I was playing teamfortress 2 once and this was a conversation that came up

BF: XXX is my gf so be nice.
Random : Why is she playing a video game? she should be chained to the oven.
GF: There's a computer in our bedroom and I'm pretty enough to be chained to the bed.

The guy shouldn't have said stuff like that to someone he didn't know but I thought the GF's response was just priceless.

[Edit] Faithunter that is sexism

Quick Comments

fray`Alpha:

lol pretty awesome come back indeed :)

[ToRSpartaz]

Originally Posted by NOM

"TITS OR GTFO"

Probably out of context, but is it weird if I am getting these comments? O.o

Quick Comments

	ROOTPetraeus:	not at all ;)
	SLCN.NXZ:	takes full credit for spartaz feeling arkward about this

[fray`Alpha]

I got 2 things to say about it when it comes to racism on the internet.

The first one comes from my name, Ali. This is short for Alistair (my name,) I usually go by Al, but in SC u need to have at least 3 characters so I put in the 'i' since a decent number of ppl call me that already.
Since day 1 of playing SC2 with this name, I constantly get harassed by opponents and Allies (back when i did random 2v2) alike, for being Arab Sh*t, for being a terrorist, being told to go back to the desert. I am white and i still find the things people to say to be completely disgusting to be said to any one. the amazing thing is how often then not, it is said at the START of a game. completely unprovoked racism. I cant stand it.

The 2nd thing I wanted to say comes about from my younger brother, who just started playing xbox live (I know its not sc and its console but general theme of racism on the internet still applys). Me my brothers, my mother and a couple family friends all went out the other day for a big group breakfast, we are all talking and joking having a fun time talking about a whole range of things. my side of the table were talking about gaming, and my brother said "I always tell my friends (on xbox) to not worry cause I never get upset about loosing, cause i know it could be worse, I could be Mexican." the whole table went silent. My little brother is by NO means a racist. But thought as long as he explained to every one at the table that he was just kidding that it made it totally appropriate to say things like that at a meal. Tthe point im trying to make is what people have said here. joking about it online starts to make it more socially acceptable to joke about it else where, especaily when there could be younger people involved who can't decide what is right and wrong as easily.

point is I hate the racism at times.. sorry for the wall of text
/rant

Quick Comments

	ZiggyD:	I hate that you have to go through that :(
	PiG:
	Zealo:	♥
	nirvAnA:	thanks for sharing thowse two stories
	NvRossi:
	Nemo:	Thanks for sharing
	NOM:

[Maynarde]

People have already threatened to "do things" with my dreads when they meet me ...

... Terrible things.

I don't think there's enough shampoo in the world to fix it either T_T

In all seriousness, great write up Ziggy I love the content you provide the community.

Quick Comments

	raycey:	Make me laugh out loud why don't you just. In all seriousness, those dreads gonna get it yo ;)
	nirvAnA:	im gonna make u look like ninja

[ZiggyD]

Wow, thanks for all the interesting comments and stories! The overall tone here is very different from that of the people who responded on Reddit, which I kind of expected. At least I am promoting discussion! And it's quite interesting to see people rationalize away things they consider normal (a lot of comments I have gotten are very much in line with what this article is about).

Thank you all so much for reading, commenting and for thinking.