Use of "offensive" language on the forum

[Owltoid]

Blast3r has asked (demanded?) many times that posters not use the term "rape". Personally, I'm not offended by the word, or the many other words that would be extremely offensive if taken in the most negative and literal way possible, and would prefer to not continually be reprimanded. Can we use this thread, or anther thread someone creates, for the discussion regarding appropriate language? Until such time that there is an official post requesting me to not use that language, I will continue to do so... I'd just like threads to stop being interrupted.

If it's the view of the moderators/site owner that language some may find offensive be avoided, then I'll gladly abide - their forum, their rules.

[Vecter]

I don't think any of us want to get into the censorship game. If someone expresses a concern we should all be sensitive to that, but again that will be up to each of every one of you, as moderators we will moderate based on the content of the topic. Obviously if things are done maliciously we will step in.

[luxlunae]

Since a mod replied to this thread without banning or locking it I'll jump in with what I said before when my post was one of those deleted from the other thread for being offtopic.

Owltoid I was not by any means suggesting that you should be forbidden from using a word that I found "offensive" (I hate that word). I just wanted to explain something from the perspective of a female gamer and a woman. I also thought that you might like to know that I was someone that had come on your twitch.tv feed and interacted with, and presumably you want people to come on your twitch feed, so to think about how you speak might effect that.

I live in the US and one in four women in the US will be a victim of rape in her lifetime. I have two sisters and a mother, we match that statistic. I was recently talking to one of my female friends online (who herself has three sisters) and for her family, again, 1 in 4. There is an ever present, small amount of fear of rape for us ALWAYS. Every dark parking lot, every late night walk home, always a small element of risk. I've only ever heard one female gamer use the term "rape" online, and because of conversations that I've had with other female gamers over the years, I know this small gut clench when I see the word is normal. Rationally I know that now having reached the age of 30 without it happening to me, the chance of being attacked and emotionally traumatized in this way has severely gone down, but it doesn't change the fear associated with that word. Most women who have spent any amount of time online (gaming at least) have had a stalker or two, so it isn't ridiculous to consider "scary" language in the gaming world scary. I once quit wow for several months after someone started harassing me out of game (who I had never given my contact information to).

Now let me compare it to some other words that are offensive. If you use the word "faggot", I find that annoying, but the only people I would ever say anything about it to would be a friend I was gaming with a lot that used it, because I find it mildly annoying, it doesn't have a strong response from me. I think it makes you sound tacky if you say it, but so be it. Be tacky.

Some people find the word "genocide" offensive, you can say you want to genocide all the orcs in pandaria and I wouldn't even notice.

I don't believe in censoring speech because it upsets someone, but I did want to express why we find it upsetting, that its not a remote impossibility like maybe it is for you. I like being a member of this community, and have been here for years, and I generally don't speak up about this unless someone else does first, but I just wanted to contribute something.

[F9thRet]

I wasn't wanting it banned from use, or the like, I was just asking how the word itself could be taken, other than offensively. It's not like one can go and order a kids meal with a McRape on the side. Any version of it, or scenario, I can come up with, makes it seem offensive. If there is another definition of it, I'm at a loss.

Stephen

[thefunk]

People using such distinct terms regularly clearly:

a) do not understand their meaning
b) Potentially have no sensitivity towards other people
c) Have limited vocabulary

At the same time, the internet has liberated all taboo topics to such an extent that anything is now acceptable. I lost a little of myself when someone showed me 4chan and now understand why words like rape are so commonplace in society it's virtually acceptable.

Now because it's virtually acceptable, it shouldn't be a shock to anyone - so the fact someone has requested on these boards to stop using this term is, in my opinion, a positive thing from a point of view of morality and should be applauded. We are, after all, adults playing computer games. Self-governance, rather than asking mods/admin to moderate.

More generic terms like fuck are better

[Owltoid]

a) I understand the literal meaning, but there is also a common use meaning. In this case, as Zenga pointed out in a deleted post, "rape" has a number of meanings, not all of which deal with forced sexual behavior
b) Sensitivity can be taken to an extreme, to the point where effectively expressing yourself is impossible
c) Sorry, not in my case
d) It's socially accepted and a way to effectively communicate with the audience, while alienating a minority

[luxlunae]

d) It's socially accepted and a way to effectively communicate with the audience, while alienating a minority

And why do you think that female gamers remain a minority?

[Owltoid]

And why do you think that female gamers remain a minority?

I'm sure the language used plays a small part, but I doubt it's a driving force.

[Shodokan]

And why do you think that female gamers remain a minority?

In the grand scheme of things a majority of the gaming subcultures where rape is used a lot (fighting games/shooting games/competitive mmos/mobas being a really large culprit... and I'm a competitive fighting game player myself) are male dominated with very very small female representation. As such communities create their own meaning for words and are not intended to offend or be taken literally... for a lack of better term it is slang.

That being said a majority of us do have the vocabulary to use other words to describe the same thing but many of us will gravitate towards using language that we find used in our daily gaming experiences. Will that offend some people? Probably... but just like the word "cunt" is severely offensive to many (women in particular) in places like Australia it is a word of endearment towards good friends (I have about 20 aussi friends who use this with me weekly). Just like Nigga/Nigger used between friends normally of african american descent (though used a lot by latin americans as well) and has been desensitized over time. (Also extremely prevalent in the communities I'm apart of outside of here)

Language is expression, if you don't like how someone expresses themselves then ignore them in my opinion.

This isn't aimed towards you or Blast3r in particular... just my point of view.

[Vecter]

In the grand scheme of things a majority of the gaming subcultures where rape is used a lot (fighting games/shooting games/competitive mmos/mobas being a really large culprit... and I'm a competitive fighting game player myself) are male dominated with very very small female representation. As such communities create their own meaning for words and are not intended to offend or be taken literally... for a lack of better term it is slang.

That being said a majority of us do have the vocabulary to use other words to describe the same thing but many of us will gravitate towards using language that we find used in our daily gaming experiences. Will that offend some people? Probably... but just like the word "cunt" is severely offensive to many (women in particular) in places like Australia it is a word of endearment towards good friends (I have about 20 aussi friends who use this with me weekly). Just like Nigga/Nigger used between friends normally of african american descent (though used a lot by latin americans as well) and has been desensitized over time. (Also extremely prevalent in the communities I'm apart of outside of here)

Language is expression, if you don't like how someone expresses themselves then ignore them in my opinion.

This isn't aimed towards you or Blast3r in particular... just my point of view.

I find myself trying to avoid using terms that I consider demeaning or reprehensible; gay, rape, nigger, fag, cunt, etc (only typed here for example) While some may feel using "rape" in gaming situations is socially acceptable, I feel it is not. Placing the severity of what rape is into something that is generally done in a fun environment (such as gaming) just diminishes the impact that using "rape" should have. Almost like a cry wolf type thing. It is a serious situation around the world. As a community I feel we can rise above these so called accepted behaviors and CHANGE them.

But as a moderator I place freedom of expression above my own personal feelings. Unless rules are developed people can choose to express themselves how they want as long as doing so is on topic and is not done so to elicit responses that just create more drama or infighting.