This new thing with Gen*Con and the scary “RFRA” has me thinking about something that is serious and dangerous at once. This is the rise of the social justice campaign in the gaming world. We have slipped so steadily into the realm of political correctness that we didn’t see this coming. It started in the 1990s when companies like TSR were badgered into stopping showing women in a “sexist” light (I actually agree with this assessment, the portrayal of females in gaming was highly negative for a long time). It shows that the concept of social justice often starts with the best of intentions. The abolition of negative stereotypes of women led to a bigger campaign to get more “minorities” represented in the gaming community. I have never noticed a lack of minorities, but then again maybe that is just my “white privilege” coming through. By the early 2000s, the gaming industry was being pushed to be more “inclusive”.
No one was sure what the hell “inclusive” really meant at the time, and I am not sure they do even today. You saw more female and minority characters being used as examples in games (and don’t get me wrong, I am all for diversity, but you can take it too far). Women were being used as the examples for the traditionally “male” classes in games such as D&D. You saw female fighters, barbarians and the like for the first time (again, nothing wrong with this, when it is done in moderation). You could see the feminist touch on gaming coming through. “Women can do anything a man can do” and all that. You also began to see the concept of racial equality being pushed by game developers in memos and press releases. It became important to have the right “balance” when it came to what kind of art, verbiage and concepts you used or created.
By the late 2000s (and early 2010s) the game industry had a new foe on their backs. The LGBTQ movement. They decided that there wasn’t enough of a representative force of LGBTQ characters in the world. They started to push big companies into including LGBTQ language in their products. Players were encouraged to play “gay” or “bisexual” characters by the companies (and their allies in the movement). The movement took over whole parts of the gaming industry, and not just in tabletop. They pushed for more LGBTQ friendly board games, video games and even regular novels.
The LGBTQ movement (not a representative of the whole) began to force its worldview down the throats of the American people through legislation (“anti”-discrimination laws) and the courts. They pushed for gay marriage and won in many court cases. They also began to lean on the companies that they had been bullying for years to support their cause. This included groups like WotC, Hasbro, White Wolf, and many other major developers. These developers began to develop initiatives to help advance the LGBTQ cause, much like they had racial and sexual causes earlier. They included language in the games about how to be more “inclusive” of others. The newest edition of D&D has a whole section dedicated to the idea of feminine males and manly females, to go along with the androgynous elves.
This all leads back to Gen*Con. What the hell are they doing getting involved in the political process? Who are they to try to demean anyone for their associations? The HRC and the militant LGBTQ movement sent out word to attack the “RFRA” in Indiana, and of course like good monkeys, the Gen*Con folks did. Social Justice has taken over our hobby. It is up to us to take it back. We should demand that companies stop pushing critical race theory, 3rd wave feminism and LGBTQ propaganda on us! We just want to game and have fun. I don’t care if you want to play the blackest, gayest character ever, that is your choice. I just want to enjoy telling a good story. I don’t think we can do that anymore, at least until we depoliticize the industry.
As always guys, leave your thoughts, but don’t be a dick!
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