#66

It’s depressingly ironic, how so much oppression is undertaken by people who are supposedly champions of free speech.

#67

That’s really sad, though entirely understandable (just spotted wonton used almost exactly the same words. The number of women who were run out of the media for daring to have opinions on videogames is heartbreaking. I really hope you don’t let it hold you back - you’d have to endure more than I ever would if I developed a public profile, which is so unfair there aren’t words for it, but the world absolutely needs more diverse voices to be heard right now.

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#68

Penny’s a peculiar one I can’t tell whether she was using her connection to Milo to report from behind the scenes and shed light on a growing problem or whether her principle reason for doing it was because she knew that the resultant article would likely draw a lot of attention.

I personally thought her coverage of them was actually pretty spot on.

#69

I had a disturbing experience earlier this summer. I was teaching a bunch of 16 year olds in Austria. They were smart kids who were on an accelerated science course and were keen on English. We were doing a Dragon’s Den activity where they had to come up with an invention in groups and then give a presentation and Q&A session to the class.

I was walking around chatting to the students/helping them with vocab while they were planning, and one pair of boys had called their invention the “Rape-o-matic” that helps you “absolutely rape the competition”. I was really shocked because they had seemed like nice kids. They were really puzzled and a bit defensive about why I was so shocked and angry with them.

I marched them to the office to meet with their regular teacher, and once we were all talking, it turned out that they hadn’t connected the English word “rape” with the German “Vergewaltigung” (which is literally something like “bad/active violencing” ver is a prefix that makes things more foreceful or shows them going wrong ), and they were not being deliberately horrible.

They’d picked up the vocab word rape off the internet and playing multiplayer XBox against strangers in English, and from context thought it meant something like beating or winning. They were mortified and horrified when they realised the actual meaning, and what they’d really said in their project, and the teacher had a stern talk with them about checking words carefully in the dictionary before carelessly using them, and they had to write a reflection.

It’s still horrifying that that usage of the word is so prevalent and thoughtless that some kids could even get that idea, just trying to improve their English.

4 Likes
#70

Teenage boys can be petulant, unempathetic and entitled enough without having all this poisonous stuff fed to them.

#71

It’s depressing but not nearly surprising enough to read about normalisation like that. I remember when Alan Pardew used the term “rape” on Match of the Day a few years ago, and was widely castigated…but now it feels like there’s such a huge portion of the online community immune to this kind of reaction.

Exactly, which is most worrying thing. Typically, the narrative is that teenage boys behave in this way at their most vulnerable time…then become more reasonable as they mature. If 20/30 somethings are validating this behaviour then it will already be seen as an adult thing to do by these kids :frowning:

#72

~runs dramatically into thread~

HE’S A MASSIVE CUNT!

~hasn’t read any replies, leaves~

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#73

The language of so many online gaming communities is absolutely toxic and far too many people either don’t seem to realise it or care. :frowning:

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#74

I think it’s an insecurity thing as well- they worry about people accepting and liking them, so just sabotage it by being the worst arsehole they can. But then seem really puzzled and petulant that no-one wants to date them/be a true friend beyond being internet arseholes together.

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#75

The worst thing is when people say, “that’s just what it’s like - you should expect it.” Which is as straight forward an example of privilege that I can think of. And as we’ve seen these cesspools don’t just exist in a vacuum.

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#77

Yeah, I feel like there’s pretty much no subcultures left for kids to join. I teach school workshops, so come into contact with a lot of teenagers in the UK and abroad, from all sorts of walks of life, and it’s weirdly uniform even between countries.

i think there’s a lot of pressure on kids to perform in exams and to also be this glossy picture perfect person now that wasn’t as much the case before. So you don’t see many weird experiments with clothes and hairstyles.

#80

just finished this (it’s a quick read). Pretty good and ultimately frustrating read. While I don’t disagree with the notion that the Alt-Right is a reaction against liberal identity politics, I guess I’ve always felt that the latter was so much more ignorable and only ever really brought to light by, if not Alt-Right per se, at least those who were sympathetic to their outlook. I don’t agree with the idea that shutting down Milo on Berkley represents a weakness/lack in liberal ideas as at this point it seems like the Alt-Right movement is largely nonsensical and almost by definition doesn’t adhere to logic; in that sense, I see the idea that the Alt-Right can be reasoned with as being the bigger strategic mistake.

#81

Just found out he started out at Breitbart writing reviews of Digimon episodes. We live in an odd universe.

6 Likes
#82

This thread is worth a read

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#83

a good thread bump

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#85

@moderators is this not one of those posters we need to bin off every time?

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#86

Historically, yes, but he’s come back with an apparent intent to not troll, so he’s been given a chance to prove himself. Can’t remember which thread it was, but there was a discussion between him and Xylo a few weeks ago.

Would imagine it’ll be permaban if he strays back to old habits.

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#87

in that case I’m putting all of the lightsabre savings account on banned before Easter

#kingtipper

#89

Please let 2018 be a year where we don’t have to talk about this harrowing shaft. Please.

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#90

And Milo?

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