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Responses to the Dickwolves Debacle

Terms like misogynerd, mansplaining, dudebro, and their ilk, are every bit as offensive and demeaning as feminazi and manhater. They reduce the other party to a caricature rather than a person, and indicate that one is contemptuous and dismissing of whatever the other side might say. How could one ever hope to find common ground with such a person? And feminists who want to engage with gamers must understand that free expression is an absolutely critical issue to us. If there was any one core value that gamers generally have, that would be it. By summarily dismissing gamers' concerns by insisting that they aren't even valid, you are putting yourself in the company of all the other enemies we have faced over the years, who seek to censor and stifle us and the people who create the subject of our passion: games. You are stepping on a landmine of tension and resentment born of years of vilification, slander, and abuse at the hands of politicians, moral crusaders, and the like.

There is an important discussion to have here, about free speech, the effect it can have on people with trauma, and on whether or where or how or why speech should be restricted to accommodate them. But to have that conversation, we need to be able to recognize that both concerns are valid, and try to find some way to satisfy both of them. We mustn't simply fall into camps of "Censorship bad!" and "Rape apologist!" That serves no one. Well, except 4chan. Whether they were involved or not, they must be loving this.

Cameron Leatham
Tacoma, Washington