I've been a fan of GDQ for years now. Lately, however, it seems as if there is no bastion against SJWs and virtue signaling.
I thought gaming would remain one of the only forms of media that might possibly be immune to politics, but sadly, I was wrong. I thought perhaps video games could be enjoyed without adding the element of cancel culture, but again, I was wrong.
Lately, 95% of the videos posted by GDQ also feature the runners' preferred pronouns in parentheses next to their name. About 30% of them do not accurately represent the chromosomal biology of the runner being featured.
There is an entire feature called 'Frame Fatales', obviously being a play on 'Femme Fatales'. My only sticking point is, 90% of the Frame Fatales are biologically male.
I consider speedrunning and competitive gaming to be very akin to competing in athletic endeavors and professional sports. I fully disagree with the idea of allowing men to compete fairly against women.
I believe that women, throughout history, have really been given a raw deal when it comes to competition and recognition for their achievements. I also recognize that there are actual, proven, REAL physical differences between men and women, fundamentally, physically and biologically. Bone density, fat proportion, musculature, etc.
It isn't being a bigot or any kind of -phobic to state the truth that men and women ARE physically different. I personally believe that it robs women of their chance to fairly compete and to receive the recognition that they are justly due if a man can just "transition" and then get into a fistfight with a person who has been a female for her entire life. Fuck you, Fallon Fox.
By the same token, I believe that women in gaming are vastly under-represented. Girls LOVE video games just like guys do. But, guys typically don't have to deal with the level of harassment that women do when they play games online. Yes, trolls are trolls, but what women receive is quite a bit worse than just having a 15-year-old scream homophobic and racial slurs at you because you murked his ass on Call of Duty.
The reasons I am not down with how GDQ is making an issue about a speedrunner's chosen gender identity are myriad, but the number one reason is that I believe that "transgendered" speedrunners are essentially guilty of what can be likened to stolen valor. I do not believe any human being can change his or her gender. I believe your gender is defined by your chromosomes, not your feelings. Your dangly bits DO determine your gender AND your sex. Fewer than 1% of humans on the planet suffer from a condition like Klinefelter Syndrome, or are actual hermaphrodites. All of the rest of them, in my personal opinion, are simply boys who think they're girls, or girls who think they're boys. Mutilating your organs and taking hormones to be a better fake version of what you can never be isn't going to actually make you the man or woman you fantasize about being.
The qualifier that makes a speedrunner whom is demanding personal pronouns that do not match their dangly bits guilty of stolen valor is the fact that there are millions of ACTUAL female gamers out there, just as talented and committed and passionate as any male gamer. The ones demanding that you refer to them as the opposite sex, regardless of the fact that they have to shave their neckbeards and still have deep voices and prominent Adam's Apples (and in almost all cases, a set of functional cock-and-balls), are stealing glory and respect from ACTUAL women.
The secondary reason that this new snowflakery bothers me is that it takes away from the game, entirely. I just came to see someone stomp the shit out of Final Fantasy IV. I don't CARE about your fantasy regarding your genitals. I just want gaming to be the one refuge, the one aspect of modern existence that isn't subject to this recent virtue signaling/cancel culture/woke/scold/SJW/snowflake life. Just play the goddamned game, people.
How do you feel about this? Do you think it matters enough what a speedrunner or gamer identifies as that a community event like this needs to be shaped by the fantasy of a few folks suffering from a mental disorder? Does it add ANYTHING to a speedrun to see personal pronouns assigned to the runner? I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who identify as "transgender" or believe that "transitioning" is an actual thing that humans can do. Please join me in this debate.
I thought gaming would remain one of the only forms of media that might possibly be immune to politics, but sadly, I was wrong. I thought perhaps video games could be enjoyed without adding the element of cancel culture, but again, I was wrong.
Lately, 95% of the videos posted by GDQ also feature the runners' preferred pronouns in parentheses next to their name. About 30% of them do not accurately represent the chromosomal biology of the runner being featured.
There is an entire feature called 'Frame Fatales', obviously being a play on 'Femme Fatales'. My only sticking point is, 90% of the Frame Fatales are biologically male.
I consider speedrunning and competitive gaming to be very akin to competing in athletic endeavors and professional sports. I fully disagree with the idea of allowing men to compete fairly against women.
I believe that women, throughout history, have really been given a raw deal when it comes to competition and recognition for their achievements. I also recognize that there are actual, proven, REAL physical differences between men and women, fundamentally, physically and biologically. Bone density, fat proportion, musculature, etc.
It isn't being a bigot or any kind of -phobic to state the truth that men and women ARE physically different. I personally believe that it robs women of their chance to fairly compete and to receive the recognition that they are justly due if a man can just "transition" and then get into a fistfight with a person who has been a female for her entire life. Fuck you, Fallon Fox.
By the same token, I believe that women in gaming are vastly under-represented. Girls LOVE video games just like guys do. But, guys typically don't have to deal with the level of harassment that women do when they play games online. Yes, trolls are trolls, but what women receive is quite a bit worse than just having a 15-year-old scream homophobic and racial slurs at you because you murked his ass on Call of Duty.
The reasons I am not down with how GDQ is making an issue about a speedrunner's chosen gender identity are myriad, but the number one reason is that I believe that "transgendered" speedrunners are essentially guilty of what can be likened to stolen valor. I do not believe any human being can change his or her gender. I believe your gender is defined by your chromosomes, not your feelings. Your dangly bits DO determine your gender AND your sex. Fewer than 1% of humans on the planet suffer from a condition like Klinefelter Syndrome, or are actual hermaphrodites. All of the rest of them, in my personal opinion, are simply boys who think they're girls, or girls who think they're boys. Mutilating your organs and taking hormones to be a better fake version of what you can never be isn't going to actually make you the man or woman you fantasize about being.
The qualifier that makes a speedrunner whom is demanding personal pronouns that do not match their dangly bits guilty of stolen valor is the fact that there are millions of ACTUAL female gamers out there, just as talented and committed and passionate as any male gamer. The ones demanding that you refer to them as the opposite sex, regardless of the fact that they have to shave their neckbeards and still have deep voices and prominent Adam's Apples (and in almost all cases, a set of functional cock-and-balls), are stealing glory and respect from ACTUAL women.
The secondary reason that this new snowflakery bothers me is that it takes away from the game, entirely. I just came to see someone stomp the shit out of Final Fantasy IV. I don't CARE about your fantasy regarding your genitals. I just want gaming to be the one refuge, the one aspect of modern existence that isn't subject to this recent virtue signaling/cancel culture/woke/scold/SJW/snowflake life. Just play the goddamned game, people.
How do you feel about this? Do you think it matters enough what a speedrunner or gamer identifies as that a community event like this needs to be shaped by the fantasy of a few folks suffering from a mental disorder? Does it add ANYTHING to a speedrun to see personal pronouns assigned to the runner? I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who identify as "transgender" or believe that "transitioning" is an actual thing that humans can do. Please join me in this debate.
