Update: So I pushed DriveThruRPG a bit on Twitter as to why they were hosting this crap.
Spoiler alert: it’s not good.
Jesus fucking Christ. @DriveThruRPG need some better policies if “Tournament of Rapists” doesn’t raise a flag. http://t.co/XECjvUVqWQ
— Swearword & Ethanol (@digitalraven)
I notice that @DriveThruRPG continues to be silent on this. @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777)
@Delafina777 @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven Apoligies if you think we’ve been unresponsive. We’ve responded to every customer e-mail.
— DriveThruRPG (@DriveThruRPG)
So, from moment one, DriveThruRPG is pretty awful on this, starting with this all-too-typical fauxpology. You can’t apologize for MY thoughts or feelings. Attempting to do so is the OPPOSITE of an apology–it positions those feelings as the problem, rather than what you did. It’s essentially turning the “apology” into an assignation of blame to the person to whom you’re supposedly apologizing. If you’re not willing to apologize, don’t apologize. Don’t make a backhanded, slimy attempt to shift blame onto the recipient. But whatever, moving on to the actual point:
@DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven And? What are you doing about it?
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777)
@Delafina777 @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven We’ve removed the incorrect Pathfinder tag, restricted it to the Adult filter and (½)
— DriveThruRPG (@DriveThruRPG)
@Delafina777 @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven are continuing to monitor the situation and discussing the matter internally. (2/2)
— DriveThruRPG (@DriveThruRPG)
@DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven Unclear as to why it’s still on your site.
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777)
Paizo’s publisher, Erik Mona, also wasn’t having it–and I’m really glad to work with people who understand the harm this kind of stuff does to the community.
@DriveThruRPG @Delafina777 @Sphynxian @digitalraven What’s to discuss? It’s a disgusting product that diminishes your site.
@DriveThruRPG @Delafina777 @Sphynxian Our common goal in this biz is to GROW the number of people playing RPGs. This does the opposite.
RPGs are in a weird space when it comes to gender and race issues. In general, when it comes to representation, I think the industry’s ahead on gender of where they are on race–we’re making significant progress on the portrayal of women, whereas people of color are still largely invisible. On the other hand, the industry and game communities still tolerate the sort of language and discussion about women that, if it were about racial minorities, would send 99% of community managers/moderators lunging for the ban button (e.g. gendered slurs are tolerated when racial ones are not, discussions of what female players/characters should be allowed to do/be/wear happen with regularity, and so on). So, I decided to make that contrast explicit.
@DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven Would you host a game in which you play a KKK member and beat up minorities?
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777)
Presumably the answer’s “no.” I mean, I hope the answer’s “no.” And I’m not sure how a game in which you play a misogynist who rapes women for sport is any different.
And that’s when Steve Wieck, DriveThruRPG’s owner, stepped in, and proceeded to engage in an impressive slate of classic derailing tactics.
@Delafina777 @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven Should we host a game where u fight KKK members who are beating up minorities?
— Steve Wieck (@stevewieck)
Look, slippery slope arguments are a logical fallacy for a reason. They’re an attempt to avoid engaging with the actual issue at hand, and appeal to fear rather than logic.
There’s a pretty clear distinction between, say, a story that contains rape, and a story that’s about nothing but rape. And in the latter case, there’s a pretty clear distinction between something that explores the issue, and something that simply trivializes and glorifies it. Any non-disingenuous adult can tell the difference between something like “Tournament of Rapists” and something like Laurie Halse Anderson’s “Speak,” or even something like “Game of Thrones.” Heck, any non-disingenous adult can tell the difference between this and something that might have elements that trivialize sexual assault, like a book that contains a background generator with options for assault. “Tournament of Rapists” doesn’t turn rape into a game as a side effect; from its description, at least, that’s the entirety of its content. That’s its point.
There’s a pretty bright line, there.
And let’s not kid ourselves. As much as gamers like to make proclamations about free speech and censorship to reassure them that their petty little tantrums are important and connected to fundamental rights (!), when we talk about a private site’s decision to carry or not carry a single product, we’re not talking about Supreme Court caselaw, here. We’re not talking about binding arbitration that the government will step forward to support, which one can be thrown in jail for disobeying, which will be used as precedent in all decisions by all game sites forevermore. Don’t flatter yourselves, gamers and game sites. The free speech stakes here aren’t just low, they’re nonexistent.
Since gamers love citing the First Amendment but generally haven’t the first fucking clue how it actually works, let’s review: the First Amendment protects you from the government shutting you up. That’s it. It doesn’t protect you from social or financial consequences imposed by people other than the government as a result of your speech–in fact, those consequences are free speech WORKING AS INTENDED. Private individuals and companies deciding they don’t want anything to do with you because you’re saying repulsive things? That’s HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO WORK. The Bill of Rights protects your right to enter the marketplace of ideas. It doesn’t guarantee you buyers. Private companies can kick you off their forums or your product out of their store because they’re pissed that you misspelled “ridiculous,” and they’re still not violating your rights. That’s their prerogative.
There are real stakes here, however–make no mistake about that. They’re just not about free speech. Games (and geekdom in general) have sent out the message time and time again: women aren’t really members of the community. If we look pretty and keep our mouths shut except to stroke male gamers’ egos, we can hang around the margins, but if it’s ever a choice between us and the dudes who aren’t comfortable unless we’re being objectified, harassed, or abused, the geek community will choose its own–those dudes–every time. And this situation is no different. (And yes, I’m aware that rape isn’t just a women’s issue, but given that the description for the PDF positions misogyny as the rapists’ motivating factor, this is absolutely about gender.)
So, anyway, DriveThruRPG guy proceeds to run through a checklist of derailing tactics right out of Derailing for Dummies.
@stevewieck @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven That would actually be a complex ethical call. The reverse isn’t.
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777)
@stevewieck @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven Correct?
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777)
@Delafina777 @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven Should we ban MC’s Bk of Vile Darkness. It discusses playing evil PCs?
— Steve Wieck (@stevewieck)
@stevewieck @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven Will you please answer my question?
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777)
@stevewieck @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven Because this shit is getting old. https://t.co/AiDoWhpeVB
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777)
@Delafina777 @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven not slippery slope, just a slope. Tens of thousands of rpgs, you could plot(1)
— Steve Wieck (@stevewieck)
“I’m not making a slippery slope argument,” says the guy making a textbook slippery slope argument. “I’m just making a slope argument,” he explains, apparently not realizing that if the slope isn’t slippery, there’s nothing to fear from it, and the whole structure of the argument collapses.
@Delafina777 @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven a line of progressively more disturbing content.
— Steve Wieck (@stevewieck)
@stevewieck @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven I note you’re still avoiding my question.
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777)
@Delafina777 @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven Your questions wants to box in a complex issue into a simple yes/no.
— Steve Wieck (@stevewieck)
The thing is, this isn’t really a “complex” issue. As I said, we’re not talking binding legislation here. DriveThruRPG isn’t the Supreme Court, or, for that matter, an entity with authority over anything beyond what they host on their own site. And “Tournament of Rapists” doesn’t fall in any sort of ethical gray area–unless you think that maybe women kinda deserve it and maybe guys who make shitty game supplements should be allowed to say that without any consequences.
Dude proceeds to make another, even more strained hypothetical, which is when my patience ran out and I ended it.
@stevewieck @DriveThruRPG @Sphynxian @erikmona @digitalraven Since I’m not interested in dealing with char limit: pic.twitter.com/jxvSen1DWt
— Jessica Price (@Delafina777)
It’s not like this is a particularly unusual instance of how so many men in the industry will twist themselves into knots to defend misogyny as somehow important and necessary to games–it’s just another textbook example.
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