So. The Mad Haberdasher article in Summary:
1. Very shortly after joining his new corp/alliance the word "rape" was found to be in common useage as a description of the results of what fleets and individuals would do to their enemies.
2. He (she? I don't know anything about this person except I disagree with that person a lot) dislikes the common use of that word in Eve.
3. He recognizes that the intent is not to use the word in it's fullest function i.e. forcing sexual activity on another person with violence (context would probably denote violence), but as a descriptor for absolute domination of one's enemies.
4. He offers a sarcastic contest for people to submit other more acceptable phrases in place of "rape train" the phrase that was originally suspect.
My Response:
1. Murder isn't Worse? The reason why this conversation isn't about the use of the word "murder" or any other way of describing homicide or genocide is that generally the victims of murder (always) end up dead, and no longer able to participate in blog conversations. No one playing Eve right now or other mediums where this conversation have erupted have ever been a victim of murder and can present themselves as an grieved party. The blessing of rape (don't crucify me) is that the survivor is in fact, a survivor (though some victims in the short term may not agree that is a blessing). As Tyrion Lannister once said "Death is so final."
So structurally the obsession with the use of the word rape as opposed to other worse words in common Eve (and gaming culture) like murder is biased. From a purely logical or legal point of view there are much worse things than rape. Those things are ignored in this argument. Applying the logic that things that are really bad (in real life, and practice) should not be treated so flippantly in our culture and specifically internet computer games is not, we as gamers would have to gut our jargon so entirely that we would find it difficult to talk to one another. Given there are family focused "safe for work" groups like "Edge Gamers" or religion based groups that prove this possible in Eve.
a. extreme profanity
b. profane phrases from popular culture
c. references to theft, murder, rape, manslaughter, plundering, beastiality, sodomy (did you know sodomy is illegal in 14 US states, and illegal in 4 states only if your gay?), animal cruelty, warfare for reasons other than self-defense, forms of bullying
d. references to media and persons in pop-culture that reference or visually describe any of these things
Well fuck.
2. What is Eve About?
Eve is a game about a future aristocracy that can afford to live forever and in practice uses that immortality to amass large fortunes and organizations into massive organizations for the purpose of pursing committing piracy on space-lanes, discriminant and in discriminant small scale murder, highly organized and orchestrated mass murder and warfare, mass plunder and theft of property, acceptance of scamming and theft of individuals hard earned assets as an avoidable eventuality of the game, as well as government sanctioned harassment that can lead to people that lose everything, quit undock from space stations, or quit the game. There are story and RP elements in the game which deal with socialism, capitalism, slavery, and racism.
This game is entirely about everything that is good and horrible in the real world, and people are free to choose these courses. Some groups stick to more discriminate and justifiable forms of warfare which recruit people based on a desire to achieve a certain level of "appropriateness" on their teamspeak servers and corporation channels, but those tend to be the fringes of the population.
Eve is a game about the worst and best things in real life, where in practice people do alot of horrible things that are relatively accepted. You undock every night with your fleet to go kill (as far as the game is concerned, you are getting corpses when you do it) other groups and take their shit and destroy their work; you laugh gleefully when it works and curse the enemy when you fail.
The game in practice is about murder and theft and also about social connection and group affiliation. The game doesn't specifically reference rape to my knowledge there is no game mechanic that allows you to rape corpses or living players but most of the other things that are acceptable are in a similar or worse category of bad.
It is acceptable to say lets go "murder and steal" but it's not acceptable to say lets go "rape train".
3. Rape is Different
Some people will say this is just a game and murder in a game isn't real murder, but when you talk about rape it affects real people. My counter-argument is that when you talk about rape in the game, its not real rape your talking about. Your describing something that is ultimately much different because it best describes are intentions with the current pool of words in common useage in our language and popular culture. So that point is moot. Yes its fake, but the words aren't genuine. Your point is moot.
However....
As mentioned before murders in western civilization are far less common than rape. The pool of victims is smaller, and those who are murdered cannot be advocates for or against this argument. People that have had everything stolen from them are few and far between as well with insurance being required by law in many cases. Additionally if you have had everything stolen from, you probably are not living on the streets because of the social arrangements with family, friends, religious and civic groups, and programs (questionable as they may be) of governments.
However rape is still common in Western Civilization compared to those other examples. You can't emotionally compensate people for what they experience during rape. No one can ultimately help them deal with what they are feeling because the worst parts of rape are not what is left behind physically (bruising, tearing, scarring) but what it does to your feelings of self-worth and anxiety that is created for the future. In our society, rape is a different kind of crime than others in the way it affects people and the way that it cannot be compensated for. Murder can't be compensated for but the victim isn't there to participate in this discussion.
In practice the number of people that secretly carry guilt, and shame, and demolished self-worth around related to rape is alot more common than the other examples so the possibility of secret alienation of these people through casual and careless conversation is much higher than the other examples. It basically means that someone struggling with having been raped has a hard time enjoying games that are based on killing and stealing from people because those things are all similarly vile in real life, and will be used similarly in the jargon of the game. People don't want to be reminded that they were raped a year ago, and don't want the people they spend time with in game treating the issue so carelessly.
But it is going to happen. The GAME is about having the ability to choose to do good and bad things in a sandbox environment without real legal ramifications or organizations setting moral standards that are capable of publicly shaming you by name (your real name). We are doing bad things in a fake world, to varying degrees. Even Electus Matari which is NRDS and RPs itself as a bestower of justice for the weak, is a vigilante organization operating outside the law. EM doesn't convene a court with due process before it kills those on its NRDS list (guilt by association, you are in this group so you are bad like the rest)
If anyone would like to make the argument that war is not an evil in and of itself much greater than any individual act of rape, is welcome to try and make that naive argument. I've been to war and I've been to war torn places where people die next to the road and children run around poking the bodies with sticks and laughing....and I can quite confidently tell you that warfare in any form is an evil (though in true self-defense, a necessary one) and the utter destruction and devastation that is inherent in it always is always accompanied by those other evils on a larger scale (rape, torture, murder, theft). Just because Eve Online doesn't make reference to rape in it's game mechanics doesn't mean that by logical RP extension, that people aren't being raped after space stations or planets are conquered. That would be an awfully naive way of looking at war.
5. Eve vs Hello Kitty
I've never heard of language being used in games like Hello Kitty or Lego: Starwars that resembles what is seen in Eve Online or Call of Duty. Yes some of the same people may play those games, and it probably does occur, but the users of those games tend to be different people or the same people going for a different emotional reward. Those games are not as much about murder and theft so there will be less profane use of words and phrases associated with that.
Where Eve in practice is about piracy and warfare, and Call of Duty is about running around killing people in close quarters with a realistic feel, the type of language being used is going to be different. Language is a tool. (although it can be a shaping force in the long run)
6. Conclusion
As long as a game is about doing horrible things in a fake world where ramifications do not follow you to the real one, the language used as a tool in those games is generally going to be of a similar nature.
If you want the emotional reward of adrenaline and victory that comes from fake killing and thieving you will either need to find defense or coping mechanisms in yourself that allow you to enjoy this and deal with the language being used, or shield yourself from this by joining organizations are specifically tailored to create a more protected social environment. You can be part of a community of close internet friends that are properly responsive to your desire to not have the word rape thrown around.
I was in a pvp organization once that had a female that wished us not to use the word "rape" for very real personal reasons, and because she was our friend, and we wanted her to enjoy the game, we consciously avoided using the word around her. If you are in an organization of thousands don't expect the same treatment; those are not closed groups of friends and leadership is disposed to trying to organize that mob to undock in proper ships let alone trying to be the emotional security police.
You have the right in Western Civilization to to pursue non-violent means to convince people to change their language, to change the practices of companies, to pursue restrictions on the sandbox, or to have words and books banned to suit yourself, but don't expect large groups of people to easily, readily, quickly, and without harsh reaction change behavior which is a function of the type of game you are playing, and culture you live in. It makes more sense to find ways to shield yourself, then force people you don't know to accomodate your situation.
Do your best to do what you can best determine to be right and good, teach your children that, and if you associate with strangers for purposes of entertainment based war, killing, and theft, whose standards in that entertainment world are less than yours, don't demand suddenly that they change their ways and be awe stricken when they choose differently. Strangers can have little concern for other strangers on the internet without being bad people. In the time it took you to read this article hundreds of strangers in Africa have been raped, murdered, or died of starvation because their lives weren't worth a nickel to their fellow man, and you didn't spend any time thinking ponderously about changing their circumstances. You might even have laughed at Starvin Marvin on South Park. Are you a bad person?
Interesting Articles On the Subject:
"Don't Rape me Bro"
Link provided from Dian Lung at Tales of a Recovering Carebear
(What I am left with reading this article is, why is the desire to change language behavior regarding murder references not as important as rape references. Or why do they not share the same article when both are so common. Talking about one without the other, is like talking about the elephant in the room but not the giraffe when both are equally misplaced in my living room. I figure murder references do not have the same gender specific connotation and don't fall into the theme of the article. )
NOTES:
1. Rape is horrible. If I were the leader of a civilization, clear cut rape would be punishable by death. If I caught enemy soldiers in a warzone raping civilians they probably would not end up as POWs if I could get away with it.
2. Our society/culture has so much access to information, and such an ability to connect with people of those fringe habits and pursuits, that to also live in a relatively free and open society, that culture will change in ways that the previous generation will generally not be in favor of. In many ways we have become more irreverent and crude, more desensitized to violence, irreligious, and things like theater and school shootings have become more common. We have also seen less race related lynchings, desegregation, less homosexuals being tortured and killed, and fast food chains improving the nutritional content of their menus. Culture and moral standards will change as they always have...independently and fluidly a combination of so many factors that could only really control them for a time, and only with a violent tyranny and more violent eventual reaction. (Dark Ages?)
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