I never had any delusions about this convincing the implicated parties of their prejudices. My main intent here was to air something no one was talking about, and to let those who got angered by it demonstrate that very lack of self-criticality and gatekeeping I implied in the piece. I also have gotten many positive responses, and am aware that shrieking troll-like nerds will always comprise an impotent minority.
An acquaintance noted that Kotaku regularly publishes articles on sexism within the culture of game development and the videogames themselves, and wondered why this piece in particular is reducing so many commenters to a screaming red-faced puddle. It is peculiar, on the face of it! But I think the thing is that it’s criticizing something in games – and the attendant playerbases – that for so long seem to have been beyond criticism in any respect. It’s the feeling of “Wow, I thought this was okay” and then even that gets called out. Gamers will, of course, still be dismissive and lob out the same tired shit about “SJWs” if you highlight sexism elsewhere when it’s more obviously coded into the design, and then more difficult to excuse, so when it’s taking readymade linguistics to task — a detail that’s seen as minor (that good ol’ dead-end literalism that sees words as neutral objects) — they’re extra defensive.
Anyway, I ain’t coming back here because I think Felix is a jerk and he’s Big Boss here, but I thought I’d respond since this was a major publication for me and it’s gaining a lot of attention.