Chick clans...

I too am going to jump on the chick bandwagon– hopefully with some middle ground because that’s what I’m good at.

 

I’m not going to argue semantics and definitions at length. So for argument’s sake, I will go there and give you my definition of Sexism. It’s the belief that one sex is naturally superior to the other.

 

On that account, Phreaks is right on. There is no institutionalized sexism in gaming or 2o2p and the ladies are not special. Argument closed.

 

Moving on to sexual objectification…we’re going with the “Dean definition” based on a discussion around porn, because he is smarter than Webster.

 

Tara: Honey, do you think porn objectifies women?

Dean: No.

Tara: Well objectifying women is presenting someone as a sexual object. How is porn NOT that?

Dean: Porn is just showing pictures of naked women…that you would want to have sex with.

 

I rest my case. Porn, sexy heroines and uber-hawt heroes are sexually objectified just the same way that 2o2p objectifies bacon in culinary fashion. But objectification doesn’t necessarily equate as “bad” despite the socially held, negative connotations of the word. Sexual objectification is a whole separate argument. At one point I had a whole article relating to how women tend to objectify themselves (the whole virgin/whore dichotomy) but I chickened-out and yanked it before it went to front page. Maybe one day I’ll revive that shit. (As soon as Phreaks teaches me how to have a bulletproof vagina). So for today, I’m only going to focus on one topic - Girl clans.

 

I’m a girl. I’ve been in a handful of clans, two of which were exclusively girl clans. Therefore, I’m an expert.

 

Girl clans are not inherently sexist. They’re not formed on the basis that the female gender is naturally superior. Girl clans ARE discriminatory and that is totally okay. Humans are social beings that thrive in smaller groups. We've been kicking people out of sandboxes since the dawn of time. The world of Xbox and its 12 million plus members is simply too big for most people to find their place. That’s why people come to 2old2play – which discriminate against the young. That’s why clans are formed that discriminate based on hardware preferences, software preferences, or the art of the snark and profane. It’s okay to have a women-only bathroom as long as you have one for the guys. The ballroom is for everyone. There are a ton of 2o2p clans and new ones forming all the time. There’s a place for everyone. There can be one girl clan as long as it isn't a man-bashing site. It won’t hurt anyone. And if you want to have a boy clan, go for it. My husband goes on "guy's weekend" every year and it doesn't hurt my feelings that I'm not invited.

 

If you were in a foreign country filled in a room with non-English speaking folks and you found one person that spoke English, you will gravitate towards that individual. If you are in a room filled with people that are a different race than you, you will gravitate towards the one person that looks like you. If you show up to the LAN and it is filled with weird people that you’ve never met before, you will gravitate to the one familiar face or the one clannie that promised to meet you at the bar. It is human nature to flock.

 

And beyond the human nature of linking up with people that are just like you, girl clans serve another purpose. Years ago when I first played on XBL I was completely and utterly intimidated. It was a bad experience and it had nothing to do with being female. The front page suggests that I should get out of the kitchen if it’s too hot for me. Fuck that! I’m stubborn and I’ve been gaming since I was 4. I’ll learn how to cook.

 

I started out by learning how to play with dual analogs since most of my experience was non-shooter based (thank you husband for teaching me). I graduated to joining an all girl clan so I could roam XBL with some safety in numbers and improve my skills. (Skill is the ultimate equalizer for all gamers in my opinion, gender aside.) Once I was armed with the confidence of navigating an online game, being familiar with the attitudes of the average XBL player, and not always coming out in the bottom of the game, I was comfortable enough to cast a wider net of gaming friends. That’s when I joined 2old2play and started playing with people that wouldn’t fall into a hush when I called someone a cocksucker for killing me. (And I’m sure 2o2p would have made excellent on-line training wheels, but I wasn’t old enough at the time.)

 

Girl clans make a new experience less stressful. They’re not intent on changing the industry to make it more female-friendly, unoffending, or pretty. They’re about offering tools to cope with a bunch of douchebags, or just finding some friends. You wouldn’t ostracize a work peer that’s intimidated by public speaking for joining Toastmasters would you? So why blame anyone for just trying to fit in somewhere. Shit, this isn’t high school. If you didn’t agree that your social circle improves your gaming experience, you wouldn’t be on this site. I would have stayed in the campaign if it weren’t for a group of girls that took me under their wing and taught me how to play. And if I would have stayed in campaign, I probably would game much less frequently since I prefer multiplayer. It is no different than the droves of people that have shown up to 2old2play saying they would have expired their XBL account if it weren’t for this place. 2o2p rules hard because it discriminates.

 

When it comes to minorities in any group, you can ignore them, build them up or tear them down for flocking together. Or you can help them adjust into mainstream. The Cabal is full of women that don’t need a girl clan to mingle with the wider audience. We all belong to our own home clans and feel just as at home with the guys as we do girls. ARTofWAR is where I belong. But – v3 is coming the site might grow and we just might attract new membership. If there is a girl that is intimidated by playing online and would feel more comfortable in the company of women, I’d like to think she has somewhere to go besides PMS and Xbox.com so she can slowly start contributing to the wider group at her own pace. The Cabal will have her in a home clan tea-bagging and swearing in no time. This is no different than the Halo clans that promote they’re for “all skill levels” so that the total suck-ass player doesn’t feel out of place. And it’s no different for the “comp clans” to band up so they can geek out on strats and take their games to a higher level and avoid the “just for fun” types. A girl clan is just an alternate segmentation. It’s not a big deal unless you make it one. And since the Cabal has been humming along for a year now without fanfare, I think it’s safe to leave it that way.

 

Final point. Master Chief has NOTHING on Soap Mactavish for Hawtness. Fucking fact!

 

Case in point: