Kotaku
Wow, there are a lot of hateful women out there. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are just as many hateful men out there too, but none of them have been given the space in large newspapers to spew their anger at video games and the men who play them, so I'll limit my ire to them in this post.
Last week we wrote about the Dallas Morning News' vitriolic rant against men who (gasp) dare play video games. The child-man, Kay Hymowitz writes, lingers in "a new state of semi-hormonal adolescence." That's nothing Kay, you really should have dug a bit deeper. Like, say, Kate Muir, who likens men who play video games to Manatee.
Who knew that the generation who first became addicted to Pac-Man and Super Mario would turn out to be boys who never grew up? Man-teens sitting before their kiddy consoles like huge manatees.
It gets worse. Video games, as disgusting and immature as they are, are only a symptom of a far worse epidemic.
But the games addiction is only a symptom of the extended childhood of the 21st-century hominid. Marriage, families and children are being delayed for as long as possible, replaced by conspiratorial flatmates and microwaved gastropub ready meals. Italian men stay at home with their mother; the British and Americans want to lead a life like an endless episode of Friends.Perhaps the man-teen's retreat into a fantasy world of titans and totty merely reflects his lack of comfort in the real world, where daring, muscle and aggression are no longer valued. And how different is it from women slipping off into chick lit? If there is a crisis in traditional masculinity, perhaps the online game world provides a safe haven. Computer gaming offers a convenient escape from the domestic into the masculine, just as, last century, the gentlemen's and working men's clubs did.
I can't imagine what it would be like to meet this person, her views so myopic, so hemmed in by self-created blinders, that all she can see is the tip of her nose and perhaps the inch of air in front of it. I know I don't need to tell you, readers, that gamers aren't just unmarried men, or even just men. That we are all types: Married, single, women, gay, straight, politicians, lawyers, religious leaders.
Maybe the problem isn't us, maybe, Kate, it's the people who find fault in other people enjoying something that is strange and new. Just like with movies, books and music, video games are a form of entertainment that can easily be enjoyed in moderation, and often is.
Perhaps next time Kate should come up with her own ideas, instead of lifting them from the News.
The dark ages [Times Online]
Comments
I wish I could have a life as meaningful as her. Really you know?
Not more of this shit.
Well said, Mr. Crecente.
Videogames don't cheat on you.
an evening with the Master Chief would cure her problem...
"Marriage, families and children are being delayed for as long as possible"
How are those things elements of maturity? As I see it, growing up is being more capable of using reason and becoming wiser, not necessarily getting married. In fact, how is marriage any better or more important than playing video-games?
Can we sue for defamation of character?
Perhaps a hate crime against us as a group?
Surely saying hardcore gamers as a group is a stretch from homosexuals or people of African decent, but are we not at least entitled to some sort of shield from this degradation at the hands of these hate filled individuals? Just back off already, we've done nothing to you. It's like saying all Mexicans are illegal immigrants, all black people steal, all gay men can cook and decorate and have a keen sense of style, or that all women are too emotional to be in any sort of leadership position.
Or to put it more simply, wtf m8?
It find it quite ironic that right below this post there is an add that says "Hot Girls Playing Video Games".
Who let theses woman spill their minds onto paper! It's a bloody mess! Sort it out Kay Hymowitz and Kate Muir! I might write a book based on IDIOTS and I'm sure large paragraphs would be dedicated to these women!
"Men....booooooooooooooooo!"
@Guild_Navigator: I don't know, I think Assassin's Creed got a tear in it's eye when I picked up Mass Effect
reminds me of the last Family Guy, where Stewie and Brian leave the pickle on the couch....I wonder....
is this response being forwarded Ms. Hymowitz?
The frustration grows!
Manteens.. manatees? Where does she come up with this hahahaha
I don't think people realize that gaming has changed from the games of yesteryear. People still think in terms of pac man and space invaders, and probabaly havn't touched games since they were kids, so have no idea what it's actualy like now.
Games outsell movies. We probabaly rival TV in hours spent a week viewing/playing.
Gaming, once the domain of children, now is the realm of teens, adults, the elderly, you name it.
Authors like this articles really don't know what the reality of the gamer is anymore. A few days of research probabaly woudl have blown her mind.
I still like from the last article, where playing video games is a form of retarded (stunted) maturity, while shopping is the highest level of human endeavor.
I'll inform the wife she has to stop playing her game now. She will be saddened by this.
I wonder what she thinks about women who piss away an immense amount of time (and money) getting their hair and nails done for no other reason than to be doing so.
Someone should ask her. I just hope that when they do they're wearing a cup.
Unfortunately there is a stigma that plagues video gamers left over from the 80-90's, sort of like the one attached to Dungeons and Dragons. Once our generation grows into a position more prominent (and I'm a 20something) this stigma will start to dissipate. I know lots of successful people who still game, play WOW ect and live fulfilled life. When an article like this is written ultimately it doesn't show gamers lack of contribution or what have you to society; it shows the ignorance of the author and her complete lack of understanding of how the world, culture and people work.
@RedSkysatNight: nice
Someone didn't get a lot of male attention or was snubbed by a crappy ex for another round of tekken 3. She's on a personal vendetta nothing else. Bitter, sad, and lonely are the 3 words that come to mind after reading her livejournal-esque rants.
Mood: Bloated
Music: Fiona Apple
I like my video games. :( I happen to like women as well, and if more women would start playing video games, well I'd probably be more motivated to play less, or something.
It's too early on a Monday for this bologna. How bout them Giants guys?!
she's damn right. so many ppl never grow up, living in a fiction world created by the media. games is juat a part of it
Just remember, it's only sexist if you speak against women. When it comes to men, it's all OK.
/emote rolls his eyes.
@directhex: Further, tell her to get in the kitchen and bake you a pie.
If we have to go back to the 'golden days of maturity', I want some fresh home baked pastries. Regression for all!
Sounds like she wants a man-servant.
if she wouldn't be such a c*%t then maybe the child-men she's hangin with would put down the controller and shag the hell outta that dried up ol prune.
@ShawnC++:
That's you cheating on the game.
It makes more sense to me to blame this on the fact that the life expectency of our generation is somewhere around 90ish... right?
I mean, what's the point of acting like your life is half-over at age 30? You've still got a lot more living left by that point!
Don't blame videogames! Blame doctors!
ugh. Does she have a book or a site where we can give her a 1 star review? c'mon my internet fellows! to war! muahahaha.....*falls asleep again*
I'm a religious leader who plays video games! I ain't gettin' married, It's a life of celibasy for me! My video games are the only sexual releif I get(MASS EFFECTs hot lesbian scenes i'm looking at you!). It's all good so long as I ask for forgiveness soon after.
I assumed that, after adolescence, young men put away childish things and played amateur football, got amusingly drunk, instigated punch-ups, watched Big Brother or ineffectually pursued women.
Sounds like we get the better end of the deal, eh? Her loss.
Let me guess, last guy she met stood her up for a videogame? I would too lol
This woman needs to play a little Rez.
Ok I just started reading the actual article and her idea of being mature is sitting down and watching Big Brother. Bye, bye, credibility.
C-Hammer
My God I want to slap her in the face.
The BBC did a nice piece last year comparing the outcry against videogames to the outcry against the novel in the 19th century (Brian Blessed was part of it, yay). It was really quite amusing how similar the sentiments are, talking about brain-deadening, extreme forms of escapism, corrupting influences and all that. Let's hope dinosaurs such as Muir will receive the same kind of derision in the decades to come.
I hate the fact that playing videogames is still seen as anti-social.
Most of my game time is spent online, shooting the shit with other gamers. I hang out on a Vent server while playing almost any game, even offline games. So for me, gaming is a social activity, where I spend time with people whose company I enjoy.
I don't see how that is any more escapist than a softball league...
*sigh*
From the article: "Perhaps there's nothing to complain of about this man-teen era, unless you're a woman with a ticking biological clock, waiting for someone - anyone - to grow up."
I get the feeling that this woman, as well as the other one who wrote the previous similar op-ed article on this subject, is trying to blame her relationship troubles (or lack thereof I should say) on men rather than herself. Then again we all know how much men prefer video games over girlfriends and sex...
@Father ColdCuts: WOW, so it's OK if I kill someone or molest a child, so long as I ask for forgivness?
I sent her some intelligent hate mail and a link to this article. People like this need to be put in their place.
Zzzzzzzz.... she needs to get laid.
frigid much?
@RedSkysatNight: Whoa whoa whoa, let's stay on target. We're all gamers here, let's love one another. o_o;
Sounds like "someone" knows an inanimate electronic devise may have more to offer a "significant other" than her own pretentious and pompous personality….sucks to be her…..it would suck even more to be "with" her….
9 out of 10 men would rather play Halo than listen to the crap these women are spouting! THANK GOD WE HAVE VIDEO GAMES!!!
Although she's picking on games - the lack of growing up in our society is a real thing. Whether its always been there, who knows... Taking such a defensive attitude in response and moving toward personal attack on the writer rather than sticking to attacking her claims doesn't show any lack of blinders either. Why does everyone get so reactionary here?
@Retropants bla bla: Oops. The caveat is that gaming doesn't stop us from doing the football/drnka/spading bits; it's not a detraction from amusement, it's an addition. On the other hand, I'd rather game (or be beaten up) than watch Big Brother.
I can understand her dislike of video games, but what does she have against microwaved gastropub ready meals? They're the greatest thing since sliced omnibread.
@RedSkysatNight: Welcome to the church baby!
Sigh people can be so stupid. Thats really all I have to say about this.
@Setzer IIDX: Roger that, stay on target. Just blown away by the implications of that comment from a "religious leader".
There's no reason to "grow up". Marraige and reproduction are fairly unneccisary. We don't hunt for our survival, we don't scavenge, we don't even need to go to war to defend our home. The world has evolved and man evolves with it.
I don't see women getting married off when they're 16 either.