It happens every day. In fact, it is pretty hard to avoid it. There are some things that can only be understood with a slap on the forehead. Things so mind-boggling that one wonders how humans managed to evolve thumbs while being this mentally inept. Case in point:

E3: 72 Hours of Misogyny

The fun part about the internet is that you can usually check the sources. For example, let us say someone writes a tweet about a particular person that upsets someone. Let us say that upset person then writes an article blasting said tweet as an example of “rampant misogyny” in a given community. Well, one can easily track down said tweet and see what kind of response it got.

This is what I tried to do, except said tweet had been deleted. Deleting the tweet would not stop anyone from commenting on it, so I looked for evidence that the Twitterverse supported Boogie2988’s now deleted tweet, “£429 do we get a complimentary blow job off Bonnie Ross with that?” and could not find anything remotely supporting it or him.

The only negative mention about Bonnie Ross,the studio head of 343 Industries, I could find came from Matthew G P Coe’s tweet about the wolf whistle someone did at the beginning of Ross’ talk at E3. When I looked up the #E3 Bonnie Ross and Bonnie Ross hashtags, the only sexist commentary I could find was in reference to Coe’s article on the Good Men Project.

It is obvious that feminism and video games mix as well as oil and water, so it comes as no surprise that feminists will find “rampant misogyny” no matter how quick their glance. The wolf whistle was inappropriate, but hardly proof that the E3 conference is, as Coe put it, “a ridiculous three-day-long display of sexism, objectification, and misogyny (oh, and something about video games, too).” While I have never attended the conference, I am fairly certain that there is more than a few sprinkles of video game content. Yes, there are booth babes, however, that typically is not the focus of the conference.

Yet Coe’s hyperbolic statement fuels the feminist ire. Read the comments on Coe’s article. Look at the feminist response on Twitter. Or check out the Feministing response to a man beating a woman in a fighting game. Please note that telling someone whose ass you are thoroughly kicking in Killer Instinct to “just let it happen, it’ll be over soon” is a rape joke, a “fact” that feminists must (poorly) explain because no one else sees it that way. Microsoft has apologized for the comment, not that it will matter.

While there are instances of sexism against women in the gaming community, the goal of most of this “criticism” is simply to trash a popular niche group. Everyone like beating up nerds and geeks. Feminists dislike nerds and geeks for a variety of reasons (mostly because, to use Coe’s analogy, the community pulled a Sméagol and realized they do not need feminists or feminism), so it comes as no surprise to see feminists yet again painting the entire community with a broad brush over two instances of two individuals doing something feminists do not like.

I am more than content to allow feminists to engage in their masturbatory “male gamerz r teh EVILZ!” nonsense because it typically backfires. You cannot win over an ostracized group of people by taking pot shots at them every time you open your mouth. You cannot win them over by ignoring the misandry directed at them. You certainly cannot win them over by telling them they need to get thicker skin when you go for their throat as you complain about all the trash talk directed at a certain group of people. Gamers, like all nerds and geeks, are very aware of double standards. Of all the groups to not use double standards on, the gaming community is at the top of the list. They smell that stupidity coming a mile away.

Why feminists continue to think that a handful of people’s bad behavior is indicative of what anyone who plays videos thinks remains unclear. It does make it easier to bash this particular group of males, however, feminists in general have had little problem finding ways to bash men and boys even when giving “advice”:

To make this abundantly clear, if you were one of the guys who decided to judge Bonnie Ross’ ability or competence based on her appearance or gender, or you made—or laughed at—jokes about her, using language specifically reserved for insulting women, you are part of the problem. You are holding back the human race from evolving beyond prejudice, beyond hatred, and beyond unwarranted fear. And I refuse to stand idly by and watch you do it.

Good. I hope the next time someone decides to judge a man’s ability or competence based on his appearance or gender, or someone makes—or laughes at—jokes about him, using language specifically reserved for insulting men Coe will also refuse to stand idly by and watch them do it. Of course, it is probably hard for Coe to catch others doing it since he was so busy doing it in his own article.