Are YOU a rapist?

[syntheticgerbil]

I guess it helps them work overtime?

More LSD developers please.

[DanJW]

Cocaine is scarily common on the British New Media scene. It's all those 40-somethings who wanted to be yuppies back in the day, and now have suddenly found that they are (apart from the young bit).

It amuses me when parents and politicians decry the drug abuse amongst the young, when it is actually their own generation still spending the most money on it by far.

Edited March 26, 2009 by DanJW

[Nachimir]

  Historical_Society said:

and LSD for the Katamari team, but cocaine, at least to me, seems a bit intense. Especially for a guy who either programs or creates meshes. Once again, I apologize for derailing, but that made my mind blown.

A purely conjectural generalisation not being true blew your mind? :/

Keita Takahashi, who devised Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy, doesn't even drink let alone screw around with more potent substances. Game designers aren't stereotypes, furthermore the stereotype of substance enabled creativity is more often than not total bullshit.

As Charlie Brooker pointed out in a recent episode of Screenwipe, to suppose that the people who make interesting work do it because of LSD or weed is quite an insult to their actual ability, especially if you've spent any time around stoners or people who take a lot of anything regularly.

I'm unbothered by people who do take drugs, but to pretend or assume it has some higher purpose than tickling endocrine systems is rubbish.

Edited March 26, 2009 by Nachimir

[syntheticgerbil]

I took it as him just kidding. I don't seriously think you could make a game on hallucinogens, speaking from high school experience, but it's just sort of funny to think about.

[Historical_Society]

  Nachimir said:

A purely conjectural generalisation not being true blew your mind? :/

Keita Takahashi, who devised Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy, doesn't even drink let alone screw around with more potent substances. Game designers aren't stereotypes.

As Charlie Brooker pointed out in a recent episode of Screenwipe, to suppose that the people who make interesting work do it because of LSD or weed is quite an insult to their actual ability, especially if you've spent any time around stoners or people who take a lot of anything regularly.

I was being facetious about Takahashi, but my mind being blown was in referrance to the man she was referring to with the cocaine. I was just outstanded that the bluntness of offering drugs within a work environment just somewhat shocked me.

I apologize if my jest didn't translate through my tone.

[ThunderPeel2001]

  DanJW said:

Yes, ridicule is the major weapon used against the male species these days. Well spotted Thunderpeel.

Women have had it much worse for the past few thousand years. but I still think there is a psychological crisis of masculinity going on right now. Misandry is everywhere in our culture.

1. Men are not a species.

2. Women have been the dominated members of society for more like 35,000 years (at least).

3. Today more than 1 in 5 women experience sexual assault in their lives.

4. 5% of women will experience rape.

5. 0.4% of men will experience rape - 98% from a male attacker.

6. That's 0.008% of men being raped by women (going back to what you mentioned in the beginning).

Let me just say something, though: Whether it's woman on man or man or woman or whatever... rape is a very serious and very horrible crime and I don't mean to belittle it. I just don't subscribe to this lazy "[men can't be raped] is the stance of almost all legal systems" and "hatred of men is everywhere in our society" hyperbole.

The facts is that it is much worse for women, even within the legal system. Successful prosecution for rape is very hard to come by and the victim will often be bullied and blamed for the rape by the defence. I mean, just look how easy Yuffy finds it to blame Ulrika -- all based on a single piece of poorly written journalism, cobbled together from a second-hand account.

Women, the overwhelming victims are rape, are often made to feel that it was their fault, in precisely the same way you complain that men are. There's the old saying that goes, "in a rape case it is the victim, not the defendant, who is on trial". To say that men have it worse than women IS to belittle the crime of rape, IMHO.

FYI: Changes to the 1956 Sexual Offences act in 1994 made the rape of a man an equal crime to rape of a woman.

[miffy495]

In this case though, it's not just bad journalism, but a direct quote that makes the situation ridiculous. Admitting that the guy had no idea that he'd raped her and even invited her out after are pretty clear signs that the sex could have easily been stopped. How many people commit assault and follow it up with "so, you wanna head down to the multiplex?" Rape is horrible, but pointing out that this girl is taking the definition way too far is not trivializing it. I see it rather as resisting the trivialization of it. If we allow regretted sex to be classed the same way as rape, the word begins to lose its impact and we will begin to take genuine cases of rape less seriously.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Maybe... The thing is, this isn't "her story", it's her story having been edited down from a TV interview, which was then turned into a newspaper article. It's gone through at least two forms of editing before arriving on the pages of The Sun.

Of course I have to agree that what IS said does indeed sound like a particularly weak example of rape, but I'm sure even Ulrika could see that if she'd read the article herself. I guess I'm just giving her the benefit of the doubt based on my complete and utter lack of faith in newspapers.

  miffy495 said:

How many people commit assault and follow it up with "so, you wanna head down to the multiplex?"

Well, that is the very definition of date rape. Most attackers (over 90%) are known to the victim. They're not faceless thugs who try to disappear into the night, they're people who take advantage of relationships and security, and then try to play down what's happened. Just like with child abuse cases.

From RapeCrisis.co.uk:

  Quote

Sexual assault is an act of physical, psychological and emotional violation, in the form of a sexual act, which is inflicted on someone without consent. It can involve forcing or manipulating someone to witness or participate in any sexual acts [and other explicit things]

Edited March 26, 2009 by ThunderPeel2001

[DanJW]

  ThunderPeel2001 said:

1. Men are not a species.

2. Women have been the dominated members of society for more like 35,000 years (at least).

3. Today more than 1 in 5 women experience sexual assault in their lives.

4. 5% of women will experience rape.

5. 0.4% of men will experience rape - 98% from a male attacker.

6. That's 0.008% of men being raped by women (going back to what you mentioned in the beginning).

1. I was using a turn of phrase, dumbass

As for the rest, yes in the case of rape women are far worse off than men. In any physical conflict men have the upper hand (although the numbers for general domestic abuse are surprisingly less skewed). Also the problem with male rape and abuse of men is that victims are even less likely to come forward, which makes the numbers just guesswork.

I agree that guilt felt by victims is a massive problem, but I also see Yufster's point that the best defence that women have is their own empowerment. Whilst blaming a victim in any way, shape or form has become taboo, complete and instant submission is not something that should be encouraged. Women need to know that they can make a difference when bad things are about to happen to them.

But in purely psychological cases I really do think there is a trend of misandry and demonisation of men in our culture. I grew up feeling guilty for being born male, and I know lots of other men who feel the same. Plenty of men (and women) can't even begin to understand that and get on with the football and the farting and the going 'phwoar' at tits just like their forefathers did before them. Sometimes I almost envy them. But the essence of masculinity is changing, and being redefined. That leaves a lot of men in a situation where we don't know what we are, or what we are meant to be yet. Dismissal and ridicule just drives more back to the old chauvinist ways. So shut the fuck up why not?

To throw in a counterbalance to the rape stats; most abuse and murder of babies is perpetrated by women. Are women infanticidal maniacs? Of course not. There are bad people, and people who make mistakes. Identifying them by their gender achieves nothing.

Yes Feminism is still relevant today, despite the fact that very few young women give it a second thought and instead subscribe to "if you can't beat them, join them" post-feminism instead. Gender issues are complex, to say the least.

Edited March 27, 2009 by DanJW

[ThunderPeel2001]

I've no idea why you need to feel guilty for not being a "phwoar, tits and beer!" kind of guy. I think you're a better human being for it and I think a lot of women would agree. (Maybe you've just had bad personal experiences?) "Our" type of men are well-represented by popular culture, and I certainly don't feel alone, different or hated.

  DanJW said:

Yes Feminism is still relevant today, despite the fact that very few young women give it a second thought and instead subscribe to "if you can't beat them, join them" post-feminism instead.

Enough with the generalisations, already

[Salka]

  Historical_Society said:

I was being facetious about Takahashi, but my mind being blown was in referrance to the man she was referring to with the cocaine. I was just outstanded that the bluntness of offering drugs within a work environment just somewhat shocked me.

I apologize if my jest didn't translate through my tone.

Sorry, I hate to unblow your mind but it happened after work hours, not during work. Although that said, I have heard tales of bags of cocaine being tucked away under peoples keyboards... and once an artist I know stayed up for an entire weekend on speed, in order to get the model he was working on finished...

[Historical_Society]

  Yufster said:

Sorry, I hate to unblow your mind but it happened after work hours, not during work. Although that said, I have heard tales of bags of cocaine being tucked away under peoples keyboards... and once an artist I know stayed up for an entire weekend on speed, in order to get the model he was working on finished...

I really don't see how you've unblown it, since the remaining portion has left me..well you get the gist. I've had really crappy delays at work, and college papers I've put off till that last day, but the thought of resorting to substance just seems I guess a foggy notion to me. I mean maybe it's because I'm not a person that indulges in that way of life, or just a really shelled up american. But the day I propose doing speed and massively damaging my heart to tighten the graphics on level five, I'd consider a different company.

Thanks for the interesting information, I'll make sure to remember that before considering entering the industry.

[Salka]

I wouldn't worry too much, it's more of a Brighton thing than a games industry thing (I believe, anyway). Most of us have bad days at work but don't resort to substance abuse. The speed guy was always a bit of a nutcase, his decision to finish the model whilst taking copious amounts of speed had nothing to do with anyone else. The cocaine guy does cocaine in his spare time, it has nothing to do with the games industry.

These two examples are not reflective of the games industry. You're going to find undesirable individuals in every industry, so to think twice about entering the games industry just because one or two people you meet are gonna be douches, seems a bit over the top to me. I've met far more douches when working outside of the games industry.

[Historical_Society]

You have a valid point. I guess I take stock in being the douche bag stereotyping. To me the idea of the model guy, I imagined(from my uninformed perspective) would be common. Not in referrance to the drug usage, but the staying excessive hours to meet select milestones. So that idea of feeling under pressure completely scares off my rather laissez-faire mentality. But I feel I've completely derailed this topic twice over.