I mentioned in my previous blog entry that I like to keep myself busy in several different circles at the same time. One of those circles (as you may know if you're at least a semi-regular reader of this blog) is the skeptic/freethinker/atheist/agnostic/secular community (hereafter referred to as simply the "skeptic community"). Another circle is the gaming community, involving the trading card game Magic: the Gathering specifically (hereafter referred to as the "Magic community"). Magic, for those of you who don't know, has a fervently active community, so much so that it is, like the skeptic community, a subculture all its own. As such, it comes with its own set of typical behaviors, social norms, figures of speech and idiosyncrasies, vocabulary, cultural concerns, and even a code of ethics. The Magic community also has its own set of struggles and flaws, like any group of people.
Ahem. Let me back up a bit...
Magic: The Gathering (MTG; also known as Magic) was the first trading card game and was created by Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011. Magic can be played by two or more players each using a deck of printed cards or a deck of virtual cards through the Internet-based Magic: The Gathering Online or third-party programs.
Each game represents a battle between mighty wizards, known as "planeswalkers", who employ spells, artifacts, and creatures depicted on individual Magic cards to defeat their opponents. Although the original concept of the game drew heavily from the motifs of traditional fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, the gameplay of Magic bears little similarity to pencil-and-paper adventure games, while having substantially more cards and more complex rules than many other card games.
An organized tournament system and a community of professional Magic players has developed, as has a secondary market for Magic cards. Magic cards can be valuable due to their rarity and utility in gameplay.
 Total Nerd |
Thank you, Wikipedia. There. Now you understand the basics of Magic: the Gathering, and you know I'm a total nerd. And to further cement my place among the ranks of nerds, I maintain a blog on Tumblr dedicated to Magic: the Gathering-related topics: Team Wingman. I do my best to keep myself up-to-date on what's happening in the Magic community. I listen to podcasts, watch videos, and read blog entries and articles, just like I do within the online skeptic community. My experience as part of both communities has taught me that these two circles share at least a few similarities: to start, both wrestle with stereotypes which, while sometimes accurate, are often a misrepresentation, which consequently has a negative effect on members of the community. Atheists are often seen as arrogant, elitist, and displaying a know-it-all (or a "knows-more-than-you") attitude. Just saying the name, "Magic: the Gathering" conjures up images of out-of-shape neckbeards in sweatpants who have poor hygiene and still live with their parents at age 30. As a member of both communities, I know overcoming such stereotypes is a struggle.
The skeptic community and the Magic community share similar problems: in particular, both subcultures are dominated by heterosexual white men. This has led to the rising concern of diversity within the community, and acceptance of those within the community - or those who could become part of the community - who are not heterosexual, white, or male. Women, for example, struggle to find acceptance in either community. Unfortunately, elitism is a trait shared by certain members of both groups. Girl gamers often feel looked down upon, and not just in Magic. In the same vein, feminism has become a hot-button issue in the skeptic community in the past few years, fueled by such topics as Elevatorgate, Atheism Plus, and sexual harassment and mistreatment of women at skeptic conventions.
DIGRESSION ALERT #1: I find the problem of elitist attitudes in both the skeptic and Magic communities rather peculiar, because many members of the Magic community are those who have struggled due to lack of acceptance from other groups or cliques; likewise, members of the skeptic community struggle constantly to be accepted, or at least tolerated. In many ways, both groups share the same central concern. One would think that, of all people, these people would be the most understanding and accepting, considering their contexts. [end of digression]
Progress has been made in both communities, but there's still a lot of work that needs to be done. A lot. I wrote an article on Team Wingman recently about a Magic podcast I was listening to called "Imp's Prison" in which the host, Angelo, is talking with relatively well-known Magic player and podcaster "Kevy Metal" of the Heavy Meta podcast. Angelo tells Kevy the story of how he broke up with an ex-girlfriend. Here's a portion of what he had to say (warning: profanity and sexual references, and trigger warning for sexual assault):
“This is how I broke up with her… We was up in my room, and… I’m fucking just railing the shit out of her… And I fucking go dry right into her fucking ass, and I hold her in place until I finish… I grab her, and I just… shove it in her ass dry and I hold her there until I’m done. So I get done, right, and I let her go, and she literally like crawls into the corner and fucking curls up like Gollum on Lord of the Rings…” (sic)
 Only Magic players will get this. |
Needless to say, I was floored. I couldn't believe I was hearing this. I couldn't believe Angelo and Kevy were laughing about this story. Sure, these guys are known for swearing a lot and talking about getting drunk and doing stupid things (and occasionally talking about Magic), but this is simply unacceptable. This is a story about forced intercourse. As I wrote in my article on Team Wingman: "there’s a word for any act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon a person."
DIGRESSION ALERT #2: I need to point out that I don't think every single member of either community is at fault. Of course, usually the people who respond with protests of "Not all of us are like that!" are people more concerned with their own image instead of trying to alleviate the problem, but I felt the need to be as clear as possible here. [end of digression]
I have had no desire to start a witch hunt (then again, if this is how this guy treats other people, then fuck him), but, for me, silence equals acceptance. If we give a pass to comments as despicable as Angelo's, such words - and, worse, such actions - will become more and more acceptable within the community. The more we let it slide, the more "normal" it becomes within the community. If we want women to feel welcome in our communities, we can't allow that to happen.
Again, I don't want a witch hunt. I don't want to see a rift occur in the Magic community the way it's happened in the skeptic community. The Magic community doesn't need their own version of Atheism Plus. We just need to be more sensitive to the needs and concerns of those around us, those in the same community as us, and especially those who are different from us. This is as true for the skeptic community as it is for the Magic community. And given that the Magic community, like the skeptic community, is currently overrun by heterosexual, white men, we (i.e., hetero white men) must be extra cautious about keeping our privilege in check.
[quoted from Growing Pains & Labels by skeptic and Magic player Emily Dietle]
