The chapters on Gender, Inequality and Politics made me rethink the ways in which it plays out in the MMO context. I remember distinctly the kinds of assumptions that are made when you meet new people, or join a guild, and so on. On the internet, you are a straight white man until proved otherwise. I remember being nervous when people would ask what my real name was and coming up with a fake “white” name that wouldn’t be too distinct from the other John’s, Mark’s and Michaels’s. I also remember the ridiculous amount of teasing women would receive when joining online voice channels.
The online was an extension of the social inequalities of the offline.
I’m also thinking about the activism piece, and how social media was crucial for building transnational solidarities during the Ferguson protests. Angela Davis talks a lot about how Palestinian activists tweeted advice to Ferguson protestors on how to deal with the specific brand of tear gas that was being thrown at them. This was because the STL police were deploying the same tear gas that the IDF deployed against them.
But, I’m also thinking about this current trend of clicktivism, where white and nonblack-PoC allies constantly share videos of black folks being gunned down/executed by the police. The reliving of trauma every time a share is made has had documents effects on black mental health. We have reached a point of trajectory from this article on #Ferguson where the internet is constantly circulating proof of violence, it has gone from awareness to oversaturation.
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