Well, one section of it does anyway.
Let me explain. Last week, Alyssa Bereznak published an article on www.gizmodo.com titled ‘My Brief OkCupid Affair with a World Champion Magic: The Gathering Player’. It has since been pulled down, for reasons that will become apparent soon, but a screen grab can be found here: http://imgur.com/O8qUI.
In the article, Bereznak recounts her two dates with Jon Finkel, the aforementioned Magic World Champion. She describes him as ‘normal’, until she finds out he plays Magic. Then, he becomes an incurably geeky loser who has ‘infiltrated’ his way onto OkCupid, a man who she can longer consider spending time with because of his hobbies. She even asks, ‘Just like you’re obligated to mention if you’re divorced or have a kid in your online profile, shouldn’t someone also be required to disclose any indisputably geeky world championship titles?’
When I read it, I instantly went into ‘irate gamer’ mode. ‘How dare she?’ I fumed. ‘How does she think she can judge others based on how they spend their time and make their friends? She may not understand Magic, but does that mean that it renders Finkel worthless as a date?’
I would be prepared to go all the way and say that this article was nothing less than sexist. Let’s not forget, sexism goes both ways.
Before you start yelling at me in the comments, think about it. If the situation had been reversed and a guy was blogging about a date he’d had with a girl, wouldn’t you be outraged if he’d dismissed her as a human being because she was really into, say, shopping? Of course you would! It’s demeaning and degrading!
I’m not sure what the saddest part of this tale is. Is it the fact Bereznak thought it was ok to insult Finkel in such a public manner? Is it that she wrote such a horribly sexist piece of tripe (trust me, if it had been a girl who played Magic, the guy would likely think he’d hit the jackpot)? Or is it the fact it was almost certainly done to gain hits on the site?
Paul Tassi on www.forbes.com points out that the article had to be a calculated trolling excercise. After all, it was posted on Gawker’s Gizmodo site, rather than on say, feminist sister site Jezebel. Bereznak must have known that aiming the article at the mostly male, ‘geeky’ readership of Gizmodo would attract thousands of angry comments and a flurry of nerd rage all over the internet, but it would also garner those valuable hits.
Really, Gawker? Really? This is ok? Here at Zombie Outbreak we don’t get paid to do this (I think this is fairly obvious just by looking at us). This is just a side project to our ‘real’ jobs. Even so, we make sure we check facts and post accurate information whenever possible. Apparently at Gawker, this isn’t necessary. Gaby Darbyshire, chief operating officer of Gawker Media, has stated in the past that she does not check everything that is posted on the network as it would have a ‘chilling’ effect on her ‘creative’ staff.
Oh please. That’s just an excuse for Gawker to post controversial material for the sake of it, rather than to instigate a discussion or dissection of it. For people like Bereznak who freelance for them, it must be like giving away a bit of your soul in exchange for page views. Why bother?
The worst thing is, in the relentless quest for hits, the stereotype of the sad, geeky gamer has been perpetuated yet again. They’re clearly seen as an easy target and it’s infuriating. I can imagine Finkel must have been chomping at the bit to hit back and prove that he’s a smart, talented man who is more than the ‘geek’ label she has slapped on him, but he has shown admirable restraint. More power to him, I say, and I hope he finds a girl who appreciates him for who he is.
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