Hey Doc, How do you know if/when to end a long-term relationship when everything is great except for the sex? How do you know when it’s irrational to keep trying to make it work? I’ve been dating my girlfriend Helen (not her real name) for 5 years, and lived with her for 3. We’re both…
geek culture
Geek Behaviors That Drive Women Away
Before I get into this, I want to address the title of today’s column which implies that geekdom is inherently male. That’s actually a deliberate choice, because while we’ve made serious improvements in increasing diversity over the years, the geek community tends to still conduct itself like it’s a men’s locker room. The problem is simple….
Sexual Harassment and the Toxic Culture of Comics
One of the joking-but-not-really comments I make to my friends is about how some of my columns are going to be forever relevant. Every time I’ve written about shitty behavior in geek culture, whether in comics, at conventions or in the games industry, I may as well have written a macro that I can just…
Read more about Sexual Harassment and the Toxic Culture of Comics
What We Talk About When We Talk About GamerGate
Back in August, I wrote about the ongoing harassment against Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian, the then-latest attempts by the would-be gatekeepers of gaming culture trying to evict women from their formerly1 exclusive clubhouse. While it’s (depressingly) common to see outbursts like this bubble up from the underside of the Internet, it’s rare for it…
Read more about What We Talk About When We Talk About GamerGate
The End of Gatekeeping: The Extinction Burst of Gaming Culture
It’s been an ugly couple of weeks for gaming culture. Not only did the Zoe Quinn affair erupt, leading to the increased harassment and abuse of an indie games developer for the crime of being a woman in gaming, but Anita Sarkeesian was driven from her home by death threats following the release of the latest…
Read more about The End of Gatekeeping: The Extinction Burst of Gaming Culture
Nerds and Male Privilege: Sexual Harassment and Nerd Culture
Occasionally, it feels like the comics and video game industries have a competition to demonstrate which group can be more hostile and unfriendly towards the women who want to participate in them. It’s like a particularly fucked up game of Texas Grope ‘Em; comics has the little blind with Joe Peacock’s comments about fake geek…
Read more about Nerds and Male Privilege: Sexual Harassment and Nerd Culture