Now, I would pay money to play xbox games with people who are all over 25, know how to work as a team and have a low cursing to useful information communicated over the headset ratio. Male, female, dog, I couldn't care less.
One of the stories I read on this made that same comparison, though they referred to Something Positive (http://www.somethingpositive.net/) as merely "a webcomic I used to read".
My God, you found a site catering to a client base even more pathetic that the David Icke forums and 4chan's /b/
"The women I game with would KICK THEIR ASSES"
Something tells me the folks at GameCrush include a "you must lose" clause in the contracts for their, er, entertainers.
I wonder how many of the "girl" gamers are really guys who can do a feminine voice. I'm also reminded of the TV Magazine story I saw about a 300 pound 60 year old grandmother who was a phone sex operator. She called herself "Candi" and claimed to be 19. She had the voice to pull it off too.
I was more wondering how many of the girls in the "talent pool" are actually gamers. I'm pretty sure they're girls, it's just the gaming skills I'm skeptical about.
I keep trying to say something coherent and keep coming back to "Ewwwww."
I've spent more than a year of my life modding "The Witcher," which makes me about as serious of a gamer as you'll find anywhere. The idea that my genitalia have anything to do with this is bizarre and repulsive.
I have no objection to sex work. The sex workers I know (and I think the ones you know) are up front about what they're doing. The coy "oh, we're playing GAMES nudgenudgewinkwink" is part of what irks me.
That this targets a community already burdened by stereotypes bothers me more. First, there's the stereotype that all gamers are males (wrong) who can't get a date (wrong). Second, there's the stereotype that women don't game (wrong) or only do so in order to get relationships with guys (wrong).
Finally, the entire thing seems like such a huge insult to my female gamer friends (not least of all my wife) that I take personal offense. It feels like someone saying "oh, they're not REAL gamers, they're just whores."
I've had rage about it too and I know many people who know sex workers who were also in the "why the rage?" category, like you are. "These girls are making some extra money gaming, how cool is that?" and so forth and so on.
But people that you and I probably know that are in this trade have made informed intelligent decisions to do this. They are probably not drug or alcohol addicts, victims of abuse that have never had any support or therapy for that abuse, not poor, not looking at no option, no career paths to them, no education, etc. etc. And they engage in their chosen professions in ways that keep themselves healthy and safe, emotionally and physically. And they also typically engage in a very specific type of sex work, some of it considered theraputic, and usually with a very specific and limited market. They're not sitting on a street corner in a mini skirt hollering out "hey, baby, wanna date?" while their pimp looks on from the alley.
That is not the majority of the sex industry.
And this is not the reality of the sex industry in our country and especially world wide. *Children are still kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery on our planet* and the sex industry as a whole, not necessarily the microcosm of Boston and it's environs and people we may know personally, but as a whole world wide is about teaching and encouraging men to horribly demean, disrespect and disregard women as people and instead turn them into objects, to be purchased and used for no other reason than the pleasure of men, and then discarded.
This site is telling teenage boys "forget all that having to get to know girls, or trying to talk to them or respect them or learn to flirt with them in healthy ways, you can just buy them!" It's teaching them young that women can and should be bought and doing so under a guise of "it's just harmless flirting, and gaming!"
I personally believe rage is *exactly* what is called for in this situation.
This site is telling teenage boys "forget all that having to get to know girls, or trying to talk to them or respect them or learn to flirt with them in healthy ways, you can just buy them!" It's teaching them young that women can and should be bought and doing so under a guise of "it's just harmless flirting, and gaming!"
Right. Adding that to my slightly more coherent set of "why i hate this concept" reasons.
I think an interesting riff on this idea would be to create an actual dating service based around gaming. Have people do the usual of submitting interests and so on -which would include games played- and then arrange dates based around a session of gaming rather than going out for drinks. Takes the whole idea and exploits it for positives instead of digging for the lowest denominator.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 05:52 pm (UTC)*blink*
uh...wow.
Now, I would pay money to play xbox games with people who are all over 25, know how to work as a team and have a low cursing to useful information communicated over the headset ratio. Male, female, dog, I couldn't care less.
later
Tom
no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 05:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 07:18 pm (UTC)Though it's not clear that the new sign ups will be compensated the way the existing "talent pool" is.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 06:10 pm (UTC)"The women I game with would KICK THEIR ASSES"
Something tells me the folks at GameCrush include a "you must lose" clause in the contracts for their, er, entertainers.
I wonder how many of the "girl" gamers are really guys who can do a feminine voice. I'm also reminded of the TV Magazine story I saw about a 300 pound 60 year old grandmother who was a phone sex operator. She called herself "Candi" and claimed to be 19. She had the voice to pull it off too.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 07:13 pm (UTC)Since they are on web cam with the client, probably not many.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 04:37 am (UTC)Yiccch.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 06:23 pm (UTC)*sigh*
no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 08:14 pm (UTC)I keep trying to say something coherent and keep coming back to "Ewwwww."
I've spent more than a year of my life modding "The Witcher," which makes me about as serious of a gamer as you'll find anywhere. The idea that my genitalia have anything to do with this is bizarre and repulsive.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 08:54 pm (UTC)So now that I'm a little calmer
Date: 2010-03-24 12:13 am (UTC)That this targets a community already burdened by stereotypes bothers me more. First, there's the stereotype that all gamers are males (wrong) who can't get a date (wrong). Second, there's the stereotype that women don't game (wrong) or only do so in order to get relationships with guys (wrong).
Finally, the entire thing seems like such a huge insult to my female gamer friends (not least of all my wife) that I take personal offense. It feels like someone saying "oh, they're not REAL gamers, they're just whores."
So, y'know, incoherent rage.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 01:10 am (UTC)But people that you and I probably know that are in this trade have made informed intelligent decisions to do this. They are probably not drug or alcohol addicts, victims of abuse that have never had any support or therapy for that abuse, not poor, not looking at no option, no career paths to them, no education, etc. etc. And they engage in their chosen professions in ways that keep themselves healthy and safe, emotionally and physically. And they also typically engage in a very specific type of sex work, some of it considered theraputic, and usually with a very specific and limited market. They're not sitting on a street corner in a mini skirt hollering out "hey, baby, wanna date?" while their pimp looks on from the alley.
That is not the majority of the sex industry.
And this is not the reality of the sex industry in our country and especially world wide. *Children are still kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery on our planet* and the sex industry as a whole, not necessarily the microcosm of Boston and it's environs and people we may know personally, but as a whole world wide is about teaching and encouraging men to horribly demean, disrespect and disregard women as people and instead turn them into objects, to be purchased and used for no other reason than the pleasure of men, and then discarded.
This site is telling teenage boys "forget all that having to get to know girls, or trying to talk to them or respect them or learn to flirt with them in healthy ways, you can just buy them!" It's teaching them young that women can and should be bought and doing so under a guise of "it's just harmless flirting, and gaming!"
I personally believe rage is *exactly* what is called for in this situation.
QFT
Date: 2010-03-24 01:32 am (UTC)Right. Adding that to my slightly more coherent set of "why i hate this concept" reasons.
Re: QFT
Date: 2010-03-24 04:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-23 09:37 pm (UTC)I'm not sure who is more pathetic, the marketing person who came up with this idea, or men who would pay extra to play a game with a girl.
Of course, it could be a good way to pick up a few extra bucks... :-)