Gamers have a bullying problem, we need to fix it!

Image of FPS Doug from the Pure Pwnage movie

You may have read that headline and scoffed, "gamers don't have a bullying problem" you tell yourself as you prepare to leave an angry comment on this article. I would ask you to hold off on doing that and reading things before you jump to the comments and call me names. First off, gamers do indeed have a bullying problem and games do need to be made more inclusive. This is a 100% indisputable fact. Before I get into the meat of things, we need to define what bullying is exactly. According to the National Centre Against Bullying, the definition of bullying is as follows...

"Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening."

Going by this definition, it is clear gamers have a huge bullying problem, most notably being constantly bullied by those in positions of social power. From politicians to journalist to Twitch mods, it is clear that gamers are being bullied. On almost a weekly basis you can find some article or comment from one of these people that tries to silence, belittle, humiliate, and shame gamers. When gamers try to stand up to these bullies, the bullies simply ramp up their hate campaigns. I know this may come as quite the shock to the average person but it is the sad reality of life. I only hope that by shining a light on these bullies we might be able to finally put a stop to them once and for all.

Politicians

Now that it is no longer the cool thing to blame D&D or comic books for youth crimes, video games and gamers are the prime target of political bullying. It doesn't matter if a school shooter owned 1 video game or 1,000. The fact that they played video games at least one time means politicians will pounce and blame video games for all the ills of society. They will call gamers the worst people and they have 0 recourse and no way to avoid the social stigma the politicians have created against them. This also has a nice bonus of trickle down hate as politicians bullying gamers allows the other groups of bullies to push anti game rhetoric freely and without fear of repercussion. 

(Most)Gaming Journalist

This group is the most active gamer bullies in this article. You see, not only do they get paid to spew their hate filled anti gamer rhetoric but they also go on social media and pick on gamers. These people harass, insult, and torment gamers for fun. Going so far as to rally their audiences to reach out and harass those who dare to stand up to them. These bullies typically remove comments, block those they harass, and play the victim as they continue to cause emotional and social harm to a group based on their identity. These bullies even use their social influence to force video game companies to change their artistic visions in order to punish and mock gamers.

SJWs

This is the loudest and largest group of anti gamer bullies and bullies from the other groups are often also part of this group. These bullies frequently parrot the talking points of the other groups or of their thought leaders with no real understanding of what they are discussing. They will use any means at their disposal to bully gamers and anyone who would be considered an ally to gamers. These bullies believe themselves to be morally superior to gamers and will do whatever it takes to prove it, even going so far as to get people fired, arrested, or deplatformed. Lies, false allegations, and mob rule are their weapons of choice and they wield them freely and without hesitation.

Bad Parents

These are some of the scummiest anti gamer bullies around. Lacking the ability to take personal responsibility for their own parental failures, they seek to blame video games and gamers for their child's problems. These are the people who plop little Jimmy in front of YouTube for hours on end and think it is Susan Wojcicki's responsibility to make sure their children only see family friendly content. These people bully gamers and try to pressure politicians to punish them as a way to clear the conscious and feel better about themselves. 

Social Media Mods

These bullies get their self worth from treating gamers like garbage. They ban any gamer who comments anything that isn't approved by the other groups of bullies. They delete comments that expose the hypocrisy of the anti gamer bullies. These bullies are responsible for creating anti gamer echo chambers designed to encourage anti gamer rhetoric and they are proud of it.

Conclusion

As you can see, gamers do indeed have a bullying problem. Namely, being the victims of bullying. The only way we are going to solve this problem is to speak up. Don't let social media mods or mobs silence you or other gamers. Do not support gaming journalist, or the websites they work for, that insult gamers. Stop supporting politicians that blame gaming for society's ills. 

Gamers are awesome and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!