It's a natural outcropping of being inadequately socialised and steepd in the Geek Social Fallacies. (http://sean.chittenden.org/humor/www.plausiblydeniable.com/opinion/gsf.html)
It's repulsive and is undoubtedly the single largest reason why gamers are stigmatised - because, in uncomfortably large numbers they *don't* practice or insist on basic hygiene.
I can't help but think the odds views some gamers (fans and professionals [1]) have about women can't help. It's all part of the same stinky package, though.
I: I used to move the more egregiously sexist material so that it wasn't the first thing female customers saw when they came in.
The sad thing is that the numbers of underhygenic fans really aren't that large when taken as an overall number... it's just that they seem to congregate, and even a sub-1% population is ample to contaminate an entire event by the pervasive nature of their, er, particular malanthropism.
(In my personal experience in gamer/fan circles, the incidence of malodourous fans is somewhat exaggerated by the (justifiably) mistaken addition of those who don't adapt too well to the underventillated or overcrowded venues that are all too common.)
-- Steve'd be four-square behind a movement to institute dress codes and codes of conduct in game and fan events. That kind of rancid publicity is the kind that violates the "There's no such thing as bad press" axiom.
(PS: I've been musing the idea of "Black Tie Halo" for quite some time as a way to elevate the image of gaming... but that looks to be pure fantasy, no?)
Aye must are ok. But the ones that aren't are both the ones that get noticed and the "archetypal" gamer.
Gamers are weird because the no-social skills set wear gaming t-shirts all the time, never wash them and never wash themselves. The non-archetypal gamers just don't get noticed...
The non-archetypical ones are the ones who you're surprised to learn are gamers.
And, of course, they tend not to volunteer the information because of the Unclean who are somehow never sufficiently discouraged from representing the hobby.
It's actually just like pagans, furries, and baptists: The sane ones usually avoid wearing it on their sleeves, because of the insane ones.
It's actually just like pagans, furries, and baptists: The sane ones usually avoid wearing it on their sleeves, because of the insane ones.
Bingo.
Unless I deliberately put on the bling (which is typically something small and discreet like a ring with a pentacle on it), there's no visible sign of what I get up to on full moons and the like.
There are those (the members of the initiatory-only, you-must-be-over-18-and-preferably-over-30, study and read and work the approximate equivalent of what it takes to get a college degree) who are so private about it that you might see them around for years and never know. And that's partly because a lot of them are of the opinion that religion in general doesn't belong in public, but also because the "Let's wear the garb into town, piss off the locals, and get our festival picketed as a direct result" (this actually happened around here a few years ago) crowd isn't one they want to be associated with.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-07 05:30 pm (UTC)It was worse up at Gamer's Guild, whose owner allegedly put up a sign reading "If you haven't bathed in the last week, don't come in."
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-07 05:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-07 05:51 pm (UTC)Of course, the fact that he _had to_ is sad. It's an aspect of RPGing I've never understood.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-07 06:05 pm (UTC)It's repulsive and is undoubtedly the single largest reason why gamers are stigmatised - because, in uncomfortably large numbers they *don't* practice or insist on basic hygiene.
Yergh.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-07 06:20 pm (UTC)I: I used to move the more egregiously sexist material so that it wasn't the first thing female customers saw when they came in.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-07 06:47 pm (UTC)(In my personal experience in gamer/fan circles, the incidence of malodourous fans is somewhat exaggerated by the (justifiably) mistaken addition of those who don't adapt too well to the underventillated or overcrowded venues that are all too common.)
-- Steve'd be four-square behind a movement to institute dress codes and codes of conduct in game and fan events. That kind of rancid publicity is the kind that violates the "There's no such thing as bad press" axiom.
(PS: I've been musing the idea of "Black Tie Halo" for quite some time as a way to elevate the image of gaming... but that looks to be pure fantasy, no?)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-08 12:00 am (UTC)Gamers are weird because the no-social skills set wear gaming t-shirts all the time, never wash them and never wash themselves. The non-archetypal gamers just don't get noticed...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-08 12:17 am (UTC)And, of course, they tend not to volunteer the information because of the Unclean who are somehow never sufficiently discouraged from representing the hobby.
It's actually just like pagans, furries, and baptists: The sane ones usually avoid wearing it on their sleeves, because of the insane ones.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-10 12:54 am (UTC)Bingo.
Unless I deliberately put on the bling (which is typically something small and discreet like a ring with a pentacle on it), there's no visible sign of what I get up to on full moons and the like.
There are those (the members of the initiatory-only, you-must-be-over-18-and-preferably-over-30, study and read and work the approximate equivalent of what it takes to get a college degree) who are so private about it that you might see them around for years and never know. And that's partly because a lot of them are of the opinion that religion in general doesn't belong in public, but also because the "Let's wear the garb into town, piss off the locals, and get our festival picketed as a direct result" (this actually happened around here a few years ago) crowd isn't one they want to be associated with.
Can't blame them, really.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-07 10:22 pm (UTC)My housemates /knew/ I was cleaning my tactical shotgun.
Apparently there was some discomfort in other rooms when I started laughing insanely.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-08 03:42 pm (UTC)