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This thread is probably gonna get locked because it isn't directly tied to the game but I'm posting it anyway since I really need to say it and I think a lot of people on here would benefit from hearing it.
So. Equality. In DAI, but more specifically the fanbase's reaction and idea of what equality entails.
Lets start with this idea that equality is a perfect number split that I've seen pretty often. People whinging about X group getting one more than they or whatever. Now if that's your idea of what equality is in this world you're gonna have a bad time. Cuz it's not about numbers. It's about having the same opportunities as the norm, to be treated the same way. To have more than one facet, to be nuanced. A real person with quirks and strengths and weaknesses who can be good and who can be bad and every shade in between. To avoid the caricature. To not be the token. To have that meatiness that more mainstream characters get without question, not to get asked "oh, I wonder what part of the population THIS character is supposed to appease." It's about being a character and a person first, being represented as such, and everything else second. Bioware delivers us this with a depth and understanding that no other AAA publisher does. They don't make gay [or whatever minority or disenfranchised group] characters that are relevant to the plot. They make characters that are relevant to the plot that just happen to be gay or whatever. And that's a thing of beauty guys.
So yeah. When we're talking equality numbers rank pretty low on the checklist of **** that needs to get done. Well on my checklist anyway YMMV.
And now we get to the real reason I started this rant. And this was sparked of by a recently locked thread, that one about there being more LIs for non-heterosexual males for a change or something. Which may or may not be the case I don't actually care because like I said I don't think equality is a numbers game. But the kind of mentality I saw there really just rustled my jimmies. And confused me. And it's not like this is the first time I've seen it, you get it a lot in minority groups.
And what I'm talking about here is this idea that inequality is okay as long as it affects the 'norm,' in this case heterosexual males. This is horseshit. It's this kind of reactionary, puerile, ******-for-tat mentality that just allows society to marinade in it's own built up prejudicial juices. You can't fix the past where you (or your group) were the victim of inequality by now shunting it over to your "oppressors," you can only move forward. We don't choose how we're born and this counts even for straight heterosexual males, true many of them remain apathetic because that apathy is comfortable but that in no way makes any kind of inequality towards them fair. 1
It's like all these groups asking for equality aren't asking for equality in a general sense they're just asking for equality for THEM. For their group. I don't know, maybe that's what they were always asking. But the impression I got was that being a SJW (not using this in a bad way btw) was aimed at equality. Full stop. Not equality for group X and then maybe equality for Y and Z eventually and we should definitely take some equality away from A because **** them they've had a lot of it already so it's fair. No dammit, that's so backwards. But it's like the groups become so insular that all they see is themselves. It's like the ideal of equality, the thing that brought everyone together in the first place, just sort of fades into this continuously growing milieu of group interest. And that's eventually all it becomes about. Forwarding the interests of the group, even sometimes at the expense of others.
And that's not copacetic guys. If you say you want equality you kinda have to want it for everyone. That's the whole idea right? To be fair. And before I get a lot of flack for being just another privileged male lobbying to protect his interests, shush your face. 2 So BSN (or whatever it is we're called now) the next time something about equality crops up (and you know it will) think about what you're saying. Reveling in the salty glory of het male tears isn't some kind of cosmic paycheck for wrongs previously suffered it's just being petty and vindictive.
Amen.
1 - Except stuff like Pride rallies, black pride and etc. Those make sense within context. These groups still have to function in a society that is predominantly not them, they need that ratification that "you exist and deserve to do so" that the norm just gets ambiently. Now unfortunately this manifests in creating an ingroup and an outgroup so it's not IDEAL but it is currently the only viable solution that I can think of anyway. They're also a great way of reminding the mainstream that you DO exist.
2 - I am white and male, tis true. But I'm also bisexual and disabled. It gives me an interesting vantage point because the being white and male are the most immediately salient factors so I know how they are treated, I know how easy it is to fall into the idea that there isn't really a problem or that it's being blown waaaaay out of proportion. It's easier than you'd think. At the same time being part of two different minorities helps me see how insular they can become. I mean you get LGBTQ groups for people with disabilities but it's almost like one identity wants to subsume the other yah know? The group emphasizes your sexuality, that's what they forwarded that's what they consider important and that's not really how it works. You have to want equality for all facets of a person, not just one with the second coming a distant... second.
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November can't get here fast enough! 
