twelveobin said
How do you bring feminism, or anti-racism or other anti-oppressive thinking, into your characters or your GMing?
I, personally, feel that when it comes to taking egalitarian thinking and placing that into my characters, it's important to address the issues. I don't even mean they need to be addressed directly. Describing internal monologue or some kind of narration about what oppressed people are going through can be a really good way to get the message across that some actions, situations, and dialogue are just not okay. One doesn't need to be preachy about it by directly saying things like, "This is harmful to oppressed-group-X, and privileged-group-A needs to stop." It can be as subtle as simply addressing the underlying mood of how something is written.
For an example... there's a published book series that features a heterosexual couple that is incredibly co-dependent and obsessive with each other. The guy stalks the girl, makes decisions for her, and essentially blames her for the fact that he has a hard time controlling his desire to harm her. They become so co-dependent that when he eventually abandons her at one point, she can't even function without him. Now, if I was writing this, I would describe it in such a way that this would be portrayed as an abusive, unhealthy relationship. However, the actual author presented all of this as a relationship filled with passion and true love.
The tone the writers set for the portrayal of their characters can make a huge difference, and that is something I try to utilize to push forward my personal, egalitarian ideals. Even if the author is trying to write someone who is sexist/racist/homophobic, and even if that person is maybe the protagonist, the negative things that character does can still be shown as not necessarily being good things even if the character believes the things they're doing are justified. It requires subtlety to not only get the message through, but one also has to make sure it's not so well hidden in the subtext that it's missed altogether. It can be a delicate balance, and even while I understand it, I sometimes don't get the message through properly.
Another thing I do to promote egalitarian views is to make sure that if my character believes in equality for all or even for one group of people, I don't allow them to utilize harmful stereotypes that are damaging to the cause. A character who has egalitarian values wouldn't say things like, "You fight like a girl!" or "You're so gay." as insults because it implies there's something negative about being a girl or being homosexual.
As a GM, it's important to allow freedom of creativity. There should absolutely be characters who are egalitarian and those who aren't because it's a more realistic reflection of our society. However, if someone joins your game whose character claims to be a feminist but is written as viewing traditionally female roles as weak without the added description of how that character tries but sometimes fails to always understand or uphold their values, it's important to gently PM them about it to remind them that their character is getting off track. Sometimes, because of how we're raised in our respective societies, it can be incredibly difficult to maintain true egalitarian values in the characters we created to have them. That's why gentle reminders or gently bringing it up in private serve GM's a lot better than publicly posting about how such-and-such person was completely out of character.
Furthermore, if a person writes a post in which the tone romanticizes or praises the sexism/racism/etc. of a character they write, it's up to the GM to write using the tones they want for their game. If the GM and another player are interacting, the GM's response post could reinforce the idea that the racist/sexist/etc. things the other character might be doing aren't as great as the character might believe, and it can all be conveyed, again, through the tone.
I don't know if that helps at all. I just know it's how I like to do things, and I figured this thread was kind of getting off track, so I thought I'd pop in and place it on its proper trajectory.
