Congrats on being the first gaming journo to win the Gold Lizzie!

PS. I ate some of that cake in picture 9. I was tasty

Also Mark, if you happen to read this, you have also been a great addition to the site and I believe that you have taken it in a direction that not only did it have to go, but that people wanted it to go in. So thank you for that and, of course, keep up the good work.

It’s remarkable how much better Kotaku in general is now when compared to just a few short years ago.

Having you here has made it easier for me to keep up that pace. Thanks for all your help!

When we started thinking about who we could get on at Kotaku Australia, you were the first person I thought of. A lot of people can write cute, funny posts, and turn over work quickly, and a lot of people can put together meaty feature pieces. Not too many people are able to do both.

But you can! Awesome first five months.

I’ve worked in technical support for almost 20 years and the same problem exists in that environment. If I don’t get that “it’s a joke,” I have no sense of humor or I’m a radical feminazi who can no longer be trusted.

Waiting is not the answer, education is. We must keep educating people in order to make it end.

Still on the teaching analogy, support was a key part of the equation there, though. The reality is that many young people are still learning what’s appropriate about sociey, testing boundaries etc and that they will be offensive from time to time. It’s understandable but it’s not OK. Instead of being required to “harden up”, the school where I worked simply put supportive procedures in place to deal with it. If a student swore at you, they’d be given a suspension and integrated back into your classroom via some lessons with the Head Teacher, first. If the teacher felt threatened etc, you could raise it with the Executives or the Union. Lots of options, not just “You’re a HS teacher, you have to be tough.” Maybe you are tough, maybe you aren’t. The actual job is to deliver content, challenge students and make sure they are learning appropriately, in a safe enviroment.

I wish I knew how to better support female gamers and people in the industry. It’s not like the Internet has a time out room, though. I don’t think it’s about jumping on a bandwagon in support of people when I’m not offended myself. But if someone I know is upset about something entirely sensible, offering an alternative perspective might be more useful than staying silent.

The world has to accommodate differing opinion, because the alternative of expecting nobody to voice anything that could be upsetting to someone else is impractical.