So wait...am I racist because I had a Hawaii themed party last year? Am I sexist because I and other men there wore flower pattern skirts and coconut bras? We played native Hawaiian music, but no one tried to Hula...I was afraid we'd get it wrong and anger the volcano.
I also threw a 'white trash' party last year, and built an outhouse and still in my front yard for it. Am I a self hating honkey?

The 'white twitter' thing is weird, because there IS a 'black twitter', isn't there? I hear it reported about all the time.

It's interesting to note that by making the video and posting it, they've both technically skirted prostitution...

Odd, because it did work for me, as I can't even see @speechless's comments due to one particularly nasty, insulting conversation we had one day that ended in my ignoring him/her. Now there's no way to un-do that if I wished to, without having lucky do it for me.
Agreed though, stricter enforcement of the 'rules' would have made my requesting this feature (yes, I requested this...go ahead and blame the Newt) moot. The people that constantly made the site a place I wasn't sure I wanted to visit, IMO, violated the rules repeatedly...but my opinion is only, like, my opinion man, and if the moderators don't think they've crossed the line, this feature was the only way I would be able to continue here...since I was unable to ignore a few members (now I'm not talking about speechless) because their inflammatory hate speech was so often quoted and commented about, so I would click 'see it anyway' out of curiosity, and often ended up replying.
Now that I don't see them at all, I feel much better about being here. It does mean that I no longer contradict their insanity publicly (or at all), so they get to spout their hateful ideas with less opposition, but there came a time when enough was enough and I realized that I was only giving them the attention they were seeking just by replying, and certainly not making a dent in their ignorance or hatred, and it wasn't doing me any good either.
Since they know how far they can skirt the rules while still being as annoying as possible, this was the best option I could think of....and I'm quite grateful to Lucky for implementing it for me (and others).
I think it sucks ass that most of the dissenting (right wing) voices here have become so angry and hateful that they aren't worth listening to anymore, and seem to only post here to get a rise out of others, not to inform or discuss. I wish that was not the case, but since it is, for me it was either stop reading them altogether (requiring this addition to 'ignore'), or just leave like so many others have. I was not ready to abandon the sift and let them 'win', so this seemed the best alternative.

It would be nice if you could see who you are ignoring on your profile page somewhere, and had the ability to choose to un-ignore on a person by person basis by one's self. Who knows, it's possible that some of them might go to the lounge (where ignored users can still be seen), indicate they had changed, and make me interested in reading their comments again. As it stands, I would have to go to @lucky760 for that 'un-ignore'...it would be better, I think, if we could do it ourselves without bothering him, but I don't know how possible or reasonable that really is.

This is great! Now we just need to popularize this with wearing skirts!!

Let's face it.. they did everything, and the shows were becoming more and more contrived, obvious and staged. It was about time it stopped.

The problem with Clarkson is similar to the problem with Al Murray the Pub Landlord. There are people laughing at him because they find the caricature of a racist, sexist moron saying stupid things funny - and they often are funny. There are also people laughing, saying "he's so right!" Clarkson does not have the advantage of being a comedian, and i reject the notion that he is one - he never has been one and could never front a decent comedy set under its own merit. If you want to see a comedian that correctly applies context and frames sexist/racist comments, see Al Murray.

If you find the idea of a man saying "catch a nigger by the toe" funny and somehow feel you're missing out if it isn't said, then we're never really going to see eye to eye. You can wave your hands and pass the buck about whether or not you think he said it all you like, the fact is that Clarkson has been caught red handed doing plenty of stuff like that so that guilt can be reasonably assumed given that it sounded very much like it. Add on top of that the apology - coming from a man who takes a piss on rules and convention, it's an admission of some degree of guilt.

Perhaps if he skirted other issues better, people wouldn't assume he was a fucking idiot. And i'm sorry to say, quite an entertaining idiot. take for example the falkland number plate - what sort of colossal moron believes it was a coincidence? I enjoy many parts of the show, but that doesn't mean i can't think he's completely irresponsible for being racist and for downplaying personal vehicle contribution to global warming when it is undoubtable to anyone who studies the subject appropriately.... which he owes it to the viewers and to the future of fucking humankind to do, considering the reach of his show.

i am with @ChaosEngine on this one.

his "short skirt" analogy,from an absolute moral standpoint is correct.

so i am reading most of these comments in the abstract:"while it is a shame how you were raped and those men are deplorable and vicious...you REALLY should not have gone out wearing that skirt".

and as @entr0py noted,it comes across as mysoginistic.

was that the intent?
probably not,but it does explain chaos becoming so frustrated with this thread.something that should be self-evident is being buried under good intentions and a healthy dose of double standards.

as for this being her "revenge"...
i dont see it as revenge but rather as her recapturing her dignity and self-determination.

basically..fuck the haters.
and on that note i say "well played miss holten,well played".

No, but they should accept in this day and age that a ton of douches might snap secret pics of them (potenially upskirt shots when the girls are going up an escalator or something), fap to said pics, then upload the pics for others to potentially fap to. Not saying that's right, but it's a possibility that anyone wearing a mini-skirt would be foolish to ignore.

It's a digital world now. As @Jerykk was pointing out, the best way to avoid naked pics of yourself showing up on the Net is not to take naked pics of yourself (and even then some scumbag might install a hidden camera in a changing room or shower and you wind up on there anyway). From jilted ex-lovers to NSA hoovering data to security breaches/password leaks that seem to be making headlines every day, the odds of a naked pic of yourself being made public against your will (whether you're male or female) are exponentially higher these days. I think anyone who takes naked pics of themselves and doesn't expect them to show up online at some point (could be decades from now) is being a bit naive, especially if they are digital pics,

Everyone seems to be skirting the most important question.

How DO they get the cheese in the crust?

I thought the solution was rather obvious, actually.

You fix things by making games where people are portrayed as... people. Not trophies to be acquired, not sexual objects to be drooled over, and not stereotypes.

You couple that with continued criticism of games that continue to rely on sexist, racist, or homophobic tropes.

And guess what? That's already happening. People have been saying that games need to change for a while before Sarkeesian showed up. Bioware acknowledged the issues and started trying to include more realistic characters in its RPGs years ago--and caught flak for it even back then.

To address your other... points?

My daughter asked me the other day why she can't play as the princess in Super Mario Galaxy 2 (or any of the other Mario games we own). And I had to tell her it's because the Princess got kidnapped. Her response was to ask if she could play as the Princess once we freed her from Bowser. And I had to tell her no.

There is something wrong with that!

After having that conversation with my daughter I fired up Torchlight, where I'm currently playing as a Vanquisher. Vanquisher's are rogue-like ranged characters and can only be female. If you want to be a warrior ("Destroyer" in game terms) or magic user ("Alchemist" in game terms), sorry--it's a men's only club. And not only that, but Vanquisher's--regardless of the armor they wear, must bare their midriff and wearing a mini-skirt showing lots of leg and cleavage (do a google image search for Torchlight Vanquisher to see what I'm talking about). Apparently you can't be a Vanquisher without being a sex pot too.

There is something wrong with that! (To be fair, they got better with Torchlight II and allowed any class to be any gender and allowed the women to cover up with armor OR choose to be sexy).

Society doesn't just change by itself. You're right, society is becoming more accepting of diversity--because people are fighting very hard for it.

Take America's attitude towards homosexuality. Look at the strides made in the last 20 years. That didn't just magically happen. There were TV shows that portrayed homosexuals as human beings worthy of respect. There were lawsuits. There were marches and protests. There were speeches. There were YouTube campaigns like "It gets better." A lot of people worked fucking hard to get the message out that bigotry is not okay.

Look, I'm sorry people pointing out to you how fucked up it is how women are sometimes portrayed in games is somehow ruining your ability to enjoy games. But there are serious problems here. Maybe not problems for you, but problems for people like my daughter.

The solution to these problems is not to lambast the people pointing them out. Nor is the solution to sit back and do nothing and hope it all works out for the best. One solution, as I've already stated, is to be openly critical of the messages contained in ALL media (including games). Another solution is to be vocal about the need for more realistic and diverse portrayals of people in ALL media (including games).

You can still have your Damsel/Dude in Distress trope, by the way. I have no doubt lazy developers will continue to use it as a substitute for meaningful story. Just don't expect people not to call out the utter absurdity of it, is all I'm saying.

There's a difference between "I want to legally enforce the banning of catcalls" and "Guys who do that are assholes".

Again, she should be able to walk down the street and she shouldn't have to wear earbuds. Asking why she doesn't is victim blaming. It's exactly the same as saying "well maybe if you didn't want to get raped, you shouldn't have worn that short skirt" (obviously catcalls are nowhere near as bad as rape).

And I don't think women selectively complain about catcalls, they selectively complain about unwanted attention. A guy offering to buy you a drink in a bar or talking to you a party is a different scenario to someone yelling "nice ass" on the street.

the situation in st louis did not just pop up out of thin air overnight.the tensions between the poor community (mostly black) and the police has been a festering pressure cooker for almost 15 years.

a particularly venal chapter in the st louis police archives is the RNC of 2008,for anybody to absorb some context on the militarization of a police force.

the tinder has been accumulating just waiting for the match.
mike brown WAS that match.
this is not new nor original.
it has happened before.

and as @lantern53 has pointed out:it is the chain of command that sets the tone of how that police force performs their duties.so if those in charge are authoritarian douche nozzles,that attitude tends to trickle down to the everyday cop on the street.

cops by their very nature are authoritarian due to their vocational choice.they respect the chain of command and the authority it represents.to follow orders is to be a "good" cop.

so i do not understand the ridicule that lantern is receiving.he is offering his perspective AS an actual police officer.i am not suggesting that he is right NOR that his opinion somehow exonerates the st louis cop JUST because he is a cop but rather we should listen to someone who actual IS a cop.

there is absolutely ZERO evidence that lantern is a bad cop.we simply do not know how well,or poorly,lantern is at his job.

there IS evidence,however,that lantern tends be a tad racist,authoritarian and contradictory.lantern may be a poor debater but that does not make him a bad cop.

though his defense of zimmerman does reveal an extremely poor judge of character.(seriously lantern?that dude is a full fledged cunt).

but i get it @VoodooV,
lantern is easy pickings.
a right wing authoritarian conservative commenting on a mostly secular left site?
its like shooting fish in a barrel.

sometimes lantern brings it on himself...i know.
his poor debating skills coupled with an almost embarrassing understanding of history and government makes him catnip to someone like you.

its
just
so
easy

i disagree with lantern,pretty much always and i agree that sometimes his biased rhetoric should be taken to task,if only to clear up the bullshit.

but you take it to whole new levels voodoo.
you follow him from thread to thread and chastise and belittle him and THEN act all hurt and shocked when he lashes out at you!

seriously?thats like poking a grizzly bear in the face and then crying when it rips half your face off.

you use the exact same tactics choggie used,but at least he was entertaining.

you are just a bully.
a hypocritical,sanctimonious bully.hiding behind the skirts of others who may find lanterns comments distasteful (which they certainly can be).this is a cowards path and just like all bullies,you rely on the silence of others to continue your persecution of someone who does not have the support of an entire site.

i find your lack of humanity disturbing.
and i will not be silent.
your actions do not deserve respect but rather ridicule.

Related Posts: Basrats and Bereta: Construction Cat Calls
I found that especially funny because of these "dress like a slut, get treated like one" type of responses here.
I know, the word "slut" isn't nice and I'm not good a political correctness (I actually loathe it) but maybe the problem is not with the word but with our associations with it.
You see, the problem I have starts with the idea that there's something wrong with sluts. As a man (and therefore certainly a pig, at least in my case) I enjoy sluts tremendously. They are women who share, at least in general terms, my sexual morals and enjoy their sexuality as much as I do (theirs and mine). I see nothing wrong with that. Sure, I dislike STDs as much as anybody but being slutty doesn't mean automatically being careless, just more at risk. Maybe I just don't understand men who like their female sex partners to be well behaved little princesses. They either prefer very conservative sex (you know, when blowjobs seem kinky) or they are strangely rapey. Maybe it's just our manly discomfort of loosing control over female sexuality.
Then there is this notion of dressing "like a slut". Sure, there is unappropriate clothing. I wouldn't go to a funeral in my Spongebob Squarepants pyjamas. But why is it in todays times, in the western world that is covered in billboards full of women in bikinis, so wrong to walk the street dressed in your best "sexy hooker" halloween costume? Are these women on the billboards, the ones who strike sexualized poses to sell me beer, dressed like sluts too? Is a bikini "slutty clothing"? I'm pretty sure my mom once wore one and yours probably too. As long as the important parts are covered, it should be fine.
The real issue, though, is the idea that anybody has a right to comment on that. Loudly.
If I have a right to comment sluttly clothing, can I also comment on other clothing that isn't the percieved norm? Do I get to shout ghost and terrorism related jokes at women in burkas? Can I yell at cops to come and strip-search me because I have a thing for uniforms? Should I yell at anyone with unfortunate clothing choices? "Hey lady, don't shake that ass, it's too fat for these pants! I don't want the Blob to escape!"
No, it's only sexually provocative clothing that gets these reactions. And that's why I like the video above so much, because it shows what kind of comments you get. It's never "young lady, I disagree with your clothing choice and insist you put on something decent!" nor "What a beautiful skirt, is it silk?"
It is always amused, approving and at the same time disrespectful and sexually dominant. Often gleefull and too often actually misogynistic.
These are never positive comments and even if the words seem positive, they're harassment. It's nothing but sexual harassment. Otherwise these men would be yelling "Young lady, I disagree with your clothing choice and insist you put on something decent!"
Dress like a slut, get treated like one, that's just a lame excuse for men trying to control female sexuality.
Personally, I think if you dress like a slut, I should treat you with respect and kindness. Because I want sluts to like me. I'm a pig.

Anyone who thinks i'm condoning assault on any level for any reason can just flat out go to hell... having said that...

The first part of this video infuriates me. You wear a skirt where your ass is literally hanging out the back, and then get indignant about the cat calls? That does nothing but hurt our cause. Let me put it another way. So if she accepts no responsibility for dressing like that, at what point does she?... She says it herself... she dresses provocatively!!! Well... seems to me she is by definition provoking a response. I'm curious what response she wanted to provoke if not that one.

The real issue is women don't have to dress like prostitutes to be harassed EXACTLY like this... and it would have been a far more reasonable and effective demonstration if they would have shown that...

When cooking at home I will often go with either the skirt or the flank. Most restaurants won't offer a flank option (some have a London Broil, but no often any more) and most certainly not any skirt steak options (sometimes I think the chef's do this so they can take those cuts home with them).

In a restaurant, I'll go with the NY strip bone-in. Rare.