Discrimination and Escapism in Interactive Fiction

[DreamingGames]

@HomingPidgeon

But I highly doubt the day to day existence of a superhuman is going to be fraught in the same way it is for real world minorities. I’ll cede that maybe they might worry about an organized attack, if they’ve got particularly brave and particularly hateful neighbors. And almost definitely there’d be some isolation and social ostracization. But things like street harassment, being afraid to leave the house because the individuals in the city around them are actively and loudly hateful? People shout slurs at minorities in the real world because they don’t think the minorities will fight back. They aren’t going to do the same thing to someone who’s being discriminated against because they have lazer eyes. Hence,

@idonotlikeusernames

discrimination usually targets the weak, the helpless, the vulnerable

being an apt comment. Someone harasses a queer couple or a homeless person on the assumption that they cannot meaningfully fight back. People aren’t going to do the same to someone who’s being discriminated against entirely because they’re too scarily good at fighting back

If we are talking the real world we have to talk intersectionality as well.

The rich, white, trustfund kid who gets a ‘cool’ power? Absolutely would not be targeted. A black-african american with pyrokinesis - he was just so dangerous.

And we also have to discuss when you actually fight back. In our modern world, a bigot might perceive it safe to target the powered because depending on the law in the situation he might know that the powered can’t fight back.

It’s the same as when a bigot makes a harmless “joke” in a workplace. If I were to hit someoone who does, I would be imprisoned, even if the joke was hateful. Hell, in some workplaces, even if I tried to hit back at the same level (ie. verbally) I might be told ‘You have no humor’ and be isolated and eventually forced to quiet my job.

Also did none of you never, truly come across a bully who would deliberately provoke you to lash out (even with violence)? Even if you were physically much stronger. Because I have come across those two or three times in my life. The kind of bully that knows that if they can get you to yell or punch you will be serverely punished? It is not even suicidal. They just, instinctively, know that social pressure is such that if you defend yourself you will go to jail and expect you to not want to go to jail and thus be defenseless even if you aren’t on paper.