The Pros and Cons of the PAX Diversity Lounges

“I could be wrong, but I believe that ‘Diversity’ is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era.”

– Ron Burgundy

In response to some of their off-colour and unwelcoming remarks in the past, Penny Arcade is planning on introducing a new section to their Expo events in Boston, Seattle and Melbourne: a ‘Diversity Lounge’, intended to be a hub of  communication and education regarding disenfranchised members of the gaming community.

The official announcement, leaked anonymously to Indie Statik and later confirmed by Kotaku, can be seen below, and outlines the plan for these hubs:

While there is potential benefits to this new system, there are just as many drawbacks:

The Pros:

• It seems like Penny Arcade is taking its criticisms from the past into account and attempting to extend an olive branch to those they’ve offended. I use words like “seem” and “attempting” because being one of the biggest monopolies in gaming industry events and trivializing the experiences of rape survivors for the sake of badly-written jokes does stick with people. But, listening to both good and bad feedback and making an effort to change the status quo based on what people have to say is a step in the right direction.
• They have the industry connections to pull it off. The fact that one of the most influential voices in the gaming market is constantly put in hot water by fans for insensitive comments makes things rather difficult for creators, journalists and fans alike – we want to continue designing, selling, buying, playing and reviewing games because it’s an activity we love, so naturally as a community we want to support events and other opportunities to continue our hobbies or our careers, but we don’t want to support something that hurts fans and makes people unhappy. But the bright side is that game creators and members of the media whom are female, differently-abled, queer-identifying, live with mental illness and/or come from a range of cultures and backgrounds would have an official, organized opportunity come forward, share their experiences, and connect with like-minded individuals in order to work towards a more respectful community. With how highly-publicized PAX is, it’s an ideal place to generate social critique and propose action.
• More opportunity for community members to actually speak for themselves. It can be difficult for those whom are marginalized to have their perspectives taken into account, both as gamers and in life in general. You probably can’t hear us over all the ‘make me a sandwich’ quips and obscenities being hollered during online matches. What makes it even harder to speak up is that some of the most well-known feminist critics, particularly of video games, are guilty of being selfish and irresponsible as both journalists and feminists, constantly undercutting other women and even dismissing proven facts that do not align with their views for the sake of fame and profit. These communication hubs that PAX proposes have the potential to reject a centralized “authority” for social justice and advocacy (which tend to further exclude those in most need of help), and instead promote a community-based dialogue. Regular consumers of video games do not need someone with no prior interest in the gaming industry swooping in and asking for $50,000 to dictate to us what is right and what is wrong – this just cultivates more of the elitism and greed we are fighting against. We need a round table where everyone can talk about how to make the world of gaming more accepting and there is at least some chance for these lounges to provide as such.

The Cons:

• It reads like an attempt to shut up their critics. Knowing that members of Penny Arcade are less than open-minded regarding gamers that don’t identify with heteronormative or masculine ideals, the addition of a so-called safe space comes across less like a cutting-edge idea and more like a polite way of saying, “Here, we gave you your own special corner so stop complaining”.  There is a very real difference between truly making amends and offering a token gesture for the sake of publicity, and it’s highly debatable where the introduction of the Diversity Lounges falls.
• Why a designated zone? We are not unicorns. There is something contradictory about inventing a section of the PAX events to promote diversity. When discussing this whole issue with the GEEKPR0N family, Matthew made some excellent points far better than I could: “Aside from creating less of a safe space and more of a series of mini-ghettos, I imagine it would make anyone within those spaces uncomfortable because of the attention it would give them: being singled out for who they are and what they identify as in those spaces. Others might just avoid the spaces so as not to feel singled out.” – it would make more sense to ensure the entire convention can be a safe space for all attendees. Women, persons of colour, differently-abled people, LGBTQ individuals and so on need to be integrated into the event in order for game creators, critics and the industry on the whole to understand their power as consumers and why they deserve the same recognition as anyone else.
• It’s too easy for the people who needed to be challenged to ignore the subject matter. Here in lies the problem of creating a special area for something that should be considered common sense and a normal part of the gamer community: it risks the appearance of a “splinter” or footnote compared to the rest of the gaming population, making it uncomfortably easy for the prejudiced, harassing consumers to continue downplaying the plights of others and dismissing issues of gender and racially motivated bullying. If we’re preaching to the choir without ever really getting close enough to the industry’s attitudinal barriers to break them down, there’s not much progress to be had.

In light of the concerns that have popped up, Penny Arcade and PAX staff member Robert Khoo has released further information about the Diversity plan: he states that “Based on feedback from previous shows, it’s clear that having a diverse lineup of both content and exhibitors is something folks want, but the reality is that some of those places might not be able to afford a booth. So we carved out a large room at the show in a high traffic area that highlighted some of these great organizations and offered tables to them for free.” The goal of the hubs, according to PAX, is to “drive awareness and even celebrate the groups and their goals” – say what you will about Penny Arcade, Mr. Khoo does handle their public relations very smoothly.

Whether or not these Lounges will be successful for both PAX and the groups they’re claiming to help remains to be seen and depends on several sensitive factors. If a shitstorm results, it might make good headlines in the short term, but in the long term it leaves us all frustrated and taking two steps back for every step forward.

On second thought, let’s not go to PAX. ‘Tis a silly place.