Charly Dwyer

Are you caught in the Society Trap?

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It ain’t about the guy who tries to buy a clean car when you’re dirty.  You should figure out how to be clean. You should figure out how to do a job that doesn’t involve you walking in mud all day… it’s possible

Pretty confronting works from Joe Rogan… and there’s another 6 minutes of words just like it.

This video was shared on my Google Plus feed and the commentary with it, made me listen.

The premise is that instead of just finding to do something with time during ‘work hours’ that you simply go to, find something where you can contribute and make life better all round. He briefly touches on the old fashioned barter system to underline this point – where everyone has something to share and contribute.

Have you sold your life to sit in a box and work for a machine that demands productivity, or are you doing something your passionate about?

At 4 minutes and 50 seconds, Joe relates the story of an illustrator friend who lost their job at Nickolodean. The friend started doing illustrations, so they could earn income till their next job came along… and fell into something they loved doing, that made a difference and helped them survive.

For me, it’s about being open to the opportunities as they present themselves… looking at what floats your boat, makes your cup runneth over.

This is well worth the 6 minutes to watch.

 

 

 

Women, Sexism and Equality… in the Gaming Industry

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I want to say that I’m shocked. I want to say that I’m stunned…. but I just can’t.  Instead I’m saddened and angry (again)….  Whilst today I’m sharing my thoughts on the gaming world, I know that much of what I’m about to share occurs in other industries as well.

[[Trigger Warning]]

One of my friends shared Video Games, Misogyny, And Terrorism: A Guide To Assholes with me and I then saw Wil Wheaton reblog a discussion that started “the situation is just intolerable” which linked to the same article as well (among others).

After reading the Bad Ass Digest article, it took me a while to work out what the furore was about – I don’t follow the Video Game industry.  What I read was astounding and confronting.  The crux of the article, as I see it was:

And… whilst I might be writing this from a female perspective it’s not just the women that are targeted.  The men who publicly support women, call bull s&*^ on the behaviour or even ask for moderation in peoples approaches are attacked as well.

It seems to me that in the gaming world, women seem to be targeted a lot…  they receive abuse and threats and it might even be escalating.  Now before anyone starts with the “so do men…” – I know they do and that isn’t right however, as Brianna Wu points out in her article on Polygon: No skin thick enough: The daily harassment of women in the game industry, there are several “myths” that apply – two of which I’ll share here.  (These are excerpts of the linked article and I encourage you to read the whole thing)

Myth 1: Everyone in the games industry experiences harassment. Women are just too sensitive about it. 

If you are a woman in the industry with a critical opinion, you will get a disproportional amount of criticism, hostility, and scrutiny compared to men.

Myth 3: Women should just laugh off online harassment and not take it personally. 

This kind of harassment leaves long-lasting damage. It affects our friendships, and can cause us to be distant from others.

Why these two?  Because I’ve experienced both… I worked in a male dominated field from the age of 16 and I was told that as women “to be considered half as good [as my male counterparts], you need to be three times better”.  I expected criticism, hostility and sexualised behaviour.  I still remember how much I hated walking into the cafeteria where I studied – I was often the only female in the room with a bunch of apprentices who didn’t have an issue with making comments …

I’ve experienced harassment online and offline – one lot was from a business partner.  To this day, there are times that I dread reading my email, or opening Facebook or Twitter.  It’s taken forever to change my outlook on certain situations so that I can respond more positively. There are still days that I want to run screaming and crying back to bed and remain there.  But I know that facing the situation with the right support is the only way I’m going to get over it.

I acknowledge that my experience wasn’t as a developer in the gaming industry and I can’t really know what it is like to be stalked and harrased as these women are – but I can start to imagine it.  And I don’t like what I’m feeling.

In Brianna’s article she makes the following statement:

If you are a woman working in the games industry, especially in a public way, you’re going to experience harassment. I imagine telling my 12-year-old self that fulfilling my dream of making games would lead to constant threats. Would she still do it? Would any woman?

Would you?  If you knew that you would receive constant threats and abuse, would you go down that path or would you choose something safer and more comfortable?

Would I still tell my 12 year old self to make the same career decisions or would I encourage her to choose something else.

Threats and Harrasment

The threats and harrasment that come along include:

  • Denial of Service attacks – where your website is flooded with traffic so it crashes and no one can access it
  • Doxing – distributing personal information online
  • Abuse sent via Tweets, Emails, Texts and Facebook messages (or other medium)
  • Account hacking

The abusing messages aren’t just abusing though – they contain threats… and some pretty serious ones at that.  Rape and acts of violence seem to be common but it also appears to be common that family members and supporters are targeted as well.

Look at the most recent cases – these are happening today… they aren’t historical….

A threat to “see me when you least expect it” from No skin thick enough: The daily harassment of women in the game industry which was posted on July 22nd.

From a tweet by Zoe Quinn posting a review of her game Depression Quest because women don’t have the right to be depressed…

From Anita Sarkeesian sharing just how bad the threats against her (MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING) for her Tropes vs Womens Video Series

These are just a couple of examples… in 2013 Business Insider shared other women’s stories of harrasment in the gaming industry.  But how many women actually receive threats and simply give up or go away?  I reckon there’s a number.

Now I’m sure some of the abuse that is received comes from other women… it’s not just guys / men / males (choose the right descriptor for yourself) that perpetrates this vile behaviour and further, I know lots and lots of decent people of both sexes who cringe at such revolting behaviour and will do what needs to be done to counter act it…

However, is it any wonder that many women decide not to enter into industries that have a high male contingent?

I despair when I hear my young female friends, who could blitz the tech stuff, say they aren’t going into a tech based field because “they aren’t smart enough” or “they don’t want to deal with the guys…”.  It’s heart breaking.

So What Can Be Done?

Addressing equality and sexism starts with us.  We need to be mindful of what we say and do when supporting others and addressing the trolls.  Take a look at the Do’s and Don’ts provided by Leigh Alexander for addressing sexism online – they’ve got a lot covered: But WHAT CAN BE DONE: Dos and Don’ts To Combat Online Sexism.

Remember, it starts with us….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Falling through the cracks – when training organisations fail you…

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This story is not complete yet – but I thought I would share what we have experienced so far…

You would think that choosing an organisation that provides Government Accredited training packages would mean that you should receive a certain level of service.  More importantly, after reading the training organisations sales literature, speaking to them on the phone to clarify your questions and then reading their impressive procedures and policies in terms of supporting students – you could expect that you wouldn’t “fall through the cracks”.

Unfortunately, that has not been my experience…

My daughter started a Certificate II in Animal Studies in August last year… Stuart and I were stoked she wanted to this but we were concerned because we knew she had to do a work placement – and work placements for Animal Care are tough to get… however, the training organisation PROMISED they would help with that and work with our daughter to secure a placement…. so, we signed her up and started paying the funds for the course.

I should add that Rhi started this course whilst finishing Year 11 and knew that she would have a pretty massive course load for Year 12, as well as studying for this course.  Which is one reason why the level of support offered by the training organisation was appealing.

All was good – Rhi started her first module immediately and within 3 months had submitted and passed it.  What happens next?  Well, the online portal didn’t update to the next module.  She knew she had to find a work placement so started contacting organisations … as detailed in the handbook provided by the Training organisation.  Several MONTHS pass with rejection after rejection and finally, in desperation she contacts her support officer to ask for help.  What is she given?  A “canned response” saying see the handbook.

What should have happened???  According to the training organisations procedure, a training officer should have contacted her within 2 business days to interview her about what she had done and provide her with the support and action plan to find a placement.   However, before that even happened after 90 days of no assessable work being submitted, they were supposed to have contacted her.

Did any of this happen?  No!  Instead, she’s near to the end of her course and is now requesting an extension to allow her to complete the work placement that took so long to find and the final pieces of assessment that will be provided on the completion of her work placement.

This training organisation has failed to meet its obligations to their learner.  They have falsely represented the services they provide.  And what do they want in return?  Oh, they will consider an extension – at a monthly fee for the extension – providing they get payment in full for the course they have not delivered.  How does that work?

Now, Rhi has been trying to deal with all this herself – it was only that I asked a question this week that prompted an uncharacteristic outburst that I found out.   She was prepared to just give up – obviously because she didn’t get her work placement in time, it’s her issue… um No.  I’m definitely a Mumma Bear – don’t mess with my kid.  So I downloaded all their policies and procedures and checked her communications with the business – we’re now talking turkey about how they are going to help her get this finished.

The point is – Rhi has someone like me to help her navigate these issues.  I would think that not many people have someone who will advocate as strongly as I do.  How many young people have signed up and paid their fees to find themselves in a similar situation?  Does that make the behaviour of  the organisation, predatory?  Do they prey on the fact that people don’t know what they should expect and just let things ride?  I reckon it does.

So what do we learn from this experience?

Do your homework … check with previous course attendee’s about their experience; check forums and the like for what people are saying.  In this case, there wasn’t much good or bad on the organisation.

Make sure you familiarise yourself with their processes and procedures – be really aware of what the organisations responsibilities to you are.

Follow their processes and document everything.

Be proactive and act early

Get help – asking someone to advocate for you and provide assistance is a good thing.  Just make sure the person is the right one.