Showing posts with label don't be a dick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label don't be a dick. Show all posts

15 September 2018

Problems with inclusivity

Not terribly long ago, somebody commented on my entry Inclusive NPCs Volume 4: Chadra. The comment read as follows:
It's great that you mention her not being a damsel in distress, but even just the backstory you gave for her sounds like you're unintentionally making an allusion to stereotypes of Islam. Maybe try a bit harder next time.
Of course, this comment was left anonymously, indicating that it was apparently someone who wasn't interested in discussing the issue, but simply felt the need to feel superior by making an accusation of something that I did wrong.

I responded to this comment, asking:
I'm not sure what stereotypes you're referring to. If I've made a mistake somewhere, I'd very much like to fix it. Please let me know what I did wrong. I reread the backstory, and I'm not sure where I made the error. But I'd love to hear your input. How can I make it better?
That was over three months ago. There has been no response. This supports my hypothesis that the person had no actual desire to remedy a problem, or to improve inclusiveness, but to make accusations and walk away feeling proud of themselves for being 'better at inclusivity' than someone else.

This is especially likely given the tone of the final sentence in the comment: 'Maybe try a bit harder next time.' This seems very condescending. It's dripping with the implied notion of 'you aren't inclusive enough. Thus, you don't matter. You aren't worthy, and your attempts at inclusion are not sufficient. You aren't good enough to be part of the elite group of accepting to which I belong.'