Race and Sexuality ... Mostly Sexuality - Beeping Emo Beepbeepers

I watched some of Blizzcon 2011 from home, although I didn't watch the closing concerts, including the introduction to guest singer Corpsegrinder who was going to perform with the Blizzard employee band Level 90 Tauren Chieftain.

This short clip shown at Blizzcon and therefore understood as Blizzard condoned material, has created an uproar amongst WoW fans.

Here's a video of the event in question.




Transcript of what the above video shows, including what was beeped out.

I'm not fucking playing, World of Warcraft is fucking life for me. And I don't play no fucking homo Alliance either, I don't play no fucking night elves or gnomes - fucking orcs and undead. Fuck the Alliance, fucking die you fucking emo cocksuckers

(cut)

You know what, go back to your fucking Alliance fucking character and level to 70, stop fucking going to the Elemental Plateau ganking people, I'm trying to farm motes of air

(cut)

I'm pathetic. When it comes to World of Warcraft I'm a pathetic nerd. But I'm not Alliance, I can tell you that much.

The video was not produced specifically for this show, judging from Corpsegrinder's notion of farming motes of air, the clip is probably from 2007-8.

I've posted the longer version underneath, "unfortunately" still edited.




I think this case exemplifies several aspects, bringing up not only issues of homosexuality and hate speech but also performing masculinity.

If we think of Stuart Hall for a moment with the distinction of overt and inferential racism, the same concept can be applied to homophobia. Corpsegrinder is clearly identifying as a Horde player and is engaging in the play-fight between the two factions. This is the upper layer, but the words he chooses and how he expresses himself reveals another layer. One of the reasons Alliance is so uncool to him is that they're not masculine enough and in Corpsegrinders universe, that is equal to being gay.
In the extended version, you can hear him rant about "homo" gnomes and especially night elves, while dwarves are ok. He then goes on to complain about blood elves saying "I can't believe they gave us fucking blood elves, they're not evil". This description of Horde as the evil and brutal faction versus the Alliance as the good civilized guys is rolled out here as a matter of homosexual and weak vs "real man".

So while some players would argue this clip is funny, that doesn't negate it from being offensive or subject to criticism.

Corpsegrinder is using these anti-gay words as swearwords, as derogatories. For this to work, he has to equate being homosexual to something bad - so bad, it's meant to offend us (or well, Alliance players), so there's also a wider expectation for others to also find it derogatory to be called gay/fag/homo.

It was interesting to hear several others in class saying they didn't really connect fx "fag" with gay-bashing. Language is a dynamic size in constant motion and "fag" has already traveled a long way, having a history from before it was about homosexuality. Quoting the Wikipedia article on "Faggot":

The origins of the word as an offensive epithet for homosexuals are, however, rather obscure, although the word has been used in English since the late 16th century as an abusive term for women, particularly old women,^[5] and reference to homosexuality may derive from this,^[4][6] female terms being often used with reference to homosexual or effeminate men (cf. nancy, sissy, queen).

Is "fag", despite its current homohobic meaning, becoming a general swearword? How much of a word's history is evoked when using it? And what does it say about our culture when homophobic slurs can go under the radar this easily?

As a final note, I'll quote the WoW Harassment Policy

Highly Inappropriate

Language which falls under the following categories is deemed to be highly inappropriate. Clarification on what constitutes each category can be found by clicking on the links below.

• Racial/Ethnic
• Extreme Sexuality/Violence
• Real-Life Information and Threats
• National
• Sexual Orientation

Though we have varying tolerance for repeated abuse of each category, any language that violates one of these categories will most likely result in:

• Being given a warning
• Being temporarily suspended from the game
• Possibly being given a Final Warning, any further ToU violations resulting in account suspenion

An explanation of Account Penalties Policy can be found here: Account Penalties

Am I right in sensing a little doublestandard here, when players posting violent, crude or vulgar language on the forum or in the game are risking penalty, while Corpsegrinder openly screaming so many beeps on that video displayed at Blizzard's own convention, is hilarious and totally ok?

Well, it wasn't okay for long.
Here's the final apology from Michael Morhaime (it took a few tries to get it right):

Dear members of the Blizzard community,

I have read your feedback and comments about this year’s BlizzCon, and I have also read the feedback to the apology from Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain. I’d like to respond to some of your feedback here.

As president of Blizzard, I take full responsibility for everything that occurs at BlizzCon. 

It was shortsighted and insensitive to use the video at all, even in censored form. The language used in the original version, including the slurs and use of sexual orientation as an insult, is not acceptable, period. We realize now that having even an edited version at the show was counter to the standards we try to maintain in our forums and in our games. Doing so was an error in judgment, and we regret it.

The bottom line is we deeply apologize for our mistakes and for hurting or offending anyone. We want you to have fun at our events, and we want everyone to feel welcome. We’re proud to be part of a huge and diverse community, and I am proud that so many aspects of the community are represented within Blizzard itself.

As a leader of Blizzard, and a member of the band, I truly hope you will accept my humblest apology.

– Mike Morhaime
   President, Blizzard Entertainment