This guild is committed to being a welcoming and supportive place for our players. We provide an inclusive and non-toxic community for people. For that reason, we ask each person to commit to our core values of Professionalism, Collaboration and Progression when they join the guild.
By joining this guild, you agreed to support those values, which means that you committed to not using exclusionary or toxic language. I’ve noticed that some of you are using terms that are exactly that, and I’m asking you to stop. This is not about being PG or PG-13–this is about the ability of our members to spend their game time in a place that feels welcoming, safe, and comfortable.
I don’t believe anyone is being intentionally mean. So the purpose of this post is to help you become aware of some terms that do not align with our professionalism pillar, and challenge your personal progression in this area.
The words “retard” and “retarded,” the suffix “-tard” and references to “the short bus” marginalize people with intellectual disabilities. Those people and their families will tell you that they feel pain every time they hear those words.
The term “REEE” mocks people with autism. We know it has 2 meanings but it doesn’t make it any less painful to folks who have autism.
Use of the words “AIDS” and “cancer” to describe people or things that have nothing to do with these difficult illnesses are upsetting to people who have lost loved ones, or are dealing with the diseases in their friends and families.
The word “rape,” when used out of context, trivializes a crime. Using the word casually can diminish the perception of the seriousness of that crime, and is harmful to survivors of sexual assault and their loved ones.
Derogatory statements and hateful stereotypes about many people are unfortunately common in WoW. Words that marginalize people of various colors, words that marginalize people of various religions, and words that marginalize people of various gender identity or sexual preferences do not belong in this guild. For example, the word “jew” used as a verb is hurtful. Calling something “gay” is hurtful.
Again, I don’t think anyone says these things to be intentionally mean, I think we lack awareness of the effects of our words. I ask each of you to step up and say something kind when you hear language that doesn’t support the pillars of our community. If we can collaborate to help one another become more aware of our language, we can keep our guild truly an inclusive community.
For more information, check out these web pages:
Phrases that put down mental health issues
“Politically correct” is just another way to say “being respectful”
“It’s not about being PC, it’s about not hurting our friends.”
Very well written. Thank you for your time and heart to write this Bel.