I propose the concept that if we want to empower minority groups that we should recognize that it is a disservice to those groups to continually talk about their status as a minority group within the spaces reserved for them. And that – like learning how to have self-confidence and act from that – the phrase “you belong in this industry” is meant to be grown out of.
The reasons for this are as follows:
Victors, not victims – The minority group should not make the effort to create their own space out of pressure from the dominant group; then bring that pressure into their own created spaces. It enshrines that their spaces only exists out of the victimhood of being a minority group. That might be an origin reason for the created spaces, but it should not be part of the identity of that space.
Power within our time – If spaces reserved for the dominant group do not observe the struggles of the minority group but the spaces of the minority group does observe its own struggles then that is theft on the time of anyone in the space of the minority group. It skews the balance & implies that any burden of improvement or awareness of a struggle lies on those who do not need to be told they are disadvantaged. Additionally, a minority group would not need to be told they belong in an industry if it wasn’t the message from the dominant group that they don’t belong. Continuously affirming belonging is therefore also silently reminding of that message which is something to be aware of.
Care for the future – Industry fields are meant to improve and get better over time. We cannot tell young members of a minority group, generation after generation, that they belong in an industry field and that there are special spaces that support them; then have those spaces continuously point at all the ways they’re disadvantaged. Especially if those spaces do not offer higher-tier knowledge that its people can grow into. We cannot be contend with future generations having that as our legacy for them. Caring for the future includes providing a safe haven within the spaces we carved out.
How did this concept develop? Partially through hearing stories of people that share my minority group (women in the games industry). But they were from other countries and there’s a cultural difference. The actual realization that something felt off to me was when I attended a 2-hour mini-conference celebrating women in games on the topic of IP. It excited me to see a conference that sounded business focused and was focused on women in games. But its opening keynote spoke about women belonging in the industry & being important for the industry & that they should be invested in more. Some other talks repeated that sentiment but when I looked at the audience list I saw that the majority of attendees were women. Who was this message – that women should be invested in – for if those attending were those same women? And it was the last talk of the 2-hour list that I felt really touched upon being a ‘business’ talk in the sense that it provided something actionable for working on and with IP – for the women working in games. Suddenly, I wondered how different these 2 hours could’ve looked if the topic of ‘women’ didn’t mean what it appeared to mean: that women in games need talks directed to ‘their’ space filled with affirmations that they belong. That we can’t even have business-centered conferences without those affirmations.
When I later attended other game conferences that were not focused on the space ‘women in games’ I noticed that when you attend those you can get the full runtime without a single assurance that “hey, you do belong, actually”. I felt somewhat robbed and wondered when we started accepting that the moment a talk or conference is organized for ‘women in games’ we need to spend our time getting assured that we do belong. I also realized that, looking back, I’ve been hearing those same assurances for years. It’s not that I mind them that much but it would be great to also see venues that acknowledge that we’re meant to grow out of needing assurances and stop spending the attendees time on them. If you learned how to act with confidence it starts to feel infantilizing: that a conference is held for a minority group should not imply that its members are automatically lacking self-confidence.
And what about the generations of young girls getting encouraged to work in the games industry? How many years will they be listening to assurances that they belong sounding within the spaces created for them? I believe that is a bleak use of the spaces created for them and that we can do better. And that goes for spaces other minority groups create as well.