Week 11: “All things being equal, and even when they are not, if the computer — or life — assigns you the “Straight White Male” difficulty setting, then brother, you’ve caught a break.”

Scalzi’s “Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is” eloquently summarizes life’s inequities: “race and gender confer automatic, unasked-for, mechanical advantages on players who are lucky enough to be born white and male. Just like the difficulty level one chooses while playing a game, these advantages gradually become invisible as the player becomes immersed in the game” (Nakamura). It’s ironic that in a community that values prestige, authenticity, and skill when it comes to proving oneself to be a true, hardcore gamer, this community is not very welcoming of individuals who do not look like the majority of them — even though, looks have nothing to do with skill. In fact, according to Scalzi, the hardcore players are the “gay minority females,” so in a community that values hardcore gamers above everyone else, shouldn’t the gays and females be heralded? I understand that, in life, we can’t choose the hand we’re dealt, but even if I could choose the hand I was dealt, I would never choose to be a straight, white male. This isn’t a pride thing related to playing on the “lowest difficulty setting.” To grow up unaware of the hardships and injustices of life just because you were born a straight, white male is absolutely the worst thing that could happen to an individual, if you ask me. I am the person that I am today because life isn’t fair and I was born a woman of color, but I have made the most out of the cards I was dealt; my hardships molded me into an empathetic individual who is eager to overcome the hurdles that life throws at her. I pity the straight, white males of society who grow up completely unaware of the hardships of life and the injustices that face the people that don’t look like them just because they were born of a different color, gender, or sexuality. I would rather relive all of the adversities that I had to endure in my twenty-two years of life than be a straight, white male. I can’t imagine life as a straight, white male, and frankly, I do not want to.