So first of all, I guess I should apologize for the tone of the post. I originally wrote this for a video game site because a bunch of my friends were lol'ing at my facebook and twitter posts about playing Catherine with Lindsey, and said I should write something about it. I made overarching and generalizing statements which reflected my mindset at the time I was playing the game, and not necessarily meant to be taken literally. I also embellished the story a bit by calling it "horrifying" and, as you said, making it seem like I was complaining about it to the internet. I guess sensationalist journalism has rubbed off on me, but it certainly makes for more entertaining reading in my opinion. (it also sparks a lot of debate, as you've so kindly shown.)
And sure, Lindsey and I have discussed where our relationship is going, but I tend not to think about it much because she's still got a few years of school left since she's going to graduate school, and I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. (aside: I feel like I can relate to Vincent because he's also a programmer who's just changed jobs, is in a committed relationship and doesn't know what he wants in life) It's just not something I'm seriously thinking about, and I mean I definitely see Lindsey and I being together for a long time, but it's definitely enlightening to know that Lindsey is SO insistent on Vincent giving the cold shoulder to Catherine and being kind and loving to Katherine, while I'm just like "play on, playa!" I'm not saying that it's analogous to Lindsey and my relationship in any way, but being put into that situation the discussions we had were...interesting.
As for having things to hide from her, I really don't...whenever Lindsey asks me who I'm talking to on my phone, I tell her. If my ex texts me because she just broke up with another asshole boyfriend and wants to use me as a shoulder to cry on, I tell Lindsey because I'm an honest person. But I still don't want Lindsey looking through my phone and scrutinizing over every text and email. I've been burned in a relationship before where my girlfriend was super overbearing and got mad at me if I even wanted to talk to a female classmate for homework help, and it's just made me a little scared to blow the doors wide open on the whole privacy thing.
And the last thing I would do is write you off as being just another female. I make exaggerations sometimes (a lot more so when I'm blacked out drunk, apparently), and I apologize if I offended you or any other woman (or man) reading this. I know it takes a lot of different types to make a world, but when I was playing Catherine I was just like "OH MY GOD, VINCENT IS EVERY GUY. KATHERINE IS EVERY GIRL." and in a wave of emotion and pushed on by my peers, I wrote this up and blew things a little out of proportion.
Hopefully at the least, you found the piece entertaining, and I'm glad you wrote your response in a civil manner instead of blowing up on me.
Perhaps you should consider "sensationalist journalism" as a tag, haha. I'm sorry I just came in and tl;dr'd everywhere, but I by and large dislike generalizations and will go out out of my way to correct them, having been someone who's been generalized for being Asian, female, bisexual, and combinations of the above. (I call it "Someone is Wrong on the Internet Syndrome").
I was kind of confused when I first read this because I was under the impression that you didn't usually think in such large stereotypes. The thing is, I've met people of both genders who think exactly the way this journal is written, minus the irony, and actually believe this to a T. "All women want commitment and are crazy bitches" and "all men are terrified of commitment and need to be beaten into submission". Being the internet, it's sometimes hard to tell when someone's being serious or when they're utilizing hyperbole and generalization as a writing tool to spark debate, invite discussion, and/or they're just looking for a bunch of Vincent-like guys to go "YEAH" and agree with everything. So I appreciate the clarification and the lack of a brush off, but I might suggest making some of your exaggerations a bit more clear in the future?
It's entertaining when taking into account that I know (for sure now) that you don't actually follow this mindset completely. But it's okay to break some stereotypes now and then, bro, it sometimes makes things more interesting that way.
Yeah, not being able to clearly draw the line between my writing persona and my actual self is probably not a good thing, and it's probably a good thing that I don't write on the internet for a living too (although apparently it worked, because my post has like 1700 views and got put on the front page of giant bomb's community contributions section). It's not that I was trying to write ironically, just exaggerating things. In retrospect, it was probably not a good idea to post this here where I have friends who know my personality and know that I wouldn't make silly generalizations, but at the time I was just excited to have written something (which I haven't seriously done for about 4 years) and wanted to share it with the world.
And sure, Lindsey and I have discussed where our relationship is going, but I tend not to think about it much because she's still got a few years of school left since she's going to graduate school, and I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. (aside: I feel like I can relate to Vincent because he's also a programmer who's just changed jobs, is in a committed relationship and doesn't know what he wants in life) It's just not something I'm seriously thinking about, and I mean I definitely see Lindsey and I being together for a long time, but it's definitely enlightening to know that Lindsey is SO insistent on Vincent giving the cold shoulder to Catherine and being kind and loving to Katherine, while I'm just like "play on, playa!" I'm not saying that it's analogous to Lindsey and my relationship in any way, but being put into that situation the discussions we had were...interesting.
As for having things to hide from her, I really don't...whenever Lindsey asks me who I'm talking to on my phone, I tell her. If my ex texts me because she just broke up with another asshole boyfriend and wants to use me as a shoulder to cry on, I tell Lindsey because I'm an honest person. But I still don't want Lindsey looking through my phone and scrutinizing over every text and email. I've been burned in a relationship before where my girlfriend was super overbearing and got mad at me if I even wanted to talk to a female classmate for homework help, and it's just made me a little scared to blow the doors wide open on the whole privacy thing.
And the last thing I would do is write you off as being just another female. I make exaggerations sometimes (a lot more so when I'm blacked out drunk, apparently), and I apologize if I offended you or any other woman (or man) reading this. I know it takes a lot of different types to make a world, but when I was playing Catherine I was just like "OH MY GOD, VINCENT IS EVERY GUY. KATHERINE IS EVERY GIRL." and in a wave of emotion and pushed on by my peers, I wrote this up and blew things a little out of proportion.
Hopefully at the least, you found the piece entertaining, and I'm glad you wrote your response in a civil manner instead of blowing up on me.
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I was kind of confused when I first read this because I was under the impression that you didn't usually think in such large stereotypes. The thing is, I've met people of both genders who think exactly the way this journal is written, minus the irony, and actually believe this to a T. "All women want commitment and are crazy bitches" and "all men are terrified of commitment and need to be beaten into submission". Being the internet, it's sometimes hard to tell when someone's being serious or when they're utilizing hyperbole and generalization as a writing tool to spark debate, invite discussion, and/or they're just looking for a bunch of Vincent-like guys to go "YEAH" and agree with everything. So I appreciate the clarification and the lack of a brush off, but I might suggest making some of your exaggerations a bit more clear in the future?
It's entertaining when taking into account that I know (for sure now) that you don't actually follow this mindset completely. But it's okay to break some stereotypes now and then, bro, it sometimes makes things more interesting that way.
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So uh yeah, sorry about that.
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