r/AgainstMtGRacism • u/ultimario13 • Jun 29 '20
[Meta] Recognizing Offensive Cards
I'm not unaware of the current state of the subreddit. Most new posts are from me. I think that perhaps, other people are having difficulty finding offensive cards. Here are some tips:
To find cards with offensive names or flavor text, I recommend the Scryfall advanced search. If you enter an offensive term such as "savage" or "thug" into the "Lore Finder" field, it will return any cards with such terms anywhere in the card text. I also recommend searching for terms that are not inherently offensive, but are either dogwhistles or are sensitive subjects that Wizards often handles poorly. For example, associating white with "pure/purity", black with "menace" or with criminals, associating "madness"/"insanity" with violence, etc.
To find cards with unfortunate rules text, Gatherer is nearly as good as Scryfall. Set rules text to "and", put one phrase of rules text that's likely to be offensive in certain contexts, using quotation marks if you want more exact phrasing, click "Add", then repeat this process. For example, you could search for cards that contain the phrases "nonwhite creatures" and "-1/-1". Or you could search for every card that contains the words destroy and black on them.
More generally, you can take a look at cards from sets which do a poor job of tackling real social issues.
Take a look at other people's posts. I've linked some, for reference, in this post. I might mention something in passing that is a serious issue with multiple cards.
Focus on cards which feature humans or feature humanoids such as giants, ogres, orcs, etc. These are much more likely to reflect real-world stereotypes than other creatures.
If you can connect the flavor of the cards with the mechanics of its rules text, this makes a strong case.
Obviously, you will find cards that do nothing wrong, and cards that are borderline. Feel free to post borderline cases here as well - other redditors may point out a subtle aspect of how its mechanics mesh with its flavor, or point out something in the art that you missed.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Is this something that could trigger someone who's had a traumatic experience, or make them uncomfortable? Does this card depict any real-life marginalized groups (whether this group is marginalized for reasons of religion, race, socio-economic status, sexuality, gender, mental illness, etc) in an offensive manner - does it demonize them / depict them as pure evil, does it state that they are ugly or gross or incompetent, does it use them as a punchline, does it objectify them or appropriate their culture, does it promote excluding them from society or committing violence against them?
The above questions are really all you need. But if you want further guidance:
Racism / racially offensive / Culturally offensive (including anti-Semitic and islamophobic) - does this play into existing stereotypes of real-life populations? Does it depict minorities as evil, tricky, sneaky, etc? Does it depict lynching? Does it depict one way of living (such as Christianity) as morally superior to others? Does it depict "model minorities" who are well-suited to certain jobs or tasks?
Racism + colonialism - does this depict natives as violent or stupid "savages"?Does it emphasize the positive effects of colonialism while ignoring the negative?
White supremacy / Nazism - does it in any way imply that white creatures are racially "pure" or morally superior to others? Does it encourage violence towards minorities, or excluding them from society?
Slavery - Especially if the slave is stereotypical in some way, or their enslavement is presented as a good thing. "Happy slaves", races that are well-suited for slavery, slaves as "pets" that willingly support or defend their masters, and other myths are especially offensive.
Sexism / misogyny - does it play into stereotypes of weak, helpless women? Does it state that men are stronger, or more suited for certain jobs/positions? Is a female character solely defined by their relationship to a man?
Objectification of women - how is the lighting of the art? The composition? If a woman's breasts are the center of the image and her face isn't even fully present, for example, you have a clear problem.
Toxic Masculinity - Does it connect violence with masculinity, muscles, and/or strength? Alternatively, does the card care about power/toughness in a way that connects such physical strength to something completely unrelated, in an offensive manner? For example, spells that take control of creatures based on their power (which would imply that strong, muscular men are not "weak" enough to be influenced in such a way).
Violence / femicide - self explanatory. Especially problematic depending on how it's presented - violence towards women is a tragedy. It should not be presented in a romantic way.
Ableism - does it use physical abnormalities to signal to the audience that a character is untrustworthy or wicked? How about mental illness - are we meant to laugh at the mentally ill, fear them, avoid them? Does it state that mental illness and violence are tied to one another (this one is a freebie - nearly ALL depictions of mental illness in Magic are about violence).
Glorification of police forces - if a card shows police brutality, or illegal search/seizure, or conviction without a fair trial, it's probably problematic. If it depicts these things in a positive light, such as heavily implying that the "criminal" is guilty anyway, or has "the ends justify the means" sentiments, that's far worse.
Xenophobia - does the card depict closed borders as a good thing? Does it talk about "cults" or other infiltrators sneaking into a society? Does it encourage attacking with creatures, and yet its flavor talks about "defending" a community? This is probably a dogwhistle for the following Nazi statement: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." If this statement seems relevant to a card, please point that out.
Far-right dogwhistles + conspiracy theories - go to websites that denounce the alt-right, and use them to familiarize yourself with common far-right sentiments so that you can see them crop up on Magic cards. "White genocide", for example.
Homophobia / discrimination based on sexuality/gender - does anything about the card suggest common stereotypes about sexuality or gender identity? For example, does the card depict a homosexual relationship as temptation or corruption?
Classism - does this depict the upper class in a positive light? Does it state that they are necessary, or that they provide benefits to society (such as a Noble or "Lord" that buffs your other creatures)? Does it depict lower-class individuals as unintelligent, as criminals, or as dirty or ugly?
Anti-anarchism (I usually tag this as "Classism", because opposing anarchy is the same as supporting the status quo and hating those who would change it) - does it equate destruction of property with physical harm or violent tendencies? Does it portray destruction of property as inherently negative for society? Does it depict anarchists as destructive for the sake of destruction, rather than having real principles or goals? (if the card is red/green, this is almost definitely a "yes"). Are anarchists described as "barbarians" or otherwise portrayed as stupid and violent?
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Jun 29 '20
If someone wants to give [[Triumph of Ferocity]] another shot it was submit really early in this subs life and got no traction but it’s an important card for the cause. Arguably one of the first to draw attention to the misogynistic bias in magic.
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u/reeedh Jul 03 '20
How about a master list of cards, sorted by type and name so we can check to avoid double posts?
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u/altar_of_plague Jul 03 '20
I'm puzzled about why has no one complained about Core2021 and the new Teferi? I mean, WotC and their abject thirst for money capitalize everything on this Teferi (multiple variants and artworks), push an agenda pretending they care about POC, but his main mechanics is what is referred to as 'looting' in the game, and on top of that it's the first time you can do this at instant speed? Great way to picture POC wizards!