The "No True Scotsman" Problem With Feminism

Also Not A True ScotsmanFor some reason it seems that there has been an uptick in "no true Scotsman" discussions with regards to who is or isn't a feminist, and why.  For those of you unfamiliar with this little logical fallacy, it goes something like this:

Robin: No Scotsman would ever put sugar on their porridge.
Toby: But my dad's a Scotsman, and he puts sugar on his porridge.
Robin: No TRUE Scotsman would ever put sugar on their porridge.

In a literal sense, "no true Scotsman" is an issue of the category lines being drawn arbitrarily, to exclude whoever the speaker happens to dislike.  In practice, the answer to "What's a true Scotsman, then?" is "me and only me.  And maybe a small handful of my very good friends."

I run into this a lot personally with the label "gamer girl."  I devote a shocking amount of time to playing a video game, the third in the series, and have done since the first of the series was released in early 2000.  I know pretty much everything there is to know about all three titles, and my gameplay time averages double digits per week.

Nevertheless, I have been told over and over again - in fact, the world of "true gamers" seems to agree on this point, if no other - that I'm not a "gamer girl" because those games are The Sims 1 through 3.  See how this works?  "Well, but no TRUE gamer plays The Sims," is the response.

I see.

I think this is more a problem with a particularly xenophobic sub-culture, and its insistence on sameness than it is about misogyny in gaming, a topic which is vast beyond the scope of this particular article.  The answer to "what defines a gamer" is, "someone who plays all the right games - nothing too old, or too girly, or commercially unsuccessful."  The target is constantly moving, and god help you if you drop into a gaming forum and try to talk about last year's hot game.

Nevertheless, I am fascinated by this common assertion that someone who plays The Sims isn't a "real gamer."  If only because questioning this assertion leads people who self-identify as "gamers" to apoplexy.

The "No true Scotsman" problem crops up in almost any discussion of edge cases in feminism.  No TRUE feminist would stay at home to raise the children while her husband works at an office.  No TRUE feminist would ever want to play with a Barbie doll or Breyer horse.  

It occurs to me that the term "feminist" is, except for a very small and specific number of women (most of whom are involved with bizarre Christian splinter cults like Quiverfull [or terrible women like Ann Coulter who has said for the record that she thinks women should never have gotten the right to vote]) similar to the term "good driver."  

Everyone thinks they're a good driver.  I've never met anyone who didn't think so.  And yet, it is clear that not everyone is a good driver, otherwise there would never be car accidents, yes?  In the same way, I think most women today consider themselves to be "feminist," regardless of their specific views or actions.