Thread by @DoomstoneCrom

A lot of the hatred facing the brosr is a reaction to the social hierarchy of the bros forcing the realignment of the hobby with traditional (ie masculine) structures instead of the feminine ‘do what thou wilt but thou wilt not judge’ paradigm of the last 60 years.

Within this feminine paradigm the only hierarchy allowable is a mythological veneration of the ‘mothers’ of the hobby — ie Gygax, Arneson, Wesely, et al. All are equal so long as they validate the ‘sisterhood of fellow gamers’.

Normative claims about praxis violate this pact. “Gygax never played that way” and “we’ve been playing that way for 40 years” are contradictory, but the play style of the bros isn’t the issue — the paradigm would be happy to include the bros in the syncretic feminine vision.

The bros are anathema *only* because they violate the pact with normative claims, refuse to be cowed by feminine behavior policing, and choose to honor the founders of the hobby by going around the self anointed ‘keepers of the old ways’ and attempting to surpass them.

The claims of the brosr being a ‘cult’ are funny and many bros lean into it, but it’s easy to see how those within the paradigm would take umbrage with someone who was not a ‘holy mother’ being admired or respected. The reality is that Jeffro is like Moses, not L. Ron Hubbard.

Most of what the bros do is funny, perhaps not to your taste, but always in an attempt to elevate the game as a game without being beholden to the sacred cows of now or yesterday. The ‘mean tweets’ draw a certain type of person who is comfortable operating in masculine paradigms.

If you’ve never played a team sport, got in a fight, worked a job doing manual labor, or even spent time in a gym getting strong you might not get it. At the end of the day the masculine urge to reach higher than what was thought possible, even in a game, is the core issue.

All the objections, even from those close to the founders of the hobby, to what the bros are doing can only be framed in feminine terms that ultimately boil down to some form of ‘they’re bad people and I don’t like them and if you like anything they do you’re a bad person too’.

None of the detractors understand what the bros are even doing, which is surprising on account of how much there is to read about it. Does that sound like honest criticism?

Tying it back to the beginning, this ‘sisterhood of gamers’ paradigm is validational. Effortless to join but stultifying, ossified in its hierarchy of veneration, and geared towards consumerist aspirations.

The masculine paradigm of the brosr is aspirational. Like in real life, bullying and mean words test your toughness, your cleverness, and your commitment to the effort—that is to say, your gameness. Standing firm in the face of convention is no matter for faint hearts.

But if you tolerate the meanness long enough you realize that many of the people it’s directed to deserve it. You deserved it. And in fact you become grateful for it. And when you try and fail the bros are there to help you up. And then you realize you are one of them.

And I’ll end with this, from one who put it better than I could.

“Man it feels good to be a bro.”