Resident Curmudgeon Notolecta Criticizes Publication of Joint Statement Blasting Invaders Field Marshal Gest for Sexist Remarks
By Deepest House
(Europeia – April 13, 2017) – Notolecta, a well-known Europeian curmudgeon, criticized President Calvin Coolidge and his new administration for its joint-statement released in cooperation with the Kingdom of Great Britain, Balder, The North Pacific, The West Pacific, the United Kingdom, and Osiris. The regions condemned Invaders Field Marshall Gest for sexist comments about a female player.
Gest compared a female player to a whore and prostitute, resulting in the inter-regional statement. “Comments like these only contribute to a widespread problem and perpetuate harmful conduct against women,” the statement read. “In light of this, military and diplomatic relations of any kind between the signatories and The Invaders are hereby suspended.”
Europeia and its partner regions took a strong stand against chauvinism and misogyny through this statement, however Notolecta called the public statement a mistake. “This definitely reveals we need to change something with the EAAC and how we approach FA advisory systems,” he said. “I am really waiting to see if this spurs any changes for future FA matters, especially considering this isn’t the first time we’ve made an avoidable mistake.”
The mistake to which Notolecta refers is publicly naming and accusing Gest on the NationStates page for actions that occurred outside of the main NationStates page, in violation of the NationStates forum rules. “We knew this rule existed, and we’ve run afoul in the past,” he said. “There is a lot of stretching here to say that posting this in gameplay wasn’t a mistake.”
“I don’t view this as a mistake, in any way,” said Brunhilde, a former Europeian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and founder of the Coalition Against Ideology of Nazism. “The message did exactly what it was intended to do and sent a clean, clear message about the harassment of female players that has too often gone ignored in favor of increased raiding power.”
Others joined Brunhilde in support of the statement. “You continue to ignore the fact that the administration did consider the rules carefully, and did take reasonable measure to make sure that, based on past precedent, the statement would not violate the rules,” said r3naissanc3r. “Yet you somehow continue to attempt to use this issue as an excuse to accuse the administration of mishandling the situation and, going several steps further, to call for wide reform in how the region handles FA.”
Malashaan, a renowned legal expert in Europeia and current Speaker of the Senate, joined in support of the statement. “I just want to clarify that when I said we should be respectful of the rule in the future, I was not implying that we were not in this instance,” he explained. “The statement was carefully considered and posted in the belief that it was within what is allowed by the rule.”
Notolecta remained undeterred, however. “The people they consulted obviously just wanted ot [sic] make this statement strongly so bad they couldn’t see the obvious because people did see this was going to get moderator action long before it occurred,” he rambled on. “We shouldn’t act like this getting stuck by moderator action was something no one could see coming; it could and should have been seen before it got published, regardless of how many people you pass it by the fact that it wasn’t is a failure.”
Notolecta’s singular voice of opposition to the published statement stands in stark contrast to many of the region’s most influential leaders. During the past election, many in the region clamored for Europeia to take a larger and more prominent role in GamePlay affairs. Gest’s comments offered Europeia the opportunity to demonstrate international leadership by taking a firm stand against unacceptable conduct before the eyes of the NationStates world. The severing of military and diplomatic ties sends a strong and united message to The Invaders that Europeia and other signatory regions will not tolerate such conduct.
