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Anita Sarkeesian's astounding 'garbage human' moment at Vidcon

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C

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
There's this amazing article describing an incident at Vidcon where a bunch of MRA pieces of shit organzied to take up the first three rows of Anita Sarkeesian's panel with the sole purpose of,
as they describe it, literally real life shitposting, aka straight up harass and derail the panel so that no real discussion could be had.

A phone camera is trained on Anita Sarkeesian as she prepares to speak on a panel. In footage later posted online, the camera wobbles slightly. Its setting is on high zoom. It follows her every move.

After so many public appearances, Sarkeesian has grown accustomed to speaking in front of a few hundred people. But today she feels a certain intimidation. A crowd of her most vociferous critics, including YouTubers, sit together in the front rows, their phones pointed at her.

The camera carefully follows her as she acknowledges her co-panelists, as she checks her surroundings. Then she looks directly into the camera, she looks at the man holding the camera, sitting in the front row.

Carl Benjamin is a British YouTube personality in his late 30s. He has spoken vituperatively, many times over many years, about Sarkeesian and her work. Some of his videos are thumbnailed with ludicrously Photoshopped imagery of Sarkeesian. At the time of writing, his Twitter page is bannered with a picture of Sarkeesian.

Benjamin has made his name dismissing her feminist documentary work such as Tropes vs Women in Video Games, which details the cultural biases of video games. He is a hero for many in the hate group GamerGate, a rough assemblage of misogynists, racists, conspiracy theorists and right-wing ideologues who have spent years harassing Sarkeesian and anyone who publicly supports her work.

Most of his YouTube videos follow standard reactionary protocols, excoriating the supposed evils of political correctness, shady liberal elites and the media. His most frothy content is reserved for feminism, a hot topic for men who feel afraid and threatened by progressives, who they dismiss as ”the regressive left." He has more than 600,000 subscribers on YouTube. He makes more than $5,000 a month from Patreon.

Today, he is surrounded by a group of his supporters, who have planned to come in force and take the front seats of this VidCon panel, which is focused on the lives of women online.

The panel's first question drops. It's about why feminism — online and in games — is an issue worthy of discussion.

Sarkeesian notes Benjamin's presence and begins speaking.

"If you Google my name on YouTube you get shitheads like this dude who are making these dumb-assed videos," she says. "They just say the same shit over and over again. I hate to give you attention because you're a garbage human. These dudes just making endless videos that go after every feminist over and over again is a part of the issue of why we have to have these conversations."

The crowd gives her a positive response, with some whoops and cheers.

On the front rows, Benjamin and his retinue rock back and forth, as if they are watching a comedy show. He yells back that he be allowed to debate with her.

But she won't debate him. She understands that he's not in the least bit interested in what she has to say.
Click to expand...

And before we get the usual suspects saying "Maybe they actually were there to have a debate?" Not having it ITT!

Dave Cullen lounges on what appears to be a bed in a hotel room, pointing a camera at himself. He looks tired and slightly pleased with himself. He is an ally of Benjamin's, a fellow YouTuber who makes a full-time living feeding the internet's appetite for masculine fear and hurt.

He was there, he says, at the VidCon Sarkeesian session. As he speaks, he claims that the first three rows were taken up by allies. (These allies have co-opted an internet term of derision to describe themselves: shitlords. They are generally identified by their hostility to progressives and to "social justice warriors.")

He goes on to talk about how these allies coordinated among themselves at the event. "We carefully organized this so that on one side of the audience we would all make up the top three rows," he says. ”We would all be sitting there filming it," he adds, before naming several allies. "Anita spoke. And they were asking about why is it important to still have women talking about sexism or some victim bullshit in video games." He recounts Sarkeesian's comments.

He repeatedly claims the group is there to "engage" with Sarkeesian, but later, he says something very different.

"We had a blast with this. It was such an adrenaline high to be there in the situation, to shit-post, in this trolling kind of way." He goes on to claim there was "no malice" in their actions and that it was ”playful."[
Click to expand...

If you think both sides are even remotely equatable in this situation.
"In the midst of the predictable flood of hate that has come my way from Carl's supporters, there have been a number of really wonderful messages of gratitude and support.

"So many of us have spent so long internalizing this expectation that we don't confront this kind of abuse directly, we don't openly acknowledge it, we suffer it in silence, and these men just go on spewing their bullshit without any consequences.

"As women, we're always told not to engage, not to 'stoke the fire,' and that forces us into silence, it forces us to be quiet in the face of harassment. That silence helps perpetuate a culture in which harassment is permissible or even accepted as 'normal.' And so I think that for some women who understand what I've been through or who have been through it themselves, it was cathartic to see me not stay silent, to see me call him out directly like that, to acknowledge in front of all those people what he's done."

Sarkeesian's brief and public ownership of Benjamin is unlikely to alter the toxic dynamic of gaming's reactionary core. Too many people are enraptured in their own blind rage. They carry with them a curiously self-defeating notion that fairness and common decency spell their own disenfranchisement and marginalization. Their rage is considered by some to be self-validating. Others see it as entertainment. To a small cadre of YouTube blowhards, it is also extremely lucrative.

When confronted with the consequences of appalling behavior, those organizations that host abusive activities — including VidCon, YouTube, Twitch and Twitter — offer little more than pleasantries and useless palliatives. They are ignoring their own urgent duty to show some courage, to fully confront these awful displays of bullying.

If individuals like Anita Sarkeesian can stand up to such aggression, why can't these huge and powerful organizations?
Click to expand...

There is a LOT more in the link in the OP. But this just serves to show as an example of how rabid these people are, that their rhetoric is not something that we need to "engage" with. And hopefully, since this was brought to light, further measures can be taken in the future to ensure that this doesn't happen again so that a REAL discussion can be had and that women can feel safe at these events.

Lime said:
This is essential reading:

"They can skip right to bashing my ideas, and their followers will eat it up no matter what I say. It's a losing game. I'm not going to change anyone's minds debating with any of them. More importantly, I shouldn't have to debate the fact that I am a human being who deserves basic respect, and in fact that is in itself a core issue with all of this: how degrading and exhausting it is just to have to keep arguing for and fighting for and begging for our own humanity."
Click to expand...

Think of this next time you say some bullshit about "dialogue" and "freedom of speech" and whatever with these white failsons
Click to expand...

Platy said:
If anyone want further reading, I recommend this awesome twitter thread

https://twitter.com/Quinnae_Moon/status/879835209990107136



Yeah they basically manufacture an outrage to win money .... exactly what they said Anita was doing.
Click to expand...

If you want more context on who this guy is, recommended viewing is Hbomberguy's multiple takedowns of his rhetoric.
 
B

benicillin

Banned
Very good article. Vidcon, naturally, is about as good as a dumpster fire, as one could expect from putting a bunch of YouTube celebrities in one place at one time.
 
K

KZXcellent

Member
Any person with half a brain should have expected her to react like that. When you spend years making videos taking the piss out of someone and then show up to sit the front row of a panel she's running it can only come off as an intimidation tactic.

I don't agree with all of Anita's videos/opinions but this was ridiculous. You can tell these people don't have a leg to stand on when they crying that "She broke Vidcon rules! Ban her! She's harasses people!"

Someone literally asked her "Do you really believe the things you say" --- What? How is anyone supposed to respond to something like this?
 
S

Slayven

Member
He repeatedly claims the group is there to "engage" with Sarkeesian, but later, he says something very different.

"We had a blast with this. It was such an adrenaline high to be there in the situation, to shit-post, in this trolling kind of way." He goes on to claim there was "no malice" in their actions and that it was “playful.”[
Click to expand...

So true, people need to get over debating these kind of folks, they are not engaging in good faith. They just beint shitty
 
P

psychowave

Member
Every time something like this comes up I'm just in awe of how insanely strong and powerful Anita is. Don't know about you guys, but if I received even 1% of the abuse she has, I'd just say "fuck it" and disappear from the Internet forever. She's one of the most resilient people I've ever seen and I have nothing but admiration for her.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
These people make a fucking living, hundreds to thousands of dollars a month. By harassing and constantly hounding women because it's "funny" and as men they obvious "know better" anyway

I'm sure the shit stains on VOAT are spanking it to this very thread. Laughing it up over NEOCUCK and it's "fucking sjw retards".

This "community" if gaming is so damn poisonous
 
F

flkraven

Member
We had a blast with this. It was such an adrenaline high to be there in the situation, to shit-post, in this trolling kind of way."
Click to expand...

Jesus. So these idiots think that shit-posting IRL is an acceptable thing to do? I really don't want to know what the world looks like 10 years from now.
 
M

Mman235

Member
Given the goal he's played in spearheading harrassment and "alternative facts" about Anita, "garbage human" is a pretty restrained insult for a vile piece of shit like Sargon.
 
V

VichoCardenas

Banned
Those Sargon goofs are crying that "she attacked us first, we didn't do nothing wrong" when they have been making Anita's life a nightmare for years and were clearly there just to mess with her.

What a bunch of manchildren and I'm glad more people are publicly not standing for these buffons.
 
L

Lime

Member
This is essential reading:

"They can skip right to bashing my ideas, and their followers will eat it up no matter what I say. It’s a losing game. I’m not going to change anyone’s minds debating with any of them. More importantly, I shouldn’t have to debate the fact that I am a human being who deserves basic respect, and in fact that is in itself a core issue with all of this: how degrading and exhausting it is just to have to keep arguing for and fighting for and begging for our own humanity."
Click to expand...

Think of this next time you say some bullshit about "dialogue" and "freedom of speech" and whatever with these white failsons
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
Sargon is such a fucking mess of a person. He's a walking talking contradiction. And it bugs me to no end how googling Sargon of akkad no longer brings up a Mesopotamian king instead of a women hating fuck boy.

Make a fucking living literally following this woman around and harassing her then claim to be a real feminist bruh.
 
P

Platy

Member
If anyone want further reading, I recommend this awesome twitter thread

https://twitter.com/Quinnae_Moon/status/879835209990107136

Frozenprince said:
These people make a fucking living, hundreds to thousands of dollars a month. By harassing and constantly hounding women because it's "funny" and as men they obvious "know better" anyway

I'm sure the shit stains on VOAT are spanking it to this very thread. Laughing it up over NEOCUCK and it's "fucking sjw retards".

This "community" if gaming is so damn poisonous
Click to expand...

Yeah they basically manufacture an outrage to win money .... exactly what they said Anita was doing.
 
N

nynt9

Member
Can't wait for all the "but she's wrong"/'freedom of spech" "by the way I'm not informed about gamergate can someone explain why it's bad?" posts
 
B

Bits N Pieces

Member
So between two of these losers they're coining in over $8k+ a month through Patreon? Can't that platform do anything about it, like, could ISIS have a Patreon that goes unchallenged?

It almost seems to legitimize them if they can bring in six figures in revenue a year through their supporters on a public platform like Patreon.

Anyway, fuck all those guys. Fuck them with a baseball bat, sideways.
 
A

Air Zombie Meat

Member
Frozenprince said:
Sargon is such a fucking mess of a person. He's a walking talking contradiction. And it bugs me to no end how googling Sargon of akkad no longer brings up a Mesopotamian king instead of a women hating fuck boy.

Make a fucking living literally following this woman around and harassing her then claim to be a real feminist bruh.
Click to expand...

I think everyone should start calling him Carl of Swindon.
 
T

Trago

Member
What gets me is that he's playing the victim card. All the content he's put out relating to her and he's mister victim.
 
M

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
flkraven said:
Jesus. So these idiots think that shit-posting IRL is an acceptable thing to do? I really don't want to know what the world looks like 10 years from now.
Click to expand...
Our current president is basically a sentient shit-post, so yeah, it seems to be perfectly acceptable in today's society.
 
M

Mupod

Member
Frozenprince said:
Sargon is such a fucking mess of a person. He's a walking talking contradiction. And it bugs me to no end how googling Sargon of akkad no longer brings up a Mesopotamian king instead of a women hating fuck boy.

Make a fucking living literally following this woman around and harassing her then claim to be a real feminist bruh.
Click to expand...

I wonder how many people go by that name on the internet because if this is the same dude I knew back in the day on gamefaqs, jesus fuck
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
Anita spoke. And they were asking about why is it important to still have women talking about sexism or some victim bullshit in video games."
Click to expand...

You LITERALLY MAKE A LIVING HARASSING THIA WOMAN AND CALLING HER HORRIBLE AND DEMEANING NAMES.
 
K

KZXcellent

Member
I don't see how they can't see the issue here.

Imagine being bullied by a few people constantly for years.

Then you're doing a show and all the bullies show up right in front. This isn't going to go over well. They didn't have pure intentions, or to start a dialogue. It's intimidation and baiting reactions.
 
W

Wiseblood

Member
DDZfHOBXkAQ4TFB.jpg
 
P

psychowave

Member
nynt9 said:
Can't wait for all the "but she's wrong"/'freedom of spech" "by the way I'm not informed about gamergate can someone explain why it's bad?" posts
Click to expand...

What's so bad about GamerGate? I heard they just care about ethics in games journalism, why is that bad? Zoe Quinn slept with a journalist to get a positive review for her game, she's what's wrong with the game industry.

:(
 
G

grandwizard

Member
For a bunch of people who throw around 'snowflakes' a lot they sure threw a shit fit when Anita called them on their shit.

These YouTube angry dudes who do nothing but talk into a camera about how feminism/minorities are evil need to just go the fuck away already. And YouTube needs to ramp up it's protection on them manipulating it's algorithms to have their garbage show up all over the content of the people they are harrassing on a daily basis.
 
NOLA_Gaffer

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
To this day I don't understand this whole thing.

Say something you people don't like on Youtube and you're doomed to a lifetime of harassment?
 
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