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The truth, Sarkeesian says, is that GamerGate existed for years before it had a name: the same core players, the same harassment, the same abuse. The hashtag just put a name on this “loosely organised mob” that attacked women in gaming

“That’s the reason I don’t like the words ‘troll’ and ‘bully’ – it feels too childish. This is harassment and abuse,” she says. But still, she says, GamerGate is a temper tantrum: “It’s just a scary, violent, abusive, temper tantrum. It’s an attack and an assault on women in the gaming industry. Its purpose is to silence women, and if they can’t, they attempt to discredit them.

“These dudes fling shit. They’re throwing things out there and trying to get something to stick. This worked,” she says of the Quinn incident. “It stuck because it sounds good – there are actual issues with the way the games press works. So that idea resonated with a lot of people. And it swelled their ranks.”

I mention that I’ve noticed an uptick of younger online abusers. Ten years ago, the harassment I received (not uncommon for feminist writers) was mostly from middle-aged men. Today, I get comments calling me a “cunt” on Instagram from boys too young to grow facial hair.

“There’s a boys’-locker-room feel to the internet, where men feel they can show off for one another,” she says. “A lot of the harassment is tied to this toxic masculine culture of ‘Look how cool I can be.’” Someone will send a woman a death threat and screencap it, posting it on a forum, which in turn inspires another man to do something even worse in a horrifying game of misogynist oneupmanship.

Sarkeesian’s strategy for dealing with her most persistent harassers is largely to block and ignore them. “There are men who make videos about me regularly. Some are just screaming; some hold guns while they talk about hating me. I don’t engage with them, as I don’t want to amplify their voices.”

After a recent talk she gave at New York University, a young man came up to talk to her, with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “The whole time I’m thinking, ‘Does he have a knife in there?’ and he’s oblivious because he doesn’t have to think about it.” It turned out the young man was just extremely nervous, but after all that’s happened, you can’t blame Sarkeesian for being fearful.

“It sucks,” she says. “It really sucks, and I don’t want to think too much about it, because I can’t do anything about it. It’s my new normal.”

Sarkeesian has been meeting social media and technology companies, talking to them about how they can help stop gender-based abuse in gaming. Because, ultimately, this is a problem that needs solutions from the top as well as the bottom. “Where was the gaming industry in all this?” she asks. “GamerGate was a silver platter for them to say they don’t condone the harassment of women and they didn’t do it. GamerGate is the monster that the industry created.”

It's amazing that the abuse hasn't really stopped or at least calmed down after a year now.

What do we think the industry can do to help, other than better moderation within online games?

It's so depressing, it really feels like this is a problem without a solution

 

[ElTorro]

GamerGate is the monster that the industry created.

I agree with everything she says up to this last quoted paragraph, but I can't follow the logic leading to this conclusion. It's not the gaming industry's duty to educate morons on how to not be morons.

 

[FlyinJ]

The biggest thing that could happen is having every single publisher come out solidly against the movement.

But that won't happen because they created the monster themselves with their juvenile and cynical advertising for decades.

And they don't want to lose a single customer, because money is money whether it comes from a normal person or a hateful bigot of your own creation.

 

[cerulily]

I agree with everything she says up to this last quoted paragraph, but I can't follow the logic leading to this conclusion. It's not the gaming industry's duty to educate morons on how to not be morons.

No, but when you cater to them almost exclusively for so long, they're going to get mad when the clubhouse gets opened up.

 

[Slayven]

I wouldn't go as far as the gaming industry created them, but it gamergate did gain substance from them. And a lot of "gaming" personalities feed off of it and enabled it. And the big pubs and folks should come out and say "we are not putting up with the bullshit"

 

[Spukc]

i feel bad for everyone involved in that drama.

 

[Crayon]

i feel bad for everyone involved in that drama.

I don't think you meant to be but it's dismissive to refer to this issue as drama.

 

[Lime]

Yup, pretty much. There's a really great academic article on it that I suggest everyone interested or doubting the topic to read:

http://ict.usc.edu/pubs/The Hegemony of Play.pdf

 

[Steroyd]

...why is she concentrating on the abuse of women in particular when it's the anonymity of the internet that makes people a dick to everyone. There's a ton of YouTube personalities male and female that disable their youtube comments, don't read comments because there's always that one hater , or has someone filter the comments and questions for them. Hell some SOE guy got a bomb threat which directly impacted his flight iirc.

 

[Lalalandia]

I agree with everything she says up to this last quoted paragraph, but I can't follow the logic leading to this conclusion. It's not the gaming industry's duty to educate morons on how to not be morons.

It's not sports teams job to combat racism but they try because it hurts the game and their fans. Social issues are not any companies problem but if you don't make clear you explicitly reject support from those who are the problem they assume you tacitally support them. The amount of thrilled upvoting in GG forums from 'anonymous' devs who profess that the industry secretly supports them makes the point.

 

[Kezen]

Internet truly brings out the worst in people it seems. But I agree with her, the industry has allowed "them" to flourish and prosper. Gaming was too heavily targetted at young males.

 

[dragonfart28]

Until there is some kind of authoritarian legislation on corporations in place, that monster will always exist.

I'll take the monster over that kind of legislation thank you very much.

 

[lazygecko]

What do we think the industry can do to help, other than better moderation within online games?

I think she's saying that more industry figureheads should be more vocal and outspoken about it. There seems to be this undercurrent where people seem reluctant to speak out against all this because they have this fear of alienating their target demographic.

 

[Hagi]

...why is she concentrating on the abuse of women in particular when it's the anonymity of the internet that makes people a dick to everyone. There's a ton of YouTube personalities male and female that disable their youtube comments, don't read comments because there's always that one hater , or has someone filter the comments and questions for them. Hell some SOE guy got a bomb threat which directly impacted his flight iirc.

why wouldn't she focus on the abuse she and other women are receiving solely because of their gender? I'd say why are you concentrating on everyone getting abuse when the vast majority of people Gamergate assholes are targeting are women.

I don't know if it's your intention but it seems you are downplaying the particular issue women are facing in the industry and framing it under "well everyone gets abused, it's the internet!"

 

[Deleted member 10571]

I agree with everything she says up to this last quoted paragraph, but I can't follow the logic leading to this conclusion. It's not the gaming industry's duty to educate morons on how to not be morons.

I understand she's talking about the industry creating an image of girls and women through common characterization in games, clothing tropes (steel bikini anyone) and sexualization of nearly all female characters in gaming, be it ingame, in advertising or in the surrounding media.

That's what magazines etc picked up on, and that's how it got into the "gamers" heads.

...why is she concentrating on the abuse of women in particular when it's the anonymity of the internet that makes people a dick to everyone. There's a ton of YouTube personalities male and female

god please not again. All them poor sexually harrassed men who had all those scary female stalkers around their house threatening rape and death, and had to fight through huge, organized hashtag movements to get them off the internet..

 

[Timeaisis]

I agree with everything she says up to this last quoted paragraph, but I can't follow the logic leading to this conclusion. It's not the gaming industry's duty to educate morons on how to not be morons.

Yep, exactly what I was thinking as well.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

The biggest thing that could happen is having every single publisher come out solidly against the movement.

But that won't happen because they created the monster themselves with their juvenile and cynical advertising for decades.

And they don't want to lose a single customer, because money is money whether it comes from a normal person or a hateful bigot of your own creation.

Pretty much. There wasn't really any solidarity effort on behalf of pubs which kind of left things in an us vs. them territory, rather than an us and the greater gaming industry vs. this tiny minority of idiots.

 

[ChamplooJones]

I wouldn't go as far as the gaming industry created them, but it gamergate did gain substance from them. And a lot of "gaming" personalities feed off of it and enabled it. And the big pubs and folks should come out and say "we are not putting up with the bullshit"

The silence from major devs and pubs is mindblowing.

 

[Vooduu]

I'm going to get a lot of shit for this, but what the hell is gamergate?


Edit: yes yes yes, ok ok ok.

 

[Clear]

it's the anonymity of the internet that makes people a dick to everyone.

THIS.

Games and the people who play them do not have a monopoly on dickish behaviour on the internet. Trying to blame the games industry solely for the problem is ludicrous.

 

[Htown]

...why is she concentrating on the abuse of women in particular when it's the anonymity of the internet that makes people a dick to everyone. There's a ton of YouTube personalities male and female that disable their youtube comments, don't read comments because there's always that one hater , or has someone filter the comments and questions for them. Hell some SOE guy got a bomb threat which directly impacted his flight iirc.

Because women get it way worse on the internet. Fact.

Also anonymity has nothing to do with it. People are willing to spit vile bullshit from social media accounts that have their real information all the time.

I'm going to get a lot of shit for this, but what the hell is gamergate?

you could read the article

 

[Crayon]

Until there is some kind of authoritarian legislation on corporations in place, that monster will always exist.

I'll take the monster over that kind of legislation thank you very much.

Well thanks for making it so simple.

 

[SigSig]

...why is she concentrating on the abuse of women in particular when it's the anonymity of the internet that makes people a dick to everyone. There's a ton of YouTube personalities male and female that disable their youtube comments, don't read comments because there's always that one hater , or has someone filter the comments and questions for them. Hell some SOE guy got a bomb threat which directly impacted his flight iirc.

Random Youtube-hate vs. a distributed, directed effort to destroy the lifes of women in the industry and people connected to them.

 

[ChamplooJones]

I'm going to get a lot of shit for this, but what the hell is gamergate?

Google it. Like, right now.

 

[Vooduu]

Because women get it way worse on the internet. Fact.



you could read the article

I have a general idea of what it is, I just don't know all the details.

Google it. Like, right now.

Ok ok ok

 

[Garrett Hawke]

...why is she concentrating on the abuse of women in particular when it's the anonymity of the internet that makes people a dick to everyone. There's a ton of YouTube personalities male and female that disable their youtube comments, don't read comments because there's always that one hater , or has someone filter the comments and questions for them. Hell some SOE guy got a bomb threat which directly impacted his flight iirc.

You're missing the point. Everyone gets abuse on the Internet, sure. But women, particularly in the games industry or women analysing the games industry get a proportionally huge amount of hate - and it's ORGANISED hate. That's one of the big differences.

 

[Noaloha]

It's amazing that the abuse hasn't really stopped or at least calmed down after a year now.

But the point is that this hasn't just been going for a year. As she notes, the core group have been around for much longer. What happened last August with the ethics-dressed character assassination on Quinn was just an attempt at social media manipulation which did actually manage to get enough momentum to snowball and resulted in the general ideology scoring itself a snappy name. The identity-corralling of #GG is a double-edged sword in that it groups ugly folk together, makes them easier to see and treat accordingly (albeit with the required distinction of 'nasty shitbag' and 'useful idiot'), but less helpfully it's given them a banner, a thing for individuals to latch on to and feel validated by.

 

[SigSig]

I'm going to get a lot of shit for this, but what the hell is gamergate?

Somebody link that megapost with the whole chronology, it's still one of the best sourced pieces of info (which is kinda telling of this whole disaster).

 

[dragonfart28]

Well thanks for making it so simple.

It is simple.

This whole thing is simple.

It's an ethical problem where you either need legislation to enforce your position or you wait a few decades for humanity to evolve.

I think we can muster the wait.

 

[PopeReal]

She is right. A bunch of stupid fucking man babies (and apparently straight up babies).

This garbage has gone unchecked and gathered steam throughout the years.

 

[Chippiez]

I still don't understand what this "gamergate" thing is other than a means of generating revenue for a select few who shall remain unnamed and a way for some dicks to be dicks-- whom shall also be unnamed.

I guess that makes me part of the problem.

 

[Deleted member 10571]

I still don't understand what this "gamergate" thing is other than a means of generating revenue for a select few who shall remain unnamed and a way for some dicks to be dicks-- whom shall also be unnamed.

I guess that makes me part of the problem.

Fuck this. Google is like a click away. Why does every single GG related thread sprout new posters trying to instantly derail the topic with "bu-but what exactly is gamergate?" Who are these "select few" pray tell, if you have no idea about Gamergate then? ffs

 

[shysaursoft]

These days I have a hard time separating the various strata of GG, because it's getting difficult to tell who's in it just for the lulz, who honestly believes "SJWs are out to kill everyone", who's just confused, and who's just an opportunist trying to make a quick buck off the whole thing.

The opportunists are easier to spot, people like Vox Day make it really easy:

There's no real ambiguity there. They're either batguano insane, literally thinking that "SJWs" are the "pure evil" out to kill gaming and all we love, or they're just using this to sell a book. Considering the book's association with Yiannopoulus (a known opportunist), I'm leaning towards the latter.

But the "second wave" people who got caught by the initial lies, who ended up being the shield in #notyourshield, those are really difficult. Some people really honestly do believe that this is all about ethics-in-games-journalism, not realizing they're being used, while others are just playing the part to keep the ball rolling. Because of the script they're told to parrot, and the echo chamber linkfest "look at THIS gg-written site for the TRUTH 9-11 was an inside job", even when you try to talk to people who just bought into the lies, they tend to act the same way as the trolls trying to keep this meme going.

About halfway through last year, I just gave up. I'm proud of the people who are still fighting the good fight, and trying to save the industry from itself and the people in GG, but as an individual, I just don't know what to do about it all anymore. The Manichean thinking already prevalent in gaming, infused into a crusade like GG, means anyone who disagrees with GG is automatically an "SJW", and thus, "the enemy", not to be reasoned with, not to be believed. So there is no room for discourse, no chance for reconciliation?

GG is the kind of meme that has so many layers of self defense, I worry that we're not going to be free of it in my lifetime.

 

[Vooduu]

Somebody link that megapost with the whole chronology, it's still one of the best sourced pieces of info (which is kinda telling of this whole disaster).

So through a female developer's infidelity exposed a network of gaming journalism scandals?

 

[Hagi]

I still don't understand what this "gamergate" thing is other than a means of generating revenue for a select few who shall remain unnamed and a way for some dicks to be dicks-- whom shall also be unnamed.

I guess that makes me part of the problem.

It's a coordinated attack on women in the industry. Not that hard a thing to get especially when it's been going on for a year.

 

[Steroyd]

why wouldn't she focus on the abuse she and other women are receiving solely because of their gender? I'd say why are you concentrating on everyone getting abuse when the vast majority of people Gamergate assholes are targeting are women.

Because it's a major blight to social media as a whole she even mentions it was a thing before the Gamergate term was first coined.

Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with what she says, but I feel she's focusing too much of a narrow aspect of the message she's giving out, hell I've been called a cunt for playing Destiny Pvp too well.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

It's amazing that the abuse hasn't really stopped or at least calmed down after a year now.

It's not amazing at all because being abusive online is just so easy. Get a little thrill from tearing someone else down at zero cost to oneself. It might be amazing if the same exact people were continually putting lots of energy into abuse, but there will always be an inexhaustible supply of angry, petulant young men who will engage in sociopathic behaviour for fun.

 

[ElTorro]

I understand she's talking about the industry creating an image of girls and women through common characterization in games, clothing tropes (steel bikini anyone) and sexualization of nearly all female characters in gaming, be it ingame, in advertising or in the surrounding media.

I understand this line of reasoning. I agree that more realistic and dignified depictions of women in video games would be a laudable thing. I am hesitant, though, to put major blame on the gaming industry for supposedly creating the horde of GamerGate morons. I'd like to believe that a well-raised man should be capable to enjoy a game like God of War 3, which includes violence against sexualized women, and still realize that you should treat women properly in real life. I hold men, who cannot draw this distinction, directly accountable, or if not them, then their bad upbringing. I don't like to think of them as some sort of mindless zombie that got programmed by video games to hate women.

 

[Razorback]

I recommend this series of videos for those who aren't familiar with gamergate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y8XgGhXkTQ&list=PLJA_jUddXvY62dhVThbeegLPpvQlR4CjF

 

[Slayven]

The silence from major devs and pubs is mindblowing.

Not even lip service to dispel how this shit is not a good look.

THIS.

Games and the people who play them do not have a monopoly on dickish behaviour on the internet. Trying to blame the games industry solely for the problem is ludicrous.

"Shit sucks, nothing can be done so why even try?"

 

[John Kowalski]

I still don't understand what this "gamergate" thing is other than a means of generating revenue for a select few who shall remain unnamed and a way for some dicks to be dicks-- whom shall also be unnamed.

I guess that makes me part of the problem.

This is literally a thread about an article that thoroughly explains what Gamergate is, who Anita is, what has been happening throughout the years.

Read the article for fuck's sake.

Because it's a major blight to social media as a whole she even mentions it was a thing before the Gamergate term was first coined.

Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with what she says, but I feel she's focusing too much of a narrow aspect of the message she's giving out, hell I've been called a cunt for playing Destiny Pvp too well.

Are you the dude who keeps saying that #blacklivesmatter is stupid because all lives matter?

 

[kswiston]

I wouldn't go as far as the gaming industry created them, but it gamergate did gain substance from them. And a lot of "gaming" personalities feed off of it and enabled it. And the big pubs and folks should come out and say "we are not putting up with the bullshit"

I think the Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel fandom (where female authors have almost always been prominent, if not as prevalent as male authors) shows that all geek cultures have their Gamergate equivalent constituents. Look at what happened to the Hugos.

The difference, is that gaming in general has embraced its immature boys club attitude for most of the past 20 years. Now that some creators and community members are trying to lead the medium to maturity (and diversity), we are seeing backlash from bigots who enjoyed things the way they were.

 

[besada]

Read the article for fuck's sake.

You made John cuss, chippiez. No wonder you're banned.

 

[Bleepey]

I don't agree with the harassment of Sarkeesian but I really don't think she is anything unique with regards to online harassment. People will bully people over the most random nonsense. Look at Adam Orth a dude that got sacked for defending his employer's potentially stupid actions, only difference is people had very little sympathy for him

 

[John Kowalski]

I, uh... it was a dark moment and it won't happen again.

 

[Hagi]

Because it's a major blight to social media as a whole she even mentions it was a thing before the Gamergate term was first coined.

Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with what she says, but I feel she's focusing too much of a narrow aspect of the message she's giving out, hell I've been called a cunt for playing Destiny Pvp too well.

I've been called a Scottish twat for killing someone in CoD but it's not really the same as someone stalking me online, emailing friends and family, constant abuse through all forms of social media. You can call it a narrow view all you like but that narrow view holds a hell of a lot more meaning to those targeted than some 12 year old calling you a cunt in an online match so it's not surprising that's where her focus lies.

 

[shysaursoft]

I don't agree with the harassment of Sarkeesian but I really don't think she is anything unique with regards to online harassment.

I don't think anyone thinks that she is unique in this. Just that she's a good example to use at the problems anyone can face when they decide to speak out against the status quo. We already know Sarkeesian isn't the only female developer (or even person) who's been on the receiving end of the perpetual wave of harassment and trolling.

 

[Deleted member 10571]

I understand this line of reasoning. I agree that more realistic and dignified depictions of women in video games would be a laudable thing. I am hesitant, though, to put major blame on the gaming industry for supposedly creating the horde of GamerGate morons. I'd like to believe that a well-raised man should be capable to enjoy a game like God of War 3, which includes violence against sexualized women, and still realize that you should treat women properly in real life. I hold men, who cannot draw this distinction, directly accountable, or if not them, then their bad upbringing. I don't like to think of them as some sort of mindless zombie that got programmed by video games to hate women.

Oh, you're not wrong on this - everyone in their right mind should easily be able to differentiate games and, well, reality. Just saying that's how I understand the industry created those seeds of thinking (and, as I think, examplified by recent Street Fighter news, isn't anywhere near stopping, apart from a few big titles like Horizon and many Indies).

It's not about a few extremes like GoW or other (clearly age 18) titles, but how the industry shaped and chiseled this image for years and years, since the literal dawn of videogames. Tropes aren't tropes because they're used in exceptions, they're the standard of how women are portrayed.

 

[Lime]

I agree with everything she says up to this last quoted paragraph, but I can't follow the logic leading to this conclusion. It's not the gaming industry's duty to educate morons on how to not be morons.

It's their duty when they are partly responsible for fostering this culture.

 

[Slayven]

I think the Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel fandom (where female authors have almost always been prominent, if not as prevalent as male authors) shows that all geek cultures have their Gamergate equivalent constituents. Look at what happened to the Hugos.

The difference, is that gaming in general has embraced its immature boys club attitude for most of the past 20 years. Now that some creators and community members are trying to lead the medium to maturity (and diversity), we are seeing backlash from bigots who enjoyed things the way they were.

No doubt, I seen shit on comic boards when a minority gets some shine. But it feels like everyone else handles it worlds better than gaming. Corrupt as FIFA is they have zero tolerance for racism.