Hold up, Churba. Her success is not theirs. The fact that her work challenged those that became her detractors is proof of that. The fact that her work inspired sting reactions, positive and negative, and furthered the conversatile of gender issues is the success. Unless you are trying to make the case that Ms. Sarkeesian is a Kardashian-esque fame monger, then the fame and infamy are byproducts of her success.
GAME CHANGERS Anita Sarkeesian HOST OF TROPES VS. WOMEN, AUTHOR OF FEMINIST FREQUENCY
Anita Sarkeesian is unstoppable. As the face of Feminist Frequency, her series of "Tropes vs. Women" online videos have allowed her to take on some of the most pervasive, pernicious forms of sexism in media today. However, it was her ongoing series delving into the sexism endemic to gaming culture that brought her face-to-face with some of the ugliest and most hateful of her detractors. She wasn't alone: over the summer, she and other notable female thinkers and game developers like Leigh Alexander and Zoe Quinn were the targets of rape threats, death threats, and the kind of abuse that can drive people away from the internet altogether. But she never quit, instead opting to fight the Gamergate opposition head on. In doing so, she helped bring the problem to the mainstream by appearing in The New York Times and The Colbert Report, forcing audiences to reckon with the issues she's been facing for years. It may be a long time before sexism is effectively erased from the media landscape, but, among so many others fighting the good fight, it's good to know Anita isn't going anywhere.
What about this write up is incorrect or distorted? If the answer is "not a damn thing," then she certainly is a game changer.
Hold up. Her success is not theirs. The fact that her work challenged those that became her detractors is proof of that. While the threats may have increased the attention she received, she kept it on her own merits. She developed a following because what she said was relevant, poignant, well researched, thought provoking, and inspring to many.
An incredibly small following, and would have likely never been more than an obscure feminist critic on youtube otherwise. Being attacked bought her to the attention of the world, I didn't say that it wasn't her own effort that kept that attention, or that she didn't deserve attention. It's just what boosted her out of obscurity. Her viewership prior to that was frankly insignificant, her most successful public project reaching the kind of dizzying heights only seen my small regional newspapers that nobody outside and few inside of said region actually read - no matter how relevant, poignant, well researched or inspiring her message, you can't say that makes her widely known.
It doesn't detract from her that it was the trolls and bullies that lit the fuse on her fame. It just makes it all the more admirable and inspiring that she's risen above despite.
You seem to be sepeating her positive and negative initial attention. You give her credit for her initial positive attention, but not the negative. Does that make sense? Great activists and social leaders are usually bolstered by the negative attention as much as the positive. The fact that their message questions and shocks the power structure is part of their success.
It's not like she was a suffragette. She was a person with a Kickstarter and a generalised opinion on a specific medium.
She provideo specific, well researched information and questioned gender inequity in many social and media realms, not just games. She is an activist, and a damn good one. Gloria Steinem recently pointed to multiple younger, feminist voices, including Anita Sarkeesian, as the torch bearers of the movent.
It goes without saying that even though women have gained certain legal rights, we still face numerous inequities on a daily basis. It is easy to down play these injustices because they are ubiquitous to the point of invisibility. What may seem trivial to you may be crucial to others.
It's not like she was a suffragette. She was a person with a Kickstarter and a generalised opinion on a specific medium.
It goes without saying that even though women have gained certain legal rights, we still face numerous inequities on a daily basis. It is easy to down play these injustices because they are ubiquitous to the point of invisibility. What may seem trivial to you may be crucial to others.
I was not denying this. I thought it was crazy when I initially found out that equal pay was not present in many industries and professions including my prior one.
I was surprised to find my female friends would often be earning anywhere between $10 - 30,000 less than I would for the same position.
However looking at it from another point of view, she was revealing the gender inequality from her own or based on her academic / professional background.
...she was revealing the gender inequality from her own or based on her academic / professional background.
I am genuinely confused by this statement. Ms. Sarkeesian backs up every point with reasearch and specific examples from said research.
I've written it poorly. She has a specific academic background from which she was able to approach the situation. My friend Sharon would not understand or even care to look up Ms. Sarkeesian's content but could easily tell me about the sexism in the Veterinary profession and unequal pay in general.
An individual will feel more confident and comfortable talking about knowledge that they have personally invested time into or have experienced.
However if Sharon did research into gender inequality in videogames, she would come to similar conclusions.
sK0pe, are you saying that a lay person can glean as much specified knowledge as an expert with years worth of highly specified reasearch adressing nuanced aspects of the question at hand?
Anyone can easily see that sexism exists and that it has a negative impact on society at large; however, that is the broadest and most cursory of observations. To address a wide spread, multifaceted, and complex social issue that expresses itself in layers and ripples throughout every aspect of a society requires a legion of experts, reporters, chroniclers, and activists to address and correct - not casual observations and broad, general conclusions.
Have you consumed much, if any, of Anita Sarkeesian's writings and presentations? You may have, but it doesn't come off that way.
My initial point was just a superficial comment of people will write about what they know and what they are passionate about, no link to sexism whatsoever. Like James Herriot wrote of Veterinary stories because he had life experience as a Vet. If the point still doesn't make sense, disregard the point.
sK0pe, are you saying that a lay person can glean as much specified knowledge as an expert with years worth of highly specified reasearch adressing nuanced aspects of the question at hand?
Of course not as stated this point was superficial and it was interpreted with a context I did not expect it to be by post readers.
Moot has left 4chan, citing various things, but pretty much everyone I've talked to says its a reaction against GoomerGate...somehow. I think he's wanted an out from 4chan for a while, and saw an opportunity.
And apparently a whole bunch of folks over at the Escapist got fired for being Anti-Goomer. I know folks have left, but I don't know if this is the reason, yet.
Moot has left 4chan, citing various things, but pretty much everyone I've talked to says its a reaction against GoomerGate...somehow. I think he's wanted an out from 4chan for a while, and saw an opportunity.
I don't buy that. I think it's just GamerBullshit taking anything they can and using it to draw attention to themselves.
I'd love to see more mothers get involved in this internet battle.
Maybe have a website for parents, that teach them how to observe if not moderate the behaviour of their kids. "Is your child being cyberbullied, or are they the cyberbully?". Here's what you can do...
I'd love to see more mothers get involved in this internet battle.
Maybe have a website for parents, that teach them how to observe if not moderate the behaviour of their kids. "Is your child being cyberbullied, or are they the cyberbully?". Here's what you can do...
I don't know I prefer keeping parents out of it. If they have produced a kid like this the parents are fucked in the head too (as I've found with physical bullying when I grew up).
I used to live with a super timid guy. Photocopier repair man by day crazy racist online gamer by night. It would be the only time I would ever hear him shout or yell and the things he roared were just appalling.
Let it be said that anyone who continues to gamergate despite the events of the past months is either:
The grammar of "Gamergate" fascinates me more than any of the actual events of it. Never before has a "-gate" suffix controversy been used as a verb, and furthermore no one has embraced the term like "gamergaters" do. Nixon defenders didn't identify as "Watergaters", Reagan fanatics didn't call themselves "Contragaters", but the anti-Sarkeesians are proud to be "gamergaters".
I was looking at that list the other day. What I find interesting isn't that this is a "-gate" controversy, but that the uses of the term are changing.
Comments
It doesn't detract from her that it was the trolls and bullies that lit the fuse on her fame. It just makes it all the more admirable and inspiring that she's risen above despite.
She was a person with a Kickstarter and a generalised opinion on a specific medium.
It goes without saying that even though women have gained certain legal rights, we still face numerous inequities on a daily basis. It is easy to down play these injustices because they are ubiquitous to the point of invisibility. What may seem trivial to you may be crucial to others.
I was surprised to find my female friends would often be earning anywhere between $10 - 30,000 less than I would for the same position.
However looking at it from another point of view, she was revealing the gender inequality from her own or based on her academic / professional background.
My friend Sharon would not understand or even care to look up Ms. Sarkeesian's content but could easily tell me about the sexism in the Veterinary profession and unequal pay in general.
An individual will feel more confident and comfortable talking about knowledge that they have personally invested time into or have experienced.
However if Sharon did research into gender inequality in videogames, she would come to similar conclusions.
Anyone can easily see that sexism exists and that it has a negative impact on society at large; however, that is the broadest and most cursory of observations. To address a wide spread, multifaceted, and complex social issue that expresses itself in layers and ripples throughout every aspect of a society requires a legion of experts, reporters, chroniclers, and activists to address and correct - not casual observations and broad, general conclusions.
Have you consumed much, if any, of Anita Sarkeesian's writings and presentations? You may have, but it doesn't come off that way.
My only opinion was that I believe Sarkeesian's importance brought much more attention after she was attacked, both positive and negative.
GG is taking credit for getting it removed, however how can they prove that? I would imagine ZQ put in the complaint herself, but who knows.
Yeah, I read that tweet. Wonderful.
Also, this is what gamergate actually believes:
Moot has left 4chan, citing various things, but pretty much everyone I've talked to says its a reaction against GoomerGate...somehow. I think he's wanted an out from 4chan for a while, and saw an opportunity.
And apparently a whole bunch of folks over at the Escapist got fired for being Anti-Goomer. I know folks have left, but I don't know if this is the reason, yet.
http://femfreq.tumblr.com/post/109319269825/one-week-of-harassment-on-twitter
(Prepare to do a lot of scrolling.)
1. incredibly dim
2. incredibly shit-headed
There really is zero exception at this point.
Maybe have a website for parents, that teach them how to observe if not moderate the behaviour of their kids. "Is your child being cyberbullied, or are they the cyberbully?". Here's what you can do...
We're talking about kids who are in the habit of not thinking before they speak. They emulate the behaviour of others online because, it's 'normal'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scandals_with_"-gate"_suffix