Woman of the Week #7 - Anita Sarkeesian

[{ Emilia }]

This whole concept has been dormant for quite a while but as things go with the feminist Cthulhu it tends to awaken unexpectedly. These threads are meant to spark a civil, open conversation.

If you're new or would like a reminder. You can find past entries here:
Hillary Clinton
J.K. Rowling
Angelina Jolie
Princess Leia
Simone de Beauvoir
Camila Vallejo

This time it's about Anita Sarkeesian who is currently dealing with the abomination known as #GamerGate even though it originally wasn't really about her.

Anita has made a bunch of videos raising awareness for sexist and misogynist tropes in video games. You can find her stuff here: Feminist Frequency on Youtube.

She believes that the depiction of women in video games (a still relatively new entertainment genre) is often driven by sexist male fantasies (wish fulfilment fantasies, objectification, violence against women, old sexist tropes) and has an exclusive effect in that it alienates female gamers (or even male gamers who can't stand stupid sexism).

Keep in mind this is not a "women vs. men" debate. Many men are happy to continue this discourse and work towards a more inclusive society and gaming culture.

Enter the self-proclaimed core group of "gamers". Sarkeesian and other women in the industry/media have drawn their ire. Apparently they're scared of losing their sweet little misogynist subculture so they riot. Well... they rage about it online.

Sparked by a fake story and a disgruntled ex-boyfriend of an indie developer (Zoe Quinn) they're now leading a "crusade" fighting for (as they call it) "the ethics of game journalism". They're claiming said indie developer had sex with a guy to make him write a good review for her game (There is no such review).
They have been harassing her but even if the story were true (it isn't) it would be the journalist's duty to keep his integrity and not give anybody a good review just because he received sexual favours. So if it's about "ethics in game journalism"... talk about journalists please. But "slut shaming" is always a fun knee-jerk reflex, right?

If there's a problem regarding ethics in game journalism I'd hazard a guess and say it's not coming from some indie developer who made a game about dealing with depression. You'd think it's more likely to come from big corporations who are making billions with their games.

In any case Sarkeesian is now also being dragged into this even though her work is quite unrelated. So she made a video series about sexism and misogyny in video games. You can agree with her views or you can disagree. It's all fair.

But what's happening? She's getting death threats, rape threats, she has had to cancel an appearance at a US uni because somebody threatened to cause "the deadliest school shooting in US history".

All that because she is raising awareness for something she considers to be a relevant issue in the gaming culture.

*sigh*

For a brief summary of what's happening check this out: Gamergate summary including an interview with Brianna Wu who is now being threatened because she spoke up

Another good read: Penny Red: Why we're winning.

Us Social Justice Warriors – this is me, stealing that word in order to use it against my enemies- are winning the culture war by tearing up the rulebook, and there’s nothing the sad, mad little boys who hate women and queers and people of colour can do about it. Nothing, at least, that doesn’t sabotage their strategy, because they can win their game from day to day, but they’re losing the war. They can punish me for writing this, and I’m sure they will, but that will only prove my point. I’m not afraid anymore.

Again: Disagreeing with somebody is fine. But harassment and threats?



ETA: Shit, I screwed up the poll. Only one option possible. Don't let that keep you from clicking the joke option if you're desperate to do so, though.

 

[SPCTRE]

I'm looking forward to watching the recording of her appearence on the Colbert Report. Been watching her work since her first video. She presents her content really, really well and a critical perspective on that aspect of video games had long been overdue.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Great choice!

I know some people really hate her, call her a "professional victim," but the bottom line is that sexism in video games was not a hot topic until she made it one. She started out not being much of a gamer, but through the course of her research she's come to be fond of a lot of games. She would be a great ally to the world of video games if people would just listen to what she's saying. In fact, a lot of people have listened, it's just this crazy vocal minority that's so obsessed with her they'll say almost anything to get her to shut up. Unfortunately for them, she refuses to.

I don't consider her a victim, considering she still goes out there and does this even though people have threatened to murder her. I don't think it's counterproductive for her to talk about the harassment, either, because it's part and parcel of the sexism she's trying to fight.

I really wish her a long and glorious career in feminist activism and media analysis. She's the kind of voice pop culture needs--someone who can make feminist ideas accessible and clear to people who don't necessarily think much about this stuff.

 

[SeerSGB]

Watched her vids. Frankly, she's not bringing up anything really new. and I think she goes out of her way to cherry pick the worse possible parts in a way much the same as Fox News does. I wouldn't call her a professional victim, but she is a opportunist.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Wow, didn't even take 5 posts to get to a "not ALL games" argument.

 

[SeerSGB]

Broad generalizations of games is just as bad as ignoring the issues. You can make anything look bad if you cherry pick the worse parts of certain games; you can do it with any large genre of product. She's the Fox News of video gaming; deliberately divisive and aggressive, wanting the fight, the argument more than the honest debate. She's not really doing anything different from dozens of other youtube reviewers out there, she's just latched on a niche that's allowed her to cash in.

And you know what: "Not all games" and "Not all gamers" is a legit response. I'm a gamer, I don't give a shit about "gamergate" and their troll antics. So when someone says "All gamers..." or "all games...", I say put a minority at the start of the phrase and see if it still sounds okay? "All blacks...", "All Jews....". See the issue? See why some gamers don't like being batched in with gamergate and their /pol/ buddies?

 

[{ Emilia }]

She's the Fox News of video gaming

I think that's a crazy misrepresentation of what she does but thanks for your input. I wish it was more nuanced but oh well...

 

[SeerSGB]

Considering what I've seen of her, it's pretty dead on. She'd fit right in with them--ethical questions (which gamergate and /pol/ has zero to do with they're just trolliing and being miserable little pricks) and all. She's going for the views, the "OMG, did you hear what she said!!!!". She's shock value that clouds the real issue. She goes out of her way to draw the attention to her, but not the issue she claims to be addressing. Whatever her original intent, it's now about her.

I lost a lot of respect for her when she went on twitter and tried to use the recent shooting in Washington as a way to (1) take a swipe at men; (2) promote her vids. Mere hours after the shootings had occurred and there was virtually nothing known.

Is there a problem in the gaming industry? Yes. Considering that the number of female programers has been on a serious decline in the last decade, that points to there being a obvious fewer number of women in an already niche field. The why behind it isn't as simple as merely saying "sexism"; which is one of the problems, yes, but not the only problem. Is there a problem with female representation in the games themselves? Ina a broad sense, Ye; but with the caveat that it's gotta be taken about bit by bit and addressed in terms of specific game/play mechanics and can't be addressed with a simple "we need more women".

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Watched her vids. Frankly, she's not bringing up anything really new. and I think she goes out of her way to cherry pick the worse possible parts in a way much the same as Fox News does. I wouldn't call her a professional victim, but she is a opportunist.

She cherry picked a boatload of games to use an example? It is true that it happens so that a large number of the games I played didn't have the problems she speaks of, at least not to the level she mentions, but that's hardly a reason to dismiss her valid criticism of the tons of games that do. Her criticism is at times too mild, because some of the games are jarring – and I say that as someone who usually enjoys jarring things. One thing that she does go out of the way to do is to actually point out it is not all games that she speaks of and to give examples of games that are done respectfully.

Besides, games are not people, so I am not particularly concerned if she accidentally offended the feelings of all games who were made by someone who knew better. A comparison to "All jews" is in a really bad taste.

But seriously, if I was a woman and played one of the games in the examples, it would have been a miracle if I didn't have an overreaction, saying things that would make the real Fox News of video gaming look OK. It would have made me the ISIS of video game commentary for real.

 

[{ Emilia }]

Is there a problem in the gaming industry? Yes. Considering that the number of female programers has been on a serious decline in the last decade, that points to there being a obvious fewer number of women in an already niche field. The why behind it isn't as simple as merely saying "sexism"; which is one of the problems, yes, but not the only problem. Is there a problem with female representation in the games themselves? Ina a broad sense, Ye;

Hey, I'm glad you're at least acknowledging that there's a problem. I still think your misrepresentation of what Sarkeesian is doing isn't helping but judging from your tone I don't think any amount of reasoning is going to change your opinion. You seem stuck in your "not all games/gamers" mindset even though Sarkeesian obviously never claimed all games or all gamers are a lost cause.

If you want to put up those straw men you will find that I'm not interested in fighting them. It's just way too exhausting. You're not promoting sexist views, so it's really not that big a deal. Disagreeing is just fine.
It's just that Sarkeesian's videos rub you the wrong way. I think you've made your point here (twice now).

One thing that she does go out of the way to do is to actually point out it is not all games that she speaks of and to give examples of games that are done respectfully.

This.

 

[SeerSGB]

Watched her vids. Frankly, she's not bringing up anything really new. and I think she goes out of her way to cherry pick the worse possible parts in a way much the same as Fox News does. I wouldn't call her a professional victim, but she is a opportunist.

She cherry picked a boatload of games to use an example? It is true that it happens so that a large number of the games I played didn't have the problems she speaks of, at least not to the level she mentions, but that's hardly a reason to dismiss her valid criticism of the tons of games that do. Her criticism is at times too mild, because some of the games are jarring – and I say that as someone who usually enjoys jarring things. One thing that she does go out of the way to do is to actually point out it is not all games that she speaks of and to give examples of games that are done respectfully.

Besides, games are not people, so I am not particularly concerned if she accidentally offended the feelings of all games who were made by someone who knew better. A comparison to "All jews" is in a really bad taste.

But seriously, if I was a woman and played one of the games in the examples, it would have been a miracle if I didn't have an overreaction, saying things that would make the real Fox News of video gaming look OK. It would have made me the ISIS of video game commentary for real.

When you lump all gamers or game programers into the problem,when the majority of us couldn't give a shit, or claim we're all part of gamergate (/pol/), then, yeah, it's no different than saying "All <insert minority>..."

If it's not politically correct? Fine, fuck it, I don't care. I'm a gamer, I enjoy games. That doesn't mean I'm just as bad as the trolls sending death threats and rape threats. What I am does not make me same as the worst parts of my community.

She seems to lack a understanding that gaming is very, very, very, market driven. The market, at the moment, is young males. Does that make it right? No. Does it need to change? Yeah. But you know how you do it? You show the investors that there is money to be made; that's they're missinig out on a payday.

 

[{ Emilia }]

She seems to lack a understanding that gaming is very, very, very, market driven. The market, at the moment, is young males. Does that make it right? No. Does it need to change? Yeah. But you know how you do it? You show the investors that there is money to be made; that's they're missinig out on a payday.

By raising awareness for the "exclusion" that's currently taking place you're changing things. "Inclusion" can lead to better sales.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Taking other people's work without attribution is great.

People need to do that more often.

 

[SeerSGB]

Taking other people's work without attribution is great.

One of the legit criticisms she's failed to address.

There was/is also the issue that some of alleged death/rape threats may have been faked or weren't real to begin with. The raid on thunderf00t's youtube channel that was linked back to her followers.

She seems to lack a understanding that gaming is very, very, very, market driven. The market, at the moment, is young males. Does that make it right? No. Does it need to change? Yeah. But you know how you do it? You show the investors that there is money to be made; that's they're missinig out on a payday.

By raising awareness for the "exclusion" that's currently taking place you're changing things. "Inclusion" can lead to better sales.

Inclusion doesn't automatically = > sales. Gotta have a market in place. And the way to do that, is get more female gamers playing the big money makers. Show the guys that sign the checks that women want to play these games already, but more would play if you offered "X" content. And the knock on affect would be driving more women back into game programing for the big name game franchise, so they can create the content that they, as gamers, want in the game.

And that's a key point: Stop thinking women vs gamers. That just tossing in my women centric (pandering) content is the answer. And that's a important difference: Good content, content women feel like playing, that makes them equal and immersed in the game; over pandering and saying "We can now check of this box, we've met the quota".

Think "I've got a massive untapped subsect of gamer money...I can get 25% of them to the game, how do I get the rest?" Man or woman, gamers want one thing: a kick ass game. All other considerations aside, that's the one thing that ultimately matters: we want a game that fucking rocks.

 

[{ Emilia }]

And that's a key point: Stop thinking women vs gamers.

Nobody is doing that. I also pointed out that this certainly isn't about "women vs. men" either. You're employing the same tactics the GamerGaters are employing. Putting up straw men. Sarkeesian also said that the games she criticizes for using sexist tropes can still be enjoyable games.

That bit about faked death threats is so low and ridiculous considering the amount of very real threats. Threats like the one mentioned in the Guardian article I linked here.

You've made your point. Right now the fact that you needed to bring up that nonsense is really unpleasant.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Just a brief note on the accusations of "cherry-picking" by Sarkeesian:

Sometimes there are a lot of cherries to pick, and the video game industry is about the closest thing to a sexist cherry orchard as could possibly exist.

 

[SeerSGB]

And that's a key point: Stop thinking women vs gamers.

Nobody is doing that. I also pointed out that this certainly isn't about "women vs. men" either. You're employing the same tactics the GamerGaters are employing. Putting up straw men. Sarkeesian also said that the games she criticizes for using sexist tropes can still be enjoyable games.

That bit about faked death threats is so low and ridiculous considering the amount of very real threats. Threats like the one mentioned in the Guardian article I linked here.

You've made your point. Right now the fact that you needed to bring up that nonsense is really unpleasant.

Sarkessian and her ilk are selling exactly that: women vs gamers. That's why she and her followers love to lump all gamers together as being male when they talk about gamers. She's divisive cause it sells, it fills up the coffers.



The guardian one wasn't the one I was talking about. I was talking about the unsupported claims of ones that came out mere hours before one of her fundraising pushes. No one said she wasn't getting real threats, but when ethics are the topic to hand, then it's fair to mention the elephant in the room. That she or someone thinking they were helping her at the time might have cooked something up for PR.

Just a brief note on the accusations of "cherry-picking" by Sarkeesian:

Sometimes there are a lot of cherries to pick, and the video game industry is about the closest thing to a sexist cherry orchard as could possibly exist.

No one is saying that there isn't a problem in the industry. But the first question we have to answer is why is the number of women programmers, across the board, down in the computer industry? And sexism is one part of a bigger market issue. The talent pool is small to begin with, so fewer still the ones with the interest in game design. So what we got do it get more women back/back into computer programming and then we can get more women who can compete for the smaller job market in the gaming industry. So how do we get more women interest in computer sciences/programming? What do we need to do at the educational level, to steer or encourage young women in highschool to see the computer industry as a possible career choice?

 

[{ Emilia }]

Sarkessian and her ilk are selling exactly that: women vs gamers.

No, they aren't. At all. Repeating that misrepresentation of a much more nuanced view doesn't make it true. It's either misinformed or dishonest. Either way I'm going to stop replying to you now.

ETA for a more nuanced representation. She also covers your conspiracy theory.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah8mhDW6Shs[/yt]

 

[Robert Maxwell]

This is complete crap. Sarkeesian doesn't hate gamers, she's not against gamers. She likes gamers. She just happens to think that gamers, as a group, can and should aspire to more, and should also be critical of the media they consume. In other words: she wants them to be smart and informed consumers as well as culture critics.

The divide here is really something GamerGaters trumped up. The reality is that there's just this tiny group of morons who know how to scream very loudly, while everyone else sees them for what they are: entitled manbabies who simply refuse to grow up or tolerate having women in their hobby.

 

[Jedi_Master]

So what we got do it get more women back/back into computer programming and then we can get more women who can compete for the smaller job market in the gaming industry. So how do we get more women interest in computer sciences/programming? What do we need to do at the educational level, to stir or encourage young women in highschool to see the computer industry as a possible career choice?

A thought: Perhaps we (that is men and women) could make sure that girls/women don't view gaming/programming/video games in a negative light because of the negative/sexist portrayal of women they find in video games.

As a man, if programming was dominated by women, most games featured main characters that were women only, with men being relegated to support/NPC/non-essential sexual objects roles I would lose interest in video games and computer programming.