Wow. I was away for a while and this thread kinda exploded.
Feminists are becoming to gamers what Atheism+ is to atheists. I think that's the short answer of what's happening. I look forward to them making their own little space where they can be "gamers" and leave everyone else the fuck alone.
I've watched the gamergate shitstorm for a while and I'm solidly on the gamergate side of things. Yet the mainstream media seems to buy into the idea that we're all a bunch of misogynists and haters. I have honestly lost count the number of times I've had to tell people I don't support threats or doxxing. I support gamergate because I think there is a serious need for change in gaming journalism when multiple gaming sites all publish articles with titles like "death to gamers" or "gamers are dead" and they do it all on the same day. Aren't gamers supposed to be their audience? Aren't we their customers? Are they actually attacking the people who allowed them to build their business? Something is seriously wrong here; not only do I support boycotting the sites who wish my death, but I also support informing their advertisers about the boycott.
Gamergate has also donated a tremendous amount to charity. I don't know exactly how much has been donated because it keeps increasing. Last I checked was a week or so ago and it was over $30,000 then. The charities they've given to have been note worthy, too. They've donated to anti-bullying charities, they've donated to help women get into gaming (look up the Fine Young Capitalists campaign), they've donated to suicide prevention charities.... these aren't the acts of people who support doxxing and threats.
I can't say I'm surprised the media is against us, though; this whole shitstorm started with gaming media and I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if some of them have enough connections with the mainstream media to get them on our side or at least to know how to spin something in such a way that they're on our side. Hell, just getting the feminists on their side got most progressive news sources lined up against us.
But I obviously don't hate women in gaming. Heck, I would like to see more women in gaming. What I don't like in gaming is annoying, abrasive whiners who are always insisting everything is oppression. I don't want to sit here and listen to someone give me a 20 minute lecture about how Bayonetta is sexist or how Laura Croft is so much better with smaller boobs. And I don't want us to tokenize video game characters to the point that we're more worried about representing every group than we are about producing a quality game with good controls and an interesting story.
Sure, I think there are jerks in the video game world and there are misogynists in the video game world. But I also don't think Anita Sarkeesian or Zoe Quinn are the ones who are going to be able to fix their problems. They have no understanding of pragmatism. They have no interest in listening to any viewpoint outside of their own (evidenced by their tendancy to block people on twitter and Anita's videos having no rating or comments allowed and conversations about gamergate being censored on reddit, 4chan and multiple other sites). If you can find someone who's willing to have a conversation with us instead of just standing on their soapbox and chastising us, ok, yeah, that might help some.
Feminists are becoming to gamers what Atheism+ is to atheists. I think that's the short answer of what's happening. I look forward to them making their own little space where they can be "gamers" and leave everyone else the fuck alone.
I've watched the gamergate shitstorm for a while and I'm solidly on the gamergate side of things. Yet the mainstream media seems to buy into the idea that we're all a bunch of misogynists and haters. I have honestly lost count the number of times I've had to tell people I don't support threats or doxxing. I support gamergate because I think there is a serious need for change in gaming journalism when multiple gaming sites all publish articles with titles like "death to gamers" or "gamers are dead" and they do it all on the same day. Aren't gamers supposed to be their audience? Aren't we their customers? Are they actually attacking the people who allowed them to build their business? Something is seriously wrong here; not only do I support boycotting the sites who wish my death, but I also support informing their advertisers about the boycott.
Gamergate has also donated a tremendous amount to charity. I don't know exactly how much has been donated because it keeps increasing. Last I checked was a week or so ago and it was over $30,000 then. The charities they've given to have been note worthy, too. They've donated to anti-bullying charities, they've donated to help women get into gaming (look up the Fine Young Capitalists campaign), they've donated to suicide prevention charities.... these aren't the acts of people who support doxxing and threats.
I can't say I'm surprised the media is against us, though; this whole shitstorm started with gaming media and I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if some of them have enough connections with the mainstream media to get them on our side or at least to know how to spin something in such a way that they're on our side. Hell, just getting the feminists on their side got most progressive news sources lined up against us.
But I obviously don't hate women in gaming. Heck, I would like to see more women in gaming. What I don't like in gaming is annoying, abrasive whiners who are always insisting everything is oppression. I don't want to sit here and listen to someone give me a 20 minute lecture about how Bayonetta is sexist or how Laura Croft is so much better with smaller boobs. And I don't want us to tokenize video game characters to the point that we're more worried about representing every group than we are about producing a quality game with good controls and an interesting story.
Sure, I think there are jerks in the video game world and there are misogynists in the video game world. But I also don't think Anita Sarkeesian or Zoe Quinn are the ones who are going to be able to fix their problems. They have no understanding of pragmatism. They have no interest in listening to any viewpoint outside of their own (evidenced by their tendancy to block people on twitter and Anita's videos having no rating or comments allowed and conversations about gamergate being censored on reddit, 4chan and multiple other sites). If you can find someone who's willing to have a conversation with us instead of just standing on their soapbox and chastising us, ok, yeah, that might help some.
I live on facebook. Come see me there. http://www.facebook.com/tara.rizzatto
"If you cling to something as the absolute truth and you are caught in it, when the truth comes in person to knock on your door you will refuse to let it in." ~ Siddhartha Gautama
"If you cling to something as the absolute truth and you are caught in it, when the truth comes in person to knock on your door you will refuse to let it in." ~ Siddhartha Gautama
