The wit and wisdom of the guy who created that “beat up Anita Sarkeesian” game
Yesterday I wrote about a vile online game in which players were invited to “beat up Anita Sarkeesian,” the feminist cultural critic who’s faced endless harassment because she had the temerity to ask for donations to fund a video project looking at sexist tropes in video games.
The game, which (happily) has been removed from Newgrounds.com, where it was originally posted, was put together by a young Canadian gamer named Bendilin Spurr. On the game’s page, he offered this explanation as to why he created the game:
Anita Sarkeesian has not only scammed thousands of people out of over $160,000, but also uses the excuse that she is a woman to get away with whatever she damn well pleases. Any form of constructive criticism, even from fellow women, is either ignored or labelled to be sexist against her.
She claims to want gender equality in video games, but in reality, she just wants to use the fact that she was born with a vagina to get free money and sympathy from everyone who crosses her path.
That doesn’t really explain much, as asking people for voluntary donations to a video project is a far cry from “scamming,” especially since she’d asked for far less, and that the misogynist backlash to her project began long before she’d collected anywhere near this amount.
It also doesn’t quite explain why Bendilin felt that a Sarkessian-punching game was the best format to make this, er, critique.
Last night, after learning from the comments here that young Bendilin had a profile on Steam and a Twitter account, I decided to peruse both to see if I could find more clues that might explain his foul game.
On his Steam profile, he’s set forth his basic philosophy of life, video games, and how much women suck:
I think it’s just adorable how absolutely no girls are any good at video games, just like how no woman has ever written a good novel. They are nothing but talk and no action, probably because girls are such emotional creatures and base everything they do on their current feelings and then try to rationalize their actions later. How pathetic.
You know what’s priceless? When a gamer girl posts a pic of herself looking as slutty as possible and then throws a fake fit when people talk to her like she’s a whore. What did you think was going to happen, you dumb broad? Lose thirty pounds.
Sadly, these aren’t terribly rare or original opinions for a young male gamer.
Over on Twitter, Bendilin has offered a number of conflicting explanations for why he felt so much hostility for Sarkeesian and her video project that he felt justified in creating a video game devoted to punching her in the face.
There’s the fiscal argument:
There’s the laziness argument:
There’s the rather strange argument that Sarkeesian is not taking the proper time to research the subject, although she has not yet started the project. (Also, one of the reasons she was asking for money was so that she could take the time to research the subject properly.)
The “nuh-uh you’re wrong” argument:
The “she won’t listen to me argument.” Part one: The Lego Incident
And Part 2, in which our hero explains that making a video game about punching someone in the face is a great way to open a dialogue with them:
Naturally, Bendilin, like most misogynists, fervently denies that he’s a misogynist:
Yep, that’s right. The guy whose Steam profile claims that “absolutely no girls are any good at video games” and that “no woman has ever written a good novel,” and who decided to express his criticism for a video project that hasn’t even started by making a video game in which players punch the woman behind it in the face, is angry that anyone might conclude that he hates women.
Well, Bendilin, if you wanted to defend video games and the gaming community at large from charges of sexism, you’ve done a bang-up job of it.
UPDATE: Bendilin is also an artist! Here, Virgil Texas takes a look at Bendilin’s erotically charged Sonic the Hedgehog art.
That last paragraph and the update contained
Posted on July 8, 2012, in antifeminism, bullying, harassment, irony alert, men who should not ever be with women ever, misogyny, narcissism, oppressed men, pussy pass, vaginas, violence. Bookmark the permalink. 1,286 Comments.
“Liar! Your shirt is much more of a deep crimson!” despite not having actually seen your shirt and only knowing of its existence because you TOLD me it was red.
He specifically said that his teacher frequently made misandrist comments. There’s not that much wiggle room there, in my opinion. He then said that the misandry didn’t bother him- fine. However, he further went on to presumptuously assert- not in so many words- that it wasn’t such a big deal, that it was actually a good thing because it “set him on the path toward women’s issues”, and that all of the other boys probably has his reaction, and so it’s okay.
This is not fine. Kirbywarp is a scumbag and a bully enabler.
And Steele said both of those things in the same comment no less.
Hey, Steele, would you consider reading your comments before you post them? It might help you avoid this sort of blatant, whiplash-inducing self-contradiction in the future.
I feel comfortable assuming things that Kirbywarp himself references- for example, the misandrist “jokes” he himself refers to. I would challenge him to consider that even in jest, jokes can be hurtful, especially if solely targeted at one group for an extended period of time.
Like, you see how you’re not convincing anybody with your arguments about Kirbywarp? How would not convincing anybody with your arguments about institutional misandry differ from that?
“even in jest, jokes can be hurtful,”
As opposed to those jokes that aren’t in jest. Huh?
That teacher who told you not to be a writer? You are so wrong to resent her. She did you a huge favour, man.
My writing is bad because of misandry- take note.
Right, it couldn’t possibly be that you were discouraged because you were a shit writer to begin with.
Steele:
I just want to clarify, here, that you’re aware that “I have evidence, but I’m not going to show it to you” doesn’t constitute winning the argument.
It could be viewed as ceding it, really.
Again, I can think of an argument (though not a dispositive one) for your side, but I don’t feel like scoring an own goal tonight. But I’m curious if our thinking runs along similar tracks, and if so, where the nearest switch is.
For the record, I have provided the things I have actually said below.
So basically this is what Steele considers to be “misandrist jokes”: light-hearted joking about how girls are so much better, explicitely described as being used for the purpose of countering harmful messages towards girls. If that’s what counts as institutional misandry? Color me uninterested.
The silliest thing is that in actual fact the teacher didn’t only ever make jokes about girls being better than boys. There was a whole class to teach! There were fun days and boring days! There were days where half the class was pitted against the other half (not by gender) to see who could remember history better! Myself and another boy generally did the best in those contests, and we weren’t belittled as a result! Steele, when you try to speak for someone else based on a couple paragraphs that span a couple of years, you make yourself the asshole you keep wishing I am.
We’re not asking for your writing to be great. Just meeting the minimum standards of consistency and comprehensibility would be a good start.
I think that your comments would be much more consistent and understandable if you took the time to read through them before you posted.
How is misandry preventing you from reading your work and doing some basic editing?
In the meantime, several pages ago, Steele said:
We trotted out several incidents. Did he ever reciprocate?
@Anathema:
Apparently misandry is like bubble-gum that’s stuck to your shoe. Once it gets stuck on, it never ever comes off yet is only ever a slight nuisence.
You’re a disgusting person, Steele. You’re a nasty little toad, you refuse to see what’s in front of your face and you’ve devote your life to helping out the more fortunate. You argue like a wife-beater, you ask others to prove your own points for you, and when one person hurts your precious little feelings you scream about it for the rest of your life. You’re grotesque, you’re deliberately idiotic, and you think the Vietnam war is the costliest conflict that ever involve the draft.
Ignoring Steele’s ongoing refusal to provide any evidence of systemic misandry (because he doesn’t have any), can I just say how much the use of “dialogue” as a verb annoys me? Yes, I know that it’s now technically considered acceptable, but it just doesn’t sound right to me at all.
@VoIP:
I love how this is your most biting, final insult. ^_^
So basically this is what Steele considers to be “misandrist jokes”: light-hearted joking about how girls are so much better, explicitely described as being used for the purpose of countering harmful messages towards girls.
Firstly, you’re saying female students were explicitly told they were inferior to men by authority figures- figures they were trained to respect, believe and obey? That’s bullshit, or if not, you went to a terrible school. I would certainly be in favor of stopping teachers from saying misogynist crap as well. Unacceptable.
If that’s what counts as institutional misandry? Color me uninterested.
I made no claim regarding institutional misandry. All I’m saying is that it was an example of misandrist rhetoric. Based on what you’ve actually said, there’s no denying it, even if you insist upon arrogantly claiming that the misandry was harmless.
And again, you don’t get to decide what it “harmless, light-hearted” bigotry and bullying and abuse and harassment, and what is “serious” bigotry and bullying and abuse and harassment.
@CassandraSays:
If this is a dialogue, who would be Salviati, who would be Sagredo, and who would be Simplicio?
Still no reciprocation, huh? No examples of men being attacked simply for being male. And yet, Misandry is at least as big a problem as misogyny.
you ask others to prove your own points for you
The rest of your post is ad hominem, so I’ll ignore it thank you very much, but let it be known this is bullshit. I’ve enlisted the dictionary to prove my point for me.
*jaw-drop*
No wait… *jaw drop*
No wait. *jaw drop*
…
JUST A LITTLE GOD-DAMNED SELF AWARENESS! IS THAT SO MUCH TOO ASK FOR?
WORDS FAIL ME AND I DON’T EVEN CARE BECAUSE THEY EXPRESS HOW FLABBERGHASTED I AM AS DO THE CAPITAL LETTERS WITH WHICH I AM EXPRESSING MY FLABBERGHASTEDNESS
@Kirby: Right? At comment number freaking 860-ish!
Holy shit, he’s still going?
So I did my homework, helped a friend move, went to a munch and back, slept, went to school and back, went out for dinner, am just about to go to sleep again… and this whole time, Steele’s been at it.
Is he the pen name for a team of MRAs working in shifts? Because this endurance is unbelievable.
Backing up things I said about the existence of systemic misandry? You know, the thing that, if it was real might actually justify the existence of my movement? Totally unnecessary!
Arguing that my interpretation of someone else’s paragraph long anecdote is more correct than the interpretation of the person who told it? THIS IS THE HILL I WILL DIE ON!
My mind, it is boggled. Can we call him No Self-Awareness Man from now on?
Steele, what is the official definition of “ad hominem” and can you explain exactly how that comment fits the definition.
@cloudiah:
I think an ad hominem is when you take a property of a person (“is a feminist”) that is unrelated to the argument (“whether a particular experience is evidence of misandry”) and use it to dismiss said argument.
[...] you think the Vietnam war is the costliest conflict that ever involve the draft.
I’ve been ignoring this bullshit up until now, because you’re not really worth debating- but let’s deal with it.
You’re wrong.
Way back when, you said:
Universal conscription was regarded as a privilege, just like voting. And only people who did the second could do the first.
I responded:
Maybe in the past. Not in modern times.
You said:
[...] Modern America does not have a draft. Your point?
We can see here that it is you who specified the discussion was to be about America.
Registering this, and obliging you, I said:
If we’re talking about America, the draft existed long after women won the right to vote. The most costly use of the draft (that is, Vietnam) was over fifty years after the Nineteenth Amendment.
Since you were the one to bring up the US, I switched to that frequency. And if we limit our scope to America, I am correct. Your accusations of Amerocentrism are even more boneheaded because I do not hail from the US, although I am admittedly a citizen now. Given that you originally brought up America, I assumed that was what you, presumably as an American, were interested in.
I obliged you.
Yes. After dropping a huge fucking bombshell of obliviousness, now is the time to go back and shore up old arguments you’ve been ignoring.
Wait! Does this mean you’ll finally get around to justifying the existence of your movement? Like… the only thing that is really worth talking to you about on this blog?
@kirbylovelykirby, I was asking Steele. :-)
So, Steele? Hint: “Kirbywarp is a scumbag and a bully enabler.” This is NOT ad hominem.
*jaw-drop*
I’m sure you’re rushing to copypasta the Wiki link to that Larry Summers dude from the ’90s or whatever, who postulated that perhaps men were as a group better suited to the higher echelons of mathematics, and was promptly eviscerated for it.
Talk about unimpressive.
Did you miss the part where VoIP explicitly and completely (and hilariously) proved you incorrect?
Since you’re such an obliging fellow, howzabout you trot out some reciprocal examples of men being attacked for being male. You know, on par with the examples we gave of women being attacked for being female.
Steele, America had the draft during the Civil War. America had the draft during both world wars.
All of these wars had higher American casualties than the Vietnam War did. Even talking about the US alone, your argument is spectacularly wrong.
Is Steele a dalek?
Unimaginative, all examples of women being attacked for being female are isolated incidents, no matter how many of them there are. But every time a woman was mean to Steele is proof of widespread misandry.
@Steele:
Actually, no. I’m reading notalwaysrelated.com at the moment. Though, really? My jaw-drop was unimpressive?
…
Do you just operate in a hyper-amplified world, where jokes turn into virulent bullying, jaw-drops turn into fantastic attempts at argumentation, and for the love of god HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT YOU LITERALLY JUST SAID THAT THE NOTION OF A GIRL BEING TOLD SHE WAS INFERIOR BY A MALE TEACHER WAS SO ABSURD THAT YOUR FIRST INSTINCT WAS TO CALL “BULLSHIT,” WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY TALKING ABOUT HOW BOTH YOU AND I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY A FEMALE TEACHER THAT WE WERE INFERIOR HOW THE BLOODY BLAZES CAN YOU NOT SEE THE PROBLEM WITH THIS ARGLEBARBLEBARGLE *wheeze gasp wheeze pant*
*badoomph*
I also note that every time a man is attacked for being sexist, violent, endorsing rape, or threatening women, (or for just not being very good at writing) he’s really being attacked for being male.
Which, wow, talk about a dim view of men, Steele.
Also holy shit go to bed already. And go out and get some goddamn fresh air tomorrow!
All of these wars had higher American casualties than the Vietnam War did.
They also had a far larger number of volunteers; particularly the Civil War, in which the draft was hardly employed at all. Vietnam had the largest number of conscripted soldiers in US history, as well as a higher death toll proportional to the number of soldiers engaged. There’s a thing called Google.
@Cloudiah: well, obviously, that’s completely and infallibly true, and beyond contestation. But he did say he would reciprocate. I wouldn’t want him to get a reputation around here for not backing up his arguments just because he forgot he said that, you know. (And, well, for utterly failing to back up any of his arguments here.)
Did kirbywarb asplode? Someone check on kirbywarp, STAT!
@cloudiah:
I am dead. Steele has slain me. I am reading about a five-year-old holding an imaginary conversation with Michael Jackson and I am dead.
HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT YOU LITERALLY JUST SAID THAT THE NOTION OF A GIRL BEING TOLD SHE WAS INFERIOR BY A MALE TEACHER WAS SO ABSURD THAT YOUR FIRST INSTINCT WAS TO CALL “BULLSHIT,” WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY TALKING ABOUT HOW BOTH YOU AND I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY A FEMALE TEACHER THAT WE WERE INFERIOR
No- I could absolutely see an explicitly misogynist teacher, or even a few. What I was rolling my eyes at was the implication that there were these virulently misogynist teachers everywhere, and this misandrist teacher was merely “doing her part” or whatever, to counter that.
Nothing but the highly transparent rationalizations of a bully, abuser, and harasser.
Yeah, VoIP! Never mind about your degrees and actual research into the topic at hand, with, like, original sources and stuff. There’s a thing called Google!
/argument to end ALL arguments.
“Nothing but the highly transparent rationalizations of a bully, abuser, and harasser.”
Harasser? Abuser? Who in this scenario has Kirby harassed or abused? You?
Yeah, VoIP! Never mind about your degrees and actual research into the topic at hand, with, like, original sources and stuff. There’s a thing called Google!
Didn’t realize I needed a history degree to look up, you know, statistics.
Harasser? Abuser? Who in this scenario has Kirby harassed or abused? You?
I meant Kirbywarp’s teacher, not Kirbywarp himself.
Great, Steele — you are the first troll to have actually killed a commenter. Talk about ad hominem! (Hint: Except that it’s not actually ad hominem to kill a commenter.)
Kirbywarp, we’ll miss you so. It’s a good thing your death doesn’t seem to interfere with your commenting.
@Steele:
Sorry, but no. You said this:
There are two possibilities. One, you belive the very concept of girls being told they are inferior is bullshit. If so, you are either very dense or very hypocritical. Too, you interpret the phrase “harmful messages towards girls” as specifically referring to girls being told blatantly that they are inferior by men at that particular school, and the teacher’s purpose was to “counter” that very specific and local thing. If so, you are simply very dense.
And the second option is yet another spin that tries to make misogyny only appear to ever be a localized, individual incident, rather than a large variety of messages of many different degrees of visibility towards girls that label them inferior. Par for the course for you, chum.
@cloudiah:
It does appear to be interfering with my spelling and grammar though. *gasp* This must be 6th sense! I’ve been dead all along!!!
“I meant Kirbywarp’s teacher, not Kirbywarp himself.”
That may have been what you meant, but it’s not what your sentence actually said. Once again, this is quite possibly why your former teacher discouraged you from pursuing writing as a career.
Silly me, when you talked about the the costliest use of the draft, I thought you were talking about the absolute number of Americans killed, not the proportion of American troops killed to the number engaged.
And while I’ll grant you that more draftees were killed in the Vietnam War than the Civil War, I’m really curious as to where you are getting your statistics for World Wars I and II.
After the funeral march, everyone is welcome at my place for strong coffee and sandwiches.
Why do they need to be “virulent”? There is really no interpretation of what Kirby has said that would suggest his teacher was even vaguely “virulent,” and you seem to be plenty worked up about her, just the same.
If, then, we set the standard not at “virulence” but just at “misogyny,” then, dude, give me a freaking break.
Remember what I said about reading your comments before you posted them?
You see, if you had actually bothered to do that, you could have caught that error before you posted that comment.
Too, you interpret the phrase “harmful messages towards girls” as specifically referring to girls being told blatantly that they are inferior by men at that particular school, and the teacher’s purpose was to “counter” that very specific and local thing. If so, you are simply very dense.
Well, we’ve sort of hit a wall here, because I don’t believe misogyny is all that pervasive, and I believe misandry is institutional. But I don’t want to discuss any of that. So, we cannot proceed.
I will say that even if you’re right- you’re not- but if you were, your teacher’s misandry was still unacceptable. Being explicitly demeaned- explicitly- by an authority figure is the absolute pits- I know this from experience. Thus, your teacher’s misandry was still bullying, abusive, harassing behavior that could have seriously damaged her male students, and she should have been stripped of her job or issued a severe reprimand.
Silly me, when you talked about the the costliest use of the draft, I thought you were talking about the absolute number of Americans killed, not the proportion of American troops killed to the number engaged.
Volunteer being killed is not actually a result of conscription. I’m not sure why I need to specify this, to be honest.
@Steele:
You put up that wall, boyo. Figures though that you truly belive in the opposite of reality. Explains the constant spin and bias you’ve displayed in this conversation.
Also, way to keep interpreting my own experiences for me. Don’t know what I’d do without you, you mind-reader and claryvoyent you.
OH! Oh! Guys, Steele is from Opposite Land. We’ve been misinterpreting everything he’s said, because everything where he’s from is OPPOSITE to how it is here on Earth. We’re going to have to re-do this entire conversation!
Kirbywarp:
I will say that even if you’re right- you’re not- but if you were, your teacher’s misandry was still unacceptable. Being explicitly demeaned- explicitly- by an authority figure is the absolute pits- I know this from experience. Thus, your teacher’s misandry was still bullying, abusive, harassing behavior that could have seriously damaged her male students, and she should have been stripped of her job or issued a severe reprimand.
@Steele:
Ooh, are we repeating ourselves?
Also, way to keep interpreting my own experiences for me. Don’t know what I’d do without you, you mind-reader and claryvoyent you.
You don’t. I’ve already conceded that the Civil War did not result in a high number of draftees being killed, because most of the soldiers fighting in the Civil War were volunteers.
But there were a lot of American draftees in both World Wars. So I’m still waiting to see how you came to the conclusion that more draftees were killed in Vietnam than in either World War.
Terrible, disgusting, vile individuals. Have a nice life, Kirbywarp.
Cliff:
He will not rest until we believe his evidence, which he will not bother to provide because he knows we’ll only dismiss it.
Steele:
Oh, you’re in Bizarro-World. It all makes sense now.
op. cit.
Because you know you’re wrong?
Thanks Steele, you too. Don’t let the misandry get you down!
“Terrible, disgusting, vile individuals.”
Also NOT an ad hominem.
“Well, I guess we can’t talk about this, because despite my lack of proof I refuse to entertain the notion that I might be wrong.”
Does this mean Steele’s finally leaving?
Steele, um…not all armies are American armies.
Do you know this?
The deadliest conflict in 20th century history was World War 2’s Eastern Front. Both the Soviet army (and allies) and the German army (and allies) made use of conscription.
The total military dead—I’m excluding wounded and missing; I’m also excluding civilian dead—on both sides, was fifteen million people.
“Firstly, you’re saying female students were explicitly told they were inferior to men by authority figures- figures they were trained to respect, believe and obey?”
This happens FUCKING CONSTANTLY. Not that I expect you to believe me. Or actually give a shit.
You guys flatter me—all my original research is in early modern history and intellectual history. I’m getting everything I know about the Second World War from secondary sources.