Many of you are no doubt aware of this already, but I just wanted to highlight a recent appalling example of the rampant misogyny in the gaming community online: the harassment that feminist pop culture analyst and video blogger Anita Sarkeesian has gotten for her Tropes Vs Women Kickstarter project, a video project designed to “explore, analyze and deconstruct some of the most common tropes and stereotypes of female characters in games.”
Her YouTube page has been inundated with comments calling her, among other things, a “Dumb ass nazi [obscene gender-related slur],” “faggo.. I mean lesbian,” and “the reason why womens are the inferior gender for the whole history of mankind.” IRONY ALERT: while some are calling her a Nazi, or comparing her to the KKK, others are denouncing her as a “bolshevik feminist jewess” and a “fucking ovendodger.”
And still others are defacing her Wikipedia entry with all sorts of vile shit. (Here’s a screenshot.)
Here’s her discussion of the harassment, which includes screenshots of some of the comments.
An Escapist piece on the harassment, which is where I got the quotes above.
A Jezebel piece, “When There’s So Much Bullshit Online, You Forget How to Feel.”
A piece on The Mary Sue, “The All-Too-Familiar Harassment Against Feminist Frequency, and What The Gaming Community Can Do About It”
Kotaku also weighed in, leading one commenter there to note that similarly misogynistic comments appear there all the time.
Meanwhile, over on the Men’s Rights subreddit, temple117 garners 138 net upvotes for a post urging poor oppressed men to “Fight back! Sexism exists for males too, support these men in their expose of gender tropes in video games!”
And, joy of joys, Men’s Rights buffoon Bernard Chapin has weighed in on the controversy as well. After dismissing the harassment — using a “funny” voice, apparently the most powerful weapon in his rhetorical arsenal — he suggests that women complain about video games because games are a male thing, and women are jealous that men are paying attention to something other than them. “Whatever the male is enjoying himself at,” he says, “it diverts him from taking orders; that’s got to be the focus of their ire.” Then he accuses Sarkeesian of being without “honor” because she’s asking for money to fund her project. (Might want to take that critique up with your pal Paul “Donate Today” Elam, dude.) His video is below, if you want to waste your time with it.
But before you get to that, here’s something a bit more encouraging on the gamer misogyny front: Comedian/actress/gamer Aisha Tyler’s take-no-prisoners takedown of the misogynist assholes who attacked her for allegedly ruining an Ubisoft press conference at the recent E3 gaming extravaganza, apparently by being too female or something. Here’s a screenshot of her comments, and a surprisingly un-disgusting Reddit discussion of the controversy.
Here’s Bern:
Three times. This is weird.
I’m leaving out the URL (just google The Border House Blog) and posting their ABOUT US (maybe it’s the ONE link?)
The Border House is a blog for gamers. It’s a blog for those who are feminist, queer, disabled, people of color, transgender, poor, gay, lesbian, and others who belong to marginalized groups, as well as allies. Our goal is to bring thoughtful analysis to gaming with a feminist viewpoint and up-to-date news on games, virtual worlds, and social media.
And, under such fundamentalist societies, we see that only a few men rule the group as a whole. In fact, in the FLDS, young men are expelled from the group because they are seen as competition to the ruling elite. Entire generations of “Lost Boys” are ostracized from the only family they’ve known and thrown out into the world alone. MRAs like to pretend that living in such a fundamentalist, theocratic state would mean that they would benefit, as if they would be handed a woman of their own. Even leaving aside the vile misogyny of wishing for a society in which women were literally property, this still isn’t even true. In such societies, a few men reap the largest benefits.
This attitude reminds me of libertarians who seem to believe that obviously THEY would be one of the ruling elite if their fantasy “free market” society were to exist, when in all actuality they would probably be part of the 99% that has nothing.
ShadetheDruid: Also, typically, I hit post and within half a second I notice a typo.
That unit of time is the, “ohnosecond”.
@darksidecat Whoa. You COMPLETELY misunderstood me, and for that, I’m sorry that the argument I used to compare the trope in topic was cookie-cutter MRA diatribe, and ergo, not very clear at all. I was certainly not trying to say that men supposedly did everything and women sat and kicked their feet back at home. I know that despite all that women did, it took a ridiculously long time for any of us to be considered contributors of society. When I said ‘work’ and ‘sacrifice,’ I meant what MRAs typically think are ‘true’ work and sacrifice – going to war, being the breadwinner. When I mentioned the ‘man’s world’ I meant what MRAs describe everything only men supposedly ever tackled and achieved – the maths, sciences, technology, etc. What I meant to say was that even though women weren’t getting used as cannon fodder, women were still oppressed by being denied the opportunity to further themselves from being just submissive (e.g. higher education, where the silly idea that ‘educated’ women would become sterile was prevalent). Once again, even I misphrased everything horribly, I’m not MRA and didn’t intend for that to happen.
I believe that the dumb dad trope was misandric in that sense; that even though typical dumb dads have fun and don’t always face their consequences directly, they cower in front of any responsibility they face (why I mentioned that their failure permeates everything, not just in his parenting). Thus, their stupidity becomes most to all that they are, and is even a plausible excuse (e.g. The way the wife is expected to clean up his messes). I don’t think being portrayed as perpetually lax and childish is empowering in the least.
@Dev thanks for the defense, but they’re not wrong. It’s not just a slow news day, I am indeed a lackwit. It has now taken me 6-7 posts to try to clarify what I’ve been saying. And it’s not even a popular topic. *shrugs*
@Idylle: You’re still not getting it.
The TOPIC is the overwhelming harassment women bloggers get online, especially when they are in any way talking feminism (google KATHY SIERRA to see that one doesn’t even have to be feminist).
Coming in to DERAIL that discussion with a stereotypical “what about the menz” is pretty much implying that rape and death threats against a woman are less important than the (in this case) “dumb dad stereotype.”
It’s not that it’s not popular.
It’s that it’s TYPICAL MISOGYNY.
I think I figured out why my original response to Dev went into moderation, and, sorry for repost, but I’m reposting! (Feel free to delete the original David, if you wish).
@DevTROLL:
Rutee already did a bang-up job smacking your post around, but what the heck, I’ve got time no my hands, no desire to clean house any more, and plus, it’s fun to play what the troll.
First of all, I don’t give a flying fuck whether you think I am wrong or right, Dev. My definition of TROLL is probably different than yours. I put Idylle in TROLL category because of continued missing of the point, despite lots of explanation, and the insistence upon trying to use certain phrases associated with social justice work in regard to (white) men (more about this later).
I’m not sure about all the “we” and “our” usage in your post, Dev. I don’t recognize your name, though I have a lousy memory for names. But you do not speak for me. I feel no “righteous anger” against NWO. I feel a combination of disgust, boredom, and nausea. I also do not assume that being “polite” means “not being a troll” or “not being a misogynistic”: DKM (if you’re a regular here, you know all about him) never uses cuss words. He’s also one of the most viciously misogynistic shitheads of all time. You are coming perilously close to being a TONE TROLL, btw. So, fuck off with your etiquette manual.
*points up*: The purpose of this blog is to MOCK MISOGYNY. The problem wasn’t that Idylle was talking about “men’s issues” but that they were doing so in a post focused on how an individual woman was harassed on the internet. If you would like, I’ll be glad to link you to some politely written posts by men (John Scalzi and Jim Hines specifically) about how male bloggers are never treated the same way as female bloggers. That post–yeah, it was FUCKING OBOXIOUS to keep talking about TEN MENZ.
You know, I have identified as a feminist since the early 1980s. I’m a queer woman, who didn’t realize it until late in life because omg the fucking fifties. I have been teaching, writing, and thinking about feminisms for decades (and I don’t really trust anybody who uses the terms “women’s issues” instead of FEMINISM especially when they try to equte men’s issues with women’s issues, and don’t understand the systemic power issues that result in MEN having more privilege than women, as a class). There are a number of ways in which the kyriarchical ideology oppresses men: on a spectrum, however, straight, white, men as a class are not facing that much oppression–not compared to men of color, men of alternative sexualities, and men in lower socio-economic classes. The enraged video gamer dudes are not very likely to have many men from those classes — not saying all games are white straight men, but I read a lot of blogs by marginalized groups in gamer culture, including women, and yeah, lots of straight white men who think they’re being oppressed by being asked not to call people gendered, ethnic, sexual slurs (specific examples removed because of moderation issues.
And just who is “we” referring to? You’re spouting an awful lot of bullshit that doesn’t seem to connect to the reality of this community: for one thing, not every here is a woman. A lot of the people here are NOT in fact women. Nor are the only things discussed those approved by women–there are several MRA/TROLL women here. Do you even READ over here, or do you just swan around looking to try to womansplain to strangers on the internet what they’re doing rong?
If you’re curious, I’m a woman, by the way. I wouldn’t want anyone to get the impression that I’m saying what I’m saying because I’m a guy.
OK, html mixed up on last two paragraphs: please reverse as you read, I’m not going to spam David’s comment threads again!
Lighten up, DF!!
The worst and most defamatory comments which you cite are certainly no worse than what ‘NWOslave’, ‘Brandon’, ‘Antz’, I, or other critics of feminuttery have been called on feminutterywebsites like manboobz.
Hateful, isn’t it? Well, when are you going to change the name of manboobz to womenbeinghateful? Is it only feminoids and their (deranged) supporters who are supposed to have feelings?
“Mellertoad” good case in point! Not the worst, but certainly in keeping with the general run of terms reserved for critics or opponents of “womynpower”.
Ha. I’m totally adding that word to my personal vocabulary, because it’s perfect.
Dev: It’s definitely understandable that people around here want to speak about women’s issues specifically, since there is not nearly enough space to do so IRL.
Actually, there is all sorts of space to do it, “IRL” (and this is real life, as real as a lettercol, or hanging out in a bar, or any other thing that real people do together).
It’s just that most people, when face to face with it, decide it’s not worth the time/trouble/anxiety, to beard the lion in it’s den.
I’m often as guilty as anyone else of this. Sometimes I call a shithead a shithead in person, but I really don’t like being shouted at, and I like having people attack me, so I tend to swallow my anger; and some of my pride, and allow them to make the world a little shittier.
But I don’t have to do that in places like this, because I can walk away from people telling me I’m, “too worked up, and ought to calm down”. I.e. the sort of shit you’re doing now.
I don’t know why you think the passive-aggressive imputation that the silent masses think the tone here is too rough is going to stop people.
Because, even if you are getting tons of email complaining about how terribly Idylle has been treated… who cares?
Those people (accepting arguendo that they exist) aren’t contributing to the ongoing discussion. They aren’t participating. That makes them audience, not active members. I’d love it if they were more active. I am sure there are lurkers who, for whatever reason, choose not to jump in (guys, the water’s fine. We won’t push you under), but I am sure as fuck not going to censor my ire/joy/irritation with someone else, because you (whom I don’t place), tell me other people I don’t know are upset that a fourth party whom I’ve not got any track record of participation isn’t being treated with kid-gloves.
That’s bullshit, even for a tone-troll.
I am always horrified by the ammount of hatred that women face in the youtube comments if they upload something feminist. If she points out misogyny, than she is a “feminazi” and she is also accused in misandry. And if some MRA uploads a terribly misoginistic video, he gets thousands of upvotes and approving comments. If you point out misogyny, you are a misandrist. If you don’t want to swallow all the “jokes” about rape, kitchen, and making a sandwitch, you are a humorless feminazi.
And all these complains about misandry just make me sick. Marginalization that men can face happens because they are considered not “manly” enough; they are too womanly. And that is degrading for a man. Because being a woman is considered to be degrading. What they are facing is not really misandry but misogyny as well.
P.S.: I usually prefer just to read this blog. I prefer to remain silent cause I’m not a native English speaker, but I always enjoy reading all the comments 😛
Idylle if you did not mean to be like “what about the menz” in an article about misogyny then you would have said sorry and <b<stopped talking about it. You won’t so I think that speaks in volumes about your intentions.
Dads are dumb trope: far from being always true.
http://www.themarysue.com/protagidads-7-dads-who-get-to-be-the-hero/#0
And thinking about it, I can’t thing of a single instance in video games. (but then again, I’m not a big gamer) Or even outside tv shows. Now go do a “men vs tropes” youtube video, instead of complaining to feminists that it doesn’t exist.
I read darksidecat’s response to you, and nodded my head in agreement the whole way through. S/he said EXACTLY what I was thinking. So, evidently, more than 1 person COMPLETELY misunderstood you, in exactly the same way.
My husband approves of the “ohnosecond.”
Make that at least 3 people, and counting.
@Kyrie
“And thinking about it, I can’t thing of a single instance in video games. (but then again, I’m not a big gamer) Or even outside tv shows. Now go do a “men vs tropes” youtube video, instead of complaining to feminists that it doesn’t exist.”
Well, men have done tropes against the inept buffoon dad in the mainstream media, You’ve all ridiculed men for that and have somehow turned it into womens oppression. You’re all doing it right now.
Ever see a pig on the cover of time depicting women? Ever see a talk show laughing about cutting out a womans vagina? Does the governments minute share of DV help consist only of anger management for women? Are you guilty until proven innocent by a third party and unable to face your accuser in college, Dear colleague? Does a man have the legal right to kill your unborn child?
When all funding goes only to women and men toil exclusively for women’s benefit and no woman ever feels the slightest discomfort, could we possibly raise one man out of the gutter? Or will there still be one man at the top which will be used to compare all women to?
Does Owly ever get out of the house?
The Guardian’s Charlie Brooker, who is both male and a very experienced gamer (I think he started out as a videogame journalist) weighs in:
Make it four
@blitzgal
“Actually, this is incorrect. Patriarchy does not mean “rule of men,” it means “rule of The Father.”
Since a father is little more than an appendix who can be disposed of at any time, and the only one with rights is the mother, we live in a matriarchy. So the terminology of blaming the patriarchy for all the worlds ill’s is incorrect, the matriarchy is to blame. We live under the rule of mother.
Five for “ohnosecond.”
NWO, for eighth millionth time, you’re wrong. We are not in a matriarchy. Repeating your lies over and over doesn’t make them true.
And Happy Father’s Day to you too.
Meller – Stop it. Stop fucking playing innocent. You’re not polite, you’re not decent, you’re not a misunderstood voice of reason. You want to enslave women. If they won’t submit, you want to see them dead. Your continued refusal to own up to this does not make you polite, nor does it make you a gentleman. What it makes you is a despicable, lying coward. We know it, and flail all you wish, you fucking know it too.
You know what’s in the mirror, even if you don’t have the guts to look.