A Voice for Men’s so-called “Honey Badgers” — its little super-team of female MRAs, led by blabby Canadian videoblogger Karen “GirlWritesWhat” Straughan — have a new theory about Anita Sarkeesian. And it’s a doozy.
Sarkeesian, you may recall, is a feminist cultural critic who’s faced pretty much nonstop harassment from misogynistic internet assholes since she launched a project to dissect sexist tropes in video games. AVFM has contributed, in its own special way, to this wave of harassment, with articles describing Sarkeesian as, among other things, a “moneygrubbing liar” and a “queen bee … girl interloper” in the world of video games; AVFM’s Dean Esmay also held her partially responsible, along with an assortment of other internet feminists, for the suicide of one Canadian Men’s Rights Activist.
The principals at AVFM have blamed her for — either inadvertently or deliberately — bringing this harassment on herself by going to 4chan and posting about her project. (As I noted in a previous post, there’s no actual evidence she ever did this.)
The Honey Badgers, for their part, are certain that getting harassed by 4chaners was part of her devious plan all along.
In a teaser for their internet “radio” show tonight, the “Honey Badger” known as TyphonBlue writes:
Like all professional damsels in distress, Anita Sarkeesian had to choose a good dragon. Just the right looming shadow to fall over her delicate and fragile sensibilities; just the right cackling stage-villain to inspire her cries of helpless horror.
She chose 4-chan. An internet forum known for it’s underbelly of foul-tempered and hair-triggered trolls.
Then, after accusing Sarkeesian of inviting countless rape and death threats upon herself (and only a portion of it from 4channers, I should add), the Badgers take their weird conspiracy theory one step further:
But we at Honey Badger Radio have noticed something… odd. The wave of so-called hate that Anita received from her carefully chosen dragon, wasn’t really all that bad.
Yeah. A year and a half (so far) of pretty much unending harassment and baseless criticism, complete with violent threats directed not only at her but at other women who have defended her — that’s nothing.
Compared to 4-chan’s usual scorched earth strategy–raizing [sic] everything to the ground and pissing on the ashes, Anita got a little singed, like she sat too close to a campfire.
So we have to ask… Did 4-chan white knight Anita? I mean, come on. Was that the best 4 chan could do?
Yes, that’s right. The Honey Badgers are accusing those who sent rape and death threats to Anita Sarkeesian … of “white knighting” her.
I can’t even.
Brooked said:
Yes. I think they think it makes them sound smart, and gives some kind of scholarly cred to what is essentially, as you said, pretentious poop.
Wait. A year and a half after the Kickstarter campaign, people are still flipping out over a woman making YouTube videos about sexism in video games? And now they’ve invented conspiracy theories about how she cunningly made them flip out with her devious femaleness, because obviously she wanted to spend her life getting death threats for saying Princess Peach should have her own sidescroller? And they’re upset that the flipping out hasn’t escalated to physical violence?
Um. Have they actually watched the videos?
FWIW, the show teaser was written (and I assume read) by TyphonBlue, not GWW, and I don’t think she’s Canadian. But I do support Bina’s desert island initiative.
I am sort of hoping that the entire manosphere might be persuaded to move here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouvet_Island
Freeze peach guarantees the right to keep media jobs even if you piss off half your audience!
(For a place as progressive as the Bay Area some of our local radio dudes are an embarrassment. Why do the idiots who do the morning show on The Bone get paid for being 3rd rate imitations of Howard Stern?)
The stupid, it burns.
Bina – I am so stealing “scat-munchers”.
Oh yeah, I was the same. It’s easy to fall into that because society really rewards that attitude.
The Reddit thread is amusing. Several posters try to explain how 4Chan works while others point out that if this was meant as a joke, it’s a failed one.
Boom!
This is a little off topic, but I’m enjoying Fuck_Postmodernism’s “SRS is taking over the internet” conspiracy theories.
Of course they did, honey.
If you’d like to learn more, F_P discusses the SRS scourge at length in threads like, ‘We List Subredddits Controlled by SRS and, If There Are Any, List SRS-Free Alternatives”, “Has SRS ever invaded the himisphere [sic]”, and “Is it me, or is /r/adviceanimals gradually becoming SRS-influenced?”.
lol, only apologize if you’re also an Albertan. It’s like Americans apologizing for Texas; pretty, but not really necessary. As for the pacific island, I’d like it better if she had move even further north, to the tar sands, and see how she felt about having to drink and wash in bottled water for the rest of her life.
I am absolutely 100% convinced there is no way any of the AVfM folks have even watched Sarkesian’s videos. I mean, her critique is some of the driest, straightforward, unemotional commentary I’ve ever seen about video games.
Like, compare her videos to Yahtzee Crowshaw’s Zero Punctuation…in which he’ll tear apart much loved video games in the most angry, graphic language possible. Hell, speaking of angry…how about Angry Joe’s YouTube channel where he (surprise, surprise) angrily reviews different games.
But god forbid a woman voices an opinion about games. AH!
Operatives
Operatives!
Get those tinfoil hats fitted now, before
the gummintSRS reads your mind!The MRAs really are turning into the Westboro baptist church. Say random shit -> get attention –> Profit?
Ugh. They suck.
Sarkeesian was looking for anything to make some money and get some attention. Being a victim is a pretty direct way of doing that in a culture that has no looming life-threatening problems. You make up a “danger”. You say you are being threatened by people who are known trolls, you troll bait.
But seriously, before you guys go for the sarcastic remakes, read this: http://anongamer.tumblr.com/
She wasn’t even a gamer, she just figured out a way with a fellow to make some money (donations, speaker invites, etc) and be important: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r89ZT9hn8jo
I think other women should speak up after being attacked by them, or anyone. Then again, I’m sure we all have just been asking for it in some way, shape, or form.
I love how the term “white knight” is turning into a phrase used whenever anyone doesn’t brutally beat the shit out of a woman when they think she “deserves” it.
MRAs have every right to be scared!!! Anita wants to take away great games like “Rapey Rapey Assboobs Adventure,” and we can’t have that!!!1!!
=^.^=
Thank goodness Zoot is here to warn us about one of those dangerous fake geek girls.
SRS infiltrating everything? With what, purple dildos?
On the topic of women hating on women: how do you all handle misogyny coming from women? I’m never sure of what to do with it. I generally go for bluntly calling it out, but I’m not sure how constructive that is, especially when I’m speaking with a younger woman (and I’m a teacher so that’s frequent). I worry that if it comes out as an attack on her as a person, she’ll hold onto those toxic beliefs even more so.
Zoot, have you ever seen any of her Sexist Tropes in Video Games videos, or are you just here to shit in the water?
Wait, sorry, rhetorical question.
“Being a victim is a pretty direct way of doing that in a culture that has no looming life-threatening problems.”
Yup, nobody in the US has their life under threat from societal or cultural problems, nosiree. Nobody’s ever been murdered for being gay or trans* or the wrong colour or a woman or any combination of those. Nobody dies of preventable diseases because health care is unaffordable or simply unreachable or because those in power make damn sure the “unworthy” can’t get it. Nobody’s ever died or been left with their life devastated because of the gun culture. No woman’s ever been raped or murdered because men objected to her daring to speak, to write, to exist in any way that doesn’t meet their approval. Move along folks, nothing to see in this culture.
Please, Alice! They should be purple sparkly dildos at the very least.
Zoot: I think your tinfoil hat is on too tight, honey.
So, Anita Sarkeesian must be some great mastermind here. She somehow managed to get random users on 4chan to attack her, but not too roughly (because, y’know, rape and death threats aren’t that bad), so she looks good. Then she took the money she received and did the thing she said she was going to do with it. Damn. This is some X-Files level of behind-the-scenes string pulling going on here. You’d thin, with all that evil manipulative clout, that instead of making videos about sexist game tropes, she’d be ruling the world or something.
But wait, maybe she already is! O_O
That’s what jumped out at me, too. It’s bad enough when these guys call their blog posts “articles,” but this just takes it to another level.
“On the topic of women hating on women: how do you all handle misogyny coming from women? I’m never sure of what to do with it. I generally go for bluntly calling it out, but I’m not sure how constructive that is, especially when I’m speaking with a younger woman (and I’m a teacher so that’s frequent). I worry that if it comes out as an attack on her as a person, she’ll hold onto those toxic beliefs even more so.”
I mean, sometimes I struggle with my own internalized misogyny. It’s all a learning process. Most frequently what happens is I bring up something about feminism and I’ll get asked, “You’re not a feminist, ARE YOU!?” and then I try and spark up a conversation about what feminism means and what it is, and why they DON’T identify that way. But I try to just ask questions and talk about my own personal preferences and dispute the inaccurate bullshit I hear with facts. But I’m generally really passive and try to not make waves so ymmv.
kittehs – Oh, you’re right. Sparkly purple dildos. *nod*
D’you think we could send them to this island, maybe?