On Monday, Anita Sarkeesian posted the latest installment of her Tropes Vs. Women in Video Games series on YouTube, a half-hour examination of the ways in which video game makers use sexualized violence against women as a cheap way to spice up their narratives and appeal to straight male gamers.
Her tone was measured, her analysis clear and logical and supported by dozens of clips from a wide assortment of games.
Late Tuesday night, this happened:
Some very scary threats have just been made against me and my family. Contacting authorities now.
— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq) August 27, 2014
I’m safe. Authorities have been notified. Staying with friends tonight. I’m not giving up. But this harassment of women in tech must stop!
— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq) August 27, 2014
That’s right: Sarkeesian was forced to leave her home due to violent threats against her and her family … because she made a YouTube video analyzing violence against women in video games.
She then posted some of the threats she had gotten from a Twitter account set up specifically to harass and threaten her and her family. [TRIGGER WARNING for graphic rape and death threats.]
I usually don’t share the really scary stuff. But it’s important for folks to know how bad it gets [TRIGGER WARNING] pic.twitter.com/u6b3i0fysI
— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq) August 27, 2014
For a larger version of the screenshot, see here.
Sarkeesian has also been tweeting some of the other threats she gets on a daily basis from anonymous gamers who are incensed that a woman has anything critical to say about their precious video games.
It’s especially amusing that this misogyny laced email is unironically signed “See you soon m'lady. *tips fedora*” pic.twitter.com/rLk3CvoxXV
— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq) July 15, 2014
https://twitter.com/femfreq/status/504437681527353344/photo/1
I get so many emails like this I could publish a coffee table book full of them. pic.twitter.com/qMoYOtV9tT
— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq) July 15, 2014
Unfortunately, this is an all too typical twitter response to my observations about video games. #E32014 pic.twitter.com/aWmwtQZLnm
— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq) June 9, 2014
You’ll notice that several of these threatening comments mention videos by Thunderf00t, a “skeptic” videoblogger best known, at least in the corner of the internet I write about, for a series of videos in which he viciously attacks some of the women who’ve drawn the most internet hate from angry misogynists – from skeptics like Rebecca Watson and Melody Hensley to video game maker Zoe Quinn and video game critic Sarkeesian.
Thunderf00t’s attacks have won him kudos from assorted Men’s Rights activists, from the regulars on the Men’s Rights subreddit to A Voice for Men “operations manager” Dean Esmay, who has praised his videos and urged other MRAs to subscribe to them.
In other words, the harassment of feminist women on the internet is directly linked to antifeminist propagandists like Thunderf00t – and his MRA fans and enablers.
The constant, vicious, personal attacks on Sarkeesian you see not only in video game circles but from Men’s Rights Activists – on Reddit, on A Voice for Men, on YouTube, and so on – have helped to create a hostile environment in which critiques of sexism in games result in real-world death and rape threats against women. This has an undeniably chilling effect on the free speech of women. That in fact is the intent of the harassers.
Margaret Atwood once famously observed that
Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.
I think we need an internet corollary to Atwood’s observation:
Men posting on the internet are afraid that women will block them. Women are afraid that men will treat them like Anita Sarkeesian.
Thing is, Sarkeesian keeps moving forward, diligently researching and putting forth the videos she promised she would. All the huffing and puffing of her critics and attackers hasn’t shut her up. Each new video she puts out is a testament to her courage and her perseverance. Each new video is a blow against those who would shut women up. Each new video helps to inspire others who’ve gotten similar threats to continue speaking up and speaking out.
Supporting Sarkeesian helps to support every woman who wants to be able to speak out online without fear of violent threats. There’s no better proof of this than how angry the biggest misogynistic bullies get whenever feminists and other people of good conscience rally around her. The bullies are still angry about the money she raised via kickstarter, money that has enabled her to bring a new professionalism to her videos.
Hell, AVFM Bully-in-chief Paul Elam is still so angry about this that he’s already accusing her of “damseling for dollars,” collecting “gash-cash” because of these latest Twitter threats. Indeed, in a post that’s a lot more revealing than he intends it to be, he complains bitterly that she’s getting bigger donations than he is:
I am jealous. I have had half the major media in a couple of countries disingenuously and maliciously demonize me. Even after forcing some retractions I bet I got more threats than Sarkeesian.
My reward? Jack shit.
Maybe it was because I didn’t swoon hard enough or treat the threats like they were tickets to Disneyworld.
Oh, don’t be modest, Paul. You take in tens of thousands every year by pretending to be some sort of human rights generalissimo. You raked in $35,000 this summer by trumpeting “threats” that you were saying privately were phony.
While Elam “damsels” and fumes, Sarkeesian simply goes about doing the job she set out to do. Each video she puts out is yet another “fuck you” to her haters, and they know it.
U mad bros?
Here’s the video that caused all the stir. It’s well worth watching. CONTENT WARNING: Graphic violence against women.
Or maybe it’s because your product is hateful horseshit and the whole world knows it, Paulie.
But hey! Enjoy all the thousand$ in “gash cash” (what a lovely, sexist term!) that you raked in by “damselling” that evil feminists were out to get you when you threw your epic fail of an “international men’s rights conference”. That had to be moved from a downtown hotel to a sad-sack legion hall in the sticks. Surely all that was not a cover for the fact that your shindig was even more poorly attended than initially expected, and even the smaller venue was too big…hahahahahaha.
Why do some people think that games should be a big ol’ boys’ club? Do they not realize that *more* gamers results in more and better games because more money is spent on them; as more money is spent on them, more people go into game design? If games start to shrink (and I think I read that this is already happening) because hardcore gamers are driving people away from *their* games, there will be fewer of their sorts of games…and more sorts of games like “Farmville” which are likely the antithesis of the sort of game these gamers prefer.
There are many guy gamers who like women, have significant women in their lives, and would like to play these games together. But if women aren’t welcome or don’t feel welcome, they’re going to play other types of games.
Well, golly, douche-canoes get upset when people donate to her cause? Does she have a donate page anywhere someone can link me to? I must admit, I’m a musician too busy to have watched her videos yet (on my TO DO list), but I’ll give her moneys just for support and to piss off the toadies ….
@idledillettante, it’s definitely been around for awhile, because I remember hearing it back in junior high and being wholly grossed out…that would’ve been early ’90’s.
@PocketNerd, I totally agree! I knew games like GtA were sexist, but I don’t tend to play the other games she’s talked about, like Hitman. For one thing, at this point if I *have* to play as a guy, I skip the game, and I have no shame in doing that. I get to spend my money how I want. I do play Dragon Age, and fully agree that the city elf origin story is extremely disturbing. I will stick with Skyrim, Mass Effect, and other sandbox style RPGs that allow me the freedom of playing how I want.
Women are playing more games. Women now make up the majority of gamers. And it’s not all just playing farmville, either:
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/08/25/study-adult-women-gamers-outnumber-teenage-boys
@Fred_the_Dog
That’s pretty much what’s going to happen. The cost to produce games continues to skyrocket, and the retail prices have remained the same for over a decade. DLC’s help, but “hardcore” gamers tend to throw hissy fits when they have to pay for DLC’s (as if video games are a necessity, rather than a luxury good that you are absolutely not owed if you cannot pay for them). The way games are marketed to these people, making them feel like they are part of a special club just by buying and using the same product, means the demographic is already smaller than it could be. The fans are now trying their best to ensure that the customer base continues to shrink. Something’s going to give. Either the customer base needs to grow, or AAA games are going to start costing $150 a piece. Or, more likely, every developer is going to focus on making free-to-play app games that “hardcore” games love so much.
Yup. Although, given that a gash is an open wound, I would argue that it’s not sanitized, it’s even uglier, because it carries with it the connotation of male-inflicted, rapey violence.
So were just going to ignore the fact that she stole video footage, lied about liking games, ripped off all her backers, and is a year behind schedule on her videos, makes up most of the points she tries to make (Hitman absolution did not want you to kill the hookers Anita don’t make things up.), and just white knight everything she says and let her ruin Mirror’s Edge 2.
I don’t think this is “unintentionally revealing”. I think Paul is counting on the competitive impulse of MRAs, a la the “tropes vs men” kickstarter, to generate more donations. “C’mon, lads! Let’s show ’em we hate women more than they hate men!”
It’s not really new.
“I totally though Lucy Lawless would be a bad-ass feminist but every interview or performance I’ve seen of her other than Xena has made me realize she’s just a regular lady desperate for attention.”
I don’t get that at all from her. When I look at her, I see an actress who uses her fame for activist causes. And GOOD causes like the environment.
I bet these are the same guys that whine that women don’t like “nice guys” like themselves…
@ Tabby You’re probably right, I don’t follow her and haven’t seen her in a while. I may be romanticizing my memories of when I first realized she wasn’t really Xena…and that was, in truth, quite a while ago. So…maybe not a good example lol. but it did really destroy me for a little while
“Half the major media?” Come on, Paul: outside of your Circle of Hate and those of us who mock you, nobody knows who you are. Still ticked off that Roosh has more hits, huh?
My first recollection of seeing “gash” as a female genitalia slang term was back in the ’90s, although I don’t recall it being equal to the c-word at the time, or being terrible common.
Now I have to go look her up again
I’ve always loved Lucy Lawless whenever I see interviews of her. She’s had a really interesting life (she was a miner at one point), she always seems really down to earth, funny, and smart.
Now, Adam Baldwin I’ve known about for awhile. Back in the day, several Firefly actors would show up on the official bulletin boards and post. Nathan Fillion was always gracious, accessible, and awesome, while Baldwin would launch far-right political rants and generally be an ass.
I’ve been thinking lately that I should start calling them “antiegalitarians” (or something similar), rather than “antifeminists.” After all, the latter is a term they self-apply; much like “pro-life,” it has no basis in reality. It’s propaganda. Feminists are by definition egalitarians, so to be antifeminist is to be antiegalitarian. I feel like in conversations with them, calling them what they want to be called is far too flattering, not to mention incorrect.
Also, I thought that was by far the best video Anita’s done. If it doesn’t drive home the importance of feminist media critique, I can’t think of anything that will.
Oh no- now I feel like I’ve missed out on a whole life of loving Lucy Lawless- I must have been really traumatized. I’m looking at her Wikipedia- I remember hearing about the arrest of the activists on the oil drilling ship, but I never heard she was one of them. I think I should take back all the things I said about her. Kevin Sorbo on the other hand, is another matter.
I’s still trying to figure out how Adam Baldwin ended up working with Joss Whedon.
Elam:
“I have had half the major media in a couple of countries disingenuously and maliciously demonize me.”
He really, really, really, really, *really* wishes he’d had that much attention.
But he hasn’t. He really hasn’t. His sad-case ramshackle cohort of bloggers were laughed at and ridiculed, but his victim mentality and egotism means that he just *has* to regard himself as important.
he’s a joke.
@emilygoddess, no kidding! I mean, I have my own political leanings (generally far left hippie who is too dependent on technology to actually be a hippie), but I’m able to keep my commentary to myself at work. I work with several conservatives who are friends, and we can do that because we don’t try rubbing the other’s nose in any sort of “gotcha” crap and just interact like human beings. But after reading Baldwin’s posts on that bulletin board (this was back during the runup to the Iraq occupation), I can’t imagine he’s able to do that.
Argh, that WORD!!
The term gained massive popularity as a slang term in the UK when The Inbetweeners was released in 2008. For anyone who hasn’t heard of It, it’s a hit channel 4 comedy series starring four teenage lads and one of the four central characters, Jay, uses “gash” to describe any girl that he wants to, or blindly insists he already has, slept with. That, or “clunge” *retches loudly. I was a fresher when the first series came out, and it’s all you ever heard around campus. It got very old very quickly. Another Inbetweeners movie has recently been released in UK cinemas so yeah, we still see “gash” used a lot as a disparaging slang term to describe vaginas, or to more broadly describe girls and women in general.
I had no idea the use of that horrible word was more widespread, and it’s very, very weird to see Paul Elam using it in reference to Anita S when I’m used to hearing it shouted by school boys hanging around outside McDonalds after closing time.
I don’t know, Paul Elam seems a lot less mature than school boys hanging around McDonalds, so I can’t say I’m too surprised. Paul also strikes me as someone who hangs around Urban Dictionary trying to find new misogynist slurs he can use.
I’m pretty sure Elam has some kind of unofficial misogynist thesaurus at the ready. Full of ugly synonyms for the c-word, which in itself is ugly just by how it sounds. And a disproportionate number of them make the female genitalia out to be a man-inflicted wound, rather than born-this-way, got-nothin’-to-do-with-him organs.
Thank you very much, David, for reporting on this and stating so clearly what the ultimate goal here is – the silencing of women. You are the only journalist I can think of who could draw these threads together, showing how AVFM is supporting the terrorism against this lady. I too am in awe at her courage and have benefited from her example.
Those tweets were beyond disturbing. Anita is an amazing and brave person for still doing what she does. And I’m glad she does, it’s depressing when abuse like this silences a woman. I can totally understand the decision to stop (given some of the threats we open ourselves up to) but it’s still tragic when the violence works. It just validates these buttwaffles. So glad she’s still trucking on.