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MRAs and #GamerGaters: Maybe you're the baddies?

bane666auimage
Screencap from a video by Banne666au

A little realization hit me while I was watching videos about #GamerGate recently. MRAs and #GamerGaters really seem to enjoy depicting themselves as cartoon villains. Above, the skull-in-a-Koolaid-pitcher mascot of MRA videoblogger Bane666au.

Below, a screencap from a video by Mundane Matt, one of the movers and shakers behind the whole #GamerGate thing.

Intro to video by Mundane Matt
Intro to video by Mundane Matt

Once the smokey skull intro is over, here’s what you look at the rest of the time when you watch one of his videos:

mundanematt3

And while we’re at it, the logo for his channel:

mundanematt2

When they’re not depicting themselves as evil skulls with creepy eyes, MRAs and other antifeminists like to identify themselves with fictional villains:

An A Voice for Men meme. Note to MRAs: Walter White is NOT a good role model.

10420113_705060786216072_8752682263064509217_n

That is, when they’re not posing as supervillains themselves:

Nick Reading of Men's Rights Edmonton, from his Patriarchy Party brochure.
Nick Reading of Men’s Rights Edmonton, from his Patriarchy Party brochure.

Oh, hey, it’s our friend Davis Aurini, from earlier today, in an unphotoshopped screenshot from a video of his.

Apparently Davis Aurini didn't pay the electric bill for his supervillain lair
Apparently Davis Aurini is trying to save on electricity in his supervillain lair

Oh, and here’s a screenshot from a more recent video of his. Note the skull. That’s right: he owns a freaking skull.

That's right -- a freaking SKULL
A freaking SKULL

I hate to tell you guys, but I think YOU’RE THE BADDIES.

Yes, I know I’ve posted this video before, but once again it seemed very very apt.

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Eileen Hotham
10 years ago

Gamergate is specifically not anti-feminist. Just because there are a few feminists that the majority dislikes, does not mean all gamergate users hate all feminists. There are many feminists, for example, that support gamergate, including celebrated author and philosophy professor, C.H. Sommers – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Hoff_Sommers. We are simply trying to free our entertainment medium from being used as a platform for ideologies.

I’ve been lurking here for a while but I read this and had to join in the fun. Thank you tyler Owen for my laugh of the day. Christina Hoff Summers, a feminist. Hahahahah!

contrapangloss
10 years ago

Okay, so I would be totally fine having a replicate (I prefer fake. It’s more durable, and less associated guilty feelings of “I’m geeking out over a dead person!”) skeleton in my house, if they weren’t so expensive.

I’d name him or her McCoy.

And, I’d quiz myself on bones all the time.

blahlistic (@blahlistic)

Plastic replica skulls run about $80.

hellkell
hellkell
10 years ago

Recently one of the Goodwills in Austin had a human skull as a donation. That kicked off an investigation.

http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2014/08/27/police-human-skull-donated-to-goodwill/14684745/

Tak the Hideous New Girl
Tak the Hideous New Girl
10 years ago

Gamergate is specifically not anti-feminist. Just because there are a few feminists that the majority dislikes, does not mean all gamergate users hate all feminists. There are many feminists, for example, that support gamergate, including celebrated author and philosophy professor, C.H. Sommers – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Hoff_Sommers. We are simply trying to free our entertainment medium from being used as a platform for ideologies.

I’ve been lurking for a while now (my handsome boy Louie is a confused cat against feminism) but this make comment made me want to join in the fun.

Christina Hoff Sommers, a feminist? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

eileenh28
eileenh28
10 years ago

Wow there was some nuttiness going on with my posting. How did I get two posts with two different names?

seraph4377
10 years ago

I got it pendraegon.

DJG
DJG
10 years ago

“I had to pay cash for the skull.” (Charles Ryder)

emilygoddess - MOD
emilygoddess - MOD
10 years ago

Just because there are a few feminists that the majority dislikes, does not mean all gamergate users hate all feminists.

Except your reasons for “not liking” those feminists are sexist bullshit.

And as for the rape and death threats, again, no-one on gamergate is okay with any of those things.

Except for the Gamergate people who did those things. They seemed pretty OK with it. Learn to logic, son.

I’ve never met anyone who’s pro-any-of-those-things-you-mentioned. Not on gamergate, not anywhere.

You must be new here, or else you’ve managed to avoid the MRA scumbags co-opting your totally non-sexist “movement”.

As an aside, I have to say that I have a great deal of respect for this site allowing persons of dissenting opinion to argue their points. Thank you very much for that!

Yeah, ’cause your ignorant opinions are so threatening. Anyway, we happen to like the occasional chew toy…

My personal problem rather comes from those who would push those views on others, acting as if everyone should follow those certain ideologies.

I agree! People should be free to decide for themselves whether or not women are people!

The origins of a movement don’t alter the movement’s message. However it may have started, it’s current goals and aims are not ones of harassment or defamation.

Except your “journalistic integrity” argument was complete crap from the start.

Weirwood, I’m being respectful of you and yours, please try to keep this to civil discussion and refrain from name-calling.

1) You’ve not been remotely respectful, and 2) you don’t dictate the terms here, assclown.

Robert
Robert
10 years ago

I was over at Butterflies and Wheels, Ophelia Benson’s blog. She had posted an evisceration of Sam Harris’s spavined defense of his ‘estrogen vibe’ comment. Some guy posts a comment to the effect of “but you never actually said WHY what he said was wrong”. Apparently, we’re not the only Chew Toy Junction online.

kittehserf - MOD
10 years ago

@Robert – there have been some total tools doing walls of text about Poor Sam Harris on Pharyngula, too. Did you see those? They were of the eye-glazing variety, so I skimmed at most.

It’s rather like someone there said: the Four Horsemen are so named because they leave trails of horseshit behind them wherever they go. Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris, what repulsive specimens. Don’t know about Dennett except for his clueless support of the Brights idea, but that’s not in the same category.

emilygoddess - MOD
emilygoddess - MOD
10 years ago

Yes, you’re mightily protesting and boycotting Call of Duty and telling those companies to keep killing POCs for AMERICA out of your games. Go on, impress me and whow me those angry letters you sent to the army for daring to use video games as recruiting tools.

I bet they’re real mad about the decidedly anti-woman ideology of the games Anita Sarkeesian criticizes, too. No, wait, I forgot: when one is suggesting including women, that’s an ideology, but when one is using women as sexthings and props, it’s just entertainment.

there is a rather vocal portion of her followers who make outrageous claims as to what is considered misogynistic, racist, or otherwise socially offensive in gaming

Outrageous to whom?

Sommers may be against “third-wave” feminism, but she is very much for equality, and refers to herself as an equity feminist. She may be against a certain thread of feminism, but she does adhere to the overarching message of feminism.

She may call herself a feminist, but she opposes ideas and actions which would actually help women. In practice, she’s anything but, and I’d bet she only claims the titles so she can make the actual feminists look like extremists by comparison (which seems to be working, based on your comments and those of “totally not sexists” like you)

The speed of most of you posting is rather overwhelming, hahaha. I’d love to talk about this more at a slower pace however, please feel free to email me at [email protected] if you’d like to talk some more about this.

Can we add “posts contact info on thread about gendered harassment, thereby demonstrating the vast difference in our experiences of the internet while claiming they don’t exist” to the bingo cards?

I’ve even given you an outlet to discuss with me more if you wish.

No one here is that desperate to talk to you. And how is private email a better “outlet” than a public forum? I mean, I can see how it;s be better for you, but how is it more appealing to any of us?

Most of you don’t seem to be mean people, just rather on edge in some cases.

Nope, not a sexist douchebag at all.

I’m not trying to “mansplain”.

Mansplaining is rarely intentional. It’s still really fucking obnoxious.

I’m genuinely interested in getting the full picture from both sides of the coin.

Have you tried listening instead of talking?

I am trying to defend my viewpoint, as any sane human will.

Right. That’s why “agree to disagree” is an extremely common phrase in English: because no one ever backs down from an argument, ever.

kittehserf - MOD
10 years ago

Oh geez, that dude on Butterflies and Wheels. Weapons-grade whining.

Phoenician in a time of Romans
Phoenician in a time of Romans
10 years ago

We are simply trying to free our entertainment medium from being used as a platform for ideologies.

The entertainment medium (note – not YOUR entertainment medium) is ALREADY being used as a platform for various ideologies, some explicit and some unconscious.

Sarkeesian’s great crime was pointing out some of these ideologies.

theladyzombie
10 years ago

@Tyler

Would you please find me the quote where Anita Sarkeesian said that she intends to eliminate the Damsel in Distress trope (and other tropes) from video games? Also, a quote where she says that she plans to force the entire gaming industry to change would be helpful too.

I’ll save you some time – she hasn’t said anything of the sort. All her video game series does is identify the sexist tropes in video games and why they’re problematic. I’ve watched all of her Tropes videos so far and maybe I missed it, but I can’t recall hearing her say she’s out to make the games industry feminist. She’s even repeatedly said that you can enjoy a game even though it’s problematic.

I swear, you guys have gone beyond making a strawman out of her and have now made her into a folk demon. Everything you guys have attributed to her, she either hasn’t said or it’s been wildly exaggerated.

weirwoodtreehugger
10 years ago

Most of our trolls have been drive byes lately. The two that stuck around for a bit flounced pretty quickly when they got argued under the table by the rest of us. It’s like they aren’t even trying.

Unimaginative
10 years ago

I haven’t read through the whole thread yet, so I haven’t yet been impressed, swayed, and persuaded by Tyler Owen’s logical, rational, reasonable, and objective SERIOUS exploration into both sides of the issue (I’m sure it’s totes even-handed and not at all biased), but I have an OT to say.

Jacques Cuze says this to David in Twitter:

Clear from your google hangouts at al jazeera you’ve just woken up and still have panty hair

What does it mean? What does panty hair have to do with waking up? (We are talking about the kind of squashed effect that panties have on your pubic hair, right?) What does Al Jazeera have to do with it? Exactly what intoxicants is Jacques Cuze consuming?

Random Hajile
Random Hajile
10 years ago

Speaking of games where you could reason with the final boss, if I remember correctly, the very first (2-D) Fallout also had this. Not sure if the (very buggy and also 2-D) second one would let you. It’s been years. :S

I just got back from reading this, which highlights a lot of what’s wrong with #GamerGate. Although much of it has been touched on already here and nothing we don’t already know (a terrible, flimsy cover for a harassment campaign), it has a more eloquent explanation as to why its “nobler” goals wouldn’t work: They’re asking to have their cake and eat it too, and every person harassed out of their field is one less credit to the notion that they had any goals that wasn’t harassment. Who knows if it’ll get through to them.

No idea if it’s been posted before, I might have missed it. I also might have bungled coding. I’m good at that.

Random Hajile
Random Hajile
10 years ago

Clear from your google hangouts at al jazeera you’ve just woken up and still have panty hair

MRA horse_ebooks.

kittehserf - MOD
10 years ago

cloudiah, those poems have All The Win!

XD

cassandrakitty
cassandrakitty
10 years ago

I’m picturing a hairstyle shaped like a pair of knickers, maintained with the assistance of lots and lots of hair gel.

vaiyt
10 years ago

Of course, the reason the harassers at #GamerGate have been the most efficient group is that they were the ones who organized the whole thing in the first place. The people vaguely outraged at “corruption” within the game industry are hangers-on whose function is to provide broad support for the harasses, kinda like the average Tea Partier thinks they’re unshackling themselves from the yoke of the State while the organizers make them vote against their own interests.

Aitch
Aitch
10 years ago

What does it mean?

I think y’all are giving Mr Cuze too much credit. Imo it’s just an insult from the “anything feeemale is bad” school of thought.

kittehserf - MOD
10 years ago

Am I the only person for whom “state of your hair on waking” doesn’t mean pubic hair? Because “panty hair” was totally meaningless to me.

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