There’s a lot of really good stuff about the whole #GamerGate fiasco on Twitter. Here are several excellent collections of Tweets that have helpfully been put into Storify form for easy reading.
The He-Man #gamergate-rs Club. A collection of Tweets from @a_man_in_black showing that #GamerGate just the latest, if the most virulent, “outburst of a larger misogynist movement going back years.” He looks at the sordid histories of a number of current #GamerGaters and finds that many have been involved in misogynistic and transphobic harassment for years.
The most startling discovery: The creator of the “Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian” game you may recall from two years ago … well, he still hates Sarkeesian, only now he’s a #GamerGater who pretends that he’s against harassment.
#gamergate doesn't tolerate harassment, says the creator of Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian. https://t.co/wz3W7LZg4g
— Jay Allen (@a_man_in_black) October 18, 2014
Click on that Tweet to see more from @a_man_in_black on Bendilin.
For still more on the background of some of the worst in the #GamerGate movement, check out The Bad Apples of #GamerGate on Medium. Also essential reading. You’ll notice some familiar names on the list.
@EffNOVideoGames has put together an amazing account of the origins of #GamerGate, poiting out that the “movement” has always been about spin. Deftly rebuts the notion that #GamerGate is about “ethics,” and provides numerous screenshots offering clear proof of the misogyny that’s been there from the start.
Oh, and if you want to see how serious #GamerGaters are about actually fighting harassment in their movement — which always seems to be the fault of a few “bad apples” — check out what happened when @ShadowTodd asked them to show their sincerity by donating money to help the women who’ve been harassed by these “bad apples.” SPOILER ALERT: What happened was a lot of victim blaming and “false flag”-crying and not one penny donated — even when Todd suggested that even if they hated Anita and Zoe and the rest, donating money to then would at least make them look less like the unrepentant woman-haters they are.
There was literally no downside. The only way it would hurt your cause is if your cause was actually… to hurt female VG critics…. OH GOD
— Todd in the Shadows (@ShadowTodd) October 17, 2014
Another chilling read: “There is no Virtue Without Terror” On the Ethical Landscape of GamerGate by Katherine Cross (@Quinnae_Moon on Twitter), a researcher of online harassment who has drawn the ire of the #GamerGate crowd.
She reflects on the decidedly mixed performance of the media in all of this, and a bit on her thoughts what it means for her as an academic studying gender, in another set of Storified Tweets, Katherine Cross on the effects of GamerGate.
If you’re on Twitter, and trying to keep up with #GamerGate, I’d highly recommend following @a_man_in_black, @EffNOVideoGames, and @Quinnae_Moon, as well as the excellent @srhbutts.
And of course you need to follow @TheQuinnspiracy (that is, Zoe Quinn) and her dude @alexlifschitz.
H/T — @lawblob for the pic at the top.
I think the Gaters are beginning to notice how many NORPs* actually disagree with them. It seems to be annoying them.
*Slang acronym for Normal Ordinary Responsible Person.
And I can confidently predict, judging by the many right-wing examples I’ve become familiar with over the years (the list would be too tl;dr to go over), that when it finally sinks through the Gaters’ thick skulls that the NORPs are not on their side, they’ll declare the NORPs (read: non-Gaters) nothing but a pack of running dogs for the Evil SJW Conspiracy. The evangelical background I have fortunately long since outgrown taught me that if you’re not with Jesus, you’re with the Devil. When the Gaters turn on the NORPs, it’ll be glaringly obvious just how much their mentality has in common with cults.
Don’t mean to burst in here, but anyone in need of brain bleach check out @weirdwoods, my Twitter page. I am arguing with every gater who responds to my posts solely by AutoFill (except for one I felt kind of bad for because I found him arguing with a bot and started making him argue with AutoFill instead, so I told him I’d legitimately argue with him for being such a good sport). It’s pretty great so far.
Another irony:
SJW culture is a cult. Just look at their weird terminology and how they other and unperson opponents! Let us deprogram you and show you how everything is a vast conspiracy against us and learn to call any woman who speaks out against attacks as Literally Who, because they don’t deserve individual names.
Everything they say can be boiled down to two statements:
1. Derpderpderp I hate women derpderpderp
2. No, YOU are.
@ktrantingredhead
“derp” is an incredibly offensive term. Could you not use it?
No, YOU’re an offensive term.
(Unless you are serious? I’ve honestly never heard anyone say that “derp” is offensive. I’ve always though of it like “duh.”)
SJWs claim to be all about “equality,” but they show shocking prejudice against Imaginary Persons, dismissing their viewpoints just because they’re “not real.”
Check your ontological privilege. Just because someone’s made up doesn’t mean they’re not a human being!*
*Well, minus the “being” part.
Rumor has it that if you stand in front of the White House and yell “BENGHAZI” three times, Dubya will appear.
Rumor has it, also, that if you stand in front of a game console and yell “ZOE QUINN” three times, all the feminists questioning GamerGate will disappear.
@ktrantingredhead
It’s commonly used to mock people with mental disabilities (and as far as I know this is its original purpose). So, yeah, I’m serious. I’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t use it.
Oh…huh…well thanks for letting me know. I’ve honestly never heard that before.
I’m willing to be wrong on this.
I can see where people would take it that way (or where people would use it that way). I just stole it from South Park where the new chef named Mr. Derp was really dumb and annoying and trying really hard to be cool.
@ktraningredhead Taking something from a South Park episode almost never ends well. <__<
Haha, I disagree! I’m a big fan of South Park….well most of it. They’ve had a handful of stinkers I never liked, but overall I really enjoy it.
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/derp
Nothing in there about mental disabilities. Just garden-variety blunders and stoopid.
Speaking of South Park, one tragic thing I read somewhere was somebody predicting a possible future episode where Wendy says something about video games, prompting Cartman to start his own GamerGate movement specifically to harass her. I imagine it will completely miss every single point possible and fuel the “arguments” of abusive assholes for years to come.
Well, I don’t want to hijack the thread over it, but thanks everybody for your thoughts! One thing we can all agree on: GamerGaters suck!
#notallgamergaters
-dies-
@zoon echon logon: Maybe I should have put that inside the quotes, since I was trying to mock such attitudes. Also, I left out the “1”, as in “!!!1one”. (I hate not being able to edit comments.) Well then, to sum it up another way:
moustache-twirling villainGamerGater: “I got you now, you evil false-flagging femmunist SJW running dogs!” *called out by #StopGamerGate2014* “Derp!” *flees to man cave*I wouldn’t be surprised.
*rolls eyes* I wouldn’t be surprised…
Re: Derp: The only disability that I’m aware of it being used to poke fun at is physical, not mental – strabismus – and I personally like calling my own strabismus “Derpface” because I have a self-deprecating sense of humour and it amuses me. I mean, I won’t use it around people who find it offensive, but yeah, if people do use it as a slur against the mentally disabled, it’s rare enough that I’ve never seen it.
It must just be my circle of acquaintances, then. Sorry!
As I’ve seen it, “derp” is usually the go-to word to plaster on pictures of people with Down syndrome. I’m pretty sure it comes from Something Awful.