GamerGaters like to loudly profess that they oppose harassment. They also like to claim that most if not all of the harassment that has occurred comes from people that aren’t “real” GamerGaters.
So what do GamerGaters do when they’re confronted with evidence that someone in their ranks — not an anonymous nobody but someone with some standing in their community — is harassing someone?
Well yesterday we had an opportunity to see just that. I wrote about a couple of instances of sexual harassment from a GamerGater known as Cameralady.
While not as famous as GamerGate celebs like Milo Yiannopoulos or InternetAristocrat or, you know, Adam Baldwin, Cameralady is, at least in Gamergate circles, a bit of a player. She was an early and especially eager opponent of Zoe Quinn, and devoted a great deal of time and energy to digging up dirt on Quinn and others. Many of her “findings” made it into GamerGate propaganda on the web and in assorted YouTube videos.
And her sexual harassment was about as blatant as it gets. In the midst of an argument on Twitter, she tweeted a crude sexual come-on to a woman who opposes GamerGate, and was immediately told to get lost. A week later, in the midst of another Twitter argument, she Tweeted another crude come-on to the same woman. The evidence was as plain as day, and I included it all in my post.
So what happened after I posted a link to my post in the #GamerGate hashtag on Twitter? Did other GamerGaters call her out on her behavior?
Well, no. Instead I was besieged by dozens — hundreds? — of tweets from GamerGaters who assured me that the harassment wasn’t harassment at all.
The tone of the discussion was set early on by Cameralady herself, who insisted that her harassment was simple “flirtation” and that anyone who thought otherwise was some sort of anti-sex puritan prude.
https://twitter.com/The_Camera_Girl/status/524967395715477504
https://twitter.com/The_Camera_Girl/status/524968506480410624
https://twitter.com/The_Camera_Girl/status/524969608043044864
I’m not exactly sure how that would absolve her for her bad behavior. If you shoot someone and you miss, you’ve still committed a crime. If you crudely proposition someone who earlier told you to get lost and they for some reason don’t hear you, well, same thing. Also, the woman she harassed did in fact see her tweet.
She also tried to explain that what she was doing really was flirting, and that I didn’t understand because I’m not a lesbian.
@The_Camera_Girl @DavidFutrelle So it's okay to sexually harass people because you've had sex with other women?
— BlackFish (@BlackFish775) October 22, 2014
Later, she tried another excuse.
https://twitter.com/The_Camera_Girl/status/525087005823483904
Apparently she sends crude sexual comments to so many women she can’t keep track!
Other GamerGaters did their best to minimize, deny and deflect.
@The_Camera_Girl @alexvdl0 @DavidFutrelle I think hes jealous
— SteamPunk_Devil (@SteamPunkDevil_) October 22, 2014
Even those who accepted that what had happened was harassment did their best to change the subject.
https://twitter.com/DanielGauss/status/524965533234393088
https://twitter.com/DanielGauss/status/524970974744039424
But if you really want a sense of the sheer horror of dealing with GamerGaters on Twitter, well, you’re just going to have to jump headlong into the middle of it.
Here you can see all of the responses to my Tweet linking to my post. Here you will encounter every type of deflection known to humankind, as you scroll downward through an argument that never seems to end.
Witness the terror of endless arguments with people who ask for proof that is already in the article they are ostensibly discussing! Hear the demands for screenshots that have already been given to them!
I never know if they’re really this obtuse, or if they’re just screwing with me.
It reminds me a lot of this classic Monty Python sketch. The only difference is that the Monty Python sketch is over in six minutes, while Twitter never ends.
When are they going to dox Chris Kluwe? I mean, isn’t this about journalistic integrity and insults to True Gamers?
> I never know if they’re really this obtuse, or if they’re just screwing with me.
At this stage, the only PR strategy left to Gamergate advocates is flat-out sanity-defying denial.
And John Scalzi? And Matt Binder? After all, this ISN’T about harassing women, right?
“Yeah, if I’m blocked she didn’t even see the second tweet so its inconsequential.”
That logic could be applied to raping someone when they’re drugged or sleeping.
Chris Kluwe is basically going “COME ON ASSHOLES”, so of course they doxxed Felicia Day instead.
That is exactly the question Chris Kluwe is asking.
What really pisses me off is that Day was doxxed after posting a very impassioned post wherein she described how much the idea terrified her. And of course people were like “what harm comes from posting her address, lol”
These people are the worst. I dunno about anyone else, but I’m having a serious case of Gamer Gate fatigue.
The more I read cameralady’s tweets the more I doubt that she is a woman behind the screen. Her language smacks loudly of frat boy.
Because these people have such low opinions of women, they will gladly try to abuse them. The GGers don’t see them as threats. That’s also why they don’t doxx Mr. Kluwe or really anyone else who is obviously male who speaks out against them. Classic bully behavior shaped by their own warped perspectives and beliefs.
“Each side has a fringe and that should not detract the arguement at hand. The journalist abused their position.”
Who the fuck are these people? Do they even read the fucking source material?!
@sunnysombrera–I could not agree more; I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt online, especially when it comes to believing women, but an actual lesbian being behind that account strains credulity almost to the breaking point.
Aside from the obvious fact that they chose to doxx Felicia Day rather than Chris because she is a woman and GamerGate hates all women who don’t know their place, I think there’s another reason. Chris’ rant was blunt and angry. It probably pissed them off, but they are already running on ridiculous amounts of rage and persecution complex that it was just another drop in the bucket.
Felicia’s thoughtful, impassioned plea made them, if only for a brief moment, really take a look at how absolutely awful they are behaving. The little bit of guilt, coupled with a few microseconds of what the horror of introspection must be like for someone who chooses to be in GamerGate made them even angrier.
(I imagine introspection for them is a lot like that montage with the maggots in Battleship Potemkin.)
I thought a better Monty Python sketch would be the “dead parrot” bit.
It is the standard MRA rage against women who admit to being afraid of them.
“How dare you be afraid of me just because I talk about how much I want to kill you. I shall now punish you.”
The camera lady seems really upset that journalists are not giving the anon perps equal time with the victims. Can that be right, or did I misread them?
Twitterers creep me right the eff out.
Heh. I love the shoehorning here: “BOTH SIDES! JOURNALISTS ARE MEAN!”
—
Does she ever explain why she’s flirting with women in the middle of heated ideological arguments? It’s obvious to anyone that a) it isn’t simple flirting in the first place, and b) her claims of flirtation are heavily undermined by opposing each and every individual listed.
I think if one were to invent a poster for a “women do it too” campaign the Camera Lady who calls herself a girl would be my choice.
@magnesium
I’m thinking they decide to dox women and the “weak” (With ” because been chronically depressed and still do stuff get a big A in bravery in my book at least).
Phil Fish has a well documented in the gaming media problem with depression and anxiety, and when the “Quinnpiracy” exploded he was one of the first ones to defend her, and immediately got doxxed. And bank account credentials stolen. Then Phil Fish decided to bail out of gaming entirely for his own Mental Health sake.
Which at the end is typical bulling behaviour.
*pops head in*
I never have any luck when I try to post a youtube vid but I wanted to direct ya’ll to Jonathan Mann’s new “song a day” video entitled “If it’s not about Zoe Quinn stop talking about her”. Its awesome and sums up many problems with the #Gamergoobers in a lovely little song.
@booburry
You’re right, it is a good song, thanks for sharing. Here’s the video for those who don’t feel like looking for it:
http://youtu.be/bnbNY1oFZ3o
As a lesbian married to a lesbian, lemme add my biased $0.02:
If/when lesbians “flirt” like cameralady, that’s when we lesbos hightail it outta there to get the fuck away from that creeper with boundary issues.
Except for Phil Fish, who has already shown to be vulnerable.
That should be a fun exercise:
– Keep pointing everyone who has done reprehensible shit and watch the #GG defender declare everyone important as a “fringe”.
– Ask for clarification of their own position until they out themselves as the gobshites they are.
Ah, yes I had forgotten that women can’t sexually harass other women. Nevermind that I have been – by straight women too. Considering that anyone can sexually harass ANYONE, regardless of gender or sex or sexual preference, I’m pretty sure that can be called sexual harassment.
And please, no one “flirts” mid-twitter argument. That’s such bullshit lol, she was trying to make the other woman uncomfortable so she would back down. Men use that tactic on women all the time in my experience.
Also by saying women can’t sexually harass othet women they are essentially undermining their own arguments about women being the bad guys. Women are the sexual harassers, but the moment that woman is on your side it’s not possible for her to sexually harass someone? Funny how that works. You would think every argument they’ve ever made is complete bullshit and they don’t actually care unless they can use it in the moment. Hmmmm…