"we're inclusive and accepting!" says #gamergate, before drawing racist caricatures of women they dislike. pic.twitter.com/zbFnWBOmdn
— Sarah Nyberg (@srhbutts) November 1, 2014
The other day, I posted a screenshot of an 8chan comment featuring the drawing above, a crude caricature of Anita Sarkeesian that’s a not-very-subtle variation on a racist and anti-Semitic cartoon that originally ran in a neo-Nazi newspaper.
Here’s the original, in all its crapitude:
Let’s face it! That is one fucking awful cartoon.
Now, if that picture — or at least the grinning fellow on the left — looks familiar, it’s because he’s been that’s turned into a meme (“Le Happy Merchant”) that’s proven popular with 4channers and Stormfronters alike.
Given that GamerGate itself has its origins on 4chan — and in an IRC channel populated mostly bey 4channers — it shouldn’t come as a complete shock that #GamerGaters, some of whom refer to Sarkeesian as “Jewkeesian,” have repurposed the image into a caricature of one of their most hated foes. Sarkeesian isn’t actually Jewish, but for whatever reason this doesn’t seem to faze her anti-Semitic non-admirers.
GamerGaters like to claim that this sort of bigotry “isn’t what GamerGate is really about,” and that anti-Semites and other bigots are fringe elements in their movement, if not “false flagging” feminazi shills trying to make GamerGate look bad. Here, one GamerGater makes that point with as much sarcasm as he can muster:
https://twitter.com/JakALope044/status/525839519161917440
This would be a much more convincing argument if GamerGaters weren’t so quick to excuse and/or explain away the anti-Semitic imagery every time it rears its ugly head.
Here’s one active GamerGater who wants everyone to know that, actually, it’s about ethics in game journalism.
https://twitter.com/SlushStuff/status/524266371069517824
But she has a pretty unusual notion of what “not hate” is, given that she posted this picture several days later:
This lovely little drawing combines the racist caricature of Sarkeesian with another bit of neo-Nazi propaganda that’s been floating around the internet for a while, and which had already been repurposed as an anti-Muslim comic. In other words, @SlushStuff has posted a mashup of a neo-Nazi cartoon that’s already been used in another bigoted mashup.
We can’t blame @SlushStuff’s glee in posting this on her ignorance of the sources of the cartoon in question; she’s well aware that the picture is based on anti-Semitic propaganda. She just thinks this isn’t a problem, because reasons.
https://twitter.com/SlushStuff/status/526342650375704576
https://twitter.com/SlushStuff/status/526396368609615872
Then again, @SlushStuff doesn’t seem to have a problem with straight-up racism either.
https://twitter.com/SlushStuff/status/521793824621088770
This is a common reaction amongst GamerGaters when confronted with this particular work of, er, art. When srh, who tracks GamerGate bigotry on Twitter, posted the tweet at the top of this post, here are some of the reactions she got, in a seemingly unending discussion that extended over hundreds of tweets. (These aren’t all successive tweets; see here for the whole thread.)
Yep. That’s right. A guy whose avatar is a white dude in an American Indian headdress (comedian Jim Norton, FWIW) is lecturing people about what is and what isn’t racism.
At this point I “noped” out of reading the rest of the thread before my head exploded from all the nonsense.
GamerGate claims to have an anti-harassment squad, but when someone posts caricatures of Anita Sarkeesian that are not just inspired by but probably literally traced from Nazi propaganda, these are the guys who show up.
To quote the robot bartender in The Fifth Element, do you want some more?
Here’s more.
After one anti-GamerGater posted a screenshot of Mary’s post featuring Sarkeesian painting fake threats on a wall, one #GamerGater had this response.
Here yet another GamerGater claims that the caricature is mocking Sarkeesian, so therefore it can’t be anti-Semitic:
https://twitter.com/NappalmSam/status/526385714968428544
Oh, wait, is this yet another GamerGater making the same terrible “argument?” Why yes, it is:
I ask #gamergate why they are condoning/reposting Ann anti Semitic cartoon. They respond: Jews Are Not A Race pic.twitter.com/Ef1mhYw6Dy
— Joshua Idehen (@joshuaidehen80) October 26, 2014
And, oh, it gets weirder. Here a GamerGater responding to a critic who was pointing out an instance of GamerGaters using “Le Happy Merchant” in an infographic … by suggesting he was “Jew-shaming.”
https://twitter.com/emvarez_dota/status/526379494580695041
And here’s a GamerGater who uses “Le Happy Merchant” as his fucking avatar … accusing Sarkeesian of anti-Semitism. And spelling it wrong.
I could keep going, but after this, is there any point?
Bottom of the barrel, consider yourself scraped.
EDIT: Added more info on the source of that second Sarkeesian cartoon.
Also, why does the fact that it’s a meme make it okay to use when it glorifies hate and anti-semitism? Genuinely curious again.
Because the anti-semitism is a feature, not a bug. The link between “big nose, rubbing hands” and “greedy!” requires “Jew” in the middle. Otherwise there is no link. There’s nothing intrinsic about someone with a big nose rubbing hands that conveys greed. Someone rubbing hands could be looking forward to a well-earned margarita, or plotting the next big tech startup. The ONLY context in which “greed” is conveyed unerringly by hand-rubbing is if “Jew” is connected first.
Delurking to ask who here has heard someone refer to themselves as “us minorities” in serious conversation? Anyone? (Apologies if I double post. WordPress and I don’t get along.)
Shut up Saul.
It is INCREDIBLY obvious when /pol/ trash tries to impersonate Jews or any other ethnic minority.
You’ve probably never spoken to one of us at length.
Go fall in a hole
*raises hand*
Because 4chan has long had a culture of embracing Nazi imagery as part of their “edgy” and “transgressive” mindset, which led to the place becoming a very welcoming place for actual Nazis.
@Policy of Madness, that’s pretty obvious to me, too. The whole thing is disgusting. Clearly Saul sees something different than we do. I’d like him to articulate it.
GGers’ arguments are always so full of logic fail it makes my brain sad.
@isidore13
Saul is a sock, and it’s a waste of time to engage with socks as if they are people. A legit troll can be entertaining, but I’ve yet to run into an entertaining sock, just speaking personally.
I’d explain a few more of the more consistent mistakes the trash makes while pretending to be Jewish but I don’t want to give them any hints
@Policy of Madness
I see your point, I just kinda think it would be funny to see him try (and utterly fail) to explain it in a way that makes it the profound and totally logical and full of fairness and justice thing he desperately, desperately wants it to be, instead of the hateful piece of shit anti-semitic trolling that it is, and that is so endemic to the gamergate “movement”.
There is gonna be either a flounce or a ‘splosion any minute now.
Gross. So gross.
I should say more per comments policy, but.. just sick to my stomach.
@isidore13
Yeah, except that socks are so busy trying to project a character that they have no time/energy left to do entertaining things like spin a racist cartoon into something totes legit.
Wow. “Saul” is the frothiest little ragetroll we’ve had for a while. Sadly he’s not very entertaining, though.
TROLL HARDER
Policy – it’s not so much “Saul” per se as this same idiotic argument that winds up everywhere; that if you understand something, you must agree with it. It underpins every “no, you’re the real racist!” argument that exists, and in spite of how clever idiots consider this dodge to be, it needs to die in a fire. It’s gob-smackingly stupid.
@Policy of Madness
That’s boring then. Stop being a boring sock, Saul. Did you have your logic fail implosion privately?
Saul’s “thoughts” on this thread, such as they are:
“BUTBUTBUT I claimed to be a stinking minority–why are they disagreeing with me? And why don’t they believe me, even though I belong to a movement that has an open history of impersonating minorities (badly).”
Isn’t it lucky for us minorities that we have Policy of Madness to explain to us what we need to be offended by, since we’re too stupid to figure it out for ourselves! He’s the White Savior we desperately need!
Your messiah complex is disgusting. That goes for all of you.
Oh, is Saul playing more-Jewish-than-thou? I love that game! My turn, my turn!
Well, Saul, my real-life name is Barry Deutsch. My dad was a doctor who taught Torah interpretation at his synagogue, which my mom was the President of. I’ve created two critically-acclaimed kids books about Jewish culture, and the third will hit bookstores next year; one of my books won a Sydney Taylor Award, the most prestigious award for Jewish Kidlit in the USA. I’ve been a guest speaker at synagogues and Jewish schools all over the US and Canada.
Your turn! Are you going to claim I’m not Jewish?
Because, speaking as a Jew who is also somewhat of an expert in cartooning, let me tell you:
Those images are anti-Semitic. Doing a tiny bit of redrawing does not stop them from being anti-Semitic. I honestly don’t know of a single Jew in my life who would disagree that these images, even when directed at a non-Jew, are anti-Semitic. I just asked my extremely well-known Jewish journalist friend, who has published a bunch of pro-GamerGate articles, and she agreed the cartoons are anti-Semitic, which is not at all surprising because being pro-GamerGate doesn’t mean she’s stopped being Jewish.
Make GamerGate stop. Please, God, make GamerGate stop.
Do you reckon they’d stop if I paid them to stop?
@isidore13
Now, if “Saul” were to come here under zir own handle/name and try to advance this “it’s not racism if you’re ignorant of it” bullshit, without all of the “you have to listen to me because I’m a Jew” roleplaying (which only anti-sjw types think will fly), that might be entertaining.
Oh, Saul. Bless him and his little sockful heart. I’m just surprised he didn’t summon some more “Jewish” sock friends to tell us all about how noticing anti Semitism makes you anti Semitic.
My mom was raised Jewish, and I’m half Jewish ethnically, and we both consider the image at the top to be an offensive anti-Semitic caricature. Saul’s ruling of it not being offensive is countered and then some. Suck on it, troll Saul!
My last two comments have been censored, but I’d like Barry to know that I don’t care whether or not he agrees with me, because I don’t believe all Jews need to believe all the same things to be “real Jews”, because I’m not a bigot.
The ‘it’s just totally a coincidence that we based our drawings on anti-semitic propaganda’ is complete crap. Anita Sarkeesian may not be jewish but I recall that when her wikipedia page was got at there were plenty of references to her being jewish (and just for our sock,not in a good way).
Talking of our sock.Wasn’t there someone on here a few weeks ago saying they were going to take screencaps to prove how bigoted we are when we are criticising the bigoted things actual bigots have said.
Also, his cartoons are dreadful. Need more subtlety and fewer walls of text.