"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.
I do remember someone mentioning screencaps. Was it “parts of speech are haaaaard” oracle dude?
I don’t get why these jokers feel like this is a threat.
I just got done dealing with a kitty cat who took a direct hit of skunk spray to the face. And who, I discovered, does NOT enjoy being bathed or blow-dried, either. Honestly, that was less repulsive and abject than this shit all is.
Ha! subtlety. Could you tell your chums in GG what that means.I mean I wouldn’t call cartoons based on anti-semitic propaganda subtle.
I am unfailingly entertained when someone claims that their comments being moderated on someone else’s blog is censorship. It’s a tell-tale sign that you don’t have a legitimate argument.
@policy of madness
I don’t why they do it either. Maybe it’s because they live in (a tag on Davids posts that makes me laugh) imaginary backwards land.
BR – as opposed to his posts which do make it through, which are also tell-tell signs that he doesn’t have a legitimate argument.
It’s interesting to realize that the hardcore GGers honestly don’t understand why normal people react with revulsion to stuff like this. It’s why they’re never able to make any inroads into shifting public opinion. They have only one common identity: the chan culture. So all their common activity has to proceed from that culture, and that culture is deeply toxic and offensive to normal average people.
SomethingAwful eventually banned ironic racism because of how short the step is from ironic racism to actual racism. Once you’ve normalized edits of Mann cartoons, as channers have, you’re no longer culturally distinguishable from Stormfront or Chimpout. Something like ‘Le Merchant’ doesn’t even register on their offense-o-meter, so they’re legitimately surprised when anyone else objects to it.
@Fifth- Poor baby can’t win for losing, it seems. I’m awaiting the rage tears.
Now, obviously comparing human beings to rats and cockroaches is terrible and unjustifiable. But wouldn’t getting rid of those species mess up the ecosystem something fierce?
@tiko72
The chans do dump comments and threads after only a day or three. The only thing I can imagine that makes even a tiny bit of sense is that they are talking from this perspective. When you live in a land that maintains no memory, maybe you get used to the idea that you can talk shit today and tomorrow it will be wiped … unless someone takes a screen print to prove that the shit was said.
Otherwise idek.
Is Saul really trying to tell us GG isn’t anti-Semitic?
Newsflash dude, we’ve seen multiple screencaps from /gg/ using “Jewkeesian”. This gaslighting bullshit doesn’t work when people are wise to it.
When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say. Or in this case, what he did say.
Except of course when he’s been saying the same stupid shit over and over and pulling out his tongue means not letting him post or defend recycled Nazi propaganda.
@policy of madness
Yeah,assuming that the whole internet works just like their little corner of it sounds just like them.
Because I called out gamergate for RTing and laughing when @SlushStuff posted the “whatcha doin’?!” cartoon, one of them just showed up in my twitter feed accusing me of spreading anti-semitism… because I posted a screenshot of a GGer promoting it and I said that it was racist to do so [link below]. Like what is it with these people– you can’t actually have a real conversation with them. They think they are performing Jedi mind trick reverse psychology or something, but actually they are just talking gibberish.
https://twitter.com/kungfoo559/status/529093002719793153
Having your comments moderated is totes like having an organ forcibly removed from your face.
I am also an internet person claiming to be a Jew. We Jews don’t agree on everything (in fact, we’re famous for arguing), and we don’t all look the same, but culturally speaking, large noses like the one in that cartoon are used to depict Judaism, and often connect that idea with greedy schemers. Taking an anti-Semitic image and using it to send the exact same message about a different target who is only ever compared to Jews based on negative Jewish stereotypes and in no way bothers to challenge the original message is anti-Semitic, even if not all Jews are offended by it.
The Dark Lord has cast lightning bolts from on high and Saul is banned.
ALL PRAISE THE DARK LORD
CENSORSHIP
@strivingally
They just had one of their defacto leaders, Kingofpol go full blown Holocaust denial on one of their livestreams. And of course they DEFENDED him doing it.
Ah, the same quote that was on a gamergate meme recently. Well, ta ta, you’re banned.
The idea that anyone would be “afraid” of overwrought drama queen martyr posturing really belongs on David’s earlier thread chronicling GG ridiculousness, dunnit?
I would say ironic racism is actual racism. It just uses irony as a veneer to disguise it. Sort of like ethics in games journalism is an attempt to disguise the misogyny at the rotten festering core of gamergate.
Lol. Considering you’ve gotten your ass handed to you by multiple people in this thread, I don’t see why you think we fear you.
Saul, the only person using Judaism as a shield for anything is you. You’re trying to shield a cartoon. We’re not really covering for anything, we’re just saying, “this is a shitty representation”. Oh, and to everyone else, I’m kinda new. Hi!
BigMomma sez:
It’s certainly not up to whites/gentiles to try, that’s for sure.