Super Fun Anita Sarkeesian Pop Quiz

This is just getting sad, in a way.
There is definitely an issue among some gamergaters about the Paul Elam/Aurini show. There is absolutely dissent and discussion around how much they want to be associagted with MRA/PUA stuff because journalism, games, blah blah. But there are some who are all for it, the issues are now “inextricably linked” [as though they weren’t from the beginning].

I’ve been obsessively watching Anonymous wipe out the KKK via lurking on Twitter and I know you won’t be surprised to learn that some of the tweets from racists have #gamergate on them. It just gets clearer and clearer that the ones who think they are fighting for gamer glory against Journalism-Man or whatever have lost the plot entirely. They now have racist, MRA, PUA, right wing poop on their shoes and no amount of Lysol will wash it off.

(dont’ know how to quote, sorry)

‘ What the bloody hell does “based” mean? Why do they call it “vidya”? Why don’t Gamergate speak like normal people?

Subcultures often use terminology as a way of distinguishing in-group from out-group. This isn’t inherently a bad thing on its own; it’s akin to the in-jokes that only you and your friends understand.”
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Which is great, and informative about humans, but I personally still have no idea what BASED actually means. help!

Off Topic but Julian Blanc has been banned from Britain – hooray. It’s in the Telegraph. I won’t say what I was hoping to say (on his arrival at Heathrow) to him as a father of two girls… I’ll let you use your imaginations, except to say my fruity and brutal language would freak even the most hardened MRA/PUA.

Also, have you seen the Barbie Computer Engineer meme?

Gizmodo – Barbie fucks it up again

storify- spacekatgal or just search her in google

Swear I will have linking privileges soon. Grrrrrrrrrrr. 😉

@tinyorc: Gamergate increasingly seems to be exactly like that cartoon of the treehouse with a sign on the door saying “NO GIRLS ALLOWED” with the S backwards.

(I don’t know how to quote either)

As for “beta”, I’m unclear but I think it seems to mean “man who treats women basically as human beings and is generally happy”.

A quick duckduckgo search implies that “based” is used to refer to someone who doesn’t care what anyone things but does what they want despite societal disapproval. Perhaps also a synonym for “high on drugs.”

I doubt GGers now like Jack Thompson, but are they really surprised that a reactionary asshole like him could ALSO have overblown, irrational reactions towards any dissenting female opinion? It seems so. Gee, it’s almost like we’re seeing the proof of widespread systematic sexism, but shit, it’s not like these “egalitarian” dudes would ever admit that their overblown negative responses towards any criticism from a woman are unwarrented.

In other words, lulz @ the typical “criticism is censorship, except when I agree with it” whine. GGers have some good points against Anita’s arguments, however they lose all credibility when they pull this crap. Defend that freeze peach GGers, defend that freeze peach.

There’s a definition here as well.

“Based means being yourself. Not being scared of what people think about you. Not being afraid to do what you wanna do. Being positive. When I was younger, based was a negative term that meant like dopehead, or basehead. People used to make fun of me. They was like, ‘You’re based.’ They’d use it as a negative. And what I did was turn that negative into a positive. I started embracing it like, ‘Yeah, I’m based.’ I made it mine. I embedded it in my head. Based is positive.”

It probably means something slightly different in 4channer lingo, though…

That’s not the whole story though I don’t think. GG is not about ethics in games journalism. It’s not even about games at all. It’s a loose group of reactionary right wingers who use the tag to rail against social justice.

Yup. GG at its core has always been a one sided “war” against feminists and “SJW’s” by people (mostly men) trying to maintain the traditional status quo. The “ethics in video games journalism” was just something for them to hide behind, just like mra’s hide behind “helping men and boys” and red pillers hide behind “men’s self-improvement”. In all cases, their cover issue is a flimsy excuse for them to whine about women and “SJW” boogey(wo)men.

So, a typo for biased that no one was smart enough to see? which then became a thing? 🙂

As far as I remember, “based” garnered the meaning “person who is really good and cool” because of Lil B (The Based God). Lil B got the nickname Based God because he used to freebase, which as far as I know is some drug practice, but I don’t actually know what that is.

TBH I’m only writing this and posting it so I can compare the urban dictionary definition to my answer.

But yeah, gamergate and all that. It’s all very confusing until you realize they just primarily hate women and feminism. It was never about videogames; it was about women having agency, women daring to criticize sexist things, women daring to exist, etc.. They’re deeply offended by all of it, and bideogams are just a flashpoint.

So based means, basically not caring about what other people think, it started as black slang. It migrated to the internet from a rapper, Lil’ B, tha Based God. His fans would respond to him releasing a song with Thank You Based God. Somehow, I blame reddit, this mutated into thank you based whoever, used whenever someone does something a community likes. Basically, at this point unless your talking to a hip hop community, based is only used as a sort of meme, and doesn’t really mean anything

Is this like a “If I can’t have my video games the way I want them, NOBODY CAN!” thing?

“based” is used to refer to someone who doesn’t care what anyone things but does what they want despite societal disapproval.

In other words, a positive framing for being an asshole. It could be interpreted in positive ways, like somebody getting tattoos they love and not caring if people disapprove. Coming out non gender binary and not caring if people don’t get it. Things like that. But in the context of GG, I would assume it’s pride in being an asshole and not caring that it hurts other people.

… you wonder how their heads do not simply explode due to the cognitive dissonance not slapping, but out right punching them in the face in their tweets.

They are pretty much just running on the brainstem and amygdala.

Here’s the Barbie Gizmodo link http://gizmodo.com/barbie-f-cks-it-up-again-1660326671

Ugh. Hit post too soon. That story made me face palm so much.

In other words, a positive framing for being an asshole.

Sounds like it, yes. It reminds me of a former acquaintance who always described herself as “blunt.” What she meant was that she was tactless and uncaring of whom she hurt, but by naming it up-front she gave herself a license to be an asshole. If she was called on it, she just reiterated that she was “blunt,” as though copping to it made it fine.

It could be interpreted in positive ways, like somebody getting tattoos they love and not caring if people disapprove. Coming out non gender binary and not caring if people don’t get it. Things like that. But in the context of GG, I would assume it’s pride in being an asshole and not caring that it hurts other people.

Exactly how I read it.

Ah, okay, “based” means an independent thinker, a nonconformist, someone who isn’t a scared little sheep like the rest of us, who stands up and speaks (white) truth to (people who have no) power, and is well enough supported that they don’t have to do weak stuff like keep managers happy by showing up on time and looking clean.

Am I the only one who wants to send “the most hated man in the world please pity me and stop hating me it makes my feelz feel teh badz” (aka Julien Minds-a-Blanc) tiny glass vials so he can catch his tears and send them to FHC? Because he is very sad at being “the most hated man in the world oh please won’t somebody think of my poor feelz”. The non apology was bad enough, but the wounded “most hated man in the world it’s so unfair and I am teh sad feelz” bullshit shows an abysmal lack of empathy.

When I first read ‘based’ I’m afraid I thought of Ace of Base.

Thanks WWTH, for linking!

I thought the “I’m the most hated man in the world” comment was an ego trip. He’s not the most hated man in the world. He’s one of the most inconsequential people in the world, famous only because he pushed his dickishness into the public spotlight to beg for attention and miscalculated the reaction. I’m pretty sure the most hated man in the world is a political figure, like Vladimir Putin maybe.

Julian Blanc wants to put himself a step above Vladimir Putin in the fame scale. All that tells me is that his ego remains overweening.

@Shaun. Tiny vials should be a thing. At least as a meme. It could be a cryptic SJW thing! Like the red feather crap only funny!

I’m pretty sure the most hated man in the world is a political figure, like Vladimir Putin maybe.
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Sadly, I’m guessing a political figure closer to home (for me, US) who happens to have a darker skin than what many would approve of.

I don’t think Barack Obama is hated worldwide. Julian Blanc thinks he’s the most hated man in the world. Obama has done some hate-worthy shit like those drone strikes, but I don’t think that has put him above Putin in the world hate olympics.

“What the bloody hell does “based” mean? Why do they call it “vidya”? Why don’t Gamergate speak like normal people?”

Guys I know we’re here to make fun of people but Manboobz newbies come to me regularly wondering what the eff the deal is about “scented candles”, “whore penguins”, and “shut up woody” (I can’t even explain the last one).

Let he who hasn’t got their own in-jokes and memes cast the first stone. 😛

God that Barbie book is infuriating. It gives the message that a) girls can’t work computers without the help of a man and b) successful female computer scientists are successful because they got a man to help them and then took all the credit.

#IDONTNEEDABRIANORASTEVE

POM, it’s also the classic ploy abusers use to get sympathy. Because hate is a “bad” emotion, unless it’s directed towards the opposing sports team you are a fan of or women/minorities/LGBTQ/the homeless…

Puddleglum, YES! No text. Just a tiny vial, or even set of vials in rainbow hues. *OR* have the text be a fictitious address for FHC! Because no way am I giving the real address to the MRA’s.

@weirwoodtreehugger:

As an actual “computer engineer,” that story made me cringe so dang hard. They should have called Barbie a “designer” (because that’s all she does, she’s apparently pretty clueless about hardware and software), which would have then made the authors realize they weren’t actually writing her as a technically savvy person, they were just further reinforcing the idea that girls do artsy stuff while boys do all the technical work.

I get one aspect of what they were trying to do… they were trying to show Barbie as inexperienced in the field, to act as an avatar of girls who aren’t experienced with computers but would like to be. Therefore they show her not knowing things and going to others for help. But good grief, have her actually *do* things after learning! And, you know, be women in a book with the assumed purpose of showing that women can be competent engineers.

There’s a line between showing gender parity and reinforcing gender segregation… Guess which one this book does.

/rant

There’s a HT notbuyingit. I haven’t yet seen a petition to have it recalled and replaced with something less misogynist. Like literally anything from the 50’s.

“Shut up Woody” is from our pet troll, Woody, who successfully pulled off his troll challenge.

He liked doing two sentence “Paul Elam is the bestest person ever and totes trustworthy” posts.

We got bored.

Shut up, Woody.

That Barbie book lost me at page 1 when it depicted Barbie eating nothing for breakfast but a little cup of yogurt. The remainder of it was just one non-surprise after another.

A cup of yogurt, alone, is not a healthy breakfast, but that’s apparently what Barbie eats, and Barbie is size 00. QED for the most regressive body-image and food-police message.

POM, it’s also the classic ploy abusers use to get sympathy. Because hate is a “bad” emotion, unless it’s directed towards the opposing sports team you are a fan of or women/minorities/LGBTQ/the homeless…

True enough. I hadn’t considered that, but it’s a point well made.

It’s just so much worse than regular overt misogyny. Barbie can be anything (as long as “anything” is defined as “thin and beautiful”), and look at the shiny equality bauble, you just have to reach for it aaaannnnd *BAM* Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster right to the noggin silly girlz of all ages. Let the men take care of that for you cupcake. Just…GLARB. So annoying. Did you really need to pretend you weren’t going to be awful? You knew you were. The headdesk…it is enormous.

Was there ever a case where the Tea Party was 110% at odds with a person, then that person said that they don’t like black people and/or Obama and the Tea Party welcomed them with open arms? Serious question, almost everything the #Gits do has parallels with the Tea Party and I’m too tired to work out if that holds true here or not.

Speaking of Putin, he fills this role decently; he was a bit of a boogieman on the right, a “brutal thug” and “kleptocrat” who was going to “rebuild the USSR”.

Then, after cracking down on LGBT rights and negotiating the destruction of Syria’s WMD, suddenly he’s a “strong leader” who “gets things done” and “stands up for traditional values”.

I don’t think it’s quite a perfect mirror (that would probably be something like Ayers or Chomsky?), but it’s pretty close in my opinion.

Oh, or maybe the way the briefly praised the Clintons for a few years when Hillary was Secretary of State, before they remembered that they needed to tear her down again before the elections?

I think the scented candle image should have a link to the welcome package.

https://artistryforfeminismandkittens.wordpress.com/the-official-man-boobz-complimentary-welcome-package/

Or, we need our own wiki. O.o

That Barbie thing is just so baffling. Why not just call the book I Can Be A Game Designer? No shame in that!

Also, I have no idea was based actually means, but I automatically assumed it was a funny spelling thing, like vidya, to mean “best”

(Not that renaming the book would make the needing the boys to do the “real” work and fix everything ok. Just that the misleading title is weird by itself.)

I apologise if this has been linked before, but someone fixed that awful barbie book – http://www.themarysue.com/feminist-hacker-barbie-site/

Just call the book “I can be a helpless incompetent feeemale stealing teh menz jobs whilst simultaneously (or a shorter word, whoops, my bad) making them work harder pass me a bonbon”.

Molly Ren:

Guys I know we’re here to make fun of people but Manboobz newbies come to me regularly wondering what the eff the deal is about “scented candles”, “whore penguins”, and “shut up woody” (I can’t even explain the last one).

Let he who hasn’t got their own in-jokes and memes cast the first stone.

Ah yeah, nothing wrong with a good in-joke in and of itself, obviously! But the point is that Mammoth jokes, for the most part, stay on WHTM and I sincerely doubt regulars casually drop-in references to whore penguins and hard chairs into conversations about feminism when not actively chatting about this blog. GlamourGlob, on the other hand, uses code words and obscure memes and incomprehensible hashtags as part of its public-facing “activism”.

@tinyorc

… and I sincerely doubt regulars casually drop-in references to whore penguins and hard chairs into conversations about feminism when not actively chatting about this blog.

Nooooo. Of course not. That… that would be silly.

…

Nooooo. Of course not. That… that would be silly.

…

Yeah… silly…

POM, it’s also the classic ploy abusers use to get sympathy. Because hate is a “bad” emotion, unless it’s directed towards the opposing sports team you are a fan of or women/minorities/LGBTQ/the homeless…

Ah yes. Lets not forget, this tactic is coming from the guy who tweeted an abuse wheel as a guide.

Barbie has a hideous kitchen.

Sometimes I forget the whole world doesn’t know the same things I do, so I am definitely guilty of making a hard chairs joke and then being amazed that I had to explain it. Like how is something so delightfully absurd not common knowledge?

Moggie found the silver lining! Barbie isn’t spending tons of time in the kitchen (because it’s not pretty enough to “work” in)! All hail Moggie!

I’m only being a little sarcastic, that truly is the most positive thing about the book.

sunnysombrera, yep. “I am the most hated man in the world, of course I didn’t mean *really* commit DV and sexual assault, totally sincere and not at all from an abuser perspective fauxpology WILL NOBODY MAKE MY FEELZ BETTER I’m cold and there are wolves after me!?!”.

The Barbie “Computer Engineer” book infuriated me as well! Like, even if they wanted to portray Barbie as a total beginner (perfectly reasonable to remind young girls that they don’t have to brilliant at everything immediately), they could have actually showed learning a new skill and then applying it herself. Like “hmmm, I really want to turn my cute design into game… let’s ask my instructor how I would do that” and then go into “Code is the language of computers – and just like humans speak lots of different languages, there are lots of different types of code. To make a game for a computer, you have to learn to speak the computer’s language…” etc.

But instead, she’s literally like “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly do this by myself, some men will need to help me!”

Chevrolet, I tell everyone female penguins are whores. Plus makeup equal Darth Vader.

Fuck. Have just realized that now I have to start wearing make up for optimal misandry and name coherence. MISANDRY IS HARD U GUIZE!