The New York Times has a fascinating collection of articles today on the fifth anniversary of the start of GamerGate, and how that media ethics crusade mob harassment campaign put in place a sort of template for the culture wars of the past several years, “jump[ing] out of the obscure fever swamps of the internet and into mainstream consciousness.”
I’m quoted in Charlie Warzel’s overview, examining the ways that GamerGate helped to channel the inchoate white male angst of 4chan and gamer culture into a reactionary political crusade that continued long after the #GamerGate hashtag itself died, and that created a whole new class of “harassment influencers” who profited off the mob.
One of the media entities that exploited the GamerGate mob most effectively was, of course. Breitbart. Wurzel writes:
Breitbart’s coverage elevated Gamergate across a growing far-right media ecosystem, which drew attention from the mainstream press, who viewed the entire conflict as an online circus with endless carnival barkers. “It didn’t help that these people are, in addition to their harassing, always embroiled in their own personal dramas,” David Futrelle, a Chicago writer who covered Gamergate extensively for his blog, We Hunted The Mammoth, told me. In other words, they weren’t just pundits, they were characters. “That outrageousness made them irresistible to media,” he said. It was this attention — from influencers and the press — that cemented the status of Gamergate.
Warzel’s piece is well worth a read, as are the other pieces in the package.
–David
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@Surplus
I haven’t been a commenter on here as long as some people, but I have been long enough for you to ask about appearing and disappearing comments 3 times now. It is always the same thing. Also you usually think there is a conspiracy about hiding the comments when it happens.
You also have a recurring pattern where you will post in a paranoid rant about your health and living situation, and ask for help or suggestions on how to fix it, and then be rather abusive to people that try to help. Then a few days later, you will post like that never happened (without apology for any abuse) and as if you did not have any paranoia at all, until the next time you have an outburst. I mention this because the comments conspiracy is usually the wind-down from the health outburst, and I see the pattern following through again.
I don’t want to internet psychoanalyze, but you remind me very strongly of a great-uncle who kept going off his medicines. I wonder if perhaps you should consider checking yourself in to a mental health ward? There is no shame in getting help if you need it. I myself cannot function without my own meds.
@Surplus
The comments are not out to get you. They are occasionally glitchy, and it seems you notice these glitches more often than other people. Since you can’t do anything about it, I recommend that you not stress about it.
As other commenters already pointed out in this thread and others, you may also want to consider trying to get some mental help. I don’t necessarily mean going to a psychiatric ward, although that could be an option, but there are also some slightly less intensive approaches such as seeing a therapist or getting on medication.
@Rhuu, is that Tommy Lee Jones in doggo form?
Hello beautiful lovely people, I know this is not an open thread and I am so sorry but I just need a place to vent. I am so mad because I got blamed for existing and having a body. I stood up for myself but I am still upset.
I’m sorry I shouldn’t write this.
Everyone here is so nice.
@ Stacey
Vent away! I don’t presume to speak for the group; but there does seem to be a convention that by the time posts get this far down the second page, it’s pretty much an open thread anyway.
@StaceySmartyPantsTwiceRemoved:
Being upset is ok, being angry would also be ok. Your feelings are real and important.
Let me put forth a counterpoint:
Maybe you should write this?
That’s a hell of a thing to put on a man.
@StaceySmartyPantsTwiceRemoved:
Well I for one am very upset that… oh wait a moment, nah, I’m fine with that. 😀
I often get shaken by the reality of having to do this in situations where I shouldn’t have to, which is basically all of them. Congratulations on standing up for yourself! Do you want to talk about it more? If so, I am happy to hear the details, if not, I will leave it at congratulations. It’s really no small thing to stand up for yourself. You don’t also have to feel like it’s old hat and no biggie, hardly worth getting upset, because it is a biggie. 🙂
@Alan
Also this thread wasn’t a super-serious specific topic like remembrances of people killed in a mass shooting or something either. I feel like there’s more leeway in these.
@Alan @Feline @Big Titty Demon
Thank you all so much for being so kind and so nice. I work as a receptionist and hostess in a very upscale hair salon and part of what I do is by my style and how I present myself help create the kind of general vibe that my boss wants to get our very affluent clients in there and lets them enjoy themselves. I love doing it and it’s like my art. I dress a little edgy because it really image but I really like doing it. My body is my art. I’m petite and thin but curvy kind of (I danced ballet younger and still take classes and do a lot of interval training now and run) and I use my body as a kind of a palette I guess you could say? I wear a leotard and sheer tights and heels a lot and then snazz it up a little with like a belt that matches my jewelry. I wear a skirt over it when I’m coming from home but I never wear a skirt when I’m “on” because my figure is my art. I decided it was my form of resistance. I remember reading on David’s blog here when that guy was mainsplaining a woman her own body and saying correct anatomical terms didn’t matter because he could just say what he wanted! I’m sorry I’m not being very articulate. I know better than this. I’m sorry you guys but I’m just typing because I feel a lot and that guy would was saying what a vulva and pussy was or wasn’t made me soo soooo mad! So my boss is really awesome and supports my feminism and is even very understanding when I get kind of uncertain because I do work in the beauty industry and I was in college and taking Women’s Studies (which I LOVED and wish I could have more classes in) I remember learning about the relationship between the beauty industry and patriarchy. But I really do just want to help people feel good about themselves and our stylists are amazing and make every single one of our clients look gorgeous. I’m sorry I know I’m rambling. My boss says she loves having me in there and that with not just my energy but with my style I really add to our awesome vibe. So she encourages me to dress really creatively and lets me really kind of show off a little when I hostess so I love it. And some of our regular clients who spend a lot of money with us come in regularly just to see me and see what my outfit is that day. A few months ago I was SO thrilled when my boss asked me if maybe I would want to come out from behind the desk sometimes. She gave me a little podium with the cutest little phone stand so that I’m the first thing you see when you come in. I kind of like getting to be the center of attention a little bit but really I just want to help our salon be successful and make our clients feel good. There’s a really cute little coffee shop a few storefronts down and I go there for lunch and a break sometimes. The manager there is really cool and likes my boss. The manager there looks out for me and keeps any creepy guys away so I am used to going in there without any skirt on and just tights or whatever. So they are also “what does Stacey have on today?!” sometimes and it makes me feel really appreciated as an artist. There is one guy who I always see in that coffee shop and who started out really nice and not creepy at all and I got to be acquaintances with. I would talk to him because he was nice and I like to be nice and sometimes we would chat, like when I went in there after work. So I guess we kind of got to be friends. He asked me out one time but I said no thanks but told him I enjoy talking to him. I knew he was disappointed but he was cool about it and asked if we could still chat and be friends and I was like sure! So I would keep seeing him and sometimes we would plan to meet maybe when I was done at the salon before I went home. When I’m going home I usually do wear a skirt over my outfit so he was used to seeing that (although it’s really none of his business what I wear, which is what this is going to end up being about). Well sometimes after work I want to stay and hang out a little bit. And I don’t always want to sit down. I sit down some at work when my feet are tired from being in heels but I also like standing a lot because my outfits look better when I’m standing up and yeah my posture is actually as much a part of my art as my outfit. When I talk to clients at my salon when I’m hostessing I usually stand in a bevel, and doing that is as much as a part of the work of art that I am as my body and my outfit are. Sometimes I stand in a bevel just when I’m hanging out enjoying myself because art is who you are, not just your job.
A few days ago the guy that I got to be friends with (or thought was my friend) got mad when I did that. We were having coffee after I had left my salon. I had worked really hard on my outfit that day and really pretty black nylon leotard with a kind of a tank style on the top part and high cut in the legs and I coordinated these really pretty silver armbands with a kind of twisty-looking design with a rhinestone accented wide belt that I thought really made nice lines on me, and that also coordinated with a wide silvery looking neckhand and earrings that were a long twisty-silver wire kind of design that went with the armbands. I had very sheer black gloss tights and my black platform sandals that had rhinestones accenting the buckles so I really liked that and I guess I kind of wanted to keep the creativity after I was done hostessing. I was really just thinking about *that*, the art of my outfit and my body when I was talking with this guy (we started both sitting at the table) and I got up and took my skirt off and stood in a bevel. He made this really snotty comment about why did I have to do that to him when I knew he liked me and I had already turned him down. I was like “*do* what?!” and he made this really gross comment about me supposedly purposely standing so that my pussy was right in his face because of how I was dressed and because I took my skirt off and he was still sitting and I stood up and posed that way, as he said. That’s when I just felt so angry inside because I was reminded of that guy I read about David’s blog here that was using pussy instead of vulva or mons or some other actual term with meaning to women and couldn’t even listen to a woman who is a medical doctor about anatomy. I mean, I’m still dressed. I’m not doing anything illegal or obscene. It’s edgy but it’s part of not just my job but who I am. He can choose not to look if he wants. I was so upset but I know how to keep my cool. I stayed exactly in my bevel and told him that I found his staring at my body and his comments very offensive and that he should leave. He did and I am glad I said that.
Oh my goddess I can’t believe I wrote all this but maybe I did have to get it out. I’m so sorry for going on so long.
@StaceySmartyPantsTwiceRemoved
Have you nothing better to do with your time? What is your goal here? Please just tell me what you hope to achieve.
@Big Titty Demon
I’m so sorry. I should not have written all that.
@StaceySmartyPantsTwiceRemoved
If you want to stand in a bevel in the middle of a Starbucks just because, you do that, and you rock the hell out of it. I get that the guy might have been confused that the impulse to pose just took you in the middle of a conversation, but making it entirely about himself and his comfort is just, no.
I would recommend paragraph breaks in your comments, though ?.
@Ariblester
Thank you for the kind words and yes I went on too long and should have typed more carefully. I know it was a nuisance to look at and I should have been more careful.
I really like reading this blog and all the smart commenters like you all and didn’t mean to disrupt.
@Ariblester
Your straight face is better than 007’s. You would beat me at poker.
@Big Titty Demon
I think you & I are on the same page, here.
Sorry, didn’t even read all the way to the end earlier. Now I feel silly about my previous comment.
@Stacy
That guy sounds like an entitled jerk, and he doesn’t deserve your presence. He probably thinks he’s a NiceGuy™ and that everything you do is to/for him.
My thoughts:
You didn’t do anything wrong. If he shows up again at your coffee shop, try to ignore him. It’s not fair that he should be able to deprive you of the coffee shop, so if you feel safe in doing so, you should continue going. Do your best to ignore him, and if he tries to approach you again, explain that what he said earlier was wrong and why. It’s up to you whether you want to give him a second chance, and you are perfectly justified in not giving him one.
Either way, you are in the right, and should keep being yourself.
@Big Titty Demon:
Stacy’s not a troll. I’m not sure (other than it being OT) what about that comment bothers you,
@Naglfar
Thank you so much for the supportive words. The manager at that coffee shop is really nice and knows my boss and our stylists and staff besides me are in there all the time so I feel pretty safe there even when I’m dressed like I am for hostessing at work. I do see it as my art so I know inside I am right.
I guess I was just wanting to vent before. I’m so sorry for going on so long like I didn’t have a purpose and for not using paragraph breaks because I like this blog and the regular commenters are so intelligent. I want everyone to have a nice experience and I certainly don’t want to take away from it.
@Yutolia the Laissez-Fairy Pronoun Boner
I wouldn’t make any cash bets on that. Did you actually make it to the bottom of that wall o’ text?
@Stacey
A couple things:
1) Your art and style sounds really cool. I’m glad you have a job where you can be creative and show off your work every day.
2)That guy was being a complete jerk, both for bringing up your body at all (can he not keep a damn thought to himself?) and for acting like you need to police your body to manage his attraction to you. I’m sorry you had to endure that from someone you consider a friend.
@Big Titty Demon
I dont understand what’s upsetting you. You seemed willing to listen to Stacey when she was throwing out compliments to the commentariat. What changed?
@Crys T, Big Titty Demon
Not sure why you immediately assume that Stacy is a troll just because she has a long story to tell. I did read her entire post and there is nothing troll-like about it that I can see. Stacy’s original posts and followup comments seem perfectly fine, and I’m not sure what the problem is.
@Crys T:
Stacy has been here for awhile, longer than me in fact, and has never been troll-y. And, yes, I read the wall of text. There was nothing wrong with it other than lacking paragraphs.
Also, I don’t make cash bets on anything. I lived in Nevada for 10 years. 😀
Are y’all playing the r/KarmaConspiracy game? It sounds like y’all’re playing the r/KarmaConspiracy game.
Sorry, everyone: I know that calling my posting here “sporadic” is grossly overstating the case, so you don’t know me well enough to trust my judgement, but Stacey’s post to me reads exactly like what a GG/MRA/etc imagines a young feminist to be.
It reminds me of those fake Twitter accounts those guys started up a couple of years back, saying things like “I’m a totally huge feminist… I can’t believe I’m not on Twitter till now!!!”
In fact, the post here is so exactly like all those fake accounts that people saw through instantly that it’s kind of freaking me out that so many here seem to be finding it legit.