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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I took an Introduction to Women’s Studies class my junior year in college. We read Brownmiller Against our Will, Mary Daly Gyn/Ecology and an (what I remember most) an Audre Lorde essay on the concept of the “erotic”. We already read Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Hayes.
I still have those books. They affected me.
I was body-shamed and slut-shamed when I was younger and like being free. I am now definitely sex-positive and that is channeled into my art.
Is this because I work in a hair salon? We read stuff about the beauty industry and patriarchy and institutionalized sexism. I admit sometimes I struggle with that and with classism because I make money from wealthy white women. But I really do come from a place of love and creativity I promise.
Some commenters were here and wrote kind words when I shared the first time I wore full latex to work and how happy I was I made an awesome impression. Some of those commenters (like AuntieMamieReduc who was SO sweet!) I don’t see now though.
I’m sorry about the paragraphs!
@Crys T
We think it’s legit because this is a commenter that has been here before. I’m sorry if you disagree with what she has to say, but I don’t think she’s a troll.
Yes, Stacy has been here before. I remember her telling us about her job at the salon and how much she loves being able to express herself there. It sounds really great, actually.
@Stacy – Good on you for standing up for yourself!
@stacy
I know the feeling. Idk if you’ve read any of my post before but I’m a goth, I like to dress up a lot and I’m the kind of goth that wears really revealing clothes. I get the thing about making your body into art. That was a huge thing for me when I recovered from my assault because I use to hate my body or for anyone to look at me sexually after that happened. It went so far that I got a binder to hide my breast when I was younger just because I hated it so much, not because I’m trans gender. Today it’s tight dresses with corsets and tube tops. I get a lot of looks myself and dudes who think I did this for them. Also dudes who think I do this to repeal them. I’m glad you stood up for yourself and I hope you can always express yourself the way you want to. You’ve got people here who know exactly what thats like and your not alone.
Also I too was star struck when I started replying here. Found this blog when I was trying to understand why I was abused and raped and while reading other people’s experiences. David blog and the commenters here helped me with my recovery quite a lot and I looked up to a lot of them for that.
So, it’s for real only two of us reading that story & hearing, “Hello, fellow kids”?
@Lainy and Stacy:
I feel the same way about my body. It’s my best canvas and I tend to be into fashion and makeup and I also happen to feel safer in tight clothing (something about the way it hugs my body is comforting, I know it’s weird, but I had a fucked up childhood). I also get hot easily so I end up showing a lot of skin too.
Not to mention, I’m also bisexual, and a lot of guys think that’s about their sexual pleasure rather than, you know, it just being about me and having nothing to fucking do with them.
So, yes, I’ve also had to deal with the “you’re dressing this way just to tease me” from Nice Guys(TM). It’s bullshit and I wish I had known about the concept of Nice Guys when it first started happening to me because it messed me up for a long time, and I subjected myself to a lot of garbage out of guilt.
I’m sorry you have to deal with that.
Yes. I don’t see anything in her post that seems disingenuous. She was rambling, but that happens when men treat you like a piece of meat. If she’s a troll, she’s a very consistent one whose goal appears to be…*checks notes*…being friendly and sometimes offloading her concerns on us.
@Stacy
It’s not only gross in the sense that it’s similar to Paul “the correct term is vagina” Bullen, but also that he didn’t apparently want to date *you*, but rather, your “pussy,” as he so elegantly put it. Fuck that guy.
Sometimes people ramble, especially when they are upset. *shrug* I recognised the stories from when she had posted here before, so I’m thinking ‘infrequent commenter’.
She’s not trying to get us to agree to anything that could be reframed in ‘gotcha’ on the ‘chans, just telling a story about an interaction with someone she thought was a friend.
@Stacy – thank you for using paragraphs in your replies! It makes it a lot easier to read.
Your experience with your body is veeerrrrry different than my experience with mine, and it’s interesting to read about. I’m currently working on “what if I liked my wardrobe?”, we’ll see if I ever get to “this is art”, haha.
@Yutolia
Yeah the nice guy tm will do that to you. especially when your young and you thought that person was your friend. I think the fuck zone is always going to be way more painful then the “friendzone” because you find out that a person you thought close of only wanted to be around you in hopes of fucking you. It hurts so much when you vaule gets reduced to that by someone you trusted.
@Rhuu
to my fiancé clothes are just something you wear because you have to or to keep you warm. I’m sure a lot of people hold this view as well. Not everyone has to look at it as art if you don’t want to.
I will freely admit that that was my initial read of Stacy’s comments way back when I first encountered them. However:
1) Her posting style and language have been consistent throughout.
2) She posts in bursts, separated by long periods of silence, and has been doing so for more than a year, possibly longer.
3) She has never done anything even vaguely trollesque in that time, and I can’t find any indication of an ulterior motive anywhere in her posts.
4) Human behavior covers a vast array of expressions, motivations, and needs, as well as depths of thought and levels of openness that cover pretty much every inch of whatever spectrum you care to place them on.
With those four points in mind, I long ago came to the conclusion that just because Stacey is pretty much the diametric opposite of me in terms of both interests and affect, that’s no reason to assume she’s being disingenuous (unless and until evidence to the contrary shows up).
Also, I find it philosophically antithetical to the concept of being an inclusive community to exclude, shun, or question someone’s motives based solely on the way they communicate rather than what they communicate.
@Stacey
It really sucks to realize that you’ve badly misjudged someone; I’ve found that reminding myself of the fact that you are the only person whose behavior you have any control over is useful. As long as you’re being genuine with the people around you, there’s not much else you can do about the occasional intrusion of assholes into your life.
Ok. So truly, honestly, and sincerely, no one else thinks a story of someone sitting having a chat in a coffee shop, then suddenly standing up, whipping off her skirt, and striking a pose* sounds like a manospherean parody of how young feminist women act?
*Unless I’m reading the story completely incorrectly, and that’s not at all what happened.
When I was much younger, I would get up and dance randomly. Sometimes people do these kinds of things.
@Crys T
Sure, but it also sounds exactly like what Stacey has said she’s doing from the beginning, and she has consistently framed it as an expression of her creativity (i.e. art).
Would it help if you were to think of Stacey as a performance artist?
I don’t think a manospherean would even know that specific terms for ballet poses exist, let alone take the trouble to look one up for a “gotcha” post. Given what Stacy has posted in the past, it fits with her personality.
@kupo
Okay, I’ve never claimed any expertise in ballet, but I completely missed the terms that Stacey used…for my own edification, would you or someone else be willing to identify them?
@ gaebolga
Bevel. Which I only know because I had to Google it. 🙂
@Alan
When I read that, I knew bevel as a carpentry term but not as a ballet term so I pictured her creating an angled surface not perpendicular to the other surfaces.
I think I said once here that sometimes I do purposely stand in kind of a sus-sous, depending on what image I’m trying to create with my body and outfit. I do that. It’s not literally a legit ballet sus-sous because I’m in heels usually and not quite on the ball of my foot completely like I would be in ballet shoes. If I’m in a high cut leotard, though, that creates nice lines visually sometimes so I do stand that way at work a lot when a client who I know likes me is just coming in and I want to create a special visual for her when I greet her. I remember I did say that before here so maybe that was the ballet term?
Thanks, Alan!
@Naglfar
Yeah, I went carpentry, too, and then assumed it was some sort of clothing….
@ stacey
I wish you were here; you could give me coaching!
It is interesting how much your shape can change; just by the way you stand and flex. I’m trying to do a “V-Shaped Vegan” thing for a project. The guys at the gym have been giving me Instagram posing lessons. It’s fascinating to see all the little tricks.
And also, I initially imagined bevel was some sort of platform or plinth; and I was thinking “Does Stacey carry one around with her!”
Yes, Naglfar you have the idea in essence!
Beveling does things with my lines sometimes that I really like also depending on outfit, mood, vibe.
Not a ballet step itself but important to know what it is for feet and positioning.
It’s a classic showgirl dance move though. They would always go into a bevel like if giving an interview on camera or something. You hear teachers and agents call it that classic champagne flute pose. Depending on mood, vibe and outfit I will go into a bevel.
At work if I need my hands for writing or getting stuff off my desk I won’t always bevel but like when talking to someone I might.
@Crys T, rest involved
Once burned, twice shy. (Actually a lot more than once. Way past seventy times seven.) Crys T has nailed my strong feeling of parody troll on the head, but there’s no need for me to go making myself a problem. I’ll just leave encouragement to those who are able to be genuine, as I would not be.
@Gaelbolga
I’ve known a couple of performance artists. When they do things in public that others might consider strange or outrageous, they’re looking for engagement. No one does art without wanting to move others to *some* kind of response.
Some guy making an assholish sexist comment would be an opportunity to confront that sexism & make him question his position. It also wouldn’t be unexpected, and it’s precisely that surprise on Stacey’s part that doesn’t ring true to me.
@kupo
People have all sorts of experiences in life that give us obscure snippets of information. Any one of us could probably pull something out of our memories that few if any others on this site know. That some manospherean might know the names of some poses wouldn’t surprise me at all.
@Crys T
Were you there?
I have faced a lot of sexism in what I do and it pisses me off. I DID confront that guy and have a plan to hold him accountable if he decides to try to resume contact with me.
This guy had taken no for an answer before so I thought he was cool. He never did anything creepy before. He seemed to respect what I do and my art.
I felt betrayed. Surprised that he would be a jerk not that men would in general.
And yes when I am wearing a skirt I do just whip it off sometimes and look damn good doing it too, thank you.
(And fold it neatly and set it on the chair and get right back into bevel gracefully too, thank you, because I like to look and feel awesome).
To everyone who has supported me with kind and sweet and wise words, thank you