The Dreaded "F" Word... Feminism. Part Four: Gamergate
Feminism
NOUN
The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.
When starting this post I had no intention of making it a multi-part piece. However, the more I researched the topic the more I came to realise that in order to do the subject justice I couldn't cram it all into one post.
GamerGate (GG) is a perfect example of women experiencing extreme harassment in an attempt to silence and drive them from a public sphere. In this case, it was the gaming industry. Supporters of GG claim that it was a backlash against corruption within gaming journalism. However, none of the victims of GG where, in fact, journalists and most were women.
It began when female game developer was accused of dating a journalist in order to get coverage for her games. However, he never wrote about her until after they had ended their relationship and he never wrote about her in a professional capacity. It wasn't until after their breakup when he wrote a scathing letter about her claiming she had cheated on him by sleeping around with various gaming journalists in order to promote her games that GG exploded. After she became very vocal about the harassment she was receiving others began to come forward with similar experiences, some say in an attempt to cash in on the attention.
There is a bizarre belief that women crave the attention that comes with coming forward when they have been harassed, assaulted, or even raped. This is a very dangerous societal belief that is extremely damaging for women. It discourages women to come forward out of fear and intimidation. It is also very telling of the general view of women when no one questioned the ex-boyfriend's claims of his girlfriend cheating and the motivations behind it. GG is and has always been misogynistic. The backlash was never directed towards the male journalists, but towards female game developer's, women who were either involved with the gaming industry or critics of it, and those who supported them.
Another focus of GG was the host of the YouTube channel Feminist Frequency, Anita Sarkeesian. Her videos cover a number of sexist issues and tropes that appear repeatedly within the game industry, like the "Damsel in Distress" trope, and the "Smurfette Principle." She was met with a barrage of online attacks that included rape and death threats. Someone even developed an online "game" where players could punch her in the face, giving her image black eyes and a split lip. She also became a victim of a popular online harassing technique called doxing, where a person's personal information like home address is posted online. Several female game developers and game critics were forced to leave their homes and move their families because they feared for their safety.
Critics of Sarkeesian's videos claim that the sexism she is describing either doesn't exist or that it has no impact on society at all. She begins each video regarding videogame tropes with, "It's possible and necessary to simultaneously enjoy a piece of media while also being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects." Her critics seem to ignore that statement and focus on her criticism of their beloved medium.
Just like movies, television, and music, videogames do not make a person violent or sexist. They do, however unintentionally and subtly, reinforce dangerous and sometimes damaging gender stereotypes. Media is used to communicate and shape our culture, attitudes, and even our opinions. However, media is a selective reality and its validity and impact should be questioned. Besides, if nothing else, by highlighting these overused and outdated tropes and stereotypes aren't we telling our storytellers that we will no longer accept such lazy writing and encouraging them to find fresh and original ideas?