Sexism, misogyny and online attacks: It’s a horrible time to consider yourself a ‘Gamer’

Feminist Frequency and Anita Sarkeesian’s latest video, Women as Background Decoration (part 2), is thought-provoking, eye-opening and most importantly very accurate.

[tastas21]

For once I actually agree with this guy. What a horrible situation.

[Ozmoses]

"Sexism, misogyny and online attacks: It’s a horrible time to consider yourself a ‘gamer’"

considering this has been happening long before video games and the internet...

it's nothing new... it's not going to go away...

it's the world we live in.. it's the nature of the beast - 666

[strangeaeon]

So the fact that it's "nothing new" somehow marginalizes it?

[Highlife]

What the hell is a gamer? I play games in my spare time which isn't often and check news sites from time to time does that make me a gamer? I don't tell people when they ask what do you do well I'm a gamer.

[NewMonday]

but it seems to be a great time to be a "feminist", using anything and everything in the cause of publicity and legitimizing hypocrites.

meanwhile these "feminist" made Shades of Grey the best selling book ever, what exactly happens in those books to make them such a big seller for women anyway?

[Ozmoses]

what I'm saying is the term gamer (whatever the hell that means anyway) is not relevant towards these problems of the world...

we are HUMANS... gamers are humans....

so for example let's say we replace gamer with the word "worker" or any other word that describes a group of HUMANS.

if anything the best thing someone in the video game world could do is create a video game that focuses around the topic of "Woman Suffrage" so the issue can reach the gamers.

it's the same damn thing.. how is it any different than the news? or the movies? or the tv shows? or the reality tv shows? or the rap songs? or the country songs? the shows about 16 year olds with kids? the victoria secrets? the playboys and penthouses? the right to vote? the right to equal pay? the desire to fight in combat along with men? or the beauty pageants for little girls?

it's all the same.........

like I said it has been around for ages... if you look at history.. all it is... is the same issues being cycled around every couple of decades or so...

just like the current situation in ferguson..

So yes.... regardless of the video game industry and/or culture... this problem is always going to remain...

so quit talking about the blatant obvious and get back to gaming.

[pat_11_5]

So that makes it okay?

[Halo2ODST2]

He's linking you're outrage to his Twitter to get attention.
https://twitter.com/Patrick...

[N1GHT_W0LF_X]

I've been frequenting N4G for years now, never commenting or even needing to make an account until now because I enjoyed reading articles about my hobby, that being video games, and I've always considered myself a gamer. But lately I've been seeing more and more of these articles that are just putting me off from enjoying my hobby because people have perverted the essence of it for their own benefit. I'll admit, I didn't know much about Anita or Zoe Quinn until last week but I was intrigued by the story that arose about her. I wasn't interested in her personal life or even her feminist views. What interested me was the issue that connected her to Kotaku and then the systematic censorship of the developing story. For those reasons alone, I delve in deeper into the rabbit hole and was surprised at the strong feminist movement that was behind both her and Anita in the form of these "SJWs".

Now, I'm not trying to negate the clear fact that there are some individuals out there that are clearly screwed in the head and make these anti-female comments about raping female gamers and threatening their lives, because I've lived on this planet long enough to know that these people do exist somewhere out there. My problem comes in that somehow ALL gamers have now been grouped in with these twisted savage (I wouldn't consider them people) and somehow I am should be ashamed to be a male gamer. These women, in their pursuit to express their opinions (which they have total right to do), have amassed an army of sorts that seem to now attack and threaten those that do not express the same views as them.

This wouldn't be such a bad thing if their view was noble but from what I've seen, it's so misconstrued to the point that they are creating issues where there are none. Do women in video games sometimes portrayed as sexual objects? Yes, but you can also be so objective as to say that the male protagonists in those same games are portrayed as nothing but homicidal sociopaths. And that's just the thing, you choose to see what you want to see. You can create whatever issue you want if you look at things in a certain light. Mario's not a plumber, he's an obese, stereotypical Italian druggie/murderer that abuses his pets and has a weird furry fetish. Someone call PETA so they can get on this huge issue that's been suppressed by the entire pet hating gamer culture! Make them voice out their opinions so we can save these cute virtual DINOSAURS from further abuse.

Now just think about how absurd that scenario is but that's essentially what's going on with this whole Anita situation. The difference is I don't have an army of loyal zombies behind me that do everything I say and benefit financially from them remaining on my side. All this has done is perverse gaming by saying that the fantasy world in them should ALWAYS reflect real-life... yet not real-life at all, according to Anita. No. All games should follow Anita's twisted reality in which women are completely equal to males except there should be no negative aspects to the women in those games. No more damsels in distress, instead they should be able to hold their own... but shouldn't come off as homicidal sociopaths like their male because that would suggest that women are emotionally unstable which they totally aren't in the real world. All women in the real world are exactly the same carbon copy of perfection and GIRL POWER!! There certainly are no lying females in the real world, or weak females, or hyper sexual females who know nothing but being used as sexual objects.

[N1GHT_W0LF_X]

I jest, of course, because those types of females do exist as do males that exhibit the same traits. Not all males are muscular, testosterone-filled, dude-bros as portrayed in the majority of video games... but don't tell Anita that. But this is where the major difference between true gamers and these SJWs is seen... gamers don't care that this is how males are portrayed. Video games are FANTASY!! The rules of the real world don't apply. Even games like GTA which are based in the real world are so far fetched that gender, race, and sex are just a caricatures of their real world counterparts and are therefore obviously not to be taken literal. If games like GTA were to really be based on the real world, there would be thousands of child murderers running around right now. But there aren't even children in those games so maybe children should be outraged that they aren't being properly represented in video games.

In closing, people choose to create these issues and then group the few bad apples with the overwhelming majority of the good ones. And I am frankly fed up of these "feminists" shitting all over my hobby for their own gain. I'm taking a stand here that if any website continues supporting these over-exaggerations of issues and keep covering these stories that make their readers feel ashamed of themselves, then I'm just going to stop visiting them (and that includes N4G if they don't start moderating these stories). And I suggest all the gamers that feel like me do the same. If you want to be real journalists, start by digging into the real issues that arose from these scandals... namely how the majority of websites seemed to blackout the Zoe Quinn story for strange reasons and how that brings to question the state of video game journalism due to the serious issue of no longer seeming impartial.

[pat_11_5]

Interesting. I think this might be the first positive thing you've ever said to me. I don't enjoy writing about this kind of thing but it's finally become an almost unavoidable issue.

[Gh05t]

Seriously there is nothing about this that even pretends to understand an opposing viewpoint. You have swallowed Anitas feminist ideology of a problem where only one exists if you make it one. You have decided to view the problem through the glasses of an extreme fringe and failed to look at the picture from an objective viewpoint that doesn't have anything to prove.

This article just pays lip service to the feminists without talking about the issues objectively.

The contradiction in all this is that if we treat women in video games like we treat men we are doing it wrong (We would be able to murder them all over the place in almost any game). But if we treat women differently (Usually far more sympathetic) we are doing it wrong. Somethings got to give, you cant have it both ways.

If I made a game where I have a female leader of a male bordello and I have to put an end to her life because she is enslaving men do you not think Anita would have a problem with that as well?

And to the whole Gamer issue. A gamer is someone who likes to play games and nothing else. As you said that means it incorporates all ways of life and all diversities... Also meaning I have to share the title with self proclaimed feminists like Anita, and the white knights who defend her horrible ideology like yourself.

[Askanison4]

Nah, bollocks to that.

There's only so far you can claim that "it doesn't apply to everyone".

Unfortunately, we "Gamers" as a community seem to have a massive amount of vocal and abusive members. It's not white knighting, it's speaking up and taking note that hurling abuse at a personality based on their gender, skin color, any nonsense like that, is wrong.

Check out the FeministFrequency twitter and see some of the @ replies she's got to put up with. People are dirtbags, and it's not to be tolerated. I wouldn't want to listen to those people spout such hatred (and you can argue all you want, but it is all misogyny - they are not equal opportunity haters) at me or anyone I know, and I refuse to stand by and allow it just because I'm only an observer.

[Gh05t]

@arkanison4

"massive amount of vocal and abusive members."

you do realize how statistically delusional that statement it right.

How many people gave her flak (To her face not just talking crap on a forum that she wont see but went out of there way to send something to her)? 1000, 5000, 10,000 hell I will even give you 100,000 people made horrible disgraceful comments TO her.

100,000 out of all the gamers world wide... but lets just look at America, The ESA report that most SJW go to for there women play games stats say that 58% (2013) of Americans play video games. there was more than 315,000,000 people in 2013 in the US.

That is 0.063% of the GAMERS that maybe gave her dirtbag misogynistic remarks... and you want to trash the whole demographic.

now lets say 2,000,000 people talk crap about her for unrealistic reason that's still only 1.27% of the US gamers now lets add the rest of the world and you will see that you have no freaking concept of how much of a "MASSIVE" minority it truly is.

[Dee_91]

I'm so tired of these people throwing the word harassed, harassment, and "attacked" around just to get some attention.You make the 1 person that you have shown actually threaten your life seem like an entire continent of people hurling those types of remarks.You can't clump the people with the generic " your game sucks" in with the " die go to hell " group and call it all harassment.

On topic

"They frequently cite how Quinn was in a relationship with a journalist at gaming news site Kotaku when an article mentioning her was published. Unsurprisingly their allegations and numerous angry, inflammatory YouTube videos, have been proven false"

When and where have this been proven false? You can't just make that statement and not back it up.

I completely agree that games need more female protagonist.Most of my favorite games last gen had leading female protags, in Heavenly Sword,Last of US, Beyond, and Heavy Rain, Tomb Raider.But you are making this an entirely bigger issue then it really is, because like the games I've just mentioned, there are actually video games with female protags.You wanting games to have 50% male protags and 50% female protags is unrealistic and completely ignorant to hold that against the gaming industry.I want more female protags because I like to play as females, not for some equality BS.

"Unfortunately the video has been met with a wash of controversy and self-professed “real gamers,” afraid their beloved franchises will be influenced by the feminist masses.... "

The woman in the video isn't even a gamer.She stated that.We do not want all this mythical equality BS in video games.Because we are realistic.We know there is no such thing as equality.Everyone gets treated like s#it..We also don't want it for the sole purpose of people like you, that rides this moral high horse around saying everyone who doesn't agree with you is bad and horrible beings ( sadly thats not even an exaggeration).I can tolerate it in society but when you start to bring that BS into my hobby I draw the line.I don't support death threats or general ignorant remarks to feminist and sjw and who ever else.So please stop portraying me like that.. I feel kind of harassed and attacked... I can't breathe.. I think I'm having a panic attack.. someone triggered me!!

Here's a disclaimer people.Most of the crap in that article is over exaggerated to fuel and bring attention to their poorly thought out and biased cause.
If you believe a person on twitter jokingly telling you to kill yourself equals " teh gamers as a whole wishes death upon innocent devs" then this article and articles like it is just right for you.

[kingdip90]

I agree with the video and article in that the way women are treated in games is pretty ridiculous.

I will however argue the point that your point of view and that in the video are feminist in nature. Feminism seeks to make males and females equal in every way, this includes the consideration of both how males and females are effected and portrayed in certain media. Just because there is a fem in feminism it does not mean it is female centric in concept.

Video games are made to appeal to a persona sense of fantasy, to give the player a way to express themselves and enjoy a world that pleases their tastes and is much simpler than the real.

Taking that into account we can assume that females being portrayed as nothing but a sexual thrill or something to be rescued as to appeal the the audiences white knight complexes. This is indeed offensive to the female gender and it is done to play into the fantasies of the audience.

The outcome here is offended females (people) in an effort to cater to the audience.

males in video games are portrayed as murderous simple minded brutes whose only goals are to kill, get rich and rescue a women he barely knows usually because his only real desire is to get laid. This is offensive to men as it poorly portrays the gender and it is done to cater to the audience's sense of fantasy.

The outcome here is offended males (people) in an effort to cater to the audience.

The point of my post is this, a true feminist would try and see how characters who only perpetuate stale tropes and offer no depth or humanity beyond what stroked gamers sense of adventure is offensive to everyone portrayed. I agree women get misrepresented all the time but so do men. Seriously if a gang cartel kidnapped my fiance there would be no shooting everyone and rescuing her and thanks to media I would have to sit at home feeling terrible for not being a "man" and that expectation being pushed on men is shitty.

Focusing purely on the female aspect isn't feminism in fact it's very exclusive to the other half of the populous. It doesn't seek equality it just perpetuates the idea that men are interested in little else but to objectify women and that is also very offensive and in my mind quite sexist in of itself.

[Dee_91]

By definition, women and men get treated equally by being portrayed " wrong " in media.The reality is these women that want these superficial types of equality, don't want it equality.They want to be portrayed better... or treated special.
I have no issue with women wanting to be portrayed a different way.They are completely free to feel that way.But going about it in this cynical and generalizing manner to make it seem like just such an horrible injustice thing is the issue a lot of people have with this, that and the everyday loony group of feminist that comes along with it like the author of this article, that over exaggerate everything.The last thing we need in the gaming community is a bunch sensitive people complaining about superficial stuff that has nothing to do with the actual game who crying "harassment" when ever somebody says something they don't like.

[Back-to-Back]

Get off N4G and never comeback SJW.

[Neckbear]

"In her latest video Sarkeesian examines how non-playable female characters in video games are often only used as objects of sex and violence."

And non-playable male characters aren't?

[BrianSharon]

Oh yes, I can recount the many times that I've seen male characters raped, or casually strolled through "stud ranches".

[Neckbear]

Sex and violence, not sexual violence. And regardless, there are quite a few cases where male NPCs were raped or rape towards them was at the very least mentioned. Include every prison scene ever in an M-rated video game. Or every fantasy instance of a succubi/witch/whatever kidnapping males to rape and then kill them.

But hey, those don't exist, right? Goddamn sexist videogames and their misogynistic developers!

[generic-user-name]

That's right, ignore the fact the 99% of NPCs you slaughter in games are male.

[TekoIie]

"Oh yes, I can recount the many times that I've seen male characters raped, or casually strolled through "stud ranches".

Have fun: http://youtu.be/3HxbzJbmanU...

Might not be exactly what you asked for but its close enough ;)

[pat_11_5]

You should make a video featuring every one of those titles Brian :)

[ZoidsRaven]

"And non-playable male characters aren't?"

Didn't you know? People like Anita Sarkeesian have Five Million excuses to explain how and why it's "different".
If no one wants to see the Five Million excuses, a picture below pretty much summarizes the excuses (Generalization. See what I did there?)
http://i.qkme.me/3pzz9o.jpg

[mochachino]

Well as a person that plays games who doesn't do any of that nor makes racist/homosexual hateful remarks I have no problem being a gamer.

Only a prejudiced person would assume they know any meaningful characteristics of an individual based on his/her group association.

[Askanison4]

"Welp, I'm not a total dirtbag so this discussion is pants. Peace out!"

Not productive.

[LAWSON72]

Calling gamers a bunch of sexist and racist is much more productive and how we should be ashamed to call ourselves gamers, is much more productive? Let alone making an argument over something so stupid?

If someone wants to think I am racist or sexist because I call myself a gamer more power to them. In my opinion they are an idiot.

[Reefskye]

Sorry but this shit pisses me off. lets moan about media depicting bad things towards women. Yet where are these people for the REAL women who this happens too? Lets make all media clean and fair for all and live in our little bubble world where because games show a nice free equal world, we can forget that this stuff happens every single day to REAL women, last time I checked GTA and watchdogs you have a choice to do something about it.

All I see is a woman complaining about fictional story lines that don't actually harm anyone. These thing happens every day its called real life. Why don't you do something about it rather than moaning about of bunch of pixals and No this shit doesn't make men think of assaulting woman males have being doing this shit for 1000's of years.

Some men are like this by default as proven by her twitter account.

[Askanison4]

I think the point is less that the storylines are encouraging the behaviour and more that they are both part of a systemic issue with sex (not just in games).

I think that by it's nature; having communities on the net and these meaning anonymity (usually) - the people who would normally realise that it's not OK to be a total derp don't find the need to stop themselves.

"Some men are like this by default" is not an OK thing. "Some people are racist", "Some people are homophobic"... just because "it happens" doesn't mean we shouldn't get rid.

[Rhaigun]

No one is saying that. Are you on a one person mission to make everyone here see that we are all misogynistic pigs? Because I doubt many of us here are. You're preaching to the choir here. There is no one here calling for the eradication of unfair treatment of women here.

You are in the wrong place. Go to 4chan and talk to them. Us regular gamers, who just want to enjoy our games, are sick of hearing about it.

[Godmars290]

I can't feel sorry for this woman. Not when she started this mess by exploiting threats towards herself with Kickstarter.

I mean, there no connection with these new threats and posting a new video?

[DanielGearSolid]

I really don't care about this topic, this girl, or this article...

I just wanted to say I was playing Dark Souls 2 last night. And it felt like a terrific time to consider myself a gamer

[LAWSON72]

The Souls series remind me why I love video games, they are truly great.

[Veneno]

Why are all these people with these huge egos imposing themselves onto the gaming community at large? No, these egomaniacs do not represent the state of the gaming community they are just blowhards looking for the spotlight and unfortunately its working.

[DanielGearSolid]

Sad thing is ppl dont realize its more about their egos and less about whatever cause they pretend to fight for

[leemo19]

I can't stand what gaming has become now, its like no one actually enjoys gaming anymore. Instead of playing its nip-pick at every little stupid thing and bash it because it doesn't appeal to what you like. If the dev doesn't have a female protagonist in it or has women looking sexual, so what its their game they can do what they want with it. If someone doesn't like what they see in a game, than why don't they make their own game with their own views and shut up.

[tbats]

Comments on an article about feminism usually justify feminism. I'm a girl gamer and being well represented in games is important to me. If all men were regarded as objects only useful for sex and sandwiches all of a sudden then I'm sure there would be an uproar.

[IcicleTrepan]

in games, men are regarded as canon fodder, of no value at all. What do you have to say to that?

[Dee_91]

I would rather be viewed as "sex and sandwiches " than murdering sociopath men are portrayed as in most video games to be honest.Fortunately for me I could give 2 s#its about how men are portrayed in media let alone video games.Because people with an actual sense of self know that, what they see on the screen isn't reality.
Maybe you should focus that energy on telling people that people aren't what they are portrayed as by various forms of media..
That seems much more logical than telling developers and producers and writers to make some type of super human character that can portray every type of man woman and child the "right" way..

[EdoubleD]

No one needs to be 'represented', whatever the hell that means.

The creator makes the game he/she/they want.
Your comment is fit for the likes of Tumblr, go back to your ilk.

[DanielGearSolid]

If guys make a game with girls in it, they re "misrepresenting" women...

If guys don't make a game with women, they're excluding women.

Make up ur mind... Jeez....

[jts1891]

...Really now? I can think on one hand the number of games that present women as 'objects only useful for sex', and most of those games are parodies of modern American culture meant to point out how ridiculous those stereotypes are.

Like GTA. It's a frequent target of femnazis, especially the most recent game, but people ignore the fact that it's obviously satire.

[ZoidsRaven]

"I'm a girl gamer and being well represented in games is important to me."

Yeah? Well I'm black, but I'm adult enough to understand that representation doesn't need to be in everything.
Answer this: How many forms of media did you honestly enjoy that didn't represent you as a girl?

A lot? Well, what's the problem? If you still enjoyed the media, it sounds like representation is not a key factor when it comes to the quality of the media.

Not a lot? For what reason?
1) You can't find enough quality forms of media that coincidentally don't represent you as a girl? To that, one would say: Look harder.
2) You don't enjoy the media BECAUSE it doesn't represent you as a girl? Interesting. To that, one would ask: Why? What does being represented add to the media that is so important?
Quality? Impossible.
Self-importance? No one's that materialistic.
Self-esteem/self-confidence? That's not what entertainment is for.
-
Seriously, fill in the blanks.

"If all men were regarded as objects only useful for sex and sandwiches all of a sudden then I'm sure there would be an uproar."

A pathetic comparison at best.

1) What evidence is there to prove that games, gamers and gaming regards females as "objects only useful for sex and sandwiches"? Trolls don't count because with such a generalization, I can just link tumblr and say "all feminists are man haters" and be correct (with that logic).

2) Somehow, I doubt that. Men can be the only ones killed in a all female protagonist form of entertainment and not one person will say a word. Males are the disposable gender in a lot of media, but it's only when something bad happens to the female when there's a problem.
[NOTE] I'm not a MRA and I don't despise forms of media that have disposable males (for example, I like the anime 'Blade & Soul').
---

Overall, the comments here don't "justify feminism". If anything, they prove that gaming needs to be more critical of labelling/generalizing feminists like Anita. 7_7

[Darrius Cole]

The bottom line is women will get jealous of a video game and men won't.

I heard a girl complain about the way Bayonetta portrayed women. Bayonetta kicks ass all up and down the screen. Bayonetta looks like a runway model. But, what did she say...

"No woman walks like that"

No, normal women don't walk like that; normal women don't look like that either. That's the whole point it's fantasy. It's supposed to portray stuff that we can't get in real life. You shouldn't compare yourself to video game characters.

[ShaunCameron]

Are you that out of touch with reality? Society thinks of men as little more than useful idiots. And men do nothing about it.

[Spotie]

Your comment is exactly what's wrong with the "feminist" movement in gaming.

Gross generalizations that take a very small number of examples and extrapolates them to be the majority: there are a handful of games- out of the thousands made each generation- that even remotely approach "sex and sandwiches" as the only uses for women.

Intentional misinterpretation to the point of utter stupidity: despite the fact that the recent GTA hack affects both make and female characters, "feminists" would have you believe only female players are affected.

Inflated sense of entitlement: I'm a black gamer and I care more about the game being good than the main character sharing my skin color. But see: I'm a gamer first, in this respect. I didn't get into gaming to see black people. I got into gaming to play games. It would be nice if there were more black protagonists, but it's not gonna kill me if there aren't.

And, unlike you, apparently, I don't equate the lack of black main characters to racism meant to marginalize people like me.

But then, I'm not being sensationalist.

[rainslacker]

OK.

Tell me this then.

What is well representative of women? Do you want representation of someone that is a representation of you or do you want representation based on women as a whole?

If of you...then who are you? Why should anyone care to play a game that represents you or your personality? Is that more important than your character traits?

If all women...then please, tell me how all women could be represented in video games without people like Sarkeesian flying off the handle saying how they're being misrepresented, abused, or having misogynistic ideals placed on them.

What it comes down to is there is no one ideal representation of any gender, race, age, ideal, psychological state, etc. The people in this world are diverse, and for almost everything that is represented in video games, you can find an equal representation in real life. For every stereotype, trope, and offensive idea you find in video games, you can find an equally stereotypical and offensive thing or person in real life.

Not all women in video games are regarded as sexual objects. More and more, women in video games are becoming more and more generic than they used to be in the name of inclusion, because developers can't just plop in an old style tomb Raider Lara Croft without being called sexist or misogynistic. Is that a good thing? Should game characters and art just become bland so some people won't be offended, or feel that they aren't properly represented at all because one game decides to go a little further with it?

So, I guess this whole feminist crusade is achieving one thing. It's hastening the blandness of video games to not include compelling characters with any sense of actual style, and a homogeneity of ideas which cater to the widest possible demographic without being offensive to anyone.

[incendy35]

If the internet has taught me anything, it is that humans are generally not good.

[knickstr]

Maybe people are just tired of trying to have this "social progressive" movement being forced down their throats. All these articles about how link should be a female and now captain America is black. I don't think people mind having a female, black, or gay protagonist. they just down want it forced down their throats.

[IcicleTrepan]

I am sick of assholes like Anita trying to tell me that the things I enjoy are wrong and that I am somehow a bad person. She sounds like next generation PMRC and she makes me want to puke.

[imXify]

True. Devs trys to be accurate based on history, not to be politicaly correct. If that was the case, GTA, RDR and many others wouldn't make any freaking sense.

[EdoubleD]

Boy who cried wolf. I don't sympathize with her, though the comments are disgusting.
I still feel as though she thrives on being the ''victim''.

Everything is about how these SJW lackeys are being cyber-bullied, threatened etc.

F@#k them all, can we please just get back to the games and ignore them forever.
''It's a horrible time to consider yourself a gamer''?
Get out, it's like when some of these idiots actually likened the gaming community to ISIS.
They can throw insults and expect us to hold a certain standard, whilst the sit there with their vitriolic comments about how we're misogynists.

No, I won't have it. Whatever she got, she probably deserved it. After all, she is a criminal scam artist.

[TRGMatt]

Sexism and misogyny exist everywhere, not just in games. It's people making it a big deal that MAKE it a bigger deal than it needs to be.

I apologize to those who are adversely affected by these things but your plight isn't being made better by this "increased awareness." It's just being more publicized.

[techie015]

Nothing is sacred in the world anymore and never will be. Everything is food for thought and these thems are just going to become more realistic with the current 'next gen' tech and introduction of VR.

I know I don't support these themes or acts in society and would rightly fight against it but if it's in the game you just have to get over it and move on cause guess what? It's never going to change because a video game to a lot of people is an escape from their dreary reality into a fantasy and they love it.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

Can we stop approving these articles. Her feminist agenda is not gaming news or gaming discussion.

what amazes me the most are people who complain about rape and whores in games like Red dead redemption and the Witcher.
There is a thing called historical accuracy and to ignore it is pure ignorance. Games like the witcher aim to capture a time period therefore they still try to be historically accurate even though it's fiction.

[ZombieGamerMan]

Good god does feminist agenda sound like a bad word, hearing it just makes me think that people should be thinking this sound like a group of sexist trying to oppress men for having a penis.

[Dee_91]

Sadly, with the help of tumblr and other social media, thats what the image of feminist have turned into.It used to be about actual equal rights and empowering women, not this everything should be 50/50, 'women only get treated badly by society' these modern day feminist preach.

[ShaunCameron]

@ Dee_91

Feminism never was about equal rights. Equal rights was just PR to sell the idea to the masses hiding its real goals which are to secure exclusive benefits, rights and privileges for themselves at men's expense not to mention promote communism. Contrary to feminist rhetoric, women had it good under patriarchy. After all they were exempt from a lot of things men were subjected to.

[jts1891]

Oh god. This article is total crap. So a handful of people issue death threats, and suddenly this guy is 'ashamed' to be a gamer? Let's not even touch on the issue of alleged 'sexism' in games.

[gamejediben]

It is NOT a horrible time to be a gamer. It is a DAMN FINE time to be a gamer.

I am PROUD as hell to call myself a gamer and some stupid feminazi that loves playing the "eternal victim" absolutely cannot make me feel bad about that.

Gaming now and Gaming forever. Feminazi's suck.

[Menkyo]

How do you know your hobby has gone mainstream? Some douche bag uses it to future their political and youtube career. This is we people become hermits.

[ZombieGamerMan]

How about these feminazis leave gaming alone, like seriously you got to b1+ch about background characters, seriously background characters? God damn the people who created this monster.

Well this is what I got to say to Anita and the jack off that wrote this piece of shit, I am gamer hear me play, I am gamer hear me play, I AM GAMER HEAR ME PLAY!

EDIT
@jts1891. I am gamer hear me play.

[jts1891]

But...but...women shouldn't just be background characters! There should be more female protagonists as playable characters! Waaaah!

[WheatBread]

Oh shit. The feminazi with the sharpie brows is at it again. Run and cover your penis.

[Vanfernal]

Funny... I turn on my console of choice, play for a while, turn it off... And in no way any of this crap has anything to do with my gaming. And none of that stuff either represents or affects me one way or the other. I hate it when people go out of their way to make themselves the victim and try to make people fill guilty for doing what they love.

[LightDiego]

This idiot again? Go promote yourself elsewhere, she is not even a gamer, just an attention whore, sorry for my French.

[TongkatAli]

She got rich for saying "this is unfair and that is unfair", come on, who deserves money for complaining ?

She is a genius in her own way, her first video was about Nintendo games, she got death threats and got called a lesbian, then she gathered all that data made a Ted talk presentation, then got sympathy from people and it made her rich.

Clap, clap, clap, what a mastermind, props.

[jts1891]

Oh yes. Women are so woefully underrepresented. I mean, it's not like you can play as a female in mainstream games like Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, Destiny, or Halo. And surely there aren't great female characters in plenty of other games on the market. Oh, those poor women who only make up 30% of console gamers.

[HonestDragon]

Anita is a fraud and that has been proven through a video taken in her days in college. She has amassed her legion of yes-men in an attempt to capitalize on the subject of women in and with video games. Her Kickstarter was only successful because she managed to upset the immature and ignorant of the gaming community with sympathizers funding her campaign. Those gamers who targeted her do not represent everyone in the gaming community and to think that is asinine. I refuse to accept a shared identity that is perpetuated by fanboys and trolls. I am my own person.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

"Unfortunately the video has been met with a wash of controversy and self-professed “real gamers,” afraid their beloved franchises will be influenced by the feminist masses (which is most certainly a good thing), have turned to various online communities, lashing out in hate-filled tantrums. Sometimes their disgust has bubbled up in very frightening ways and has gone so far as to dox – the act of releasing personal information on the internet – Sarkeesian’s home address and threaten her with horrifying physical violence."

That is the vocal minority. The age of digital identity allows people to voice that which they truly believe, but are too cowardly to say out loud. While the things these people are saying is disturbing and uncalled for, they are still just a small fraction out of a greater population.

"Just for creating an intelligent video series that examines popular video game franchises from a feminist perspective, something that frequently occurs within other popular culture mediums, Sarkeesian has been driven out of her own home because of these death threats."

This is a joke, right? It's a video series without a doubt, but it's a video series that lacks any true middle ground or research. Anita selectively picks scenes and themes from video games to support her video subjects, but she fails to mention of the chosen games' other aspects including characters, plots, and genres. Her whole perspective is flawed by choosing to ignore her examples' entire being.

"For a group who frequently wants the medium of video games to be taken seriously, it seems strange that many people who identify as gamers are so unaccepting of criticism, especially of the feminist variety."

This is generalizing an entire community for the voices of a few. Not all gamers are so blind so to avoid and curb criticism of video games. Gamers do that already every day about various subjects. The author is painting all gamers under the same light.

Choosing to not criticize dissenting voices like Anita's that lack the type of knowledge and view needed to look at the things they are talking about without the full experience needed is destructive. Making proclamations of how one game or another is abusing their female characters and not showing the game as a whole crushes any attempt to make an argument. It is poking holes in a piece of art and then critiquing it on what's left. That is not how to make a constructive commentary. All that is left are remnants of the art that a person can use to politicize it and subjugate others to their opinions. Their agenda can then go unquestioned, but the holes will still be there.

Sexism and misogyny are seen in the gaming community. That is common knowledge. Gamers are not ignorant to it and if anything we condemn gamers who misbehave and troll. Even then, some immature gamers say sexist and misogynistic things to get a rise out of people. That is how some people are.

[Scrivlar]

Why is it males have to be thick skinned when being called a faggot for 2 hours straight but when a female is called a lesbian she has to be protected from it? It says a lot more about women that they have no strength of character when they take everything so personally. If anyone gets a chance have a read of this article by sunnygamer

http://girlagainstfeminism....

[DCfan]

Wow. What do people usually think when playing games? Oh wait, this person in the video doesn't even game.

[nolifeking]

it truly is a terrible time to be a gamer. in my over two decades of gaming, I've never recalled my hobby becoming so politicized and segregated by the very people who supposedly enjoy them. all these articles do is make the hobby a boys vs. girl schoolyard fight.

[pastysmash]

Yet another white knight moron. I suggest you all watch what Thunderf00t had to say about this.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[psnCAShville_615]

Do people really take things online said seriously? or even @ that its a GAME, most girls online, look for the attention, i treat everyone the same, especially on online game, if you dont do your part GTFO....

[BBBQ_BYOBB]

The body count of men killed in video games is 100 times greater than women. And women are often portrayed as beautiful in all forms of media, not just videogames. The fact that she gets so deeply upset about violence against women in games and ignores men (which is way more common), shows no genuine stance against inequality. In fact, it's the opposite.

[CaptainPunch]

Feminism is about equality, funny how I never see that in these articles. It's people pulling the sexism card, which is ridiculous. You're a terrible person regardless of what gender you are, time you some people get called for it.

[FRAKISTAN]

Any writer or website that considers Anita Sarkeesian videos "thought-provoking, eye-opening and most importantly very accurate" makes my blacklist

[joel_c17]

This is why nobody takes femisists seriously.

[ShaunCameron]

Nobody except white knights and nice guys.

[rainslacker]

I consider myself a really nice guy, and if someone like Sarkeesian said these thing to me in person, I would tear into her reasoning without hesitation. I would be polite, but I would poke holes in her reasons until she tripped over them. Of course, she knows her logic is flawed, so she would avoid the issue in person, that's just how people like this are.

[ExiledBlitz]

I'm so sick of these articles. It's a non-issue.

And isn't it common knowledge by now that Anita is a bald-faced liar and a thief? She collected $10,000 for 'research materials' and ended up using other YouTubers' game footage (meaning she never bought any games), referenced only publicly available studies, used the same camera she did prior to the series, and yet only releases an average of three videos per year. Where did that money go? Straight into her damn pocket.

[Roccetarius]

Seriously..people are incredibly thin skinned online today.

[Surt]

I don't condone the threats against her. But neither do I agree with anything she has to say about gaming. More game options? great. Censoring games at the expense of those who love those games. WRONG.

Don't say certain things in already made games need to be cut out. How about you don't play GTA or those kinds of games then?

[sjaakiejj]

"Men are usually characterized as active aggressors, and women as passive victims"

Probably has something to do with the fact that men are more aggressive by nature and more likely to fight the threat, whereas women are less intent on violence and tend to attempt to get away from the threat, particularly because of their lower physical strength.

Whilst that's not always the case, if we're generalizing and need to create a set of throwaway NPCs, that's the most logical outcome. For that matter, I've also seen plenty of men being a victim of crime rather than active aggressors in games like GTA, but that's conveniently ignored by Anita.

Tropes are a serious problem in games. I just wish we had someone who we could take seriously talking about them.

[pat_11_5]

You people never cease to amaze me. I'm even more embarrassed to have every associated myself with the term "gamer" after reading these comments.

[Surt]

I'm sorry what were you expecting? People to gather and raise the thunder cat sword summoning all SJW of the land? You post this, with what expectation?

From what I read no one agrees that her life should be threaten but also no one agree to what the bloody hell she saying either.

[Gh05t]

Classic attempt at shaming us "gamers" without offering any constructive argument to any of the criticism you have received.

I wont feel guilty for what some jack-holes do or say to someone else that I have zero control over. No one in their right mind would condone this type of behavior. But being the "victim" of such behavior does not make what Anita is preaching true.

[pat_11_5]

Yes, YouTubers are known for having well thought out, intelligent arguments....

[tastas21]

All of you sound like you need to engage in sexual intercourse.

[ZoidsRaven]

Nice generalization.
I'm starting to think that's all your side is capable of. 7_7