Supporting Gamergate Does Not Make You A Bully

When reports came out last weekend of developer Brianna Wu receiving death threats over Twitter, the gaming media renewed its attacks on the GamerGate movement labeling it a hate group trying to drive women from the gaming industry. When Anita Sarkeesian canceled a planned speech at Utah State University over anonymous death threats, the backlash against GamerGate built to a roar in stories across the national mainstream press.

[uth11]

There are bullies in the various SJW movements too, but they get a pass from the media.

[kingdip90]

Victimhood is a female privilege, men don't get to feel oppressed, especially not white men.

It's ok for the media to demonize men, imagine if they called a group of women hatemongers...

[Mithan]

Shut the hell up. Your comparing apples and oranges.

[kingdip90]

@mithen

Apples and oranges?

One group of people having rights and social standing another one does not is prejudiced. Period.

The words male and female should be interchangeable without changing the responses of the people in the conversation.

If you would be offended by someone marginalizing women then why not men?

Bunch of sexist crap and I'm sick to death of it.

Apples and oranges my left buttock...

[Blacktric]

"Your comparing apples and oranges."

I thought men and women were equal? So it's okay for a group of men (which, isn't even the case when it comes to #GamerGate) to be called "misogynist hatemongers!" but not others to be called out on their bullshit just because they happen to be women?

GET. OUT!

[HighResHero]

Most of the actual bullies are the ones trying to stop GG.

[WeAreLegion]

The majority of Gamergate supporters have been anti-bullying. I love that.

[yarbie1000]

I support #Gamergate

[TheWackyMan]

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

[Fireseed]

The funny thing about this mind set is that you actually think someone like Anita is doing something wrong and they're just crying wolf when they're attacked.

[OOMagnum]

Its the internet everyone gets attacked. No matter what group anywhere on this planet theres the few that takes things too far. But to use that to dinegrate the whole group is wrong, purposefully so. Shes a career victim. You should research who actually did the attacks and the timing of the past attacks to get a better understanding. If you care that is.

*edit* The wacky man that is a perfect description of whats going on here. Best post ive seen on this site and full of laughs lmao.

[viperman240]

I'll be reposting this comment from a previous article, as it got buried and no one really noticed it. This was a response to someone who was claiming that GG was about harassment and bullying.

"You honestly believe that GG is behind the threats she has gotten?

before GG was even a thing, Brinna Wu has always been getting threats, as can be seen here.

http://www.polygon.com/2014...

I'm not advocating for harassment or threats, what I am trying to get across is that GG has nothing to do with the threats she has received thus far.

The internet is filled with hate filled trolled who do nothing but harass others online to get a reaction so they themselves can feel better about themselves. And then we have the "smarter" trolls who go out of their way to get address and post them.

If she honestly did not want MORE harassment she should have went straight to the police instead of playing the victim and tweeting/posting about all of this. That's just giving more ammo to the trolls, as they feel they have won since they did get a reaction out of her.

I can also speak from experience. I used to sort of be a bully in school when I was young. I wasn't an all out bully or the type that would beat you up for lunch money. I just felt like causing pain to others "innocently". One example would be I would pretend to yawn while sitting on a chair, as someone walked by me, I would extend my arms up in the air and stick out my legs straight out, so I could trip whoever was walking past me. I did this and countless of other messed up things, and I got away with it cause I was always subtle about it.

Why did I do all of that in my past? My father was abusive. He used to beat...whip me...hit me..you know name for any reason he saw fit. As I was young and there was nothing I can do against him to defend myself(he was fat, still is). I just let out my frustrations onto others.

So what I'm trying to get at is, ignore the trolls report them and call the police and do not give them power. Sadly this is how the internet works, but making a big deal out of every threat you receive, your just inviting yourself to get more."

[Fireseed]

So clearly the way to treat this issue is to accuse everyone who is getting death threats of making them up, right? Ignore them... but continue to pile on harassment if they don't ignore them... like I can't tell if you're serious or just unaware of the hypocrisy

http://imgur.com/16bGXaM

[kingdip90]

The alternative seems to be pick a random group that you have no real proof are affiliated with these threats and villainize them.

I dunno both seem pretty crappy options.

[rainslacker]

I think the way to handle it is to verify the validity of the claims that these threats are coming from pro-GG people. Sites seem to be very willing to report what Anita or others claim that these threats are from GG, but with Anita and the speaking session being cancelled, there was absolutely nothing that tied it to GG, just her own feminist ideals. I'm not familiar with the Wu one, but it's hard to blame a movement for this, when people in the movement itself always say they don't support this.

Basically the way to handle this is to take it with a grain of salt until some unbiased source can confirm otherwise. I don't trust Anita's supporters on anything that they report, becuase they've been proven to cry wolf on several occasions now.

[Spotie]

Clearly you're an expert at strawman arguments, Fireseed.

The most maddening thing about this is how supporters of gamergate keep saying- and proving- they don't condone these actions, yet you and others keep asserting that misogyny and hatred is all they stand for, and all they do. Even in the face of evidence to the contrary- and there's plenty- you just keep stubbornly shouting the same things over and over, waiting for it to become true. Such willful ignorance, such intentional stupidity really pisses me off.

[00]

everyone need to read this

http://blogjob.com/oneangry...

http://blogjob.com/oneangry...

[OOMagnum]

I have in a previous post. Thanks for posting really good read. Keep on spreading that article because people need to know. I am perceived as an xbot on this site even though im not!I dont know your gaming preferences but times like this we need to stick together. Bubbles for you sir! For spreading the word and having OO in your name lol.

[animegamingnerd]

considering how people in #Gamergate have raised 16K for an anti bullying charity i would say we might be far from bullies

https://www.crowdrise.com/g...

[Remy_S]

We're not the bullies, the ones actively doxxing people and actively attacking people are these so called "journalists" and sjws. Recently Sam Biddle of gawker media was caught making a tweet saying that people who support gamergate are nerds that should be shamed and degraded into submission, and called for bringing bullying back, during Bully Awareness Month.

http://theralphretort.com/g...

If anyone is doing the bullying, its gamergates opposition.

[JD_Shadow]

Thing about it is that we know why they've tried this tactic. They know it's doing SOMETHING right, and they don't want to admit that there's a there there (too many instances of the word "there", huh?).

It's a non-sequitur and a form of projection. Any whack job can go on Twitter, put a hashtag somewhere to promote their post, then say that they speak for a movement. It's true that both sides have issues that they need to sort out in their camps, the way the narrative within the Stop GG movement is right now is that of "we're right, you're wrong, shut up!" They don't even acknowledge that the issue that they say is the mask of GG is made up of actual truth.

They say that if we want to discuss ethics, then GG is not the way to go. But wait, it's them not being transparent about them to begin with that sparked this whole thing. So, in short, they weren't transparent before. What the hell makes us think you will be now? They just want it killed to keep the status quo, and they know that their position within the games industry is threatened by this thing.

Also remember that the reason Ben Kutchera is against GG is because Polygon, and him, is in the center of what sparked the apparent need for GG in the first place. He's the one that contributed to Depression Quest, and then gave some suspiciously positive opinion pieces about Zoe Quinn around the time the now infamous Wizardchan stuff was first found. There's also a Soundcloud file in which David Jaffe blacklisted him after the two got into a heated argument at a convention (can't remember what it was about now off the top of my head). So he's got skeletons in his closet that he's still denying exists and is still trying to keep in there. Apparently, now that he's seen this anti-GG thing get traction, he thinks we've forgotten that tidbit.

Keep in mind that he's got every right to contribute to whatever he wants. But he should've reclused himself from writing the op-eds, and he instead chose not to.

Yes, just remember that they WANT this misrepresentation because it's becoming, to them, an easy way to kill something they are scared of.

EDIT: By the way...umm, N4G, who is one of the Admins on this very site? Yeah, Catastrophe! What gender is she? Yep, female! Does she get harassed by any of us? She's the one who keeps US in line, what the hell do you think? If we did, she wouldn't stand for it. Not that we would even if she wasn't an admin. XD

But is she killing any pro-GamerGate article? Umm...well, THIS one exists, and the initial story on Games Journos Pro got to a million degrees, so...what do you think?

[Idree]

One thing i don't understand is, why aren't the developers on board with us?

We are fighting corruption in journalism, shouldn't developers be concerned about this too?

[callahan09]

Because as you can see, fighting the media is bad PR, because the media controls the narrative. The last thing devs & publishers want is to put themselves in the gunsights of the media.

[jeeves86]

A few years ago, gamers were just struggling for a kind of legitimacy among people who didn't game. We were angry because gaming was still seen as something that you did as a kid, not adults, not women or men, but manchildren and gurl gamers. You can't say that we really have that legitimacy now, especially with GG fallout, but you can't say that gaming is an activity perceived as being exclusively by basement dwelling dweebs.

If the gaming community ever wants to be taken seriously, it will be subjected to the things that all other forms of media's fanbases are. And you will always be judged by your worst members. Look at gun's rights activists, look at the Tea Party, look at MRAs.