Emma Watson's UN Gender Equality speech

[Munch]

I'm sorry to hear that Hijiri. I've had panic attacks before, but I think it was because of my medication at the time, its not pleasant.

[Mermaid]

So at the risk of beating a dead horse, can someone tell me why Anita Sarkeesian is such a feminazi? What has she done that's so offensive? Is she threatening to do away with something? She just had to cancel an appearance at USU because of threats of "a bloodbath". Why is she so bad, and why are people threatening such violence to silence her?

I am asking because I truly do not know her whole story, what I understand is that she is someone who turned a critical eye toward sexism in video games (not calling for bans, not telling anyone to stop playing). simply being critical and asking people to think. I am very far from a gamer, I haven't a clue what happens in the gaming world, so please feel free to dumb it down for me.

What am I missing?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/technology/gamergate-women-video-game-threats-anita-sarkeesian.html?smid=tw-share

[PickelledEggs]

What am I missing?

Nothing.

Although except for that is is literally impossible to verbalize how disgusting that psychopath is...  Just because someone was going to speak their perspective.

Sent from your mom

[Hydra009]

What am I missing?

The rebuttal.  There are plenty of them out there to choose from.  And they even allow comments! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWtJpHys_xA

I've watched a few of her videos.  Cringeworthy.  While obviously, she does have some legitimate points, she seems adept at seeing sexism against women where it doesn't actually exist, ignores some pretty sexist stuff against men (if you're going to criticize sexualized character models for women, it seems only fair to criticize beefcake character models for men, and if you're going to criticize women stuffed in fridges, it seems only fair to criticize how the male sex is basically disposable), and she seems to completely ignore actually decent female characters (Samus, Chell, half of the Resident Evil characters, etc).  Hell, most of the games I play have women in key roles and they aren't portrayed in a sexist manner.  C&C Generals has female Generals who are every bit as fierce as their male counterparts.  Dawn of War has the matriarchal eldar.  Sins of a Solar Empire has the matriarchal Advent.  She speaks to none of that, and instead relies on a few cherry-picked examples as representative of the whole, which is complete bullshit.

Also, I'd take the "threats" with a grain of salt.  Not that there aren't people out there who would make those kinds of threats, but if Zoey Quinn has taught us anything, it's that threats can be overblown or faked for victimhood points and media attention.  I'm not claiming that I know for sure one way or the other, but I don't automatically assume she's being silenced, either.  I do know of speakers who have actually had good reason to fear for their lives - Salman Rushdie or Ayaan Hirsi Ali come readily to mind - and I seriously doubt Sarkessian is the same boat as they are.

[Hakurei Reimu]

So at the risk of beating a dead horse, can someone tell me why Anita Sarkeesian is such a feminazi? What has she done that's so offensive? Is she threatening to do away with something? She just had to cancel an appearance at USU because of threats of "a bloodbath". Why is she so bad, and why are people threatening such violence to silence her?

You assume that these "threats to silence her" have any basis in reality whatsoever. Sarkeesian herself admits that she didn't cancel because of any threats, but because of what she felt was "inadequate security" â€" which could mean anything. (No, I don't mean Sarkeesian only offered "inadequate security" as her excuse; she disavowed that it was the threats that caused her cancellation.)

Thunderfoot has built a case that Sarkeesian is a professional whiner and con artist, who is selling the idea that the gaming industry is sexist for cold hard cash. Her "deep analysis" of sexism in games could be easily extended to the male characters, indicating strongly that her "theory" is shallow fluff. She had been caught in a lie when TF pointed out that for the strip club scene in Hitman â€"which Sarkeesian claimed encourages violence against women and their use as "objects"â€" that you actually get penalized for killing them (as you would for any other non-target victim). In her most recent offense, Sarkeesian had Thunderfoot suspended from Twitter for some very mild criticism.

This is not the behavior of someone who is on the level. This is the behavior of someone who is trying to defend their idea in the face of many contrary facts against it, and is willing to lie to preserve this position.

[Hydra009]

^

[Hijiri Byakuren]

So at the risk of beating a dead horse, can someone tell me why Anita Sarkeesian is such a feminazi? What has she done that's so offensive? Is she threatening to do away with something? She just had to cancel an appearance at USU because of threats of "a bloodbath". Why is she so bad, and why are people threatening such violence to silence her?

I am asking because I truly do not know her whole story, what I understand is that she is someone who turned a critical eye toward sexism in video games (not calling for bans, not telling anyone to stop playing). simply being critical and asking people to think. I am very far from a gamer, I haven't a clue what happens in the gaming world, so please feel free to dumb it down for me.

What am I missing?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/technology/gamergate-women-video-game-threats-anita-sarkeesian.html?smid=tw-share

Because pretty much every example of sexism in video games that she uses is one of the following:
- Taken out of context.
- Actually discouraged by the game; i.e. taking the "sexist" action is specifically put there to lower your score or otherwise punish you should you actually choose to do it.
- Subject to opinion: Anita seems to think that any strong female character who is not "girly" just exists to reinforce the idea that women have to act more like men to get ahead in life.
- Nitpicking. Older games did not have the capability to present a complex story, and so would use something easy to pick up and understand (such as "the damsel in distress") as an excuse-plot to get the ball rolling. You really can't use this as an example of sexism given the constraints of the time, especially since stories in gaming have tended to move away from those tropes as the technology improves. The only real exceptions are franchises based on said older games, such as Mario and Zelda; and even those franchises have broken the mold on several occasions.

[Hydra009]

All the feminism stuff aside, here's the honest-to-goodness reason why I strongly dislike Sarkeesian:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcPIu3sDkEw

This is a non-gamer saying a lot of really ignorant stuff about games and gaming culture.  In addition to flat-out lying about her familiarity with video games, she says she's not into games because "I don't want to go around shooting people and ripping out their heads".  I mean FFS guys, if that doesn't tell you that she's not on the level, then I don't know what will.

[PickelledEggs]

Sarkeesian is a shit-fuck to top all shit-fucks. But that's still no reason to threaten a mass shooting because she wants to be an asshole.

In fact, a while back, even The Amazing Atheist did a tumblr rant about how much of a fraud she was.


Still... not a reason to threaten a mass shooting... There never is.

[Mermaid]

You assume that these "threats to silence her" have any basis in reality whatsoever.

I assume nothing.

Thank you for answering my question. I will do some reading now.

[PickelledEggs]

Melonie Mac is actually a good example of a female voice in the gaming industry, if you were looking to see an example of one. Very positive and realistic. Plus she is a very hardcore gamer.

I think this is the only video that she talks about female objectification in games, but she's definitely realistic about it and brings up some good points. And she actually has a say in my book because she is a veteran, sponsored gamer.

[Mermaid]

This confirms why I know nothing about this: Gaming and the language therein will always be incomprehensible to me.
But I think I have the gist.

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Take a group that exists for one purpose and one purpose only, such a gaming, or card playing, or crochet, etc.

Join that group even though you have no experience or interest in the group.

Start demanding loudly that the group adopt a politically correct agenda and be pro-feminist, or that is proof the group is anti-feminist.

Say that the annoyance of the group members is proof of how prejudiced the group is.

Be Anita Sarkeesian.

[Shiranu]

Meh, I still hate the "throw the baby out with the bathwater" people take towards her, but over-all I think she is a bit disingenuous.

That said she has still pointed out some examples that I, as someone who have been gaming since I was about 2 and have competed in tournaments so have some experience as a gamer, agree with and just because I don't care for her doesn't mean I will ignore it. And she doesn't even remotely deserve a 10th of the shit she gets.

[Hakurei Reimu]

Sexism in tournaments has fuck-all to do with what Sarkeesian has been arguing. She seems to not distinguish between sexism in the plot or setting with sexism in the industry. She seems to want every game ever created to be squeaky clean and free of the taint of sexism. Sorry, but sexism is part of our world. The disempowerment of women is one of the ugly aspects of our world that needs to be addressed in games in a realistic manner where and when it becomes relevant.

Tell me, is it more realistic and respectful to portray prostitutes as a largely oppressed group of women with little real power and the victims of violent crime, or as powerful, ball-busting badasses who can take on all comers? I think that the former is the more respectful because it tells the truth of the matter in contrast to a comforting fantasy and lie.

It also should be noted that the only time I have heard when it becomes "okay" to kill and sexually exploit these prostitutes is in games where you play as a villain protagonist â€" the bad guy. You play these games specifically so that you can simulate morally repugnant acts without real-world consequences. (And sometimes not even in these kinds of games â€" such as Hitman, as I described above.) How can anyone realistically take away from that that it's "okay" to kill and rape these women?

Sarkeesian draws so much ire because she is a self-proclaimed internet smart-person. Her research is extremely shallow, both in the analysis and the fact-finding. Her flagship series maligns tropes, like the Damsel in Distress trope, as if tropes were inherently bad. Tropes are storytelling devices to communicate the story quickly and efficiently, and used properly can be very effective. Furthermore, tropes are determined by their form. If in Double Dragon it was your wimpy younger brother that had been kidnapped instead of your girlfriend, it would be the same trope. Sarkeesian's analysis does not go into these deeper levels and instead engages in meaningless sociobabble.

To me the most damning piece of evidence against her is that, while she managed to produce a few of her videos with no financial backing whatsoever, when she asked for money to develop this series into a full course and got that financial backing to the handsome sum of $160,000 or thereabouts... she still plods along, seeming to develop the series at the same quality and rate as it was before her backing. WTF did they send you all that money for, if you're not going to up your game? (Pardon the pun)

Anita Sarkeesian is not just a fake gamer. She's a fake analyst, a fake researcher, and a fake filmmaker. Even without considering the "threats" against her, this is plenty problem with her credibility, and one thing I know, the internet hates a faker.