I have mentioned these issues a couple of times over the past few days but I’ve come to the conclusion that they’re actually making me feel a bit depressed. I know that there’s little point in getting depressed or upset over “the way the world is” and there are far bigger problems in the world, etc. etc. but, I mean, wow. Something really needs to be done.
I am referring primarily to the treatment of Anita Sarkeesian, better known on the Interwebz as Feminist Frequency, the author of a number of feminist perspective critiques on popular culture. Sarkeesian recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund her newest piece of research and criticism, dubbed simply “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games”. The proposed series of videos Sarkeesian is intending to produce will deconstruct the most commonly-seen female character tropes in video games, highlighting recurring patterns and discussing them rather than simply pointing the finger and going “LOOK! THIS IS BAD.”
The response to Sarkeesian’s campaign was both good and bad. On the positive side, the campaign was fully funded in the first 24 hours, and since that time a number of “stretch goals” have been smashed, allowing Sarkeesian to produce a much larger amount of content than initially proposed.
On the negative side, this happened. And this happened.
I really shouldn’t be astonished by things that people say on the Internet any more, given that it is widely regarded as a wretched hive of &c &c despite all the lovely and intelligent people who also populate it. But these incidents really bothered me. They happened quickly and relentlessly… and they were clearly organised — likely by noted Internet cesspits 4chan and 9gag. This fabulous piece by Foz Meadows sums up the key aspect of the problem, I think: in attempting to defend themselves against accusations of sexism, misogyny and the promotion of a rape culture, those who deliberately and maliciously harassed Sarkeesian resorted to, you guessed it, sexism, misogyny and the promotion of a rape culture.
Sarkeesian’s suffering isn’t in any way the only time this has happened, of course, though it may have been the most high-profile one in recent weeks. The Hitman: Absolution trailer I mentioned a few posts ago stirred up plenty of controversy, and anyone speaking out against it tended to get shouted down by people who couldn’t see the problem with it in the most abusive manner possible. Disagreements and differences in taste; threatening others and calling them abusive names because of those disagreements is not.
Even princess of geekdom Felicia Day wasn’t immune to this bullshit. Her recent video “Gamer Girl, Country Boy”, released as part of her entertaining “Flog” series on Geek & Sundry, attracted a swarm of completely unprovoked hateful comments. The hornets’ nest had already been stirred up, so another target for their ire was just a happy bonus. Whatever you think of Day’s past work, it should be clear to most people that there’s clearly not a malevolent bone in her whole body, and the whole incident clearly upset her very much. I’m not “white knighting” here, it’s a clear and simple fact. Who wouldn’t be upset by an organised campaign to troll and flame something you’d worked hard on?
All of this is just a bit much to take. I’ve always been someone who likes to try and see the best in people — to a fault, really — but to see that some people hiding behind that ever-present veil of anonymity prove themselves to really be complete and utter cunts doesn’t make me feel great. Obviously my own take on the matter pales in comparison to what Sarkeesian, Day and anyone else who has suffered at the hands of these trolls must be feeling about all this, but it’s genuinely upsetting to know that there are people that vile and disgusting out there — people who supposedly share the same passions and hobbies as I do.
It needs to stop. That will only happen with concerted efforts from everyone involved, and it goes back to what school always told you about handling bullies. Be assertive, but not aggressive. Tell the bully that what they are doing is upsetting and unpleasant. And tell someone else. Don’t be afraid to talk about it. Don’t suffer in silence. Because while someone (or, indeed, a thrown-together Internet lynch mob) being a complete arsehole can utterly ruin your day, week, month, year, it’s infinitely worse if you have no-one to turn to for support.
Let’s stamp this odious attitude out. Freedom of speech is one thing; using said freedom to intimidate, harass and silence others is not its intention. I fully support and endorse Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter campaign, and while I won’t insist that you do so too, I would certainly like to encourage you all to stand up to bullying when (not if, sadly) you see it happening — even if it’s not directly involving you. Good Samaritan and all that.
Above all, don’t be a dick. And if it all gets a bit much, then pay this site a visit.
Lately I’ve been feeling like I need to take a break from the internet for similar reasons.
I’m surprised how legitimately depressed this is making me. It’s not happening to me and I’m still sad about it.
I guess that’s good, right? Empathy and all that. Mostly I’m just disappointed that such objectionable people really exist.
We should start some sort of commune far from the prying eyes of Internet dickwads.
The articles you reference not only can refer to the females but also the males who speak up for the person being harassed. I experienced the same thing just for saying I supported Felicia’s video I was threatened and told I should die in house fire two days after my family house burned down on our farm that had been in our family for over 100 years. I have no problem with free speech but after I was threatened I felt I needed to do something so I turned it over to You Tube who quickly told me there was not much they could do. I had the person’s user name the email and the messages they left. Making what amounts to Terrorist threats against someone in this country is illegal and I am pushing forward with the issue to have them prosecuted to that fullest extent possible. You can voice your opinion of my support of a person but you can not make me feel unsafe in my own home by making threats to burn it down simply because you do not agree with my support of a person. There has to be a way in which people of differing views can come together without the threat of violence to discuss things. If they can not then we have no come any further in our interactions with one another than the days where we as a people felt that it was ok to beat other races simply because they were different from us. Government has tried to change their ways but they still use the scare tactics of the old days to say this country or that one is the greater evil and we need more money to stop them. People in this and other countries will never change their opinion of others different from themselves until they learn that each person in their own way benefits all of us. We as a race of people will never advance to our fullest potential until we learn that fear and hate of others is holding us back from working together and being able to come up with ideas that we could not have alone. My hope is that someone some day who is much more intelligent then I and much more charismatic then myself will be able to get the rest of the world to believe the same. It has been shown time and time again when we as humans come together to help one another we can achieve so much more than we can by going through the motions or going at it alone. History can be a great teacher I just wish people were listening to it. I also have been and will be a firm believer there is good in everyone and yes to a fault but I can also admit there is evil in this world. I just wish we as a race of people could learn to do without the evil and look for the good in all of the people we see not just those who think or live like ourselves.
Good on you for standing up to the bullies. More people need to follow through with that, but they thrive on perpetuating a culture of fear to silence people — especially (though, as you say, not limited to) women.
I can’t even contemplate the prospect of wishing cancer, murder or rape on someone that I disagree with. I don’t like arguing with people, but I wouldn’t even say those things to the most dickish dicky McDickerson on the Internet. I might point out that their views are unreasonable, offensive or whatever — but I’ll freely admit that I’ll only do so if I don’t consider there to be a risk of attracting harassment as a result. I need to change that attitude, but it’s a scary prospect.
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