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Today, Rolling Stone magazine’s online outlet published an interview with Anita Sarkeesian about her thoughts on the industry and on the #GamerGate movement (“a sexist temper tantrum”) in which she discusses her reaction to the backlash against feminists in the industry, the toxicity inherent in some corners of gamer culture, and her belief that #GamerGate is stimulating discussion that is helping the industry is changing for the better. While Sarkeesian’s thoughts about the gaming industry can be often hard to swallow, they’re meant to stimulate discussion rather than hatred, and there’s no question that many of her “critics” represent this wholly abhorrent sector of the gaming world with nothing constructive to say and with nothing but violence on her mind. Ultimately by criticizing her so harshly, her critics are only ensuring that her platform is getting more exposure.
“There’s a toxicity within gaming culture, and also in tech culture, that drives this misogynist hatred, this reactionary backlash against women who have anything to say, especially those who have critiques or who are feminists,” she claims, and one could hardly blame her. Her events are frequently lavished with threats of bombings, though she has three times flown in the face of these dangerous and immature antagonists by going through with the events regardless. She recently cancelled a talk at Utah State University, however, as she felt that the safety measures were inadequate.
If nothing else, she states that these outrageous reactions to her right to her own opinion have actually helped raise awareness to the virulence that exists in the gaming world, and the need for things to change: “Something about this recent, really intense backlash has gotten the attention of a lot of people who were on the fence about whether the harassment of women was actually an issue. Now, if you’re involved in gaming in any capacity, you can’t help but see what’s happening in terms of women being driven out, women being attacked, being silenced, having horrific harassment and assault done to them. You can’t avoid it. There’s no way to not see that this is happening.”
It’s hard not to agree with her when the backlash against her has been so prolific. Everybody has the right to their opinions, including her critics, but when you’re faced daily with death or rape threats, it’s hard to sympathize with those with nothing but bitterness in their hearts and no capacity to empathize with other people’s points of view. As she states, the fact that her profile has exploded to the level it has only emphasized that this toxic sector of gaming culture exists, and now Sarkeesian, as a truly public figure, is bringing them to the attention of the mass media.
Sarkeesian also claims that GamerGate has helped stimulated dialogue in studios who previously weren’t properly taking women into consideration: “What’s happening is that the industry is changing. The consciousness-raising is happening. People are starting to acknowledge that the industry has a problem with women, that sexism and misogyny are quite prevalent both in the larger culture and within games… developers are starting to talk within their studios about how they want their games and their representations to change.”
Whether or not you agree with Anita Sarkeesian about the state of women in games, she is entitled to her opinions, and doesn’t deserve to be lavished with threats of death and torture. Now because of all the attention she is getting from the media, she is actually ensuring that a least some game makers will be taking stronger measures to ensure that women are more prolifically represented in games, and those games will find their niche and the rest of the gaming world will go on as always. If you want a fire to die out, you don’t add more fuel, you let it burn out.
Meanwhile, feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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