Turning the tables on trolls: 'Tropes vs. Women' creator talks harassment at GDC

[ismnotwasm]

Anita Sarkeesian recently released the first episode of "Tropes vs. Women in Video Games," a web series critiquing "damsels in distress" and other stereotypes. But its success on Kickstarter and now YouTube has come at a heavy price: not long after launching the Kickstarter, she became the target of an uncommonly focused and vitriolic backlash from people who took her website offline, flooded the internet with obscene or violent photoshops of her, and repeatedly threatened to kill or rape her. Almost a year later, she's had to scrub almost her entire personal online presence, and she continues to receive threats from angry trolls. In a talk at GDC, Sarkeesian outlined why her opponents succeeded as much as they did — and how to help diminish their impact.

Sarkeesian's "cybermob," as she calls it, wasn't representative of normal online experience, but its starkness illuminated how internet harassment works. "People don't believe women when they say they're being harassed," she says. "Part of documenting and sharing was to say 'No, it really is that bad.'" And unlike plenty of other cases, which end up mired in questions of whether or not the victim acted appropriately, all Sarkeesian wanted was a few thousand dollars to make a video series.

To be sure, parts of GDC, gaming, and lots of other powerful industries cater to a male audience. I did a quick double-take when interactive fiction designer Mordechai Buckman described a scenario involving a woman and her wife — there are queer and female characters in games, but the unspoken everyman is still male and straight, and that's what I'd become used to hearing about in sessions. This morning, IGDA member Brenda Romero resigned from her committee position after an official after-hours party featured female dancers in skimpy outfits. But many participants are actively working towards broadening that scope, and the environment at Sarkeesian's talk was overwhelmingly supportive.

It's that kind of environment that Sarkeesian hopes to bolster. "Women shut down their blogs," she says, after seeing the misogynistic hostility they face for simply being online. "They shut down their videos. They stop gaming online. They mask their gender." This isn't having a thin skin — it's the result of enough people saying over and over that women don't belong in the tech or gaming world, and that including them is "forced diversity" or "reverse discrimination."

http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/28/4157748/anita-sarkeesian-talks-about-harassment-at-gdc

Including women is "forced diversity"?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. DU Rec

[BainsBane]

2. sounds all to familiar

[sufrommich]

3. Sure does. nt

[ismnotwasm]

4. Yup

This is the point. Harassment is happening EVERYWHERE. And those who think its not that big of a deal, or exaggerated somehow can just go fuck themselves.

The prevalence of it actually reminds me of this line from the "Terminator"

"Kyle Reese: Listen. Understand. That Terminator is out there. It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with. It doesn't feel pity of remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead."

[sufrommich]

5. No doubt there is no real pattern here.

I'm sure it's just our imagination or need for manufactured outrage.

[redqueen]

6. Did you see this?

http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/28/4157266/igda-gdc-party-brenda-romero-resignation

I'm sure thousands of dudebros and their handmaidens are whining about so-called manufactured outrage, but it looks like we may be near a turning point.

Keep on pushing.

[niyad]

7. k and r

[Doctor_J]

8. what's gdc?

It's not explained here or in the linked article. I am a big fan of Anita and her work.

[Helen Reddy]

9. Game Developers Conference n/t