In the aftermath of the Gamergate controversy, we’ve seen a rise in threats against women and other minorities, and a general backlash towards those who speak out.
And, while we may not see a wave of violent threats directed at people in this particular space, we have seen a concerted effort to shut down conversations about what it means to be a woman or someone who identifies as a woman.
This week, I spoke with Anita Sarkeesian, the game designer who is the target of the harassment.
Sarkeesians perspective is that while she’s certainly not the target, the fact that she’s being targeted, in a public space like a convention center, is not a good thing.
Here’s what we talked about: #Gamergate: An exploration of the phenomenon I spoke to Anita Sarvesian, creator of Feminist Frequency.
What makes #GamerGaters so problematic?
Anita Sarvakian Anita Sarvenkian is a game designer and video game critic who has been working in games and gaming for more than 10 years.
She’s also the creator of feminist video game series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games and the Feminist Frequency podcast.
We discussed the movement, the backlash, and how people are trying to shut it down.
The #Gamergaters movement is so problematic, she says, because of the fact there are a lot of people who have been harassing people who don’t share the same views that #GamerGhazi is against.
She says that there are also a lot who are not interested in doing the right thing by women.
So it’s hard for me to understand why people would want to have a conversation that isn’t based on the facts.
I think it’s just like when we were kids, we were told that everything was fine and dandy, she said.
We’re still taught that women have to be nice, that all is well.
Anita Sarvasen Sarvasens work has focused on feminist critique and political issues of the day.
She spoke to me about how #GamerGs supporters are making this argument that they want to shut out women and minorities.
She said it’s a common trope in online communities: If you’re a woman you’re not welcome, because it’s bad.
But that’s just not true.
Sarvasenos work has been a major source of exposure to video games and games criticism, and Sarvasos recent game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, has a major feminist critique.
It’s also notable that Sarvasans own Tropes in video games is one of the only female-centric games in gaming history.
Sarvaos point of view is that these people are not taking her concerns seriously.
“They are going for this ‘You’re not a feminist, you’re sexist’ attitude,” Sarvases told me.
“I think people are going to react in a way that they have no idea is being made by people who are very much interested in shutting down conversations.”
When I talked to Sarvas as she was in the middle of her talk, she was visibly upset.
She was telling me she was getting more threats and was scared to go to a convention because of them.
She then went into a bit of a rant about how she was really hoping that #GG would die.
She told me that her fear is based on misinformation and the fact she is a woman in a very male-dominated industry.
It’s not the first time that Sarvasons work has come under fire, but I think she’s right to be worried about the reaction to her work.
I also asked her how she thinks it’s affected her as a game developer.
“It has affected me in that it’s not that I’m being attacked, but that there’s a group of people that are going after me that don’t like my work,” she said, according to my transcript.
“They’re saying things like, ‘You know, Anita Sarvaas is not going to be happy with this game.’
And they’re saying that in a certain way.
It makes me feel very unsafe.
But it’s also a small minority.
I think that I’ve become a target in the sense that there has been an effort to silence the voices that are critical of what I do, and that’s a very disturbing thing to me.
She added that she doesn’t believe that she needs to be in a video game industry.
She knows that’s not how people will react.
A lot of this has been going on for a while, and the harassment and the threats are a very recent phenomenon.
But Sarvas’ experience is very different from other developers who have dealt with harassment.
She didn’t go to work to be harassed.
She went to work because she wanted to make a difference in the world.
Sarves has a very different opinion of the internet and how it works than many other game developers.
She thinks that the internet is the perfect platform for spreading hatred.
But she says that she hasn’t experienced any hate