I never really wanted to formally address Anita Sarkeesian on this blog, I find her to be unworthy click-bait for outraged gamers. But IGN posted an article recently that caught my eye.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/09/02/hundreds-of-developers-are-fed-up-with-the-hate
Developers are asking the gaming community to stop being dicks basically. And, of course, I agree. It doesn't mention Anita specifically, but IGN does mention her as she is a lightning rod of hate in the gaming community.
Sure, no one deserves death threats like she's apparently getting (read my earlier blog about internet bullying), but websites like IGN and Joystiq and any gaming site out there does whatever they can it seems to post her picture or name on their gaming site for the sole purpose of attracting angry gamers to whine and complain about her. She's click-bait for them and they know it. What I'm tired of is not seeing any insightful op-eds on her from respected gaming sites. No one is critiquing her in the slightest, just posting her videos up and calling it a day.
My issue here is gaming websites like this are FUELING this hate by posting this stuff while not taking a stance one way or another on her opinions to open a respectful dialogue. It also doesn't help matters that Anita's stance on any issue is male = bad female = good but only if she's not acting very male. Her videos are filled with inaccuracies and outright lying too, which people rightfully call her on it. She closes her videos for comments which basically puts the ban-hammer on everyone too. It automatically gives the entire discussion a hateful atmosphere. Like someone claiming they are right and you are wrong AND a male chauvinist pig and then walking away. Of course, death threats go way too far as I mentioned, but when you're wrong about something on the internet, they let you know it and often go too far to let you know it.
I feel like the reason this boils over as much as it does for Anita is we don't have a face for the gamers countering her horribly contrived points. Thunderf00t on Youtube does a great job of breaking it down for us, but he's not really a gamer. In fact, in a follow up video he made after people in his comments made points about how she's flagrantly misrepresenting games like Hitman, he did some research looking up 12 let's plays of the game pointing out that the game doesn't "invite" gamers to kill helpless strippers like Anita says they do, but instead costs you points, and could ruin your mission entirely for doing such actions. You are encouraged to sneak by and avoid confrontation, but if you watch her video you'll think that boys will grow up thinking it's ok to choke out a stripper and put her in a box, despite the game only rewarding you for putting men in boxes, and punishing you for doing that to the strippers... But you won't see IGN defending developers on this or any other lie that Anita tells and instead they promote her.
This DOES enrage gamers. Sites like IGN and Gamespot have long tried to make gamers feel like they are "one of us" that we are all part of a larger community who love games and how much fun they are. Then someone like Anita comes in with what could have been an innocent and valid point that women aren't represented enough in gaming, and instead openly attacked the entire industry like it were run by sexist pigs, and we don't see a logical counter-point from our "fellow" gamers at IGN and Gamespot? But instead they fuel the fires further by shoving it in all our faces with their arms crossed? It's clearly just click-bait for them, and it has worked EVERY time they post something about her.
Then they closed the comments section on this article they posted due to the harsh negativity of it. I read through many of them, and as usual the majority seem to be well thought out, logical responses with a few hate filled messages peppered in. Frankly, it's MUCH less than what you'd see in a console war debate. The few ruin it for the many as usual. Honestly though, that action once again fuels these fires, closes off gamers for an open discussion and puts it further underground with Anita coming out on top and assisted by the likes of IGN whether they've intended that or not, that's how it comes off.
In the real world, people like this would get interviewed, and pressed about their stances. Gamers don't really have that either. When will IGN interview her, press her really hard on her points, call her out on her bullshit? Have a REAL talk about women in gaming and how we can address it rather than simply demonize the entire industry, fanbase, and anyone who ever stomped a goomba or saved a princess? No, that's not happening, they want to keep their click-bait happy for as long as possible because it's great revenue.
*For the sake of my soul I hope this too doesn't become click-bait*
EDIT: So, thankfully there is an outlet with sanity that I'd never heard of until someone on the Joystiq comments in an article of this very topic, brought it to our attention. I encourage anyone reading this to stop and read this instead, it makes the points I was going for but in a much less angry way and far more well put: http://techraptor.net/2014/08/29/witnessing-end-gamers/
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