feature // 14

The height of Gamergate

» A continued look at the misogynistic online movement

, Angela Espinoza
News Editor

. Mnews

@theotherpress.ca

 

e are now in the 12th

week of the Gamergate
movement. As stated in the last
edition, Gamergate began after
the combination of a multi-
thousand-word blog post by
one Eron Gjoni about his ex-
girlfriend and game designer
Zoe Quinn and the release of
the sixth Tropes vs. Women
in Video Games—a YouTube
video by Feminist Frequency.
Gamergate, regardless of what

else you may hear, is a campaign :
: order to avoid harassment.

against women.

The history of Gamergate
Gaming culture has a history
of being anti-female and
Gamergate has largely been a
movement based on harassing
women in the games industry
and gaming community.
Taking prominence in the
‘80s, video games have long
been heavily marketed to male
audiences. Around the 1980s,
ads for games often featured
images of male fantasy, with
men appearing either physically
strong, or average with an
attractive woman on their arm
or in distress. Many ads for
game consoles in the late-‘80s
and well into the 2000s often
featured young boys or male
teenagers playing games while
young girls or female teenagers
would often be presented as
annoying figures, if at all.

The integration of

massively multiplayer online

: games throughout the

: 2000s also brought forth

: the discussion of verbal

: harassment towards women

: playing video games. Many

: cases from computer gaming to
: the original Xbox Live service

: revealed that women would

: often be catcalled and verbally
: harassed online. A 2012 survey
: by one Emily Matthew on Blog.
: PriceCharting.com revealed

: that 63 per cent of women felt

: they had experienced sexism

: while playing games online,

: with 67 per cent of women also
: stating they’d intentionally

obscured their sex online in

Now we are in the throes of

: Gamergate, which has already
: doxxed (revealed private

: information online) Quinn,

: Feminist Frequency’s Anita

: Sarkeesian, game designer and
: journalist Brianna Wu, and

: gaming icon Felicia Day. Several :
: of these women haven't been
: home since their addresses were :
: revealed.

: Controversies inflicting

: gamergate

: After two months of non-

: stop harassment, there has

: been pressure on prominent

: members of the games

: industry to speak up about the
: movement. Many journalists,

: independent game designers,

: and various other online figures :
: have already spoken up against
: Gamergate. However, almost no :
: reactions from figureheads have :
: been made public. :

Tweets such as,
: be constantly shamed and

: degraded into submission”

: and “Bring Back Bullying” by

: Gawker writer Sam Biddle

: shamed the movement.

: Members of Gamergate then

: sent numerous emails to Adobe,
: a previously assumed advertiser :
: of the website, claiming that

: Gawker was encouraging

: bullying towards them. Adobe

: publicly requested Gawker take
: down their promotional image

: (not an ad) to cut relations with
: the site.

A plot named “Operation

Disrespectful Nod” by

: Gamergate to encourage

: advertisers to side with their
: movement seemed to be

: working fora time.

On October 16, several

“

.. nerds should

In the weeks since,

: Adobe received more details

: about Gamergate and those

: supporting the movement. On
: October 29, they released a

statement that reiterated, “We

: reject all forms of bullying,

including the harassment

: of women by individuals
: associated with Gamergate.”

Intel also pulled advertising

: from Gamasutra after the

: publishing of an article on

: August 28 by editor-at-large

: Leigh Alexander in which he

: had stated, “Gamers are over.”

: Similarly to Gawker, Intel also

: received numerous emails from
: Gamergate supporters who

found the article offensive. Intel

: later reinstated its advertising

and issued an apology.
On October 25, Fortune

: published an article by staff

: writer JP Mangalindan on how
: major game and technology

: companies have kept quiet

: on the matter. According

: to the article, after several

: attempts to contact seven

: major game companies, only

: Montreal’s Ubisoft responded.
: One spokesperson stated,

: “Harassment, bullying, and

: threats are wrong and have to

: stop. There should be no place
: in the video game community
: for personal attacks of any

kind?

On October 29, Dave Lee

That same day, just hours

: before that evening’s episode

: of The Colbert Report, Anita

: Sarkeesian was announced as a
: surprise guest. Stephen Colbert
: dedicated the first 10 minutes

: of the episode to provide a brief :
: look at Gamergate for those
: tuning in, followed by a satirical :
: interview with Sarkeesian on

: the subject. While his coverage
: of Gamergate was brief, Colbert :
: honourably took on the role
: of being possibly the biggest
: public figure to speak out

: against Gamergate.

theotherpress.ca

 

N.B.: There is a vast array of information relating to Gamergate, much of
which continues to develop and be discussed. As such, I have tried my best to
summarize specific events thus far.

: No going back

: After all that has occurred

: regarding the Gamergate

: movement, after decades of

: women being misrepresented
: and harassed in gaming, there
: is no going back from here.

Like in all forms of media,

sexism will always bea part of

: video games to some extent. But
: with the growing acceptance of

: Sarkeesian’s research and the

: negative widespread attention

: Gamergate has garnered—

: regardless of figureheads who

: have not spoken up—the

: of BBC News wrote an extensive :
: article and posted an in-person
: interview with Zoe Quinn on

: Gamergate and how it has

: affected her life. “The fact that

: so much of the responsibility

: is offloaded to the people most
: harmed by it [Gamergate],

: when somebody in a much

: safer position than I am can

: stand up and condemn it ...

: it’s frustrating,” said Quinn of

: major companies.

changes would likely be seen in

: the medium going forward.

What we're seeing here

: is similar to what we've been
: seeing in the sporting world,
: another male-dominated

: hobby and industry. There is
: much debate going on as to

: how sports can become more
: inclusive to women, with

: advertisers at the very least,

: taking advantage of their

: massive female audiences.

Both mediums are finally

: taking perceptions and

: mistreatment of women in

: their industries seriously, likely
: because we are experiencing

: perhaps the biggest feminist

awakening of our time. From

: Emma Watson’s UN speech to

numerous celebrities actively

: promoting and discussing
: feminism, much of the public

is waking up to how our

: society has long accepted

: the mistreatment of women.

: Wherever Gamergate goes from
: here, we can take solace in

: knowing that progress will be

> made.