RE: what is gamergate
10-23-2014, 04:12 AM
Garuru,
I think there are a lot of Gamergate supporters who really, sincerely believe that it's really all just about corruption in games journalism.
I think it's also worth observing that Gamergate started up right at the same time that Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian were receiving serious death threats, supposedly "justified" by the fact, at least in Zoe's case, that she was involved in some corruption in games journalism or other, which... probably wasn't a coincidence, eh, that this movement suddenly forms around the same issue?
So whatever they may claim, whatever they may even believe, GamerGate still has its roots in some pretty awful stuff. This seems very apparent to me.
I'd like to say that okay, however it started, maybe it can be a force of good now and actually do something about corruption in games journalism, except - wait, corruption in games journalism? Really? REALLY? Since when is that even a thing?
But for what it's worth, I think a lot of its members probably really do view it as a defense of some gamer identity thing, not an anti-feminist thing. They're kind of being dupes, but they're not horrible, malevolent people or anything, they're just, I dunno, under-informed. (Meanwhile, some smaller fraction continues to do stuff like send bomb threats to Anita Sarkeesian's talk venues, which is why it's nevertheless a problem.)
Dunno where you're getting your evidence. I was present enough on Twitter when this stuff all came together - and saw enough posts retweeted directly from Zoe - to be fairly sure that GamerGate is not in the right here, though. The best you can say about it is that maybe the bulk of it is hapless rather than evil.
(I'll go see what Kaz has to say. In the past, I've thought his tumblr posts - at least, those I've read - have been fairly intelligent and insightful, though I'll be sorely disappointed if it turns out he's backing GG.)
I think there are a lot of Gamergate supporters who really, sincerely believe that it's really all just about corruption in games journalism.
I think it's also worth observing that Gamergate started up right at the same time that Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian were receiving serious death threats, supposedly "justified" by the fact, at least in Zoe's case, that she was involved in some corruption in games journalism or other, which... probably wasn't a coincidence, eh, that this movement suddenly forms around the same issue?
So whatever they may claim, whatever they may even believe, GamerGate still has its roots in some pretty awful stuff. This seems very apparent to me.
I'd like to say that okay, however it started, maybe it can be a force of good now and actually do something about corruption in games journalism, except - wait, corruption in games journalism? Really? REALLY? Since when is that even a thing?
But for what it's worth, I think a lot of its members probably really do view it as a defense of some gamer identity thing, not an anti-feminist thing. They're kind of being dupes, but they're not horrible, malevolent people or anything, they're just, I dunno, under-informed. (Meanwhile, some smaller fraction continues to do stuff like send bomb threats to Anita Sarkeesian's talk venues, which is why it's nevertheless a problem.)
Dunno where you're getting your evidence. I was present enough on Twitter when this stuff all came together - and saw enough posts retweeted directly from Zoe - to be fairly sure that GamerGate is not in the right here, though. The best you can say about it is that maybe the bulk of it is hapless rather than evil.
(I'll go see what Kaz has to say. In the past, I've thought his tumblr posts - at least, those I've read - have been fairly intelligent and insightful, though I'll be sorely disappointed if it turns out he's backing GG.)