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If words were really powerless advertising wouldn't work. Like it or not, things people read clearly affect them.

Modern feminism is rooted in critical theory, aka neo-Marxism. Critical theory denies logical positivism, the idea that arguments in philosophy or social science need to be derived from empirical facts and logic. As a result, modern feminism (and other so-called "social justice" movements) don't bother with using rational arguments to convince people that social injustices exist and/or that their proposed solutions are effective; instead, they start with the assumption that their perception of social injustice is sufficient justification by itself for grievances and change, and they use language not as a tool for logical arguments, but to manipulate. It's like Soviet propaganda without even a pretense of facts. Take Anita Sarkeesians own words for it:

With the help of some amazing mentors and by reading a lot of feminist writing, especially the words of women of color and queer women from around the world, I learned to see through a sociological lens and understand the world as it really exists, as a series of intersecting social systems. Once you have a systemic and institutional framework, you see how oppression manifests in many subtle ways under the systems of what bell hooks calls “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy”.

Note that there is nothing about statistics, facts, policies, or rational arguments in her world view; it's all about what "lens" you see the world through. Her videos aren't about making rational arguments about objective facts, they are like advertising, intended to manipulate you into drinking her Coolaid and joining her clan.

So you are absolutely right that words have power. They have even more power today where social and political issues and policies are highly complex, where most people's choices are indeed easily influenced by perception, not facts. And that is exactly the reason why people get so upset by the manipulative and deceptive use of language by people like Sarkeesian.

This point has been made further down the comment thread, but just to point out: this claim is untrue.

Belial6 has said that the video in which the comment is made is the second part of the video on Lego. You can watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe65EGkB9kA. You can also review a full transcript at http://www.feministfrequency.com/2012/02/lego-gender-part-2-the-boys-club/.

From both you will see that the statements that Belial6 is relying on are never made. This claim is just not true.

These two videos are about Lego:

http://www.feministfrequency.c...
http://www.feministfrequency.c...

This video is about movies:

http://www.feministfrequency.c...

Funny, you don't get a massive backlash against those ones. Gamers seem to be quite touchy on the subject, which suggests that she's hit a bit of a nerve. Methinks the industry doth complain too much...

These two videos are about Lego:

http://www.feministfrequency.c...
http://www.feministfrequency.c...

This video is about movies:

http://www.feministfrequency.c...

Funny, you don't get a massive backlash against those ones. Gamers seem to be quite touchy on the subject, which suggests that she's hit a bit of a nerve. Methinks the industry doth complain too much...

These two videos are about Lego:

http://www.feministfrequency.c...
http://www.feministfrequency.c...

This video is about movies:

http://www.feministfrequency.c...

Funny, you don't get a massive backlash against those ones. Gamers seem to be quite touchy on the subject, which suggests that she's hit a bit of a nerve. Methinks the industry doth complain too much...

http://www.feministfrequency.c...

http://www.feministfrequency.c...

Actually, like most people I have only heard what is reported about her. I have since gone ahead and tried to watch her video Ms. Male Character – Tropes vs Women, and having watched as much of it as I can stomach, I still blame the idiots for their response, but not as much as I used to.