Combating Recent, Ugly Incidents of Misogyny In Gamer Culture

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Combating Recent, Ugly Incidents of Misogyny In Gamer Culture

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday September 4, 2014 @02:53AM from the push-until-it-gives dept.

ideonexus writes: 2490 gamers, developers and journalists have signed an open letter supporting inclusiveness in the gaming community after indie game developer Zoe Quinn received backlash and harassment when her ex-boyfriend posted false accusations that she traded sex for favorable reviews of her game and feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian was driven from her home after receiving death and rape threats for her videos illustrating the way some mainstream games encourage the commoditization of and violence against women. The harassment has prompted geek-dating advice columnist Harris O'Malley to declare the backlash the "Extinction Burst of Gaming Culture," the last reactionary gasp before the culture shifts to become more inclusive.

11 of 1,134 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Nobody has the right not to be offended. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-04 03:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

There's no such thing as politically correct. There's no such thing as a right not to be offended. Both of these run counter to freedom of speech.
Nobody's going to force me to "include" people that I don't agree with, period. If you don't like it, fuck off.
That being said, the asshole ex-boyfriend should be turned into a eunuch and ridiculed for being such a wuss for the rest of his life.
1. Re:Nobody has the right not to be offended. by serviscope_minor · 2014-09-04 04:54 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  There's no such thing as politically correct.
  What's that got to do with this?
  You certainly do have the right not to have threats of violence made against you.
  You also have the right not to have slanderous and libellous claims made against you.
  Even with the laws about freedom of speech none of those things are legal. This isn't about being offended, it's about being threatened and slandered.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
Who cares. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-04 03:01 · Score: 5, Insightful

I don't know anybody who has any idea who these people are, nor do they give one shit about any of this stuff. They just play games. I don't think these "cultures" and "communities" are nearly as big as people think they are. It's limited to a VERY small set of people commenting and participating in all this high-school drama. Of course, once it's on twitter and the internet in general, everyone thinks its way bigger than it actually is.
News flash -- It's not.
One bad apple spoils the barrel by Frobnicator · 2014-09-04 03:02 · Score: 5, Insightful

It doesn't seem to be pervasive. We've all seen the recent stats on similar stories. Over half of all gamers are female. Less than 1/5 are under the age 18. The stereotypical teenage boy gamer is a small component of the "gamer" culture.
I doubt this is "Misogyny In Gamer Culture". I think instead this is just a few vocal idiots.

--
//TODO: Think of witty sig statement
1. Re:One bad apple spoils the barrel by rdwulfe · 2014-09-04 03:09 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  That's the problem though. When I was in high school, not everyone in the school abused me each day. No, the problem was the 10-20 kids who decided they had to punch someone so they could go home that day, and I was apparently an easy mark. Great fun, let me tell you.
  It never requires a huge number of people to oppress an individual or group. It takes others who are willing to do so by force. Written word can be force, too.
2. Re:One bad apple spoils the barrel by geekoid · 2014-09-04 03:28 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  No, half of console players of female.
  You are missing the point, and the fact that you think women need different types of games kind of make you misogynistic in your thinking.
  This whole thing is about attitude and attacks women get.
  Lets talk about slasher movies.
  These movies, by and large, are horrible misogynistic, and well love by women.
  When a woman points out that they are misogynistic, no one threatens to rape and kill her.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:I predict by StikyPad · 2014-09-04 03:17 · Score: 5, Insightful

The hypocrisy of third wave feminism should, at the very least, be pointed out, and it's a straw man to call doing that misogynistic.

--
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
Slashdot is Dead by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-04 03:25 · Score: 5, Insightful

I knew it was going downhill for a long time, now it's dead, because it's been taken over by the Social Justice Warriors.
Re:Again?! by Aardpig · 2014-09-04 03:39 · Score: 5, Insightful

Are we talking about the same Zoe Quinn? The Zoe Quinn who shut down a gamejam specifically targetted at helping women coders, because she perceived it as in competition with her own fundraising efforts?

--
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
Re:Why "SJW"? by kruach+aum · 2014-09-04 04:10 · Score: 5, Insightful

Let me answer your question with a question: why do you feel the need to psychoanalyze someone you know nothing about other than his use of the abbreviation "SJW"? Surely YOU would not engage in thinking all people who use those three letters in a sequence are the same, would you?
Re:Why "SJW"? by Kielistic · 2014-09-04 06:46 · Score: 5, Insightful

Fictional stereotypes? This is a story about feminists labeling an entire group of people misogynists. They clearly don't have a problem with using the paint brush set to "wide".
Additionally there have been and still are feminists that claim that all heterosexual sex is rape. Which would make pretty much all men rapist. So again, not fictional.