{"id":646111,"date":"2013-03-10T16:14:33","date_gmt":"2013-03-10T20:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paidcontent.org\/?p=225734"},"modified":"2013-03-10T16:14:33","modified_gmt":"2013-03-10T20:14:33","slug":"cyberbullying-doesnt-stop-creator-from-challenging-gender-stereotypes-in-video-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/646111","title":{"rendered":"Cyberbullying doesn\u2019t stop creator from challenging gender stereotypes in video games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When\u00a0Anita Sarkeesian\u00a0began raising money via Kickstarter last year for a project analyzing gender in video games, she received support from almost 7,000 backers &#8212; raising over $150,000.<\/p>\n<p>She also got death threats.<\/p>\n<p>In starting the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/566429325\/tropes-vs-women-in-video-games\/posts\/245217\"><i>Tropes vs. Women In Video Games<\/i><\/a> project, Sarkeesian, founder of the Feminist Frequency video blog, committed the crime of looking to produce and research a series of YouTube videos\u00a0questioning why the roles female characters play in mainstream gaming are problematic at best and insulting at worst.<\/p>\n<p>Everything would have been fine, if <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newstatesman.com\/blogs\/internet\/2012\/06\/dear-internet-why-you-cant-have-anything-nice\">4Chan hadn&#8217;t found out about it<\/a>, and declared troll war upon her. <a href=\"http:\/\/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com\/2012\/12\/25\/game-theory-making-room-for-the-women\/\">The New York Times summarized the abuse she received as a result of the campaign<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"quote-angry-fumers%c2%a0tr\">\n<p>Angry fumers\u00a0tried to hack her Twitter and Google accounts; they e-mailed her drawings of her being raped by video game characters; one even created a Flash game where you clicked the mouse and bruises and welts appeared on her face.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sarkeesian ended up <a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/GZAxwsg9J9Q\">giving a TEDxWomen talk<\/a> about the experience of being targeted by a cybermob, and specifically how (transforming the language of games to a new purpose), the men harrassing her saw themselves as heroic victims taking on a great injustice,\u00a0&#8221;and they cast me in the role of the villain.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='604' height='370' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GZAxwsg9J9Q?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;%23038;fs=1&#038;%23038;showsearch=0&#038;%23038;showinfo=1&#038;%23038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;%23038;wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/span> <\/p>\n<p>This campaign of abuse did give the project greater exposure, including coverage on outlets like <a href=\"http:\/\/kotaku.com\/5917623\/awful-things-happen-when-you-try-to-make-a-video-about-video-game-stereotypes\">Kotaku<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/boingboing.net\/2013\/03\/08\/tropes-vs-women-in-video-games.html\">Boing Boing<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/alyssa\/2013\/03\/08\/1690831\/anita-sarkeesians-tropes-vs-women-series-is-upand-its-great\/?mobile=nc\">ThinkProgress<\/a> and (as mentioned above) the New York Times.\u00a0But the price of this publicity was incredibly high.<\/p>\n<p>After a delay caused in part by Sarkeesian&#8217;s decision to expand the project beyond its original scope (given that she initially only intended to raise $6,000 to fund the research and production of <i>Tropes vs. Women<\/i>), the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/X6p5AZp7r_Q\">first episode<\/a>\u00a0launched this week.<\/p>\n<p>At nearly 24 minutes (making it part of the growing trend in <a href=\"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/2012\/06\/17\/30-minutes-or-more-why-web-content-keeps-getting-longer\/\">lengthier YouTube content<\/a>), &#8220;Damsels in Distress: Part 1&#8243; examines the frequency with which female characters in video games get kidnapped &#8212; the foundation upon which classic games like <i>Super Mario Bros.<\/i> and <i>The Legend of Zelda<\/i> are based.<\/p>\n<p> <span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='604' height='370' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/X6p5AZp7r_Q?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;%23038;fs=1&#038;%23038;showsearch=0&#038;%23038;showinfo=1&#038;%23038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;%23038;wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/span> <\/p>\n<p>In perhaps a wise move to avoid a repeat of what happened with <a href=\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=l8I0Wy58adM\">the original Kickstarter pitch<\/a>, YouTube ratings and comments on Episode 1 are disabled; to understand why, just look at this Gameranx compilation of what&#8217;s being said across <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gameranx.com\/features\/id\/13300\/article\/comments-aren-t-disabled-here-s-what-people-are-saying-about-tropes-vs-women\/\">various blogs<\/a> about it.<\/p>\n<p>However,\u00a0so far the first episode has racked up over 500,000 views in just a few days, and while trolls were always unavoidable, it&#8217;s also inspiring <a href=\"http:\/\/videogamewriters.com\/a-feminist-reacts-to-anita-sarkeesians-tropes-vs-women-in-video-games-60096\">reasoned debate over the episode and Sarkeesian&#8217;s approach to the subject<\/a>. \u00a0And that&#8217;s the version of the conversation that should be had &#8212; because that&#8217;s the version which could lead to real change for the video game industry.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/stats.wordpress.com\/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;%23038;post=618963&#038;%23038;subd=gigaom2&#038;%23038;ref=&#038;%23038;feed=1\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/jump?iu=\/1008864\/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;%23038;c=994992\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/ad?iu=\/1008864\/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;%23038;c=994992\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:<\/strong><br \/>Subscriber content. <a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/?utm_source=media&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=618963+cyberbullying-doesnt-stop-creator-from-challenging-gender-stereotypes-in-video-games&#038;utm_content=lizlet\">Sign up for a free trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/2012\/12\/connected-consumer-2013-how-2012-laid-the-groundwork-for-change\/?utm_source=media&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=618963+cyberbullying-doesnt-stop-creator-from-challenging-gender-stereotypes-in-video-games&#038;utm_content=lizlet\">How consumer media will change in 2013<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/2012\/11\/sector-roadmap-crowd-labor-platforms-in-2012\/?utm_source=media&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=618963+cyberbullying-doesnt-stop-creator-from-challenging-gender-stereotypes-in-video-games&#038;utm_content=lizlet\">Examining the rise of crowd labor platforms in 2012<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/2012\/10\/the-state-of-cross-platform-measurement-across-tv-online-and-social\/?utm_source=media&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=618963+cyberbullying-doesnt-stop-creator-from-challenging-gender-stereotypes-in-video-games&#038;utm_content=lizlet\">The state of cross-platform media measurement<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img width='1' height='1' src='http:\/\/gigaom.feedsportal.com\/c\/34996\/f\/646446\/s\/29697452\/mf.gif' border='0'\/><\/p>\n<div class='mf-viral'>\n<table border='0'>\n<tr>\n<td valign='middle'><a href=\"http:\/\/share.feedsportal.com\/viral\/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&#038;title=Cyberbullying+doesn%E2%80%99t+stop+creator+from+challenging+gender+stereotypes+in+video+games&#038;link=http%3A%2F%2Fpaidcontent.org%2F2013%2F03%2F10%2Fcyberbullying-doesnt-stop-creator-from-challenging-gender-stereotypes-in-video-games%2F\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res3.feedsportal.com\/images\/emailthis2.gif\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td valign='middle'><a href=\"http:\/\/res.feedsportal.com\/viral\/bookmark.cfm?title=Cyberbullying+doesn%E2%80%99t+stop+creator+from+challenging+gender+stereotypes+in+video+games&#038;link=http%3A%2F%2Fpaidcontent.org%2F2013%2F03%2F10%2Fcyberbullying-doesnt-stop-creator-from-challenging-gender-stereotypes-in-video-games%2F\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res3.feedsportal.com\/images\/bookmark.gif\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/da.feedsportal.com\/r\/159490694409\/u\/49\/f\/646446\/c\/34996\/s\/29697452\/a2.htm\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/da.feedsportal.com\/r\/159490694409\/u\/49\/f\/646446\/c\/34996\/s\/29697452\/a2.img\" border=\"0\"\/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"http:\/\/pi.feedsportal.com\/r\/159490694409\/u\/49\/f\/646446\/c\/34996\/s\/29697452\/a2t.img\" border=\"0\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/OmMalik?a=bG5W9AT7syg:yBBIXHXPnZ4:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/OmMalik?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/OmMalik\/~4\/bG5W9AT7syg\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When\u00a0Anita Sarkeesian\u00a0began raising money via Kickstarter last year for a project analyzing gender in video games, she received support from almost 7,000 backers &#8212; raising over $150,000. She also got death threats. In starting the Tropes vs. Women In Video Games project, Sarkeesian, founder of the Feminist Frequency video blog, committed the crime of looking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5409,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-646111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5409"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}