Totally.
Everyone who was in the iron sights of Gamergate needs medals for their work.
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The Anita Sarkeesian Story: 10 Years of Feminist Frequency (Polygon Article)
- Thread starter crienne
- Start date
Totally.
Everyone who was in the iron sights of Gamergate needs medals for their work.
It's impressive how there's literally no exception to this rule.
I'm with Krejlooc in that there should be more people taking the academic route to studying games.
Honestly speaking the industry genuinely wouldn't be the same today without people like Anita. For the people lurking and reading this, that's a good thing.
I was recently linked to this interview Sarkeesian gave to Dishonored co-creative-director Harvey Smith, in which he specifically credits Feminist Frequency, and Anita herself, with making him realise how Dishonored 1 failed in its representation of women:
Feminist Frequency's work is directly responsible for Emily being playable in Dishonored 2, and the other areas in which that game improves over the first in its representation of women. I can't think of a more straightforward example of why Feminist Frequency - and, indeed, games criticism that deals with questions of representation in general, and other "political" subject matter - is so important and necessary.
Anita Sarkeesian does great work, and the amount of harassment, disdain, disrespect and general condescension she's had to endure is a huge mark of shame for the entire video game community.
Feminist Frequency's work is directly responsible for Emily being playable in Dishonored 2, and the other areas in which that game improves over the first in its representation of women. I can't think of a more straightforward example of why Feminist Frequency - and, indeed, games criticism that deals with questions of representation in general, and other "political" subject matter - is so important and necessary.
Anita Sarkeesian does great work, and the amount of harassment, disdain, disrespect and general condescension she's had to endure is a huge mark of shame for the entire video game community.
I always got the impression that it was a big insecurity thing: that wanted people to praise video games as some modern bastion of storytelling, to legitimise their hobby before all the people who mocked them.
Sadly, video game narratives are, on the whole, still stuck in the murky mire of B-movie camp, and thoroughly deserving of harsh criticism.
That they are friends in the context of the narrative is pretty irrespective of the overall points Sarkeesian is making regarding tropes in gaming. She speaks about mario's function in the game narrative, as the role of the player. His reasons for saving the princess are meaningless, obtaining the princess is still the goal. It's a reward. It functions the same way as a high score does in the context of video games. In the overall broader discussion about equality and representation, boiling women down to a prize to be won in video games is a drum that's beaten very often, where the opposite isn't nearly as true. And yes, I know about things like Super Princess Peach.
Yeah, we just had a living proof of that here.
Anita Sarkessian 2009 -
Anti-Shitbag Still Going Strong
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Somewhat related is this point I picked up on when I last talked to Sarkeesian for (IMO) a really nice article at Ars.
One key bit about how YT, the channel FF has most of its content on, punishes them by default: open an incognito browser, go to YouTube, and search for "Anita Sarkeesian." You'll likely find one, MAYBE two of her own produced videos, followed by 19 "reaction" videos.
Someone much smarter than me once told me that YT is broken because its economy is driven by "whales," just like F2P games are. A very very tiny population of YT users are its most addicted and "engaged," and they watch videos to completion, click on ads, subscribe, comment, and so on. Guess what content they engorge on the most? Angry reaction videos. The YT monster eats its own tail, shits it out, and eats it again.
Anyway, great article, thanks for sharing.
One key bit about how YT, the channel FF has most of its content on, punishes them by default: open an incognito browser, go to YouTube, and search for "Anita Sarkeesian." You'll likely find one, MAYBE two of her own produced videos, followed by 19 "reaction" videos.
Someone much smarter than me once told me that YT is broken because its economy is driven by "whales," just like F2P games are. A very very tiny population of YT users are its most addicted and "engaged," and they watch videos to completion, click on ads, subscribe, comment, and so on. Guess what content they engorge on the most? Angry reaction videos. The YT monster eats its own tail, shits it out, and eats it again.
Anyway, great article, thanks for sharing.
At the end of the day, she was a very important contributor. It doesn't matter if you liked her videos or not (and they were certainly pretty far from perfect) she did a lot of work in exposing the very, very shitty underbelly of gaming. I think she will legitimately go down in history as being one of the first people to really force games, and the industry as a whole, to be better (assuming we one day in fact get better).
I remember backing her early due to the subject and because she was a local Kickstarter (Bay Area) not thinking it would amount to much besides some videos on video game gender tropes and then a few days later it all exploded. It was really sad seeing how messed up and backwards a large portion of the gaming community was and the rise of GamerGate. Best of luck to her on her future projects.
Whilst sometimes I'll disagree with her (but these are rather small minor things), her overall impact on the industry is amazing and impressive. Glad the field is focusing a lot more of female employees, and pushing strong female narratives.
I always felt the "not a real gamer"/"scam" sentiments were born out of completely misguided jealousy. I've seen lots of posts and tweets and stuff that are seething that someone like her could be "allowed" to do something like FemFreq, like raising a lot of money and doing a long form deep dive into a subject is something that should only be limited to real-deal official scientists (tm) or something. What those views miss is that stuff like FemFreq is very empowering to individual creators. The idea that anybody can go out and enter a broader academic discussion with real, serious funding behind your critique is awesome. Those who gate keep broader societal discussions don't realize how they're slamming doors in their own faces.
Yeah I notice that whenever I watch a gaming video, generally youtube tries to funnel me into alt-right trash. But youtube's recommendation algorithm on her channel is particularly disgraceful.
Didn't realize it had been going on for 10 years. While I had some issues with the presentation of some of her points(as in the argument itself, not the point of it) and stuff like taking footage without permission lowered my opinion of her, I really apreciated what she set out to do and think she did a good job of it. She shined a light on some really ugly subjects that shouldn't have been anywhere near as controversial as they ended up being. I ended usually at least coming away with some additional perspective from her videos.
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Naughty Dog concluding Uncharted 4 with Nathan having a daughter instead of a son followed by Lost Legacy having two woman, both POC, as the main protagonists, as well as making TLOU2 centered around Ellie with a co-writer who's a woman was directly influenced by Feminist Frequency too. She really made a ton of devs self reflect on the stuff they did and that's absolutely reflected by swift changes in character design trends throughout this generation.
Oh now we're all extra curious. What 'totally rational' centrist talking point might warrant this victim complex?
You're right.
In regards to his post it was those talking points and then ending with a "I'm centrist" that set off the alarm bells to what what his purpose for questioning her professional capabilities was. Stuff is way too obvious at this point.
I've only played Japanese games so I have yet to see any changes that Anita might have brought into the industry.
Which is pretty damn sad, all things considered.
Which is pretty damn sad, all things considered.
Let's be real, there's no such a thing as Academic study of video game in any 'official' form.
We were going to wait a good 20 years until someone try to push a PhD on the subject even.
I don't see Sarkeesian's work as anything but an author wanting to do serious research like one would do when writing a book on specific film making subject.
The difference being that Anita chose to be funded by the community rather than go through a publisher or something.
It's really fantastic to see that funding was not only secured but also that the project made some great content too.
It's a fantastic trailblazer to what is possible to do in regard to video game literacy.
I really wish more of these project would pop up.
On the other side of the coin, it gave rise to a cottage industry of harassing grifters that is still alive and well.
From the Sarkeesian effect boundoogle to Carl of Swindon's entire career.
Oh yeah, it's more transparent than a clear pipe in Mario Maker 2 and you already know where it's gonna lead too.
For me it was almost a trigger to say I could listen to her viewpoint and presentation, and could disagree without acting like a fuckwad. Not every point is going to land home, but the discussion is completely worth it. Its why I was interested in finding legit rebuttals (like debating modernism with post-modernism or deconstructionism) and I found fucking nothing. Just attacks on her, her gender, her ethnicity, typical bullshit.
I honestly had no idea; I wish this stuff were better publicised. Feminist Frequency deserve the credit, and it'd probably help shut down at least some small proportion of the 'but why does it matter' folks who always seem to crop up in the comment sections and discussion threads of games crit pieces that specifically criticise games - and particularly popular, well-loved games - for the ways in which they handle marginalised characters, cultural appropriation, colonialism, and other such subject matter.
her videos rock. i was always ashamed about the way the industry treated women and her analysis videos nailed it.
Unfortunately the main way this shit is publicized or lookedis via youtube shitstains being boosted by the incredibly shit algorithm.
youtube and facebook should be burned to the ground honestlyUnfortunately the main way this shit is publicized or lookedis via youtube shitstains being boosted by the incredibly shit algorithm.
It definitely feels that way sometimes, especially with the gamergalt-right crowd, but the industry has made definite steps towards inclusion since then in the dev and journalistic space.
Mind you, we still have a long way to go and the biggest hurdle (the gaming audience who refuses to use critical thinking cuz no politics or something) is still in the way.
Unfortunately the main way this shit is publicized or lookedis via youtube shitstains being boosted by the incredibly shit algorithm.
Oh man. Robin was my fav gaming Youtuber until he published that video (and I'm not even a fan of Anita). Haven't seen his videos since then.
it's wild that it's been 10 years. anita rules and i can't imagine the strength you'd need to endure the shit that she has for so long
yeah this happens constantly and is so unnecessary and kinda gross
Feels like she made a true impact and I think western games have benefitted from it. There is less needless sexualization, less gender stereotypes and there are more games where you have the choice to play as a female. She got the ball rolling to a dialogue and I believe it has made the industry more interesting and diverse. It's a shame parts of the gaming community is what it is and she didn't deserve what she got.
She's a positive and needed voice. I quickly nope.gif and unfollowed a Division YouTuber this week when he went on a rant about a tweet she made over E3's number of female protagonists.
Her work was crucial in exposing the ugly side of the gaming community, and in challenging things in the industry that we used to take for granted. Whether one would agree with her or not on a specific video isn't the point at all. I've no idea how you could be in a place like Era and not get that.
Western games have made promising improvements thanks to FF among other, but there's still a long way to go.
Western games have made promising improvements thanks to FF among other, but there's still a long way to go.
Speaking of false narratives, you're fully aware the the femfreq videos aren't monetized yes? It's always been nonprofit. In fact, the article even says as much incredibly early on. But i'm sure you've read it. 🤔
In Super Mario Odyssey literally the point of the ending is that Bowser and Mario are both being petty and possessive and Peach decides she's had enough and leaves on her own.
JFC just shut up 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄
The less positivity said about nintendo's attempt at representation in Odyssey the better. Its Awful intelligence insulting stuff. It's regressive compared to playable Peach (and Rosalina) in Super Mario 3D world an embarassing rehash of the i choose me trope that has existed since 90210 did it famously over 20 years.
This is because even if you can often justifiably quibble with her choice of specific examples, the points she makes are very real. To argue against the examples, or to get upset because she thinks your favourite game is deeply problematic is besides the point. It's ok for your faves to be problematic. All of mine are to some degree or other.
Gamers still aren't ready for academic analysis of their hobby, and in the pre-gamergate years, gamers wanting "games to be considered art" was something I saw as ironic. If games are art, they will be analysed and critiqued like art, and many don't want that, just validation.
Great article. Sarkeesian is extraordinary, and incredibly brave. I wouldn't have been able to put up with 1/100 of the horrors she goes through without completely crumbling - reading the Abuse section of the article was nauseating, not to mention realizing how understandably traumatized she still must be, eg. not being to be out in public without being hyper vigilant.
but she's ruining video games so the abuse is 100% acceptable, amirite?
Yeah, it's insane how warped the perspective was, and still is. Nothing she was saying was remotely radical, and were concepts that had been discussed in regard to film, television, and comic books for years - she was just applying the same discussion to video games.
Absolutely. She definitely changed the conversation, which is amazing. We've still got a hell of a long way to go, but she certainly got the ball rolling.
but she's ruining video games so the abuse is 100% acceptable, amirite?
Yeah, it's insane how warped the perspective was, and still is. Nothing she was saying was remotely radical, and were concepts that had been discussed in regard to film, television, and comic books for years - she was just applying the same discussion to video games.
Absolutely. She definitely changed the conversation, which is amazing. We've still got a hell of a long way to go, but she certainly got the ball rolling.
I should really give her videos a watch sometime -- the point some made here about "being a necessary voice you don't necessarily agree with" is eye-opening.
I've been well-aware of the shit flung her way, though; actually, a co-worker once mentioned how he could "understand" the *criticism that she somehow caused Charlottesville, LOL.
*What was the rationale behind that, again? I know Boogie was the one who started that, and he never has anything worthwhile to say, but still.
I've been well-aware of the shit flung her way, though; actually, a co-worker once mentioned how he could "understand" the *criticism that she somehow caused Charlottesville, LOL.
*What was the rationale behind that, again? I know Boogie was the one who started that, and he never has anything worthwhile to say, but still.
Fantastic read. Anita's work is important, and I wish her the best in whatever project she and her team take on next. Her videos certainly opened my eyes to the issues that were brought up, and as was stated, once the pattern was revealed, I couldn't unsee it.
As she and the article said, putting forth "hey, let's not treat women like shit" and maybe "asking to have a female protagonist in the occasional video game" are concepts I can wholeheartedly agree with and support.
I can't rationally fathom why someone would even disagree with that, let alone take things to an extreme by harassing her or threatening her life. But here we are in 2019, 6 years after Tropes vs. Women in Video Games debuted.
As she and the article said, putting forth "hey, let's not treat women like shit" and maybe "asking to have a female protagonist in the occasional video game" are concepts I can wholeheartedly agree with and support.
I can't rationally fathom why someone would even disagree with that, let alone take things to an extreme by harassing her or threatening her life. But here we are in 2019, 6 years after Tropes vs. Women in Video Games debuted.
Tonne of respect for her. People like to act flippant and say it is justs games, but she exposed a lot of vile and dangerous elements within the industry and culture. That she was able to keep a strong and steady voice in the face of such hatred and violence reflect a courage that very few people possess. I appreciate that she has applied that courage to fight for something so important (and so basic).
It is disheartening to see some of the responses even here and realize that it has been 10 years already... and that we still struggle with such basic issues of equality after so many thousands of years...
It is disheartening to see some of the responses even here and realize that it has been 10 years already... and that we still struggle with such basic issues of equality after so many thousands of years...
Anita deserves praise and respect. She did a lot for this industry. However, she has had her own missteps and isn't above reproach. At the end of the day, most people seem to be praising the good work she did. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with articulating your mixed feelings (especially if people are being respectful).
I mean when the first chapter of a long form article is "The first bomb threat." as a result of the horrible treatment and harassment that she still receives on a daily basis, note, it's been ten years of receiving threats along these lines amongst the shitposting:
Maybe just maybe, it's a good idea to just the hell up instead of saying something along the lines of "WELL SHE'S NOT PERFECT." As no one's arguing that she is in the first place. đź‘Ź Just food for thought.
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Of course she's not beyond criticism, but you don't need to always qualify everything that you like and it's something that *repeatedly* happens toward her and her work that clearly goes beyond simple criticism