This is Why Criticizing Anita Sarkheesian is Irrelevant and Pointless

[CHUD]

Ahahahahahahaha. She's a joke, "these reactions show the male privilege in the gaming community". It's like she's a cartoon figure. A cartoon damsel in distress at that, she can't help but show how much she's a victim of the ebil internet. Come on white knights rescue the damsel!

Playing the "White Knight Card" already? Sorry, but it's quickly becoming more a badge of honor than a shameful mark.

I mean, regardless of what one thinks of feminism today (relevance, methods, agenda, whatever) - how does exposing genuine sexism in a media, going deeper into the matter than anyone else, and making fairly intelligent arguments about it - make oneself a "cartoony damsel in distress?".

She has more than proven there is a dark, anti-woman side to the industry / fandom. How about adressing that, rather than trying to shame her and those women AND men who agree and support her into silence?

 

[Xanex]

Ahahahahahahaha. She's a joke, "these reactions show the male privilege in the gaming community". It's like she's a cartoon figure. A cartoon damsel in distress at that, she can't help but show how much she's a victim of the ebil internet. Come on white knights rescue the damsel!

Playing the "White Knight Card" already? Sorry, but it's quickly becoming more a badge of honor than a shameful mark.

I mean, regardless of what one thinks of feminism today (relevance, methods, agenda, whatever) - how does exposing genuine sexism in a media, going deeper into the matter than anyone else, and making fairly intelligent arguments about it - make oneself a "cartoony damsel in distress?".

She has more than proven there is a dark, anti-woman side to the industry / fandom. How about adressing that, rather than trying to shame her and those women AND men who agree and support her into silence?

I'm actually quite amused by the implied sexist hypocrisy of white knighting. When they so viciously defend a female feminist like Anita it implies that she is weak because she is female and cannot defend herself.

 

[Zombie Izzard]

snip

http://jennytrout.blogspot.com/p/jen-reads-50-shades-of-grey.html?m=1

Trust me when I say their are plenty of women who bash 50 shades for the abusive pos it is.

OT: If she really wasn't a troll then why feed them?

 

[puff ball]

i get the feeling at this point Anita could post anything on twitter and get nothing but hate back

Anita: bought a burger today but they forgot the fries #lame

random internet guy: your an entitled c#@t

mansman323: why don't you go in the kitchen and make some yourself then.

note i am not condoning this nor am i trying to say this is a non issue, im just saying this stuff seems to follow her.

 

[Something Amyss]

Everything is open to criticism

Yes, and you have the right to free speech, even if that speech is inane or in some cases harmful. I think you're missing the point. You may have the right to criticise her, but it is ultimately pointless to do so. At least, in the fashion the majority of critics are doing.

 

[Xanex]

i get the feeling at this point Anita could post anything on twitter and get nothing but hate back

Anita: bought a burger today but they forgot the fries #lame

random internet guy: your an entitled c#@t

mansman323: why don't you go in the kitchen and make some yourself then.

note i am not condoning this nor am i trying to say this is a non issue, im just saying this stuff seems to follow her.

While there is some truth to what you say. I don't think it's because of who she is. Ghandi could tweet about peace and understanding and get some trolling back.

 

[CHUD]

I'm actually quite amused by the implied sexist hypocrisy of white knighting. When they so viciously defend a female feminist like Anita it implies that she is weak because she is female and cannot defend herself.

So, for a man to defend, or more accurately, *side* with a cause whose primary figure is currently a woman - it implies that the woman in question is weak? Or that the man in question is ONLY siding with her BECAUSE she is a woman?

Interesting line of thought. Wonder if it applies to other areas than feminism / anti-misogyni? I have yet to see accusations of "White Knighting" being made when men defend Ayn Rand or Thatcher and what they stand for.

These women can (could?) certainly hold their own, true, but so can Anita. And I would disagree that a man siding with HER proves her weak (or the man to actually be patronisingly over-protective of his "fair maidens") any more than doing the same in the other examples would prove THOSE women to be weak.

In other words. I think you are wrong, and that this argument is just another way to try and shame anti-misogynistic men into shutting up and submitting to the MRAs and Anti-Feminists.

 

[Gameguy20100]

OK I need to ask.

Who the fuck is this ***** anyway?

oh a person thinks video games are sexist so fucking what? we get claims like this all the fucking time what makes her so special?

I Mean she hasn't done anything to me so I don't care what she does.

Besides if she is my enemy didn't a wise man once say the greatest Insult an Enemy can suffer is to be ignored

 

[The_Scrivener]

I didn't compare the two people. I compared two situations where the greater issue was of obviously greater importance than nitpicking the pointless details/minutia that people get caught up in.

Regardless, her latest Tweet just seems to seethe with inflammatory material as if she's trying to spark something. Why do we give this Twat attention anyways?

I don't particularly care for her and her horrible representation of feminism. Christ almighty, half the time she utters anything about sexism she makes herself look like the stereotypical feminist most misogynistic males paint them out to be.

It's just painful to watch.

And in response to Anita's idiotic tweet totally disregarding Mirror's Edge 2

Calling her a 'Twat' (all caps, nice touch) is a great way to show off how open-minded and unsexist you are.

 

[CHUD]

Ok where is the proven anti-woman side to the industry that she's shown.

And complaining that there were no women protagonists in the conference is not sexism it's just complaining that they aren't making games you want to see. It's no different than complaining about a lack of horror games (if there was a lack, I didn't see that conference).

Where is the anti-women side to the industry? Heh. How about SEEING some of her videos it's pretty clear there's plenty of sexism to be found.

And as for her speaking up about there not being any female protagonists. Well, I agree that in itself this might not be sexism (it is also wrong, I'm very much looking forward to Mirror's Edge 2). However, it is a "legitimiate" pet peeve for her to have, and I've certainly seen Twitters made from bigger "celebrities" on looser grounds.

BUT, the loads of vile responses IS another proof of there being plenty of misogynists among gamers. Her twitter did not warrant such hateful responses, and neither is she "the cause" of the anti-woman sentiments these repliers show - these people are chauvinistic get-back-in-the-kitchen-and-leave-gaming-to-the-menfolk types *all on their own*.

So well, THERES your sexism! Not really so hard to spot, eh?

 

[The Deadpool]

Seriously, just because jackasses are flaming her, doesn't mean she trolled... Not her fault they were jackasses.

On the other hand... She didn't say jack about Microsoft. She complained XBOXONE had no female protagonists, missing the whole Mirror's Edge 2 thing. She is good at this though. Her arguments are well spoken and calm enough to get people who already agree with her to back her up and have enough small mistakes to get her genuine complaints... She gets TONS of hits from both sides.

 

[Madara XIII]

I didn't compare the two people. I compared two situations where the greater issue was of obviously greater importance than nitpicking the pointless details/minutia that people get caught up in.

Regardless, her latest Tweet just seems to seethe with inflammatory material as if she's trying to spark something. Why do we give this Twat attention anyways?

I don't particularly care for her and her horrible representation of feminism. Christ almighty, half the time she utters anything about sexism she makes herself look like the stereotypical feminist most misogynistic males paint them out to be.

It's just painful to watch.

And in response to Anita's idiotic tweet totally disregarding Mirror's Edge 2

Calling her a 'Twat' (all caps, nice touch) is a great way to show off how open-minded and unsexist you are.

Aaaaaaaand!?
Male or Female, if someone's acting like a twat, I'll still call them one. The fact that you were looking for sexism in my post is quite sad to say the least.
IDC what she is, male, female, trasgender, she simply posted something to start a shitstorm and low and behold one did brew.

my post was less about gender and more about the ilk that Anita's posted

 

[oooooooooooooooooooooooooo]

Scummy reponses from scummy people (the twitter trolls), but it's pretty tiresome how she pretends its because she is a woman criticising games, rather than an issue people have with her specifically as an individual. She has a persecution complex of an almost astounding degree, or else she is just a very clever and manipulative person.

People go onto twitter and tell celebrities that they wish that their kids would get cancer and other nasty things, it doesn't "prove" anything at all. Except that anonymity causes people to act nastily, which most of us have known for years.

Difference is she isn't a celebrity, she's just someone who's been very vocal about sexism in the medium. Even then, there are many celebrities who certainly have more available avenues for public feedback and yet don't get this level of bile directed at them on regular basis. Some of it may just be 'twitter trolls', but Anita gets why to much of this for me to believe they account for even half of what's being said.

Or to put it another way, if somebody such as Susan Arendt had said what Anita did, she would not have received these kinds of responses. If it was purely down to misogyny on behalf of gamers, then this kind of thing would happen to all who complain about it, not just a select few.

Well no, but I can't imagine many of these types of people are aware of anything Susan Arendt says to begin with. I certainly can't see any reason why any of those people who attacked Anita for her tweet would not attack anyone else saying exaclty the same thing, it's just that on this issue Anita seems to be the loudest voice right now, so she is the one everyone is responding to.

She complained XBOXONE had no female protagonists, missing the whole Mirror's Edge 2 thing.

No actually, as pointed out before, she specifically said no games with female protagonists were unveiled during Microsoft's presentation, which was correct.

 

[somonels]

What? Is her 'public shaming' of internet users accounts supposed to be a deterrent? Hell no. The internet is a bubbling pot of hate. All she does is play herself as under attack form the dumb irrational patriarchy trying to keep the innocent woman silent and in bondage.
Go to the right place and you get death threats from stating you like Orson Scott Card for his books.

Wars are how equal rights are won sometimes. So yeah, I'm fine with that.

That and the whole socialist/communist scare from Russia. Putin's oligarchy is up to no good I tells ya. Thought I have no idea how that ties into the representation of females in the games industry/games.

 

[GoaThief]

We need to stop giving her attention, she seems to thrive on it.

Hope so, she's certainly getting MY money - this latest storm of Anita-bashing just proves further there is a genuine need for what she's doing.

What genuine need is that?

There were many games featuring female protagonists or strong leads shown at E3. Female gamers too for that matter. Is she actually doing anything at all aside from taking money? What positive change has she caused? Is everything even so wrong in the first place (excluding personal responses to Anita herself)?

 

[The Deadpool]

She complained XBOXONE had no female protagonists, missing the whole Mirror's Edge 2 thing.

No actually, as pointed out before, she specifically said no games with female protagonists were unveiled during Microsoft's presentation, which was correct.

Hashtags are E3 and XboxONE. Word Microsoft isn't even on the tweet.

Also note, tweet was about an hour and a half after EA's presentation...

Again, the trick is making JUST enough of a mistake for detractors to have something to complain, while defenders have something to hold on to...

 

[oooooooooooooooooooooooooo]

Hashtags are E3 and XboxONE. Word Microsoft isn't even on the tweet.

Also note, tweet was about an hour and a half after EA's presentation...

Again, the trick is making JUST enough of a mistake for detractors to have something to complain, while defenders have something to hold on to...

yeah, but she refers to it as the xbox one press conference tweeted after the end of the Micorsoft presentation, I think think it's quite obvious what she was talking about

EDIT: sorry, I mean 'I think' she actually tweeted after the end Microsoft. I can't find the times the presentations started now, but I seem to remember reading her tweet shortly after the Microsoft presentation and while before the EA one, though I may be wrong

EDIT v2: just found it, she actually tweeted half an hour into EA's presentation.

 

[SinisterGehe]

As long as she keeps taking things off context without taking in note the background, story, lore and environment of the game and situation - I will criticize the hell out of her.

She has made some good female characters looks like weak weeping flowers "to be rescued" by the hero. When this was not the situation.
She take things off their context. It is not valid method to do anything!!!

 

[The Deadpool]

EDIT v2: just found it, she actually tweeted half an hour into EA's presentation.

Thought EA presentation was at 1pm and her tweet at 2:47...

Like I said, JUST wrong enough...

 

[Mikeyfell]

http://femfreq.tumblr.com/post/52673540142/twitter-vs-female-protagonists-in-video-games

She can pretty much film herself juggling fruit in her basement and as long as the title of her video touches on how much sexism there is in the culture, then she has a legitimate point. I don't want to imply that criticism of her points/videos is invalid or unwelcome on all accounts, but breaking down her style of delivery sort of strikes me as imprudent and short-sighted, like trying to find grammatical errors in Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speech."

Did you just compare Anita Sarkeesian to Dr. Martin Luther King?

At least I know now that The_Scrivener is what Anita's Escapist forum handle is.
This thread was enlightening.

I would take it back and pretend I was joking, but honestly Anita, you should really be more subtle while digging your own videos up on line...

Breaking down her style of openly contradicting herself and cherry picking examples that only support her view point, Or that that directly prove the opposite of her viewpoint, and yet she still tries to frame it in a way that furthers her own paranoia?

The Second paragraph of MLK's I Have a Dream speech starts with with a conjunction. So yeah, they are basically the same.

I mean if you look at it, she had to invent a new type of sexism this "collective unconscious sexism" to describe that writers don't want to put the effort into writing original stories or characterize minor supporting characters.

Yes. People attack her. They call her a **** and hope she gets raped. Those attacks are personal though. Those idiots are attacking "her" not "women". They aren't sexist, they just hate Anita Sarkeesian. They might be sexist, That doesn't make it any less of a personal targeted attack. Those people are idiot gamers and internet trolls, not writers, not developers and not publishers.

She's making up a reason to react to something that she doesn't like (That a lot of people don't like, I don't like it) it isn't sexist.