Welcome to the new world of GAMERGATE, where men hate the women who are now playing the games that men thought were theirs »
The threat of violence against feminist Anita Sarkeesian has refocused attention on the often-misunderstood #Gamergate debate.
Video game culture wars.. They are certainly are not new.
It wasn't long ago that people accused GRAND THEFT AUTO 5 of deliberating degrading women... And that debate has only intensified with newer fights and fads online..
I have not been covering the game world lately, but there is something very notable taking place within it. Apparently there are high amounts of threats against women who review games.. the latest include a threat of violence against feminist and gaming critic Anita Sarkeesian.
CNN reports,
"It’s been the talk of video game professionals for the past two months," gaming critic Evan Narcisse said. "The culture wars that … hit other creative media (are) hitting video games now."
Here is the lowdown on something you may already know about if you’re a gamer in a gaming world. Men who play the hardcore violent video games are on one side. On the other: The new world of gamers, which so often includes women. And the world of online hate has entered the real world of pain..
CNN attempts to sum it up this way:
Then there are the others (see above) who smell a fight and have piled on. The vitriol, much of it aimed against women, has spilled from the Internet into the physical world. In recent months several women in the gaming industry say they received rape and death threats so specific they were forced to leave their homes.
Some gamers have adopted “Gamergate” as the term for a loosely defined movement defending hardcore games against criticisms from feminists and others.
It all begins, we are told, with a critic claiming that often women are the victims of violence in games. Or used as eye candy. And on that point, it’s undeniable. Women get bad treatment in really violent male-oriented games.
But it has moved on from there.. Now the allegations of sexism in the gamer world are coming to light, women claiming harassment from within the industry, and the constant barrage of rhetoric of males vs females over games online. This is the a pop culture war—not a culture one, perhaps, since it is confined to one small sliver of American life.
The gamer world needs to come out of the basement and realize that what they are playing is not real.. This nonsense of female vs male is ridiculous.
For the men who hate women in entertainment and games, get ready: Women are the ones now buying games, deciding what movies to watch, and creating popular television shows. All-male oriented entertainment is going to be gone.. just as the movie studio creating a all-female GHOSTBUSTERS remake. The wizard master may be the male in that one..
Also, for those playing video games, mired in the world of fiction and false realities, get a grip on yourself before you wreck yourself.. I wrote about how too often our pop culture and entertainment gives us false sense of security. While you play games, the real world is at war outside your safe walls.. For some people, the walls come down and the real world enters.
I am sure GAMERGATE will continue.
After a while, it will burn itself out.. and the fight if today will be a distant memory of tomorrow.. as women slowly begin taking their path into the rough and tumble gamer world. Men need to make room.. Haters will hate. But gamers will play.
And the only way to unite gamers is to play a game.