Thanks, Anita

August 1, 2023 11:04 AM

Shutting Down Feminist Frequency

Previously: Anita Sarkeesian, Feminist Frequency

posted by May Kasahara (33 comments total)

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posted by Faint of Butt at 11:07 AM on August 1, 2023

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posted by adamsc at 11:08 AM on August 1, 2023

I think it's more of a celebration of Anita taking her own life back. I won't dot it, I'll cheer for the work done. Thanks, it was hard, and necessary. We learned so much.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:11 AM on August 1, 2023 [46 favorites]

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posted by Spike Glee at 11:13 AM on August 1, 2023

Sarkeesian did important work in the face of tremendous abuse and bad-faith nonsense. She is to be congratulated for a race well run.
posted by Gelatin at 11:23 AM on August 1, 2023 [24 favorites]

Oh jesus, i thought she died. whew
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:30 AM on August 1, 2023 [25 favorites]

She significantly shifted how we critique and view videogames and gaming culture. She faced a mountain of abuse and harassment as a result of it. But the gaming space is much better for it and for that I am forever thankful.
posted by Fizz at 11:32 AM on August 1, 2023 [26 favorites]

It is absolutely insane how obsessively hateful people were and continue to be toward Anita. Every time she breathes a word there are a hundred hour-long "response" videos that essentially accuse her of being a woman out loud. Even when she's celebrating something banal or criticising something most gamers don't like-- still somehow her having any opinion necessitates abuse.

I hope at some point she is able to just be.

And yes, thank you, Anita.
posted by robotmachine at 11:40 AM on August 1, 2023 [20 favorites]

Have not read the article yet, but like others I really appreciate her and all the good work she did here despite the overwhelming harassment she got for it.

For a while there (before Covid, probably?), I was buying all the new women in the office the FF "Tolerate No Pricks" enamel pin (green cactus in pink pot with lettering). Last time I went to get one from dftba.com, they were no longer available.
posted by Glinn at 11:42 AM on August 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

I remember playing a multiplayer flash game where you could sacrifice yourself to bring down the points leader, to then start fresh and possibly work your way up.
Once I got too good at the game, I changed the name of my little ship to Sarkeesian, A. The game became fun again, dodging all the would-be kamikazes.
posted by tigrrrlily at 11:43 AM on August 1, 2023 [7 favorites]

Oh wow. We had some good conversations in my house because of her “Tropes vs Women” videos. What important and valuable work she has done. I hope she gets some rest and continues to do whatever interests her. Thank you Anita!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 12:07 PM on August 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

Can't say I'm surprised to hear this after all of the years of abuse. I'm glad they've got a plan in place for what's left to do, anyway.

I'd like to hope someday the abuse stops, but....yeah.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:22 PM on August 1, 2023

Thank you, Anita.
posted by humbug at 1:00 PM on August 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

I really wish Google would just take down everything I don't agree with.

Also, I agree that response videos are definitely a form of harassment. And they should be banned and if those people have jobs they should be fired.
posted by drstrangelove at 1:09 PM on August 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

yea, thanks Anita. She's been doing amazing work, and I hope she gets a chance to relax soon, she's earned it.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:25 PM on August 1, 2023

Thank you, Anita.
posted by k3ninho at 1:38 PM on August 1, 2023

Oh, hush, strangelove. You would crumple under 1/10 of the shit she's taken.
posted by praemunire at 1:50 PM on August 1, 2023 [27 favorites]

I'm not going to ick up this thread by listing ways the scale of the harassment against Anita went far far beyond people simply making response videos, but this Guardian article paints a good picture

that is a lot of energy spent on being hateful to a woman, the whole point of which is to get her to shut up

but sure Anita was the one doing the censorship, I heard she personally went down to Team Ninja HQ and hardcoded out all the jiggle physics and that is why no gamer has seen a boob since 2015

sorry I would love to continue this discussion that was started in complete good faith but I just rolled my eyes too hard and now I need to go to the hospital
posted by taquito sunrise at 1:50 PM on August 1, 2023 [37 favorites]

How do you know what I've been through in my life?

Because you're making a bad-faith comment that minimizes the harassment a feminist has received.
posted by AlSweigart at 2:43 PM on August 1, 2023 [20 favorites]

Thank you, Anita.
posted by bigendian at 2:45 PM on August 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

. Thanks for everything, Anita.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 2:47 PM on August 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

I will forever remember this unhinged 2015 Twitter conversation I had with someone who despised Sarkeesian and projected a bit too much of about themselves: "I have noticed that Lara Croft in the new Tomb Raider has had some of her "sexiness" taken away. Sad, as I love sexy Lara."

Whenever I think about the typical Anita Sarkeesian detractor, I picture this guy.
posted by AlSweigart at 2:53 PM on August 1, 2023 [3 favorites]

Mod note: A few deleted. If you're not going contribute to the thread with good intentions and only intend on derailing things, please remove yourself from the thread moving forward. Also, arguing with other users is not OK. Leaving a few comments up for clarity.
posted by travelingthyme (staff) at 2:58 PM on August 1, 2023 [9 favorites]

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posted by potrzebie at 3:09 PM on August 1, 2023

As a long time supporter of FF and also a Nebula subscriber, I was pleasantly surprised to see her exclusive content there. I hope she continues that as a creative outlet in a medium which is (I assume) vastly more supportive of her.
posted by Hamusutaa at 5:44 PM on August 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

If democracy is saved, Anita deserves some credit.
posted by tehgubner at 5:44 PM on August 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

Sarkeesian turned over one hell of a rock* with her work, simply by taking games seriously as a medium and weathered immense abuse for her efforts.

She deserved her success and she deserves a break.

*not her fault to be clear, gaming has always had reactionary termites in the foundation. She merely had the talent and temerity to voice valid criticisms in an effective manner.
posted by Reyturner at 6:35 PM on August 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm an old, I like playing video games (WOW, mostly) and this woman taught me a hell of a lot.
posted by pthomas745 at 8:25 PM on August 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

After watching her various Tropes videos, I've never looked at games the same way again.

I'm glad she did what she did, and am grateful for the gift she gave of her self over that time.
posted by ChrisR at 12:36 AM on August 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

If you want to see the influence of what Anita Sarkeesian did, you can just look at this thread and count the number of comments until the mods had to intervene to delete gamergate-propaganda influenced comments.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 2:55 AM on August 2, 2023 [13 favorites]

Also, arguing with other users is not OK

It's.... not? This seems contrary to... every thread I've ever read on Metafilter.
posted by kbanas at 6:35 AM on August 2, 2023 [6 favorites]

I remember what turned out not to be the height of the bad-faith criticism, and I was like, I have seen a photo of her with four consoles and a Plants vs Zombies Sunflower plushie. I do not think she would put this much energy into something that she was indifferent to. I do not think her very first example would be a deep cut from Rare that got so heavily retooled people forget it existed if anything you were saying was true.

And even if it were true, honestly I would have welcomed it because it meant gaming was notable enough to warrant outside academic critiques.
posted by Merus at 6:47 AM on August 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

If some dude still wants to roleplay the old contrarian bit, I’m going to leave the polite discussion to others. Because starving trolls of our attention assumes that these guys are just posting for the lols and eventually they will just go away.

I think they have fully embraced the misogyny and these guys stubbornly want to demonstrate that they were right all along and it really was about ‘ethics in game’s journalism’. And I want to take this opportunity to disabuse them of not just their crappy little take on Sarkeesian but tell them that this is the toxic waste at the heart of bro gamers culture.

My kids love gaming, but if they pick up any gamergate/bro/incel from gaming it’s because I have failed as a parent. I will have failed to raise decent people. Instead I will have raised kids up who just accept and embrace existing inequalities, and lack the empathy or even just the imagination to relate and understand others. What a great disappointment it would be to raise folks who turn out intellectually lazy and reactionary and choose the easy misogyny. Perhaps the greatest failing would be raising up kids who build an identity out of gaming, and perpetuate the hate and bigotry because they are incapable of resisting peer pressure even years and years later as fully grown adults.

Because gaming culture is still absolutely fucked up for exactly the reasons Sarkeesian pointed out.
posted by zenon at 9:19 AM on August 2, 2023 [8 favorites]