**I’ve peppered in real threats women have gotten playing video games, for those who don’t believe it’s a problem**
“u act like ur good u down syndrome cunt ill rip ur ovaries out n make u eat em u mother fuckin spawn killin pathetic whore.”
Today marks my first installment of my new “Why It’s Sexist” series. This series was born out of conversations with folks who I would consider intelligent, reasonable, and not overtly sexist. However, when faced with scenarios—particularly in the gaming industry—like Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn, they suddenly turn into some head-in-the-ground ostriches that don’t hear reason. Or more specifically, they stop being able to see just how fucking awful and influenced their thinking is.
“I’m gonna find your twitter when this game is over and rape you.”
Again, you don’t need be a bad person to have thought that Sarkeesian or Quinn made up their stories. Lot’s of times, people think they’re good people so necessarily arguments against sexism don’t apply to them. “I’m not sexist, I just logically think Sarkeesian is making up the death threats she is getting.” Often you may feel this questioning is coming from “your gut.” However, “your gut” has been influenced by an incredibly misogynistic culture that programs you to think “she made it up for attention” when you hear a woman has been sexually harassed, assaulted, threatened, or raped. Your knee-jerk response to these situations isn’t necessarily your own response. Don’t you feel violated that someone has taken over your body and forced you to respond in a way you wouldn’t normally?
“ima rip your neck open and fuck the gaping hole ald finish off in your eyes”
Last week, Sarkeesian received threats that detailed her address, her parents’ names and address, her children’s names, threats serious enough for the police to remove her from her home. Yet, the response of many games is questioning whether this is really happening, whether it’s as serious as she is saying, or whether she is making it up for attention. They want evidence! Which will be the third installment of this series: Why It’s Sexist Vol. 3: Where Are the Statistics on That?.
“SHOW ME YOUR TITTIES OR YOUR FAMILY DIES”
First of all, fuck every television show, movie, song, play, and poem for making this a thing, oh yeah, and the history of our culture. False accusations make up around 1.5% of rape accusations, and but no data exists on how many of these false accusations are by men or children. But that’s not the real point. The real point is that for the entirety of our culture we have placed less value in women’s experiences. They have held less weight in court, on TV, and in every day life. Even in the last couple hundred years, women were treated for “hysteria” often, any time they dared showed emotions that were outside of the norm they were immediately called crazy.
“REPORT ME AND I WILL FUCKING GUT YOU! YOU SPINELESS FUCKING ASSHOLE! GET BACK TO FUCKING DICK FOR CRACK YOU RANCID TWAT”
Symptoms of hysteria were fainting, sexual desire, fluid retention, shortness of breath, and on and on. Men took women’s kids away; women were committed to institutions; they were subject to crazy medical experimentations. Hysteria isn’t even called hysteria. It’s called “female hysteria.” This all feeds into the culture we have now of distrusting women. Not that long ago we were less than people. After that we were people, but not trustworthy, and still today when a woman says she is being harassed so many people’s first reaction is to question her.
“am gonna slit your throat you fucking slut for having a full friends list you fucking cunt I hate you go an fucking die you slag”
While you may feel your gut reaction to question Sarkeesian is legitimate and innocent, know that you don’t exist in a tabula rasa society. Your actions exist in a larger network of history and culture, and you are negatively contributing to that by participating in this type of action. It’s not that you can never question someone’s motive, but if you read nothing but a headline and assume the woman is making it up, more is going on there than you may even be aware of. Stop being part of the problem. Stop missing the point. Educate yourself and spread the word.
Do you want a taste of the PUBLIC threats Sarkeesian gets? Look at her twitter; look at her youtube.
Do you want a taste of the threats women get every time they are identified as a woman and try to play a game? DON’T LOOK AWAY. YOU. YOU WHO SAID SARKEESIAN IS MAKING THIS UP. YOU WHO THINKS GAMES AREN’T SEXIST. READ THIS SHIT.
“im goan jack off to you after this game”
“girls like to get beat during seks. Cuz they don’t know how to act like women. They act like sluts so they get treated lke sluts. The problem isn’t guys like me who take advantage of women, the problem is that most women are sluts and allow me to doit. Mabbe cuz theyre just attention starved and that’s the only way they can get it. Once women develop their own opinions they become Satanists.”
“fuck you kanker please get cancer and die”
shut the fuck up cunt ive got 3.24 k/d ratio and u aint shit I will hunt you down in real life and kill u wanna fuck with me bitch we can do it for real see who gets taken out u wanna talk like ur a badass fuck ive served 5 tours in irag and Afghanistan I will hurt ur punk ass.”
Was it hard to read this article with those disgusting death threats in it? Imagine how hard it is to game when your constantly getting messages from people threatening to hurt, rape, and kill you.
In next week installment of new ways to dismiss threats and violence against women, Why It’s Sexist Vol. 2: It’s Only a Bunch of Nerd Kids Doing This Stuff
