By now, the entire Internet is aflame over #GamerGate, which is best described as a misogynistic anonymous swarm of users on 4chan and Reddit who, under the false guise of "journalism ethics", seek to silence feminist critics of video games, namely Anita Sarkeesian, whose video series Tropes Vs Women in Video Games seeks to shed light on misogynistic undercurrents of video game plots and gameplay mechanics.
To recap, Eron Gjoni, an ex-boyfriend of Zoe Quinn, the creator of the brilliant (in my opinion) Depression Quest, alleged that she had slept with a Kotaku writer in exchange for positive coverage of the game when it was released on Steam1. Kotaku investigated the incident, and found no conflict of interest2. Unfortunately, despite the immediate issue being resolved to satisfaction, GamerGate only stepped up its resolve, and began targeting not just Zoe Quinn, but a whole swath of female personalities not only in gaming, but also in geek culture at large. Their primary target right now is Anita Sarkeesian, whose video series mentioned above has already angered many a hikikomori, but they have also attacked Brianna Wu, and even actress Felicia Day, who was "doxxed" (had her personal address discovered and shared on the Internet for the intent to intimidate and harass) for a rather innocuous and mournful Tumblr post3.
Many, such as the famous Chris Kluwe, have already succinctly expressed how I feel about GamerGate, but I feel the need to further explain why GamerGate is so toxic to gaming generally, especially when bastions of "old media" are becoming more accepting of the medium as an art form4.
It isn't quite enough to simply say that GamerGaters (GamerGators?) are the lowest dregs of modern society who should slither back into the filthy holes from which they first appeared; like it or not, the appearance of this phenomenon will irrevocably harm, if not entirely destroy, the hopes of the gaming culture to become an accepted art form, something that at leased used to seem important, back when Roger Ebert said he'd rather read Huckleberry Finn than play a video game.
The truth is, we need women in gaming. Unbeknownst to many, women have contributed a great deal to many of our favorite games. Amy Hennig was responsible not only for Uncharted, but also for the famous Legacy of Kain series. Jane Jensen created Gabriel Knight. and Roberta Williams wrote King's Quest.
I've been playing Counter-Strike in all of its forms starting when it was released (I started playing at version 1.5, I believe), and I have never played in a clan in which women were not present. Over the 14 or so years I have been shooting virtual avatars, I have met a fair number of women on the battlefield, and all of these women were fully capable of playing the game at least as confidently, if not more than the male players. One of these women exclusively uses the shotgun and calls herself ShotgunSally. As an ally, ShotgunSally is invaluable: If the rest of the team were to be eliminated, she can always be depended upon to complete the objective. As an adversary, Sally is terrifying.
A few days ago, RockPaperShotgun published an article about a freeware title called CHYRZA by Kitty Horrorshow5. I got the opportunity to play it late last night, and it was absolutely brilliant. The Unity game revolved around a small desert community in which a giant black pyramid appears on the outskirts of the village and summons inhabitants inside, causing them to disappear. It was a short and haunting game that I would recommend to everyone.
That women not only want to play games but also take part in their creation is beneficial to all of us not only as intelligent human beings, but also as gamers. One argument I've read was that because [gamers] have historically been bullied by women and have thus retreated to video games and other technological hobbies as an escape from daily ridicule, the phenomenon of women who want to partake in "our" culture is seen as an invasion. This is ridiculous. The reason is that because women--and greater society generally--are looking to take a more positive look at video gaming, people who play games no longer have to feel alienated, which is, ironically, something that these isolated boys have secretly wished for forever. There isn't a gamer on this planet who has not secretly wished for a "gamer girlfriend", and now that it is becoming a reality, they are terrified of it.
Because of the growing interest of women, the variety of stories and perspectives gamers are going to be exposed to will expand indefinitely. This is a very good thing. Earlier, I mentioned CHYRZA by Kitty Horrorshow, but there are more examples. Many of the games created by women are critical successes, such as Gone Home, Portal, and Journey, in addition to those I mentioned previously.
Gamers claim that it is important to them that video games are recognized as art, but in silencing critics like Anita Sarkeesian for pointing out what she feels is misogynistic in popular games (one of the games she mentioned in her latest video happens to be one of my personal favorites), GamerGaters can't have their cake, and eat it, too. Part of something being "art" is finding deeper meaning in what's going on under the surface of any story: text, film, or game, and being able to analyze it in a way that is relevant to the greater culture as a whole. And you know what? Anita Sarkeesian is actually right about what she's saying. It would be absurd for me to be offended at what she's saying, and absolutely Kafkaesque in the cruelest sense to silence her for stating what is a reasonable, well-researched opinion.
What Sarkeesian is actually doing is offering developers the opportunity to write better games; games that deliver to us a much wider variety of experiences, and this is, ultimately, what gaming is all about. The very best games tell memorable stories, make us think about our own lives, and ponder the big questions, such as, "What can change the nature of a man?"
Trying to alienate women from gaming vis-a-vis GamerGate has done enormous and irreparable damage to the gaming community in all aspects. As women leave gaming, terrified of severe persecution by Knights Templars*, the quality of games will stagnate, and we will never experience the games that we could have had. Once, gamers had a chance to be accepted into mainstream culture without others looking askance at their virtual hobbies, but GamerGate has all but dashed their hopes, projecting once again the image of basement-dwelling, neckbearded, odorous hikikomoris. As long as GamerGate continues, everything that gamers have wanted will be far beyond their grasp.
1) http://gawker.com/the-angry-ex-who-ignited-gamergate-has-no-regrets-1647186033
2) http://kotaku.com/in-recent-days-ive-been-asked-several-times-about-a-pos-1624707346
3) http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/23/felicia-days-public-details-online-gamergate
4) https://medium.com/the-cauldron/why-gamergaters-piss-me-the-f-off-a7e4c7f6d8a6 -- Chris Kluwe originally tweeted a colorful condemnation of GamerGate, but I can't find it. I have just discovered that he wrote this wonderful essay as a devastating salvo against the "movement".
5) http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/10/21/chyrza-horror/
*: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KnightTemplar
