I remember some on yelled at me that I needed to see what these radical feminists like Anita Sarkeesian were saying, that it was male-hating and threatening vidya. I had vaguely heard of her at that point but hadn’t seen any of her stuff so I looked up a video of hers on YouTube. Very quickly I was like “this is what the gamergaters are getting worked up over? This is pretty vanilla by feminists standards, even a bit boilerplate.”
Materially, we have set up a system where being right is what gets you punished, and people will hate you for doing something they agree with deep down. Because of the implications it makes about them. In the words of David Graeber, who calls the phenomenon ‘Moral Envy’, they’re saying “How dare you act as if you are morally superior to me (although I do agree that your actions are morally superior to my own.)”
I’ve learned over time that almost nothing gets people on the internet enraged more than just the uncomfortable thought that maybe they’re consuming something that might be bad in some way, be it how it’s made, how it’s distributed, who is hurt in its production, or just the damaging propaganda built into it.
But we’re not talking about some major lifestyle change, playing some video games where the lead character is a woman whose personality doesn’t revolve around her being spankbank material isn’t a huge ask.
She didnt even REALLY say “hey play different games” she moreso was just asking to be critically aware of the content of what you’re playing which is some incredibly basic shit.
he moreso was just asking to be critically aware of the content of what you’re playing which is some incredibly basic shit
One of her mantras was something like “it’s possible to enjoy something while also accepting criticism of it” and I’ve learned firsthand how impossible that is for some people.
I re-read Lord of the Rings recently. And you know what? It’s definitely got racist elements in it. It sucks. But I can still enjoy the books. It’s just whenever I talk about them now (or even think about them), I do talk about how I like them but the racist parts cannot and should not be ignored.
I remember some
on 
yelled at me that I needed to see what these radical feminists like Anita Sarkeesian were saying, that it was male-hating and threatening vidya. I had vaguely heard of her at that point but hadn’t seen any of her stuff so I looked up a video of hers on YouTube. Very quickly I was like “this is what the gamergaters are getting worked up over? This is pretty vanilla by feminists standards, even a bit boilerplate.”
radical positions like “harassing women is bad”
It’s pure do-gooder derogation.
Materially, we have set up a system where being right is what gets you punished, and people will hate you for doing something they agree with deep down. Because of the implications it makes about them. In the words of David Graeber, who calls the phenomenon ‘Moral Envy’, they’re saying “How dare you act as if you are morally superior to me (although I do agree that your actions are morally superior to my own.)”
cries in vegan
That’s one of the most time-honored sources of moral envy, that’s for sure.
I’ve learned over time that almost nothing gets people on the internet enraged more than just the uncomfortable thought that maybe they’re consuming something that might be bad in some way, be it how it’s made, how it’s distributed, who is hurt in its production, or just the damaging propaganda built into it.
But we’re not talking about some major lifestyle change, playing some video games where the lead character is a woman whose personality doesn’t revolve around her being spankbank material isn’t a huge ask.
She didnt even REALLY say “hey play different games” she moreso was just asking to be critically aware of the content of what you’re playing which is some incredibly basic shit.
One of her mantras was something like “it’s possible to enjoy something while also accepting criticism of it” and I’ve learned firsthand how impossible that is for some people.
I re-read Lord of the Rings recently. And you know what? It’s definitely got racist elements in it. It sucks. But I can still enjoy the books. It’s just whenever I talk about them now (or even think about them), I do talk about how I like them but the racist parts cannot and should not be ignored.
You might enjoy this: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/175
Ok this is slightly embarrassing but the first time I heard of Anita Sarkeesian was from a Hbomberguy video
I heard about her from a Jim Sterling video, and it was and still is probably the best take on the whole situation.
Please do not dead-name.
Calling them Jim Sterling is not dead-naming.
https://twitter.com/JimSterling/status/1355989748846907401