spacekatgal

I can confirm that Leigh Alexander is not a Nazi sympathizer.

I think this leads to a larger talking point, though. Which is - gamers are EXTREMELY quick to leap on any woman with a high profile and bully the hell out of her. You do it to Leigh. You do it to my friend Carolyn Petit, you do it to my friend Maddy Myers. I could easily name 10 women that get bullying WAY out of proportion to the issues at hand.

It just confuses me. Not only does it feel flat out misogynistic - it feels like you're attacking someone that makes a product that you love. And don't tell me it happens to everyone. Overall, gamer culture is EXTREMELY quick to attack women in a double standard.

If the woman is gorgeous like Jessica Chobot, you fill the comments with really vile sexual things. If she's not gorgeous, you attack her over this. If she's just getting started, you attack her over her lack of experience. If she's an industry veteran, you call her old.

For a group that likes to think of ourselves as victims of bullying, way too many of you grew up to be vile bullies. I don't understand where the freaking empathy is.

I'm almost afraid to know what this is, although I can probably guess.

@mechakirby: I don't agree. But, I mean - I really feel strongly about Samantha. I'd love to hear more about why you feel that way.

@kalmia64: I agree with this.

I have to say, Leigh, Anita, Zoe, all these women that are vilified by male gamers? I really hate seeing them attacked so much. They are all very talented, very smart women. And the tendency to find one thing they've said, take it out of context and to attack them viciously seems unfair to me.

These women have the guts to stand up and try to change a whole industry. Have you ever tried to do that? They deserve a little slack.

@courage_wolf: This is what is called male privilege. It's a huge barrier in addressing these issues.

It's perfectly normal to feel weird, defensive, incredulous and angry when someone is telling you that you're causing problems. In fact, men tell me this every day. But, solving the issues at hand is worth a little of your personal discomfort.

We are all infected with this stuff. I, myself, am still growing and learning about feminism. We all have a part to play in waking up and doing better.

@rorie: I think everyone involved here is being mostly civil.

With respect, this is what women call a "tone argument." One of the biggest barriers women in tech face when trying to talk with men about problems is their tendency to focus on our tone. It's a double standard of communication we're held to, and a massive distraction. It's a form of unconscious bias than limits dialogue.

I am at a computer typing calmly and rationally. Believe me - you have not seen me confrontational. Also, I don't care if you find me confrontational.

Here's a little secret about the world. Being very nice and patient doesn't change things.

What I've realized this week is that women in this field need hope.

I am a very flawed human being. Personally, I am uncomfortable with all the women that write me and tell me I'm a hero. I'm not a hero - I am completely fed up with seeing women in this industry bullied. And I'm not going to settle for any more excuses.

I have a Jack Bauer level of anger right now at this situation.

If me taking the heat from Kotaku, Twitter and 8chan gives women hope? It is my absolute pleasure.

I had a discussion with an editor of a major videogame site this week. He said, he felt that we wanted our cake and to eat it too. We want VERY HARD for videogames to be considered art, but we don't want to hear any critique of videogames from a feminist perspective. He's completely right.

I can't believe that videogame culture has escalated to the point that I and my friends are having our lives destroyed and are getting death threats. The same political fanaticism that destroyed American politics has come to videogames. It's insanity.

Ultimately, most of what I argue for professionally is including more women in the games industry, and treating us with a little more respect. This is not something worth issuing death threats over.

No. I don't hate you. I do hate the personal crusade to destroy me and my friends. If it's all about ethics, leave me alone and go fight for what you believe in. Let the person with the best ideas win.

Again, I would point you to this from a Boston Globe writer. I agree with his opinion that this is really about men disliking women that advocate greater social awareness in games.