Sci-Fi & Squeam

20 Sep 2014

We’re for Women, and we’re for Men, and we’re for Gaming: The Message

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Sonja the Squeamer talks to Steve Darlington AKA Steve Dee about his organsation:

The Message: the MESSAGE stands for Men Ending Slurs and Sexist Attitudes in the Gaming Environment!

So we talked about Sexism, Slurs,in the gaming world and what Steve and his alliance of men will do and ARE doing to combat the sexism inside games and game communities. Steve talks about what inspired him to start this project, from events mainly in 2012, from Anita Sarkeesian to generally the poor representation in games of females and the misogyny faced by female gamers he knows in the community.

Gender stereotypes and the damage it causes

Article on Anita Sarkeesian

‘… it was widely reported ( September 1st 2014 ) that the North American media critic Anita Sarkeesian had fled her own home, thanks to rape and death threats from angry gamers targeting her and her family. Her crime was to produce a series of YouTube videos analysing the depiction of women in games from a feminist perspective.

Sarkeesian’s plight eerily mirrors that of games designer Zoë Quinn [see footnote], developer of the experimental adventure, Depression Quest, who has also had to pack up and move in with friends, after an online campaign of hatred against her.’

The above report from The Guardian is more and more typical of the sort of attacks on Anita Sarkeesian and is a great concern.

Video of Anita at TEDxWomen talks in 2012: