The Unspoken Thoughts In My Head

veebeebee asked: My only problem with Anita Sarkeesian is that I find her completely inept at actually addressing the problems she says are present in the industry. She wildly ignores context (especially in her last two videos), shows an appalling lack of knowledge about games she uses as examples, and a lot of times really seems to be reaching on her interpretations (the thing about an impaled splicer being sexualized? Umm, no.) And I know many other people who have the same problem.

sirfrogsworth:

(Part 2) Ms. Sarkeesian also has been known to misrepresent games or even flat out lie about them in order to better present her points. Now I don’t want to give the impression that I’m unsympathetic to the cause. There are certainly very serious issues with how women are represented in games (men, too, but that’s a topic for another day). And of course no one deserves death threats or harassment like she is receiving. But I do feel these issues deserve better treatment.

I’ve heard the context argument, and I’m not dismissing it out of hand— but the scenes shown, even out of context, were still disturbing. Several of my friends were brought to tears. I had trouble watching it.

Triggering content does not require any context to cause harm. For instance, my best friend who passed away several years ago was named Tru. Any time I read the word “true” it affects me. It doesn’t really matter what the surrounding context is. 

Depicting violence towards women in games for nothing more than environmental reasons doesn’t seem necessary in any context. Perhaps if there were storylines that dealt with the violence in a more three dimensional way. Giving the women stories and fleshing out their characters. Giving purpose and meaning to what’s depicted. Showing consequences and bringing awareness to issues.  

But more often than not, these scenes happen in the background. You kill the bad guy and move on. I just don’t think putting triggering content that does little to add to the narrative serves much of a purpose and it usually just makes it hard for women to play games they would otherwise enjoy. 

As for her flat out lying about things… that is hard to prove. That would require her to intentionally and knowingly say something false. Everyone exaggerates to make stronger arguments. I have definitely seen her misinterpret things. I’ve seen analysis that I didn’t necessarily agree with. And I think that warrants discussion. But I don’t know if poor interpretation and exaggeration is the same as a lie.

Contrary to what her opponents say, I do think she plays her fair share of video games, But even if she played 24 hours a day, I think it would be hard for her to have in depth knowledge of every game. For 30 minute videos discussing dozens of games, I think her accuracy is still acceptable.  

It’s not her fault she can’t be more transparent. It’s not her fault she can’t leave the comments open and have further discussion about the videos. I know what being popular is like. And I know what it’s like to have a barrage of hate thrust upon you. It is impossible to maintain your mental health if you allow yourself to read those comments and messages. If people on the internet were capable of having civil discussions about complicated topics, she would most likely be happy to further explain or even correct things she says in her videos. But because this topic attracts some of the most vile assholes I’ve ever seen, she basically has to deliver her video and then run away.

I personally think it is too much to ask that she try to engage any discussion afterwards. Perhaps you can just take my word that it would be mentally crippling. It isn’t a matter of “if you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” It is more like, “If you stay in the kitchen too long, you will burst into flames and be attacked by wolverines.”

People seem to want a perfect advocate. Someone above reproach that will not make any mistakes. Someone who has never said anything dumb in their past. That is unreasonable.  

I am personally indifferent to Anita Sarkeesian the person. I’m not sure if I met her in person that I would even be her friend. I’m not the leader of her fan club. 

I just think she is doing a good job bringing certain issues to light. I think she has an amazing strength that lets her keep going in the face of horrific harassment. Even if she doesn’t always have perfect analysis of every game ever… she is fighting for female representation in games. For representation in the making of games. Her videos are helping those who make games think more critically about sexism and misogyny.

If you want to nitpick the finer details, feel free. But I think when you put together the sum of the parts, even if some are flawed, the end creation is worthy of support.