By now nearly everyone in the gaming industry has heard of Gamergate, which refers to an ongoing controversy on misogynistic attacks on women in the industry. The issue of the treatment of women in a male-dominated industry has been around for a while now, but it wasn’t until game developer Zoe Quinn was attacked in a bitter blog post (written by an ex-boyfriend) that its come to more peoples’ attention.
Every day, it seems, there’s something new: a few days ago, actress and “geek icon” Felicia Day said she was terrified of threats she received after posting about the issue on her blog:
“I know it feels good to belong to a group, to feel righteous in belonging to a cause, but causing fear and pushing people away from gaming is not the way to go about doing it. Think through the repercussions of your actions and the people you are aligning yourself with. And think honestly about whether your actions are genuinely going to change gaming life for the better.”
– The Only Thing I Have To Say About Gamer Gate
Game developer Brianna Wu, whose first game Revolution 60 received great reviews this year, has reported receiving “sickening threats”, with her personal details posted online.
In Asia, powerful governments such as Japan and South Korea are arguing over the Korean comfort women issue. There’s a very clear backlash against feminism happening right now. Whichever you way you look at it, women are being targeted for being considered the “weaker sex”. This is sexism and harassment at its worst.
And that’s never ok.