Gamergate

Gamergate (GamerGate) began in August 2014. 
Observers have generally described Gamergate as part of a long-running culture war against efforts to diversify the traditionally male video gaming community, particularly targeting outspoken women. 
 
Harassment and threats have spread to many other venues, many of them outside those in which media fans generally participate.
==The Title "Gamergate"==
The original title for Gamergate was the IRC channel name "quinnspiracy." Near the end of August, Adam Baldwin (the actor who portrayed Jayne Cobb in Firefly) used the Twitter hashtag #Gamergate, and that title took off. at The Daily Dot. 
Baldwin's August 2014 description of Gamergate was that of a backlash against political correctness, and that it started a discussion "about culture, about ethics, and about freedom." 
The "ethics" referred to a preconceived notion that only white males are truly devoted to games and can write knowledgeably about them, so anyone who does not fit that profile but is interested in writing about gaming must pass an "ethics" screening. Women games journalists were assumed not to have earned proper credentials through years of gaming and technical know-how but were given the job in exchange for sexual favors or were someone's wife or girlfriend. Non-whites were assumed to have benefited from affirmative action.Talia Levin, "The Fetid, Right-Wing Origins of 'Learn to Code'. The New Republic, February 1, 2019. These "ethics" were applied to film casting as well, with complaints that female and nonwhite actors in films like Star Wars had not "earned" the roles, particularly zaftig Viet actress Kelly Loan Tran.
==A Description==
From Wikipedia: 
For a much longer, detailed description of Gamergate, see: for a very thorough history and description.
==Some Discussion==
One opinion: 
==Gamergate Transformative Fan Works and Activities==
There is evidence that transformative works were created by people on both sides of Gamergate. Many vids were created trying to explain the events that had lead to Gamergate becoming an international news story, with commentators from different sides of the argument often having differing views. One thinly veiled RPF fic, depicting the rape of one of the main characters in the Gamergate debacle, was for a short time available for sale on Amazon.A new low: One of Zoe Quinns harassers was selling rape fanfic about her on Amazon, 19 December 2014, accessed 17 September 2018. As the narrative around Gamergate became a wider discussion of sexism in the gaming industry, some female creators were derided as SJWs. Poet Elisa Chavez was criticized for her tone of voice, her technical poetry skills and her knowledge of gaming when her poem went viral. TL;DR - Elisa Chavez Doesn't Understand #Gamergate
One of the more prominent fanworks was the creation of mascot characters representing the opposing movements. The first, Vivian James, was created by 4chan users as part of a game design contest, and later adopted as the unofficial mascot of Gamergate[https://www.vice.com/en/article/exmwzp/meet-the-female-gamer-mascot-created-by-anti-feminists-828 - Meet the Female Gamer Mascot Born of Anti-Feminist Internet Drama, Allegra Ringo. Gamergate detractor Nightwulfe1 created their own counter-example, Lillian Woods - Lillian Woods Nightwulfe1 twitter, #stopgamergate2014. While initial reaction to Lillian was positive, she has since been co-opted by gamergate supporters.
===Other===
*Elisa Chavez - "#gamergate" (WoWPS 2015) a poem by Elisa Chavez
*Gamergate Life a comic by Kukuruyo
*Chainmail Bikini: The Anthology of Women Gamers
==Aftermath and Legacy==
==Meta/Further Reading==
* Gamergate controversy entry at Wikipedia
* Why Are You So Angry? Part 4: An Autopsy on GamerGate
* Foz Meadows, Rape Culture in Gaming. June 11, 2012. Defines rape culture and discusses the Anita Sarkeesian scandal.
* Elisa Meléndez, What it's like for a girl gamer: harassment in the gaming world. In Slate, 2012-08-13.
* Amy O'Leary, Sexual harassment in online gaming stirs anger. In the New York Times, 2012-08-02.
* Tasneem Raja, Why It Sucks to Be a Woman in the Video Game Industry. Mother Jones, Nov. 27, 2012. Thousands of women working in the video game industry are coming forward with stories of vicious sexism they've faced on the job.
* Aja Romano, How female gamers and comic fans fight real-life sexism online. Daily Dot, July 28, 2012. Discusses the Readercon scandal and quotes from high-profile female fans, with many links.
* Anita Sarkeesian's Feminist Frequency Blog. Ms. Sarkeesian is working on the "Tropes vs. Women in Video Games" project (first episode here -- don't watch the videos on the sidebar that aren't by FeministFrequency... the others are all by people making fun of her and trolling her.). When she put up a page asking for contributions to fund the project, she asked for $6000 and received over $60,000. She also received (and continues to receive) numerous death threats, rape threats, and her Wikipedia page was repeatedly vandalized with racial slurs and images of graphic pornography... all before she even started the project. In August 2014, Ms. Sarkeesian notified police and moved out of her home after a series of harassing twitters indicated that the sender knew her address. 'The word "troll" feels too childish. This is abuse'. Interview with Sarkeesian in The Guardian, 2015-08-29. She was featured in the January 15, 2015 edition of ABC's Nightline.Juju Chang & Katie Yu, ABC News, When Jumping Into Gamergate Turns Into Fearing for Your Life.
* As an example of the way women are treated in the gaming industry itself, the DOS attack on gaming platform company SendGrid after developer Adria Richards called a couple of co-workers out on Twitter for some blue remarks. Richards was subsequently fired. See also feminist blogger Amanda Blum's take in How We All Lost.
* About Feminism (published in May 2014) is an open letter detailing routine bullying and harassment toward women in the tech industry in general.
* "Women Are Being Driven Offline": Feminist Anita Sarkeesian Terrorized for Critique of Video Games. Democracy Now!, October 20, 2014. Discusses misogyny in gaming and the origins of Gamergate in the Zoe Quinn "scandal". WebCite
* Colin Campbell, Gaming’s toxic men, explained. Polygon, July 25, 2018. Not just more reportage on what is happening, but interviews with "writers and academics who have studied and published useful work on the problem of misogyny and racism in gaming and in popular entertainment. Most have experienced harassment and abuse from toxic gamers."
* Gaming's #MeToo Moment and the Tyranny of Male Fragility by Laurie Penny, wired.com on Sep 6th, 2019
==See Also==
*Puppygate
*Fake Geek Girl
*Misogyny in Fandom
==References==
Category:Fandom Wars
Category:Scandals
Category:Video Game Fandom
Category:2014 Events