Thoughts on gamergate | LeftWingMaleAdvocates

Here is a recap of gamergate if you'd like.

What's becoming more apparent as time goes on is how much nonsense this really was. What happened to Zoey was pretty much the equivalent to being called a "whore" online by an ex bf. Like that's bad, but like... what? That's what caused all of this? Yes online harassment and bullying is bad, how is this a systemic issue of violence/brutalization/subordination etc etc etc. of women? Because that's the angle gamergate took. Like it was a personal thing about a breakup for one, and really what's becoming more apparent about it is that the whole thing was inhabited and waged by complete idiots. The people that were trolls and misogynists were idiots, but the feminist idiots are the ones that ended up winning, which is why this is important. Outside of online trolls there was never anything that was unraveled, it's the feminist equivalent of the twitter files. The most well known person of gamergate was Anita Sarkeesian that went on about objectification but nothing with substance was ever brought forward to substantiate the massive claims they were making.

At the same time all this online misogyny was happening there was Tumblr notorious for being a misandrist cesspit posing constant man hating garbage. Are men being subordinated because of mean online comments? No, they certainly get them and it's bad but what they are being subordinated by is massive feminist institutions blocking and opposing justice for male issues, and that has far more credibility than the endless conspiracism and scapegoating feminists constantly go on about especially in regards to gamergate.

[–]Skirt_Douglas -2 points-1 points0 points 2 years ago (7 children) | Copy Link

I think you are leaving out a really big part where Zoey Quinn got dog piled by a massive portion of the internet. It’s not just that an ex called her a cheating whore, it’s that a bunch of content creators and randos alike joined in, marked her as the succubus who killed gaming journalism as well as a cheating whore. That is the harassment she is talking about, being badgered by randos on the internet and having her reputation dragged through the mud.

Cheating is bad but Zoey’s sex life isn’t my business. Sound journalism is important too, but if that was the problem then the journalists should have been shamed, not her. She didn’t force them to write good reviews about depressionQuest by fucking them, they did that in their own volition. To act like she is the one who caused the bad journalism is pretty dumb.

Overall I agree with the anti-gamer gate stance. It is not our job to form an online mob to harass women who cheat, and to do so is pretty fucking awful. It’s the journalists job to write with integrity, so if that’s the part you care about, then it’s their feet that should have been held to the fire.

[–]Sydnaktik 5 points6 points7 points 2 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link

Read the article.

The FBI investigated Zoey's "harassers" and found almost nothing. Just a couple of 8chan troll who would harassed both sides just to add fuel to the fire.

The uproar was about biased gaming journalism, kowtowing to SJW (now called woke culture) but really should be called misandrist ideology, and generally showing disgusting contempt for their customers. Outright making false accusations about gamers involved in gamer gate.

At that time, you didn't have the kind of independent content creators we have today. This gave gaming journalist (who DID collude to get their story straight) a near monopoly on broad audience communication.

GamerGate was big enough to get a little mainstream media attention, and at the time they were deadly afraid of alternate media, so they obviously took the gaming journalist's side as face value (not that mainstream media ever looks deeper into things than face value)

You're presenting GamerGate as gamers vs Zoey Quinn. It's not. It's gamers vs gaming journalists and misandrist ideology taking over games. Zoey Quinn was the lightning rod fueled by 4chan.

[–]Skirt_Douglas -2 points-1 points0 points 2 years ago* (0 children) | Copy Link

I can’t speak for the messages she received but the videos about her were definitely over the top and targeting her as if she made the journalists write good things about her game by fucking them. The focus was definitely on Zoey having sex with five guys, the “Nuh uh, it’s about journalist integrity” argument came after she was already getting dog pilling for fucking five journalists. The gamergaters undoubtedly saw Zoey as the enemy, as well as the journalists, it wasn’t one or the other. Also, can we be real about something? Who gives a shit about gaming journalism? Who actually buys games based on their reviews? Would you have bought depressionQuest just because you read a good review about it? How many people actually bought that game because of the reviews? The fact that you guys flipped out this much over something as trivial as “journalistic integrity” in fucking gaming reviews always has and always will make me look at you side eyed.

Edit: if you are going to claim this is primarily about journalistic integrity within the gaming community and nothing else, then how exactly does this quality as a men’s issue?

[–]luminousmoon6[S] 1 point2 points3 points 2 years ago (4 children) | Copy Link

[–]Skirt_Douglas -3 points-2 points-1 points 2 years ago (3 children) | Copy Link

[–]luminousmoon6[S] 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (2 children) | Copy Link

I need you to lay out what you think my argument is because aggressive and ignorant aren't good combinations. Once again slowly, what about this is systemic? I am not sitting here claiming there's systemic discrimination against male gamers, though there does seem like a double standard when it comes to pointing out misandry on just about every platform.

If you didn’t want feminists to co-opt this to add fuel to their fire, they shouldn’t have made that easy for them by focusing so much on slut shaming Zoey

Or it shouldn't happen at all because there is no justification for it? You might as well justify andrew tate fans. How are everyday people responsible for 4chan trolls? No, tumblr users don't justify misogyny either. The fact is feminists utilized this as an opportunity to "uncover" the patriarchal systems ran by men when there was nothing to uncover which is a valid point to make.

[–]Skirt_Douglas 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link

You’re downplaying Zoey’s harassment. Having her ex write a revenge blog about the five guys she cheated on him with, then having that get picked up by major gaming influencers who all join in and encourage their audience to join in the shaming, is absolutely not the equivalent of just being called a whore online, it is either dishonest or ignorant that you would even frame it that way.

The feminists won because the gamergaters made them look right. If you want to win the argument after a feminist calls you a misogynist, you might change more minds by not acting like a misogynist.

“Or it shouldn't happen at all because there is no justification for it?”

What planet are you living on where people act in accordance with your subjective opinion on how they “should” act? Ideologues are going to do what’s good for the ideology, they don’t give a shit about your “shoulds”. At the end of the day, they have an agenda to push, and they are trying to win the arguenent. By focusing so much on slut shaming Zoey and targeting her individually, the gamers played into the feminist argument that they are a bunch of misogynists, by acting like a bunch of misogynists.

I am not justifying the feminists, I’m just telling you how the world works, if you don’t want your political opponent to win the argument then DON’T GIVE THEM THEIR WIN CONDITION. You don’t win arguments by throwing subjective “shoulds” at the universe, you win with optics, by looking right. The gamers let themselves down.

Not addressing the systemic thing because it’s neither here nor there.

[–]Karmaze 0 points1 point2 points 2 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

Honestly, a lot of people took the Zoe Post as a proto-Me Too documents. That was my wife's reaction at least (who was quickly harassed/ostracized for that opinion)

Gamergate's big sin IMO was challenging network/social power. I'm not going to say that there was no abuse/harassment or whatever, but it certainly was not a one way street. What's the phrase, don't go to war with people who buy ink by the barrel? That's really the big mistake.

Unfortunately it's not going to go away because it's the origin story of modern Progressive culture and really marked the end of small-l liberalism as a recognized political perspective. And I mean it's dumb...it shouldn't have been that way, right...over this?

But the core message, you don't get to give your friends/family special dispensation, I think is seen as a harmful one. And let me put this in a broader perspective. All the people who say, for the context of this subreddit, talk about your Patriarchy, your Toxic Masculinity, your Male Privilege....how often do you think they frame their own lives or the people around them in those terms? Very Very Very rarely. It's just not something people do. (And my argument is these ideas would not exist to nearly the same extent if people felt the pressure to do so)

But I think small-l liberalism, the anti-authoritarian, pluralistic mindset that focuses on fairness and small-e equality, equality of opportunity and all that, is seen as an abject threat to people with a degree of network and social power. Because it means they have to follow the same rules as the rest of us.

Just to be clear, I was already well involved in this conflict before GamerGate was even a thing. That evolved, or at least the reaction to it, evolved from the whole Atheism+ controversy, which was decidedly anti-male and very very toxic in its own right.

[–]luminousmoon61 point 2 years ago [recovered] | Copy Link

then your entire unhinged rants are pointless because you're yelling at nothing, that was it, that was the point i was making.

how is this a systemic issue of violence/brutalization/subordination etc etc etc. of women? Because that's the angle gamergate took. Like it was a personal thing about a breakup for one, and really what's becoming more apparent about it is that the whole thing was inhabited and waged by complete idiots.

I sincerely do not know how I can make it more clear for you. You didn't understand a word of anything I said and probably still don't so I'm out I guess lol.

dude what? what are you going on about?

Title	Thoughts on gamergate
Author	luminousmoon6
Upvotes	13
Comments	9
Date	February 22, 2024 11:30 PM UTC (2 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/1axlc2y/thoughts_on_gamergate/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/thoughts-on-gamergate.1246170 https://theredarchive.com/post/1246170

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