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#GamerGate is not okay.
Oct. 15th, 2014 12:07 amI was a teenager when my state passed a Hate Crimes Act. An older relative told me that she didn't think it was right to deal out extra punishment based on the motivation of the perpetrator: It smacked of policing people's thoughts. I had no opinion on the subject at the time, but I later came to realize that she was approaching the topic from the wrong direction.
The problem with hate crime (beyond the crime itself) isn't the intention of the criminal: It is that the victims of a single hate crime are legion. When Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson tortured and killed Matthew Shepard because he was gay, and when Stephen Andrew Moller killed Sean Kennedy because he was gay, their victims weren't only Shepard and Kennedy. Their victims were millions of young gay men who became afraid that some random asshole would murder them for being gay.
The act of terrorizing a population by committing crimes against some members of that population already has a name, so let's call it what it is: Terrorism.
In recent times, Internet trolls have been making graphic threats of violence (including rape, murder, and attacks upon families) against women in the gaming industry. These threats have lately been accompanied by doxxing, the tracing and revealing of personal information such as home addresses. This makes the threats extremely serious: At least two of the victims have had to leave their homes to ensure their safety. Some women are leaving the industry because of the threats. Others, who have not yet been targeted, fear that they might soon be.
So again, let us be perfectly clear on what this is: Terrorism.
The perpetrators of those acts do not care about the consequences of their actions on others; hence, they must be taught that there will be consequences for themselves. If you know someone who is harassing others online, please do not let them get away with it. Ostracising and exposing them is the absolute least you could do, and is not nearly commensurate with the harm that they are causing. And for the love of goodness, please do not give #GamerGate any sympathy. #GamerGate is a collection of already debunked excuses to attack women in the gaming industry. Its supporters' desperate attempts to come up with new excuses to legitimize their bloodthirsty misogyny is the same entrenchment you will find in any bigot who denies their bigotry. (You know them: They're the ones who start sentences with, "I'm not racist, but...")
An article I read a few years ago (Could anyone who recognizes this give me a link?) described the problem of silence thusly: Let's say you're hanging out with some friends, and one of them tells a racist joke. You all laugh. You know that racism isn't okay, but it's just a joke, and you're all friends and not really racists, so there's no need to call anyone out. Except that probably, one of the other four people in the room is a racist, and you just don't know it. That person sees four of their friends accepting racism as normal. That person sees you apparently condoning it, which affirms their racism. By your silence, you have given tacit approval to a form of bigotry that causes unimaginable strife. So instead, after you're done laughing, maybe you could say, with a non-challenging smile, "You know that's not okay, right?" If charisma isn't your dump stat, you can probably come up with a better response than I did. But you ought to say something, anything, because someone in that room may need to grow up, and they probably take more cues from you than you imagine.
So, to the males in my audience: If you're one of the many good ones, don't be silent. I'm not asking for a manifesto. A simple, public post on social media saying "#GamerGate is not okay" or "I do not support the harassment of women, inside or outside the gaming industry" would do. Elaborate if you want. You'll have my "like" or "+1".
The problem with hate crime (beyond the crime itself) isn't the intention of the criminal: It is that the victims of a single hate crime are legion. When Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson tortured and killed Matthew Shepard because he was gay, and when Stephen Andrew Moller killed Sean Kennedy because he was gay, their victims weren't only Shepard and Kennedy. Their victims were millions of young gay men who became afraid that some random asshole would murder them for being gay.
The act of terrorizing a population by committing crimes against some members of that population already has a name, so let's call it what it is: Terrorism.
In recent times, Internet trolls have been making graphic threats of violence (including rape, murder, and attacks upon families) against women in the gaming industry. These threats have lately been accompanied by doxxing, the tracing and revealing of personal information such as home addresses. This makes the threats extremely serious: At least two of the victims have had to leave their homes to ensure their safety. Some women are leaving the industry because of the threats. Others, who have not yet been targeted, fear that they might soon be.
So again, let us be perfectly clear on what this is: Terrorism.
The perpetrators of those acts do not care about the consequences of their actions on others; hence, they must be taught that there will be consequences for themselves. If you know someone who is harassing others online, please do not let them get away with it. Ostracising and exposing them is the absolute least you could do, and is not nearly commensurate with the harm that they are causing. And for the love of goodness, please do not give #GamerGate any sympathy. #GamerGate is a collection of already debunked excuses to attack women in the gaming industry. Its supporters' desperate attempts to come up with new excuses to legitimize their bloodthirsty misogyny is the same entrenchment you will find in any bigot who denies their bigotry. (You know them: They're the ones who start sentences with, "I'm not racist, but...")
An article I read a few years ago (Could anyone who recognizes this give me a link?) described the problem of silence thusly: Let's say you're hanging out with some friends, and one of them tells a racist joke. You all laugh. You know that racism isn't okay, but it's just a joke, and you're all friends and not really racists, so there's no need to call anyone out. Except that probably, one of the other four people in the room is a racist, and you just don't know it. That person sees four of their friends accepting racism as normal. That person sees you apparently condoning it, which affirms their racism. By your silence, you have given tacit approval to a form of bigotry that causes unimaginable strife. So instead, after you're done laughing, maybe you could say, with a non-challenging smile, "You know that's not okay, right?" If charisma isn't your dump stat, you can probably come up with a better response than I did. But you ought to say something, anything, because someone in that room may need to grow up, and they probably take more cues from you than you imagine.
So, to the males in my audience: If you're one of the many good ones, don't be silent. I'm not asking for a manifesto. A simple, public post on social media saying "#GamerGate is not okay" or "I do not support the harassment of women, inside or outside the gaming industry" would do. Elaborate if you want. You'll have my "like" or "+1".
