Note from the artist: I often get asked, with an answer demanded, that if The Good Men Project is for men, why would I make cartoons having to do with or about women? I’ll answer with a rhetorical question: Is it possible to become better men by learning from the struggles of women?
Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for proposing the idea that the universe is bigger than our understanding. Martin Luther King and Malcom X were both assassinated after years of fighting for racial equality. Harvey Milk received death threats for struggling to end discrimination against the gay community. And now, Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn are facing similar ruthlessness for the showing us that there is more to our beloved video games than we thought.
Why do we aim to silence thinkers? Why must we meet insight with violence? Do we allow this rampant bullying to continue? Or are we in fact “Good Men?”
I think what Rachel fails to realize is that this isn’t about Sarkeesian or Quinn at all. The thing with Quinn served at the catalyst that set this all off, but the issue is much bigger than some internet drama.
This is now about corruption in journalism, and that is scaring some people. Neither of these girls deserve harassment, but neither do all of the people that their defenders and friends are harassing.
Because Malcolm X was okay with some forms of violence it shouldn’t invalidate what he had to say. But…what your saying is when we read “I’ll drink your blood out of your cunt after I rip it open.” that shouldn’t invalidate what this person has to say? Are you sure? Just so we’re clear here: threats of violence IS violence . People are focusing on this violence because 1) it’s wrong and 2) it proves the point of everything Anita has to say :http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Feminist_internet_laws#Anita.27s_Irony The “whole story” is that people want to tear down these women, and people like you… Read more »
The “whole story” is that people want to tear down these women, and people like you swoop in to mystify their intentions and claim that there is “legitimate criticism” to be found. There are literally MILLIONS of awful comments being made about these women and you’re saying, “its unfair for you to focus on these million people, you should really be focused on the “legitimate” stuff!” Actually, that isn’t what he said, perhaps you should reread it. He said that the harassment is being lumped in with legitimate critiques in order to deflect from it. I don’t think Sarkeesian herself… Read more »
As they should. As they should.
Violence against women is unacceptable. Violence against ANYONE who is simply (harmlessly) doing their thing is unacceptable.
The idea that we should all stop being upset by the way these women are being treated and drop everything listen to the few “legitimate critiques” is such a joke. Anita Sarkeesian IS a legitimate critique, so I will continue to listen to her.
Yikes, Josh. Yikes.
Which of the guys was based after you in this comic?
Seriously dude, you sound insane! @_@;
You should get some help or something.
Sweet come back! Got anymore?
Source?
@ Rachel Conway The problem isn’t that some people are focusing on the violence. Well at least the violence directed at the women, not so much against the violence her supporters are directing against her detractors, which should be as legitimate an issue as the violence directed against the women. ONE problem is that these threats are used to silence legitimate criticism of her work. Look at the conversations surrounding the topic on this site. When people start to discuss the merits of her work, they immediately get silenced. That just proves their point. If Sarkeesian could defend her work,… Read more »
I was wondering if you’d show up again. Actually yes they being critiqued and harassed, its just that the harassment gets the attention and is then used to mute the criticism. Malcolm X talked about the Black community using violence to defend themselves against violence. He never once instigated or threatened unprovoked violent action. The change he advocated for was for the Black community to be self reliant. His ideas weren’t even that new, he was inspired by the efforts of Marcus Garvey. I’m fully aware of his thoughts on the use of violence but as we see there was… Read more »
Why do we aim to silence thinkers? Why must we meet insight with violence?
Because new ideas challenge old ones.
But with that said, does having a new idea protect one from criticism? For example Malcolm X wasn’t all that averse to the idea of using violence to bring needed change. Does that invalidate the ideas he had and the work he did?
You love to use the word “criticism” but these women AREN’T being critiqued. They’re being insulted, threatened, and sexually harassed. Huge campaigns have been launched specifically to torment them. If people were simply criticizing their work then there wouldn’t be any issue. Malcolm X talked about the Black community using violence to defend themselves against violence. He never once instigated or threatened unprovoked violent action. The change he advocated for was for the Black community to be self reliant. His ideas weren’t even that new, he was inspired by the efforts of Marcus Garvey. Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian have… Read more »
They are actually being critiqued, and regularly.
The problem is that those defending them are quite happy to lump legitimate critique in with harassment.
It is entirely possible to condemn the harassment of Sarkeesian, Quinn and their followers (though people are actually being doxxed and harassed on both sides of this debate, in fact) while being concerned at some of their more mercenary actions.
Nope. The problem is not people being unfair to the critiques.
ONE of the problems was that Anita had to vacate her house in fear of being murdered.
ONE of the problems was that the authorities told her to simply stop making videos.
ONE of the problems is that the entire reason this all spiraled into such seriousness is because people think of women as less than human beings.
Just so we’re crystal clear here, the problem is NOT the poor critiques who can’t get a word in edge wise over the hordes or raging babies.
Zoe Quinn released one “GAME”, (I put that in quotes because Depression Quest is barely a game, but rather an interactive novella). She got her game greenlighted on Steam (failed on the first attempt) by sleeping with several guys who could help her career.
You have issues.
http://badassdigest.com/2014/08/26/video-games-misogyny-and-terrorism-a-guide-to-assholes/
Making a questionable statement means he has issues?
You do realise – like a large segment of the gaming press needs to realise – that simply shaming your critics into silence isn’t really working for you as a strategy?
Yes. Sexism is an issue.
Do you realize – like a large segment of people needs to realize – that simply remaining close minded about gender politics isn’t working for you? In general? In life?
Criticism makes people feel shame sometimes. Many people can’t take it. They don’t have the maturity or even the development to. But criticism is necessary to create a better future.
Just don’t make rape/death threats. It’s really not that hard. If you do, you get criticized too. And even better, you get arrested for being volatile.
Are you actually comparing Zoe Quinn (who slept with multiple guys to further her career) and Anita Sarkeesian (who stole content with reference, who is NOT a game unless she needs to be) to these greats of human history.
OMFG.
Dude seriously.
What I’m getting from this is “It’s okay to bully these women because one is a slut and the other isn’t even a gamer?”
Dude, seriously. Nobody deserves that.
No, he said that the comparisons being made by others – comparing Sarkeesian and Quinn to Bruno, King, X, Milk (and I’ve seen an equally earnest comparison to Rosa Parks) don’t hold up.
Where you got “therefore it’s ok to bully them” from I have no idea.
Perhaps, again, you should read his post a bit more carefully? 🙂
Actually I said “It’s okay to bully these women because one is a slut and the other isn’t even a gamer?”
You keep talking about reading and re-reading to make sure I have all my facts in line but then you don’t do it yourself?
Why do you hold me up to standards that you don’t practice yourself? 😉
@ Rachel Conway
Actually you said “What I’m getting from this is “It’s okay to bully these women because one is a slut and the other isn’t even a gamer?”” You assigned a meaning to what he said then attempted to imply a direct quote. I agree with OirishM . The meaning you attributed to it is far off base.
We’re in week 3 of this. Anyone still following this issue knows what it is really about. The stereotyping doesn’t help either.