Dear Internet: Grow Up

[Mollfie]

What issues would be more pressing? The killing of all manhood? Christ, BW, I'd rather annoying but useless modern feminism if it stuck to games rather than going on about trying to tell other women from other countries how they shouldn't wear their burkas even if they want to. And sure, stop males from raping, but no-one says "from raping other males too" or even "stop females as well". And if you say "also, try to understand, while the blame is on the rapist, try not to dress provocatively in dangerous areas. Telling people to be careful of murderers is not victim blaming", try and gauge the response.

 

While yes, some feminists do say such things, not all feminists do. As you have said yourself there are many branches of feminism, same as all ideologies. For example a radical feminist might say that we should do away with men altogether, these people are misandrists, but that doesn't mean that all feminists think that way. Or even most. But that is what people hold on to because it's shocking. It grabs your attention. I, personally, don't like radical activism. I think that it draws attention away from bigger, more important issues and doesn't do a movement any favours. It just makes everyone look crazy, when actually most people are pretty sane.

 

Personally I believe that feminism should empower women to take control of their lives. Wear a burka or don't wear a burka, but that should be the woman's informed decision. Not something pushed on her by someone else. 

 

People do say that we should teach men not to rape, and not to rape other males to, and that we should teach women not to rape. They do. But it is more likely that a man will rape a woman, so that is what people will focus on primarily. Or at least it is more reported. Maybe men do get raped more than women. But they don't report is as much, because it's deemed as a weakness. Which is a problem with a patriarchal society.

 

But it is all part of the same argument.

 

Personally I think we should also focus on sexual assaults against transgendered people too, which is often overlooked. If you're M to F you are even more likely to be attacked. 

 

Saying that someone shouldn't dress provocatively is victim blaming. It implies that it's the victims fault. It implies that the rapist couldn't control themselves. It doesn't really work that way. Women are raped while wearing baggy t-shirts and jeans. Women are raped while wearing full on burkas. Women are raped in their own homes by men that they know. Children are raped. Men are raped. Anyone can be raped and what they're wearing and where they are has very little to do with it. If a rapist wants to rape someone, they will. I'm not saying it's okay to wander down secluded back alleys, of course that's not a good idea. But the fault lies with the person committing the crime. By implying that it is the victims fault you're telling them that they can't live their lives how they wish. By saying that a woman was raped because of where she was or what she wore is telling her that she cannot wear the clothes she wants, that she cannot go to the places she wants, that she cannot go out by herself. But, we don't say those things to men. We tell women to not walk alone at night, but we rarely say the same to men. As a society.

 

 

I didn't say that.  

 

I am merely pointing the irony of people say they are proud feminists but never bring up these issues and they do effect us in the 1st world what the raise of Human trafficking were Women are the main targets. Women across Europe are being kidnapped and drugged up to being slaves and work as prostitutes its becoming quite a big issue.

 

The lack of shelters that can protect women from abusive partners. Also there is young girls being groomed into being prostitutes that is becoming a big issue over here.

 

I would rather Feminists bring up these issues than constantly complain about Boobs in video games.

 

But they do. All the time. 

 

But this topic and this forum is focused towards video games, so of course we'll be discussing that. That doesn't mean that we don't discuss other issues too. That's a very short sighted assumption. Plus there is the argument that like all media, video games influence people and shape their ideas and beliefs. So it is important to discuss the portrayal of women (and men, and everyone else) in video games.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Mollfie

[Stacy]

But they do. All the time. 

 

But this topic and this forum is focused towards video games, so of course we'll be discussing that. That doesn't mean that we don't discuss other issues too. That's a very short sighted assumption. Plus there is the argument that like all media, video games influence people and shape their ideas and beliefs. So it is important to discuss the portrayal of women (and men, and everyone else) in video games.

 

I know that you never talk about these issues you never bring up them. Why can't you bring up the bigger more pressing issues? 

Edited August 12, 2013 by BW199148

[Mollfie]

I know that you never talk about these issues you never bring up them. Why can't you bring up the bigger more pressing issues? 

 

Me personally?

 

You only know me in a very tiny capacity. You know me here, on a forum where we primarily talk about video games.

 

You do not know that I never bring up these issues. If you actually knew me then you would know that I do in fact talk about these issues. I haven't brought them up here because it would be off-topic. I have however made references to the larger issues out there, but they aren't really relevant to this particular topic. This is not a topic about feminism in general it is a topic about a particular feminist who critics video games.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Mollfie

[MegasonicZX]

That's... that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. So what you're saying is, because we expect it to happen that its ok? Because that's pretty much exactly what you're implying.

 

Whether we EXPECT something or not, that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't need to be done and its completely and totally unnecessary, its only done to try and generate more sales and its really offensive. That is a horrible, horrible come back and completely and totally misses the point.

 

Strong female character or not, they DO NOT need to sexualize her. I don't even know what the trailer it is that you're talking about, but I can kinda get what you're saying just from reading the recent conversation alone. Strong female character, perhaps, but they are doing extra crap they don't need to just for the hell of it.

I wasn't trying to make a point just pointing it out, sorry if it sounded that way, also the trailer that is below your post should give you a good idea what im talking about but sorry anyway. Also, im not too keen on the whole sexualization thing either but when its stuff like this from platinum I don't mind especially when they have done it in all of their cartoon styled works and stuff like this (see viewtiful joe) so I don't mind it from them since that's just how the guys work with over the top and awesome action-y things, im not saying that its okay to do it but I am saying that I personally don't care about it either.

[Stacy]

Me personally?

 

You only know me in a very tiny capacity. You know me here, on a forum where we primarily talk about video games.

 

You do not know that I never bring up these issues. If you actually knew me then you would know that I do in fact talk about these issues. I haven't brought them up here because it would be off-topic. I have however made references to the larger issues out there, but they aren't really relevant to this particular topic. This is not a topic about feminism in general it is a topic about a particular feminist who critics video games.

 

I know I mean why do you don't bring them up in Chit-Chat there is a general Feminist topic? 

 

Yeah I don't know you, but you don't me either so this going nowhere.... 

[JezMM]

I know I mean why do you don't bring them up in Chit-Chat there is a general Feminist topic? 

 

Why on earth is someone's activity in another thread relevant to this one?  Why does someone have to prove themselves to you for you to acknowledge their opinion?

[Tornado]

Ironically nobody who claims themselves feminists here is protesting about these issues which could be considered more pressing.

I didn't say that.

I am merely pointing the irony of people say they are proud feminists but never bring up these issues and they do effect us in the 1st world what the raise of Human trafficking were Women are the main targets. Women across Europe are being kidnapped and drugged up to being slaves and work as prostitutes its becoming quite a big issue.

The lack of shelters that can protect women from abusive partners. Also there is young girls being groomed into being prostitutes that is becoming a big issue over here.

I would rather Feminists bring up these issues than constantly complain about Boobs in video games.

I know that you never talk about these issues you never bring up them. Why can't you bring up the bigger more pressing issues? 

I know I mean why do you don't bring them up in Chit-Chat there is a general Feminist topic? 

 

Yeah I don't know you, but you don't me either so this going nowhere....

Here's where you should have stopped posting:

I am the only one who watched the trailer and was not offended? I found it kinda of funny, tongue in cheek, personally.

You don't care. You're not offended. You thought it was funny. The end.

 

 

 

Enough of this grandstanding. Not all scientists have to work towards curing cancer. Not all feminists/egalitarianists/whatever need to talk about female sex trafficking on a video game forum; and they for damn sure don't need to justify themselves or their posting history to you just because the topic they chose to talk about isn't something you care about.

[MegasonicZX]

To be fair I have to agree with BW on taking this onto the chit chat topic, i mean this is the computer GAMES forum and while this discussion is somewhat game related its kind of gone off of that since this feminist fiasco kind of started though im not going to act like a high authority telling you that you should but im just pointing it out 

[JezMM]

To be fair I have to agree with BW on taking this onto the chit chat topic, i mean this is the computer GAMES forum and while this discussion is somewhat game related its kind of gone off of that since this feminist fiasco kind of started though im not going to act like a high authority telling you that you should but im just pointing it out 

 

To be honest it was mainly arguing over what constitutes a feminist after we spiralled off from that one tangent a few pages back.  But it's pretty much resolved now, I'm not one to not acknowledge when someone else's points have won me over, and they did here.  What ISN'T right is disregarding arguments in one topic due to lack of posting them in another relevant (and I'm pretty sure quite dead?) topic.  That's just like a moon jump of logic.

[MegasonicZX]

To be honest it was mainly arguing over what constitutes a feminist after we spiralled off from that one tangent a few pages back.  But it's pretty much resolved now, I'm not one to not acknowledge when someone else's points have won me over, and they did here.  What ISN'T right is disregarding arguments in one topic due to lack of posting them in another relevant (and I'm pretty sure quite dead?) topic.  That's just like a moon jump of logic.

good point, sorry if I was out of line with that comment.

[iDEATH]

the new video, topic 2 0f 5 is up

 

I'm still watching it so i'll post my thoughts when I'm through.

[VO.SUPER]

I am actually digging this one. This trope has always bothered me from the very beginning, like why make up, or a bow must signify a character's gender. 

 

Totally agree with her about how this also affects men. Like how the only time a man can look slightly powdered up or with stereotypical female accessories, they become dainty and weak.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Watching that video made me bash my head on my desk on seeing how fucking NUMEROUS this is to this day. I knew it was around back in the old days, but fuck me when I thought we've made a push (however slight) out of it.

 

But nope...

 

As much as I could make a point on using bows, the color pink, and other things to identify women, it's very minor and she has a strong point on this. And the smurfette principle especially. That I've always been tired of, and It just never seems to occur very often that there are ways to have more than one female character present beyond the stereotypical stuff, but because that's the easy (and lazy) way to do it, that's what is done to get the job done quickly.

 

What makes this worse is how easy it is to avoid it starting with making more than TWO female characters at minimum (because at this point I'm considering any less than three female characters present to be laziness). And not have them all do stereotypical female things. I mean it's okay to have one of the women interested in the typical girl stuff, but you can go beyond that for other female characters (although they might still fudge that up).

Edited November 19, 2013 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[Dr. Mechano]

I liked this video a lot, and found it very informative.

 

However, there was a tiny mistake. Toadette is not the only female Toad in the Mario series, and in fact, she isn't even the first. The RPGs always have them, and in SMRPG specifically, they weren't even really visually different from the males in any significant way. 

 

Otherwise, though, excellent points were made all around, particularly the "Men are default, women are the marked deviation" trend in games. Looking forward to the next one!

[JaidynReiman]

Well, if I can get things off to a good start I'm hoping to make games that feature plenty of strong women whom aren't included only for their chests or sex appeal. Sex appeal and fanservice really bothers me in games. It also kinda bothers me when a series features only a few women and they're all extremely girly-girly or are just for "fanservice" (with ridiculous extremely revealing outfits; looking at you, Ivy); they definitely should have more variety (and don't really need the fanservice at all).

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Sex appeal and fanservice in itself isn't a bad thing for female characters, it's only bad if it's the only thing for female characters especially if it's so blatant.

 

We're always upset over this stuff with men, yet no one realizes that it's no different with women if you were reading the purple prose in a typical harlequin romance novel or something like Twilight or Sex in the City that is chockFULL of that stuff for a female audience. The difference being that romance and female fanservice isn't the default compared to male fanservice (which likely adds to it not being criticized as often), so a better solution would be to give fanservice for everyone, male and female.

 

But then, it should be noted there are things such as "target audience" so that's not always going to be heeded.

 

EDIT: And when I say "fanservice", I'm mean something more tasteful and appropriate than seeing a woman in a space bikini shooting aliens. Swimsuit scene on a beach is tasteful, a sexy dress is tasteful, an intimate moment in a bedroom is tasteful since it's in the timing and such, etc...

Edited November 21, 2013 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[JaidynReiman]

^ That's what I mean, too. When I say "fanservice" I mean when they go over the top. If someone is going to appear in a scenario almost naked, there better be a damn good explanation for it. And even then you don't need to show it. And they're DEFINITELY not going to be fighting with next-to-no clothes on.

 

"Fantasy" female armor, for example, is quite ridiculous in many cases and certainly wouldn't protect the character.

 

Also agreed that if fanservice is going to appear it should apply to both men and women.

[VO.SUPER]

My problem with certain moments of fanservice is when the camera seems to be taking upon the task of being the fanservice provider; or random events of the game.

 

Like in MSG3, when you had the camera option to oogle at a girl's breasts during a cutscene. Or how in certain shows, a random moment will happen that either tears off their clothes, or gets a tentacle around them.

 

It's one thing for the woman to be wearing something revealing, but it's another for that revealing skin to be all the game wants to shove in your face.

Edited November 21, 2013 by VisionaryBlur

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

^ That's what I mean, too. When I say "fanservice" I mean when they go over the top. If someone is going to appear in a scenario almost naked, there better be a damn good explanation for it. And even then you don't need to show it.

If there's an explaination for it and they want to show it, I see nothing that dictates whether they need to do so. Now if they choose not to show it, that's fine by me.

 

As for female fantasy armor, one of the few ways I see that as justified is if the men aren't fully armored themselves. But I haven't seen that too often in the games I've played.

[Matthew]

Let's talk about sexism in the gaming community. Ouch, that's a big topic isn't it? Well, it's one I want to address because I have become more and more jaded by the shit that happens in parts of this community and want to express how pissed off it makes me in some way. If you want to converse me on this matter, even if you vehemently disagree, please do! This thread would probably get me marked out as a White Knight or a SJW by some, so consider yourself warned  .

Now, let's talk about Anita Sarkeesian.

This woman gets lots of criticism, and I'm not just meaning the kind of death threats and rape threats that are only done by someone who's clearly mad or filled with hate. No, I'm talking about the obsessive criticism she gets from Youtubers like Thunderfoot and Sargon. I actually tried to listen to their criticism to give them some kind of benefit of the doubt. I hate their videos, all they do is use strawman arguments against her, trying to defend games that they cherish no matter what, as though she's levelling personal criticism against them. It's like some kind of absurd sensitivity, taking criticism against a game they like as a personal attack, that rules them. Here's the problem though, even Youtubers that I somewhat respect to varying degrees, like TotalBiscuit, AlphaOmegaSin, ReviewTechUSA and GajinGoombah dislike her rather strongly. I'm not singling them out as sexist because they probably are just fine people, but they are falling into a thought movement that is deeply rooted in sexism. It's a kind of dislike that is reserved specially for Anita, even individuals like Jack Thompson and Glenn Beck, individuals who genuinely hated games and the gaming community, didn't receive anyway near this kind of criticism. This sentiment is repeated in the comments sections, all I see on Sarkeesian, even in unrelated topics, are ridiculous comments with hundreds of upvotes slamming her in similar strawman arguments. Not everyone in the gaming community dislikes her in this way but there are many, many who do.

Let's go over some classic arguments:

= Anita is a scam artist.

This argument is so laughable I don't even know where to start. She started a Kickstarter and people donated out of their own free will, the end. She wasn't using mind control ray guns to force people to donate money. She may have reached way over her Kickstarter goal but, that's fucking Kickstarter, it happens in almost every successful Kickstarter campaign. No one calls Yooka-Laylee the work of a scam artist. One could argue she hasn't fully delivered on her Kickstarter pledges and that the project didn't merit that kind of budget, that's got some merit, but the idea she's scamming people of out money is just ridiculous.

= Anita takes footage out of context.

Sometimes she does, a good example is how she misinterpreted the Sex Traffic Trade in Watch Dogs. That said, a lot of times she's straight on the money in pretty moderate points, this isn't radical stuff. A lot of people just like to claim that she takes footage out of context because they want to discredit her, don't understand her or want to defend their game. A good example was Hitman Absolution, where she claimed that the game was designed for players to get amusement from dragging the corpses of female strippers around. The dragging may exist as a mechanic for all NPCs, sure, but there's no denying that the designers did intend for players to interact with the strippers in some kind of way, it's a sandbox style of game. It's like when people say GTA doesn't encourage killing civilians because you get wanted stars. It's just dishonest, we all know that game elements are deliberately placed into games by designers. I like Hitman, but I'm not going to pretend this element isn't problematic.

When designers don't want you to kill NPC's they will cause a failsafe where you immediately fail the game. Kind of like the No Russian level in censored copies of COD:MW2. They won't just deduct your score for being a bad boy/girl.

= Anita isn't a gamer!

Anita once had a video where she claimed that she didn't play games so everyone assumed she's therefore a liar and not a gamer. This is a common problem with internet figures, people seem to think their views are always permanent and never in flux. She could have gotten into gaming after that leaked video, or have fallen into and out of gaming. Then again, maybe she wasn't a gamer at all and just said so on her Kickstarter to get buzz and relate easier to her audience. It's really not as massive a deal as people say even if, in this hypothetical scenario, it is a tad misleading.

= Anita censors criticism.

A lot of people point out to how Anita has disabled comments on her videos. Now, I agree that I would rather see comments on her videos but, here's the thing:

Comments aren't mandatory for a Youtube video.

The comments section is optional, that's why you can turn them off. She's the creator, if she wants to remove the comments it's her decision, not ours. Comments are enabled on other sites, like her Twitter, where she gets all kinds of criticism. We also need to remember that she receives regular death threats and it's easy for us to say, she should just brave through it, how would we actually feel if we were in that situation. It certainly wouldn't be easy for me to enable comments, knowing that I have a sizable hate group who have done real death threats, including calling out locations, mean of killing and leaking personal data online, including addresses.

= Anita fakes her death threars.

Not fucking touching this stupid one.

There are many more arguments but I just wanted to list the most popular ones and how silly they are, this thread is going to be long enough.

Is it possible to dislike Sarkeesian? Of course! I don't agree with her on everything, like any critic. For one I strongly disagree with her views on violence as entertainment. That said, it's this ridiculous knee-jerk hysteria over her that pisses me off. The reason a lot of people hate her so much isn't just because of her views, no matter what they say. They hate her mostly because of what they thinks she represents, a movement to steal away what makes gaming great, like some kind of ridiculous type of female censorship trying to take away our fun. The Queen of the supposed SJW's! Now I'm going to label what this actually is:

Fucking Stupid.

This is so unrealistic to start with. As though Sarkeesian actually has the power to mass censor games she doesn't like even though they sell (LOL). And the idea that this is Sarkeesian's secret evil plan is so far-fetched it's reaching for straws. All she is doing is pointing out motifs that games regularly fall on and how they are rooted in sexism. You know, points that every other industry, like books and films, discussed decades ago with equivalent feminist critics. I didn't realise that the Damsel in Distress was a trope people actually still tried to defend, it's almost always boring aside from being sexist. Parts of the gaming community sure showed me though!

This movement is one that is inherently sexist, the idea that girls are trying to take away our fun, and it's childish. No other controversial individual in gaming, not Jack Thompson, Phil Fish or Don Mattrick get anywhere near this criticism, despite the fact someone like Don Mattrick actually did have the power to permanently change the gaming scene. No one cares about Don Mattrick anymore, he may have moved away from gaming now but his decisions have permanently changed Xbox One (you need online to set up an Xbox One). How come Mattrick doesn't get so much stick for how he actually did change the gaming industry? Bbecause this movement against Sarkeesian is one that's rooted in sexist fear.

This sexist fear can be found all over the internet and it's made me disillusioned. Look at GamerGate, that's a whole other discussion I'm not going to entertain here, but how many people used the guise of 'ethics in journalism', a topic they really didn't care about, to spew out misogyny (and this was misogyny) over a woman who had nude pictures and sensitive info leaked by an ex on the internet. There were people in GamerGate who do care about ethichs in journalism sure, but if I was one I would want to distance myself from the BS GamerGate movement as much as possible. 

I know that not everyone in the gaming community is like this and I know that some people do criticise her with valid points. No one is beyond criticism. It just saddens me because I see this sexist attitude all over the place in a community I'm a part of and, aside from big name game journalists, no one seems to be speaking out against it. I'm not a real fan of AngryJoe but he's spoken out against it, he gained my respect when he did that. I just hope that I'm not alone in seeing this as the idiocy that it is.

What do you guys think? I would like to have your opinions.

 

Edited September 19, 2015 by Matthew

[sonicgirl313]

Oh no not one of these. *sigh* I'll just state my thoughts and leave. I don't like Anita due to the fact to me she pretty overreacting to things in video games. Am I denying that there's no sexism in games? No, in fact I'm aware some games tend to do this, but the examples she picks are absurd. She actually claimed Mario was sexist, Mario. Mario is anything but sexist, it's just a light-hearted game series using the traditional story of the hero saving the princess from a dragon. Pretty harmless and it isn't going to teach gamers that women are only trophies to be fought for like she claimed. Also not to mention the many other things she listed as sexist such as a man using a women a source of inspiration, a women looking girly (I'll give her this, she was right about girl's shouldn't look girly for the sake of being a girl but they shouldn't be marked a sexist), a women sacrificing her life even though she does it out of love (I've seen mainly male characters do this and not so much women), etc.

I would list more examples but then I would be here all day. So that concludes why I don't like Anita and why I think she looks too deeply into these things.

[Matthew]

Oh no not one of these. *sigh* I'll just state my thoughts and leave. I don't like Anita due to the fact to me she pretty overreacting to things in video games. Am I denying that there's no sexism in games? No, in fact I'm aware some games tend to do this, but the examples she picks are absurd. She actually claimed Mario was sexist, Mario. Mario is anything but sexist, it's just a light-hearted game series using the traditional story of the hero saving the princess from a dragon. Pretty harmless and it isn't going to teach gamers that women are only trophies to be fought for like she claimed. Also not to mention the many other things she listed as sexist such as a man using a women a source of inspiration, a women looking girly (I'll give her this, she was right about girl's shouldn't look girly for the sake of being a girl but they shouldn't be marked a sexist), a women sacrificing her life even though she does it out of love (I've seen mainly male characters do this and not so much women), etc.

I would list more examples but then I would be here all day. So that concludes why I don't like Anita and why I think she looks too deeply into these things.

Thanks for the post. 

I don't think she's claiming Mario's sexist in itself, she's saying that Mario uses sexist tropes like the Damsel in Distress, which, for example, is a lazy and sexist trope. I actually think Nintendo listened in some way because they made vague attempts to move away from the trope with Mario 3D World (playable Peach) and Captain Toad (Damsel in Distress Trope Subversion). Most people actually noted that the games were better because the tropes got subverted, although I think the attempt was lazy and didn't actually deal with the root of the problem, because it's still female characters who are the ultimate damsels in both games. Hey though, it's a step in the right direction, if vague!

Man using woman as a source of inspiration? I don't know what you are referring to you would need to be more specific.

It's not really about being girly, it's about characters being intentionally sexualisation by a designer for a presumed straight male audience. I don't think anyone really denies this, it's just some people think it's acceptable and some don't.

Again with the female sacrifice, I'm not sure what you are referring to.

I disagree that she looks too deeply, the tropes are clearly there it's just some think it's acceptable and some don't.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Matthew

[Alternate Evolutions]

My opinion? Exactly what you've said. Like, exactly spot on. And i'm actually happy to see someone who's put thought and common sense into this and actually put arguments for and against AS and I totally get why people have this impression of her as there are elements that are pushed on too much when there's nothing really there.

On the note of that ridiculous GG movement though. Anyone associated with it in any form really need to take a look in the mirror. GamerGate is a dirty word now, and it's an endless cesspool that's so intertwined with itself that there's not really any good or bad. It's all just awful.  and it's actually made me scared about talking publicly about games because of the complete and total vitriol that some people have for some of the smallest (and pathetic things).

All in all though, let's not forget where GG calls their base, the "chans" of the world. The worst places of the internet, hell, they're worse than places than are hidden on TOR like the Silk Road etc.

But all in all, you're spot on and exactly right. Gaming is for everyone, and women aren't coming in to mess it up or ruin people's fun or whatever, they're making it more inclusive if anything and it's a shame that people are scared of this sort of change.

[Tornado]

Sarkeesian is a hack, but YouTube reacting to her in YouTube's stereotypical way of reacting to things was the exact response that I think she was banking on. In that respect she is extremely clever.

 

 

Also feel the need to point out that these are fucking atrocious comparisons:

No other controversial individual in gaming, not Jack Thompson, Phil Fish or Don Mattrick get anywhere near this criticism, despite the fact someone like Don Mattrick actually did have the power to permanently change the gaming scene. No one cares about Don Mattrick anymore, he may have moved away from gaming now but his decisions have permanently changed Xbox One (you need online to set up an Xbox One). How come Mattrick doesn't get so much stick for how he actually did change the gaming industry?

You're kidding yourself if you think Jack Thompson and Don Mattrick didn't get way more shit than Sarkeesian ever did or likely ever will; and Phil Fish was probably destined to be a one-hit-wonder anyway even if he hadn't rage quit the indie games scene after a twitter flameout. Even based on the rather low standards of Sarkeesian's YouTube/4Chan infamy he's completely inconsequential.

[Matthew]

Sarkeesian is a hack, but YouTube reacting to her in YouTube's stereotypical way of reacting to things was the exact response that I think she was banking on. In that respect she is extremely clever.

See, this kind of thinking really confuses me. How is she a hack, firstly. But most importantly, why was she secretly wanting Youtube to go on a witchunt on her. Is she some James Bond villain? She's just a Youtube critic who already funded her Kickstarter when most people went nuts when the first episode aired on Youtube. She makes no money from Ads on videos because she disabled them, the only way she can get money now is through Donations on her Website. Do you believe in a secret conspiracy for her to get donations, because that's absurd.

So yeah, what is she gaining from having a mass dislike campaign against her on Youtube exactly?