By: Dave Leva
BLUE BELL, PA--“Some very scary threats have just been made against me and my family. Contacting authorities now.” Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist games critic, posted this update on her Twitter account in late August, in response to a wave of threats of murder and sexual assault. She wasn’t alone; independent game developer Zoe Quinn suffered a similar torrent of threatening messages, after her ex-boyfriend posted on a forum about her alleged relations with five other men in the games industry. And while these serious harassments have only caught public notice within the past month, such actions have been occurring for far longer.
“This is nothing new,” says Montgomery County Community College Assistant Professor Jason Wertz. He explains that male gamers have shown horrendous behavior online and at conventions for years, and many times he’s witnessed them firsthand. Such behavior, says Wertz, is often ignored within the industry, and that it’s “good to see [this issue] addressed” by the media in recent weeks. But the media alone can’t stand against this harassment.
Wertz says he’s begun to speak about harassment against women in the industry in his classes, focusing upon the positive aspects of diversity. He wants to make the next generation of developers more aware of the issue, and make them advocates for a more diverse industry. Wertz says that women need better representation not just in the games themselves, but in the whole realm of games as well, and that such changes would benefit everyone. He also explained that those behind the harassment and resisting progress are angry about the changing environment of the games industry, as if going through the stages of grief in an attempt to process it.
BLUE BELL, PA--“Some very scary threats have just been made against me and my family. Contacting authorities now.” Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist games critic, posted this update on her Twitter account in late August, in response to a wave of threats of murder and sexual assault. She wasn’t alone; independent game developer Zoe Quinn suffered a similar torrent of threatening messages, after her ex-boyfriend posted on a forum about her alleged relations with five other men in the games industry. And while these serious harassments have only caught public notice within the past month, such actions have been occurring for far longer.
“This is nothing new,” says Montgomery County Community College Assistant Professor Jason Wertz. He explains that male gamers have shown horrendous behavior online and at conventions for years, and many times he’s witnessed them firsthand. Such behavior, says Wertz, is often ignored within the industry, and that it’s “good to see [this issue] addressed” by the media in recent weeks. But the media alone can’t stand against this harassment.
Wertz says he’s begun to speak about harassment against women in the industry in his classes, focusing upon the positive aspects of diversity. He wants to make the next generation of developers more aware of the issue, and make them advocates for a more diverse industry. Wertz says that women need better representation not just in the games themselves, but in the whole realm of games as well, and that such changes would benefit everyone. He also explained that those behind the harassment and resisting progress are angry about the changing environment of the games industry, as if going through the stages of grief in an attempt to process it.
Montgomery County Community College students are also reacting to these threats, as well as the under-representation of women in the games themselves. “The lack of female protagonists means they don’t have an interesting story,” says game development student Rachel Shaw. Without female role models in games, the female demographic as a whole is ignored, she says, or worse. Another student, Lindsay Mergner, also says as much: “Watching women needing to be rescued made me think that women were useless, and video games reinforce that idea.”
The extra media attention to the threats against Sarkeesian, Quinn, and others has brought these deep-seated issues back to the surface once more, and with hope will encourage all involved in the games industry to take action against the misogyny surrounding the medium they love. But ultimately, according to Wertz, the vessel for change rests upon the shoulders of developers and those directly involved in the game-making process. “It’s our job to say ‘Look, that behavior’s not acceptable,’” he said.
In time, those sharing his sentiments can change the course of the medium’s progress towards the future, and the students of Montgomery County Community College’s game development program will surely hold great influence in that change.
No comments:
Post a Comment