I foolishy believed the whole #gamergate pity party would be a new flash in the pan. Here today, gone tomorrow. Based on my facebook feed that's pretty much exactly what happened. My friends talked about it briefly, we all shared some memes and some supporting words to those who were caught in the crossfire and then moved on with our lives. Gone as quickly as it began. I mean seriously? How could such a horrific movement deserve more attention than that?
When it drives women from their homes and jobs.
I can no longer ignore #gamergate. Loathe as I am to give those cretins any credence whatsoever their hate has done real damage in this world. While you may assume that this blog is in response to the news that Gawker has lost over $1,000,000 because of them it is not. That is simply more fuel to my fire. No, what really got my attention was this blog by one of #gamergate's favorite targets Brianna Wu. Just reading what she has to go through every day was eye opening and as I discovered after doing some more research she has been forced to leave her home.
Her home.
The one place on this Earth that she should feel the most protected, the most safe, the one place where she can shrug off the burdens of mortal society and just be.
If I said this was unacceptable I would deserve a slap in the face for understating the matter. This is nothing less than frightening. How #gamergate can in any way be considered anything other than a group of terrorists is beyond me. I guess because they haven't killed anybody? Ruining lives is okay, we won't step in until someone dies? Is that it?
It gets even worse. I also found out that this movement started with an angry bashing of a girl game developer by an ex boyfriend but let's be fair. This all started with the New York Times. Their article about Zoe Quinn's text based game on depression was the real catalyst. They slammed her and her ex thought: "Hey I can join the hate train too!" The rest sadly, is history.
My ignorance in this matter has disgusted even me. Had I just opened my eyes I would have seen the damage these hate mongers have done to an industry that I have deep rooted connections with. I was a QA tester for game companies for years with hopes of being a developer some day. I've worked with developers of all stripes and all races and genders literally from all over the world. Although still male dominated I was really impressed with the number of women I worked with. I saw real progress and it lifted my heart. To see #gamergate turn the gaming industry back twenty years has broken my heart.
I refuse to stay silent anymore. I'm not sure what I can do other than get the word out about the kind of damage and harm this movement is causing men and women alike but I'm not going to just sit behind my desk and pretend this is no big deal.
Women like Brianna Wu deserve better than that.