On #Gamergate
Joel Hans & Justin Lawrence Daugherty
For a long while we didn’t think that we would have to state the official stance of Cartridge Lit on the “gamergate” hate group. The fact that we have published a diverse list of contributors seemed enough, but as the nebulous group’s members have continued to attack brave figures like Anita Sarkeesian and Brianna Wu—women who simply want to critique and create games, respectively—we feel it necessary to make clear our beliefs and what we want to make of this site in the future.
For a decent primer on what gamergate was meant to be (perhaps), and what it has become, check out this Vox article.
For the record: Cartridge Lit and its editors are vehemently in opposition to the “gamergate” group and completely in support of more diversity in video game creation, recreation, and criticism.
Our first impression was that this would be a longer piece that explained the nuances of our position on gamergate, but it turns out the matter is exceptionally simple. We stand against gamergate and its inherent misogyny. Members of this gamergate community say that they are reporting and condemning attacks on figures like Sarkeesian and Wu, and that they are not representative of the group as a whole, but they forget that their group is amorphous by design, and that an amorphous group is the weakest kind: it cannot speak with any one authority and yet it also must account for the actions of all its individual members.
Regardless of the group’s original intentions—which seem to us as little more than a proxy for violence (physical or psychological) against women in gaming—the group is one of intense hatred. The group’s members are now playing the victim, claiming that they are being attacked by “social justice warriors” or “anti-gamergate” activists, but the truth is that positioning oneself against a hate group is not being “anti” anything—it is being a decent human being. It is a matter of fighting hatred and abuse. It is a matter of advocating for more diversity and inclusiveness within the gaming world.
Those qualities—diversity and inclusiveness—are things that we need in the gaming community. And they must be given without threat or abuse.
Anita Sarkeesian and Brianna Wu are exceptionally brave people for wading into territory that is still, disgustingly enough, riddled with misogynists. Riddled with people who seem to want nothing in the way of diversity, either from alternative genders or cultures. They are brave for facing a near-constant stream of rape and death threats just because they are women who happen to participate in video games.
This is the sad truth: women should not have to be brave in order to engage in this community. They should not have to face threats to their safety or well-being. They should not have to survive this community.
This place will always be a safe place for people of all backgrounds to comment and reminisce about how video games have affected their lives. We hope readers and future contributors will recognize that movement and help us make it stronger. And then we’ll all keep on fighting hatred together.
Co-op is the best kind of gaming, after all.