http://www.themarysue.com/calgary-expo-gamergate-evicted/
And guess who is right behind them: A Voice For Men.
Gamergate tries to invade and troll Calgary Expo. Gets booted
Fri, 2015-04-17 19:47
#1
Gamergate tries to invade and troll Calgary Expo. Gets booted
Sat, 2015-04-18 00:34
#2
Timebandit
I'm glad the expo was firm in their policy - good on them! The usual default is to avoid conflict - something these groups count on.
Sat, 2015-04-18 00:39
#3
Timebandit
Could it be the Nenshi effect? Calgary is really reinventing itself!
Sat, 2015-04-18 13:08
#4
Could it be the Nenshi effect? Calgary is really reinventing itself!
I'm sure that's part of it. Also the fact that this hateful campaign has gotten to the point of death threats.
In any case, good on them for being on top of it.
Sat, 2015-04-18 15:09
#5
Timebandit
Death threats haven't always been a catalyst for policy for gaming or skeptic cons, which is why I find this so encouraging.
Wed, 2015-04-22 20:22
#6
If you look at who set up the booth and who was evicted, who the Honey Badgers are, it's easier to imagine what might have happened. This group has been spending the last four days trying to rile up the reactionary parts of the internet about social justice warriors censoring an anti-censorship group. As though "anti-censorship" is the Honey Badgers' main thing. My guess is that they were looking to get this kind of reaction and they got it. There is a connection to Paul Elam's A Voice for Men (At least two of the individuals who were removed, Sage Gerard and Alison Tieman, are on the payroll of AVfM) and also to Men's Rights Edmonton (Karen Straughan was one of the individuals), who have gotten a bit of a reputation for trolling feminists in the past. These people are, as best as I can tell, professional antifeminist trolls.
Thu, 2015-04-23 13:48
#7
Death threats haven't always been a catalyst for policy for gaming or skeptic cons,
I think it's telling that these particular communities experience so much friction on these issues of inclusion, representation and identity. I'm glad some intelligent members are able to recognize this and are acting on it. But I think they're missing that it's the basis of that culture that gives rise to the attitude that creates these problems. I don't know about gaming communities, except that they have a weird symmetry with so-called skeptic communities, and in the "skeptic" world, we've seen how their m.o. aligns with, if not developed alongside, an antifeminist (shall we say "skeptical of feminism"?) trajectory, and in a much more concentrated, pronounced way than we see in larger society.
Thu, 2015-04-23 15:23
#8
Except that there are now more women gamers than men.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/18/52-percent-people-p...
I think it is less a symptom of any community than of an old boys club, just like any other, that thinks they have sole ownership of something.
Tue, 2015-05-12 20:31
#9
This is nothing but a dishonest smear campaign, while I don't agree with them on everything, the honey badgers are not trolls, but a group, including and largely lead by women who show compassion and intelligence and a love of nerd culture.
I'd provide a link to the honey badgers side of things, but I can't. PS the Honey Badgers and other Gamergaters have been victims of a bomb threat lately, where the police had to come out and investiage.
The left needs people like the honey badgers to keep us honest and evovling.
If I had the money right now I'd donate to they're legal costs myself. PS if you go to the site and get the actual real details you will see that the honey badgers are in the right. Perhaps Rabble would be wise to offer one of the honey badgers a column for rabble.
Wed, 2015-05-13 01:19
#10
Well I'll post one of their defenses:
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/booth-gamergate-logo-expelled-calg...
Given that they showed up and tried to spin a panel discussion on women in comics into talking about men, and had symbols of an organization which has been openly harrassing women and making death threats, seems to me CalgaryExpo was within their rights to ask them to dismantle their booth and leave.
And the other fan expos are not affiliated with Calgary:
http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2015/04/24/calgary-expos-gamergate-incident-...
(read the comments)
And what does a claim of getting a bomb threat have to do with anything? It doesn't change their own actions.
Wed, 2015-05-13 08:26
#11
http://honeybadgerbrigade.com/2015/04/25/our-expulsion-from-calgary-comi...
http://honeybadgerbrigade.com/2015/04/25/hbb-seeking-legal-advice/
http://honeybadgerbrigade.com/2015/04/18/go-home-gamer-girl-press-releas...
http://honeybadgerbrigade.com/radio/badgerpod-gamergate-14-they-set-us-u...
PS gamergate isn't an orginization with members, a few goofies threatening people and calling themselves gamer gaters is no more a legitimate representive of gamer gaters then ISIS representing Muslims as a wholer, or feminists who demand all men be castrated represent all feminists, or Stalin representing all communists, or ecoterrorist representing all enviromentalists ect...
People invovled come from all races, genders, and sexual orinations, and from across the political spectrum.
Wed, 2015-05-13 09:40
#12
Sure it is.
http://gawker.com/what-is-gamergate-and-why-an-explainer-for-non-geeks-1...
And wikipedia cuts to the chase right away:
The Gamergate controversy concerns sexism in video game culture. It garnered significant public attention after August 2014, when several women within the video game industry, including game developers Zoe Quinn and Brianna Wu and feminist cultural critic Anita Sarkeesian were subjected to a sustained campaign of misogynistic attacks. The campaign was coordinated in the online forums of Reddit, 4chan, and 8chan in an anonymous and amorphous movement that ultimately came to be represented by the Twitter hashtag #gamergate. The harassment included doxing, threats of rape, death threats and the threat of a mass shooting at a university speaking event.
Wed, 2015-05-13 09:41
#13
Timebandit
Hey, mods, would you please explain the feminist forum to Brachina, pretty please?
Wed, 2015-05-13 10:14
#14
http://honeybadgerbrigade.com/2015/04/18/go-home-gamer-girl-press-releas...
And this is a bit of a tangent, but this is the second article from gamergate and its supporters which has used a picture which was pulled by DC comics after complaints because it was a menacing reference to rape.
Not blaming you, Brachina. I also linked to an article (from Breitbart) with with a different cartoon reference to the same image, then pulled it. But it is weird to see the exact same image used again. Anyone familiar with comics would get that reference. Is this the sort of journalistic freedom they are fighting for? Using rape cartoons to poke a stick at people?
Here's an article on the original. The image is there:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/17/dc-comics-pull-batgirl-joke...
This is probably making me sound like quite the geek. I don't even game. I just have friends who are into it. That, and the fact this is something that should concern everyone.
Wed, 2015-05-13 11:22
#15
Timebandit
This is nothing but a dishonest smear campaign, while I don't agree with them on everything, the honey badgers are not trolls, but a group, including and largely lead by women who show compassion and intelligence and a love of nerd culture.
I'd provide a link to the honey badgers side of things, but I can't. PS the Honey Badgers and other Gamergaters have been victims of a bomb threat lately, where the police had to come out and investiage.
The left needs people like the honey badgers to keep us honest and evovling.
If I had the money right now I'd donate to they're legal costs myself. PS if you go to the site and get the actual real details you will see that the honey badgers are in the right. Perhaps Rabble would be wise to offer one of the honey badgers a column for rabble.
Yeah, they're not out to troll feminists at all....
Oh, wait! Here's a link to the blog of one of them, Karen Straughan, aka girlwriteswhat:
http://owningyourshit.blogspot.ca/
Please note the sub-header, which reads "This is what anti-feminism looks like". I know, right? So ambiguous. We're just leaping to all kinds of conclusions here.
Thu, 2015-05-14 15:25
#16
I saw Karen once admit that she would fit the dictionary definion of femenist, but she suggested that the dictionary definion isn't the one that is observed by most feminists advocates.
Thu, 2015-05-21 07:36
#17
Karen Straughan, who gives talks with titles like "Feminism: Socialism in Panties"? She is an extreme right-winger with a disturbingly large following on youtube.
The left needs Honey Badgers like I need a hole in the head.
Thu, 2015-05-21 10:54
#18
feministcritics.org/blog for a more leftwing MRA perpective. The honeybadger podcasts tend to focus on social issues, they don't really focus on economic issues, so I can't speak to that.
Thu, 2015-05-21 11:32
#19
Timebandit
I saw Karen once admit that she would fit the dictionary definion of femenist, but she suggested that the dictionary definion isn't the one that is observed by most feminists advocates.
She isn't a feminist of any stripe, despite what she claims. Quite frankly, none of her opinions - particularly those on feminism - interest me in the slightest, being entirely full of shit and all. It's her schtick to misrepresent what feminism actually is, so *of course* she says feminists don't walk the walk.
Thu, 2015-05-21 18:02
#20
feministcritics.org/blog for a more leftwing MRA perpective. The honeybadger podcasts tend to focus on social issues, they don't really focus on economic issues, so I can't speak to that.
There's a lot to dislike on that blog. *rolls up sleeves*
As for the HB podcasts I find them so unlistenable and mind-numbingly stupid, I think they are really beneath even Straughan. The mother of a friend of mine is big into all that MRA crap...loves the honey badgers..."coincidentally" she would never go to a female doctor or vote for a woman leader of a political party, and parents her daughter much more harshly than she does her sons. I have another friend with similar attitudes. They are textbook examples of modern-day female misogynists. Guess what, this friend loves HBB as well, whoda thunk it. "Coincidentally" they both suffered abuse at the hands of their mothers and admittedly believe women are inherently morally inferior to men (though, to be fair, one of them blames FEMINISM for that).
Sat, 2015-05-23 00:29
#21
I've seen women like that, in fact my step mother is like that, but she has no interest anything political, or the honey badgers, but she tends to react poorly to female leaders, and I suspect that its linked to her being poorly treated by women, such as her boss at times in positions of authority. But none of that has anything to do with the honeybadgers.
Personally I have had a poor relationship with both parents, I don't have childern and I don't intend to, but agian that has nothing to do with the honeybadgers.
Look when I first started look at the MRA movement I was very uncomfortable, life long feminist, plus some of the men do come off as dick heads, but as I explored the topic many of things they were saying made sense and were backed up fact. Human beings are often uncomfortable when they're beliefs and world view are challenge, but I have learned that only by pushing past that instinctive discomfort, do we grow as people, only by challenging our beliefs are they refined. I encourage you to listen some more and ask yourself do they ever have a point? Start there. You don't have to agree with everything they say, I don't, but its a valueable perpective.
Lets start with what we agree upon. We all agree abuse is wrong, men don't have the right to abuse women and women don't have the right to abuse men. Its a place to start.
Sat, 2015-05-23 04:41
#22
Timebandit
It's not equivalent. Not even close. Please do us all a favour and just stop posting in the feminist forum - discussion is supposed to be from a pro-feminist point of view. Your promotion of MRAs and their supporters is the antithesis of that.
Sat, 2015-05-23 10:42
#23
I'm pro smart feminist, like Peggy Nash, but I'm anti oppression and bullying and misinformation which has been pouring out of certain strains of feminism, because I believe feminism can be a force for good, but if good feminists continue to ignore the corruption within our midst it will be religated to the dust bin of history along side other idealogies that have been disguarded.
But if you prefer to remain unchallenged, if you prefer to unfairly smear others and then refuse to allow people to defend those who have been unfairly smeared, then there is absolutely no point in this forum as no meaningful debate will be going on here, just self congratulating back patting and intellectual dishonest.
I will point out that I have been very polite and respectful of other poster, abit critical.
This whole situation is embalmic of the rot poisoning the left, a rot that as a lefty breaks my heart, for only the left can save the world, but not by hiding its head in the sand, but by reaching out to those with a different perpective, those share the goals of equality, but see things from a different perpective. Why can't we reach out and listen to each others concerns with empathy and understanding, letting go of past mutual recriminations to create a reasonable dialog.
Sat, 2015-05-23 11:25
#24
its seems the only, what you call reasonable dialogue, allowed is by you and those who see things like you. you're basiclly telling everyone else they're bad feminists and corrupt. ffs.
Sat, 2015-05-23 15:15
#25
Brachina, the problem is that you are trying to create a false equivalency. It is as though you have showed up at a cancer conference and fundraiser but won't shut up about strokes.
Strokes are bad too, but people are there to deal with cancer not strokes and there are many more forms of cancer which doesn't mean that strokes are okay, but they are a separate issue.
Feminism frees men it doesn't not oppress them. Men face the same enemy as women do, the patriarchy.
Your "me too" approach is not about men's rights it's about backlash against and opposition to feminism. Try these links:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/07/cost-boys-tradition...
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/12/what-a-masculinity-c...
Despite this:
http://www.hugoschwyzer.net/2011/12/21/why-i-resigned-from-the-good-men-...
this remains a good site:
and this:
http://www.whiteribbon.ca/news/%E2%80%8Ewhyiwalk%E2%80%AC-because-things...
But remember, this is the feminist forum, not the sexism forum.
Sat, 2015-05-23 16:06
#26
Despite what you claim to be, your posts reflect a most anti-feminist perspective. This is the third time you've been asked not to post anti-feminist perspectives in the Feminist Forum. Last warning before suspension.I'm pro smart feminist, like Peggy Nash, but I'm anti oppression and bullying and misinformation which has been pouring out of certain strains of feminism, because I believe feminism can be a force for good, but if good feminists continue to ignore the corruption within our midst it will be religated to the dust bin of history along side other idealogies that have been disguarded.
But if you prefer to remain unchallenged, if you prefer to unfairly smear others and then refuse to allow people to defend those who have been unfairly smeared, then there is absolutely no point in this forum as no meaningful debate will be going on here, just self congratulating back patting and intellectual dishonest.
I will point out that I have been very polite and respectful of other poster, abit critical.
This whole situation is embalmic of the rot poisoning the left, a rot that as a lefty breaks my heart, for only the left can save the world, but not by hiding its head in the sand, but by reaching out to those with a different perpective, those share the goals of equality, but see things from a different perpective. Why can't we reach out and listen to each others concerns with empathy and understanding, letting go of past mutual recriminations to create a reasonable dialog.
Fri, 2015-05-29 11:07
#27
Kind of long, but an interesting article that touches on a number of things, from this conflict defining women and eclipsing enjoyment of the games, to their not all agreeing on everything, to the fact that it has garnered some sympathy, but not a lot of real change:
For my friends, the Twine revolutionaries and the vocal Tweeters and the other writers, a great act of deception has occurred: We've been in the New York Times and been invited to conferences and told that we are Important Voices, doing Important Work, we've been on the news at night and in magazines. We are awash in social capital. But none of it translates to real capital.
http://boingboing.net/2015/05/29/all-the-women-i-know-in-video.html
And this:
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/denver-comiccons-all-male-women-in-comic...
In another article, defenders of the event said there was a great all-women panel discussion; just not the one that was actually about women.
Thu, 2015-06-18 09:17
#28
So the court case of the century might be going forward; the only hitch is they have a lawyer who can't actually practice law:
http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2015/06/17/the-honey-badger-brigade-has-hi...
Wanna donate to the cause? Now is your chance/
Thu, 2015-06-18 11:49
#29
Timebandit
It seems like their primary currency is alleged victimization and being discriminated against by the mainstream - what better way to keep that currency than setting yourself up to fail?
Mon, 2015-06-22 15:15
#30
Gamergate getting twitchy over a call-out in which they aren't even mentioned:
http://jezebel.com/gamergate-shits-pants-over-john-oliver-segment-on-onl...
Sat, 2015-08-29 10:59
#31
Now some other cute animal brigade (the sad puppies) is trying to save science fiction for the straight white boys.
http://www.salon.com/2015/08/26/the_scifi_fans_are_alright_i_saw_the_fut...
In response, Hugo voters decided to give no awards instead.
Sun, 2015-08-30 17:26
#32
Timebandit
I have a friend who writes sci fi and young adult fantasy novels. He was pretty disgusted by the mess that was made of the Hugos.
Change makes discontent, but that's not a bad thing in the long run. :)
Sun, 2015-08-30 20:50
#33
I read an article in The Federalist that blamed the whole thing on left-wing idealogues being willing to burn their own houses down, so evidently there is shit flying from all sides.
THe interview on As It Happens was quite good; the person interviewed actually did cast her votes based on merit, and was concerned that some in the editing category were unfairly caught in the crossfire, and didn't even want to be on the straight white guy slate. She also said that while the Hugos are taking steps to prevent political slates, it won't take effect in time for next years' awards, so they will have to go through this again.
Tue, 2015-09-01 19:26
#34
The federalist is 100% right about that, the sad puppies actions were based on the idea that the slates were increasingly based on political correctness and not merit, so they pushed a slate that they felt was based on merit, and that was not exclusively white men on the slate, but writer they thought were good, no tokenism, or those chosen for just being politically incorrect, just quality. Honestly I haven't read most of these writers, so I can't say if they're good or not, but neither side should be basing it on politics, they should base it on quality.
A Hugo award is now worthless because authors authors can't know if they won on merit or if it was because they fit into someone elses adgenda and most people will be wondering the samething.
I support more diversity in both characters and creators like everyone else hear, but we've got to go about it smarter, without the collatorial damage, and while respecting that merit should trump anyother concideration. Yes this makes things harder, but this isn't something that can be solved with shortcuts.
Tue, 2015-09-01 19:53
#35
I thought he was full of shit, actually.
http://thefederalist.com/2015/08/28/no-award-the-hugo-awards-and-the-nih...
Any points with a shred of validity he just used as a foil against so-called Marxists, Nihilists, and strangely enough, the U.S. Democratic Party, which he also considers part of the cultural left.
Especially if one looks at the stated goal of that group in the first place, which wasn't to focus on quality, but rather "to make literary snobs' heads explode". So if this was nihilism, it was in response to the very same thing, no?
For anyone interested in the backstory, there loads of drama to wade through here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sad_Puppies
Tue, 2015-09-08 09:17
#36
I will admit as a lefty I resent being tossed in the same bin all the time by people on the right as communists, not trying red bait, just pointing out that the left has a much wider specturum then that. I mean Libertarians and So cons would hate to be confused with each other, just because they tend to be on the right.
Sat, 2015-11-28 12:31
#37
http://boingboing.net/2015/11/27/a-canadian-teenager-used-ameri.html
Obnoxious would get their IP addresses, dox them, DDoS them, try to blackmail them into befriending him and then to performing on-camera sex-acts for him, he would order pizzas and other crap to their homes, and then he would swat them.
"Swatting" is when you call someone's local police force and pretend that you are a crazed gunman/bomber in their house, so that the cops show up locked and loaded, fingers on the trigger. At best, you terrorize your victim and her family; at worse, you get the police to murder one or more of them.
Sun, 2015-11-29 00:56
#38
hey smith i've missed you.
Sun, 2015-11-29 13:18
#39
Thx. This did seem like an important thing to share,
Sun, 2015-11-29 13:22
#40
the guy is a narcissist. people who think the ends justify the means need to die out.
Sun, 2015-11-29 18:23
#41
This is where a civil suit could be appropriate.
Did his parents provide him with the necessary computer, internet connection and telephone service to do this? And did they leave him, a minor, unattended and unsupervised while he used them to do this?
Thu, 2016-02-11 08:35
#42
Long, but well worth reading. And sadly not surprising how much resonance it has with the Ghomeshi case.
http://blog.unburntwitch.com/post/139084743809/why-i-just-dropped-the-ha...
Sun, 2016-05-01 12:16
#43
And they are at it again, to prevent the non-white male hordes from taking over science fiction:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/04/29/sad_and_rabid_puppies_are...
\
Sat, 2016-06-11 23:13
#44
I know who Zoe Quinn is RTTG, but what on earth are you talking about?
Regarding the subject of this thread, that is.
Sun, 2016-06-12 00:19
#45
If everyone in this thread is going to talk about how problematic and anti-feminist a movement that started because people in gaming, cisfeminists in gaming, moved to protect an abusive rapist, and play red-team, blue-team, all over again, I'm going to point out that they're absolute hypocrites, and that they don't believe victims, and they don't believe rape and abuse happens to CAMABs very often, certainly not more often (it does, wake up and smell the implicit transmisogyny, Catchfire) than CAFABs. They claim to, but then they do shit like this.
There's a hole in your model and it's fucking up your praxis. Every last one of you. It's also why none of you have heard of Aerannis, despite your massive concern for gaming... >.>
Sun, 2016-06-12 01:02
#46
You're right. I don't give a shit about gaming, and I know even less.
I have a daughter who does though.
I have heard a bit of what you are talking about; a lot of it spin and lies. Not surprising considering that this is all about character assassination, threats and intimidation.
Bottom line is I don't care, because even if any of it is true, it changes nothing, and it is no justification at all for the misogynist shitstorm. This is about straight white creeps doing anything they can to keep women, people of colour and yes, LGBT people out of what they see as their turf.
BTW, I'm not Catchfire. Also I have never called myself a feminist, so sorry to disappoint you on the attempted shaming.
Sun, 2016-06-12 02:14
#47
Okay, fuck you, you fucking disingenous liar.
I was a daughter too, though it's nice of you to presume cisness for someone a couple decades betweenb the median age of transition.
This is about angry CAMABs being called creepy breeder misogynists and then a nice fat schmear of whatever infantilizing, femmephobic, fatphobic, fuckability-grading language.
If it were about what you think it was about, because you don't know shit but someone with a vagina told you what to think, therefore feminism, Gamergaters wouldn't have been all over Aerannis, and signal-boosting the shit out of a game that was an excellent call out of CAFAB transmisogyny even in a lesbian utoptia (because ultimately it was a neoliberal dystopia).
You don't know fuck all about this, but some teenager called someone a cunt, so all bets are off with the hyperbolic outrage machine. If ever anything bad disproportionately happened to ciswomen, maybe this wouldn't be so, buuuuut here we are. dickering about the meaning of bossy, and the culture of CAMAB cruelty (and often performative cruelty that's so absurd that it can't possibly be taken seriously, because... these are gamers, there's a lot of dykes you're calling creeps, you fucking creep) the moment ciswomen discover it suddenly being mean to them instead of something they get to laugh at while watching it happen to someone else, must be the structural oppression of them. (Because all their other social interractions are zero-sum)
Sun, 2016-06-12 02:40
#48
Yeah, I know there are some women in that crew. I think the honey badgers got mentioned upthread.
So what? Women can't be sexist and reinforce stereotypes and discrimination? Or we aren't supposed to call them on it?
Since this has been revived, how about the freaks losing their minds over the new Ghostbusters:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/05/the-sexist-outc...
http://www.bustle.com/articles/61057-12-sexist-reactions-to-ghostbusters...
(edit)
as for our daughter, she just picked up Liz Prince's Tomboy yesterday and breezed through it in a day. She said it had a lot of resonance for her, though she is pretty insistent about calling herself a woman, despite people's assumptions given how she dresses and her preferred activities. So until she tells me otherwise I am going to respect that if you don't mind.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20256612-tomboy
Besides. This has nothing to do with how she or any other person self-identifies. It has to do with people judging others and trying to shut them out.
Sun, 2016-06-12 02:54
#49
Self-identifies...
If I've been going on for years about implicit transmisogyny, and you throw that shit out. Nobody self-identifies. I'm done wasting time with you, and Gamergate is not people responding to Ghostbusters, which does look kind of cool except they perpetuated a lot of misogynoir from the cartoon, and also picked an actor who perpetuates a fucktonne of transmisogyny and rapey behavior on SNL.
Nice derail.
Nice goalpost shift.
Nice degendering every closeted trans person.
Nice bad argument in a desperate attempt to produce some guilt by association. Maybe there'd be more CAFABs in media if androphillic-identified (see why identity is important here with coercive straightness?) CAFABs controlled less of the household spending budget.
But you don't think about oppression like an economist, and consider second-order effects from massive implicit societal transmisogyny. I do. We're done. Enjoy your internet hugbox.
Sun, 2016-06-12 03:17
#50
We're done. Enjoy your internet hugbox.
Okay.
Its not exactly my hugbox though.
Sun, 2016-06-12 03:18
#51
I've been reading about this situation thanks to this thread. Please remove the comment about Zoe Quinn being a rapist; it's libellous and cruel given what she's suffered already.