No, GamerGate Is Not A Hate Group

The truth on GamerGate; where is the rationality?

No, GamerGate Is Not A Hate Group

You may have heard of the term 'Gamer-Gate'; it's a consumer revolt which has been slandered as misogynistic, its aim is to improve ethics in video games journalism. To its credit, after six months it's made considerable gains (and is growing by the day).

From getting The Escapist, The Destructoid, IGN, The Verge and PC Gamer to all update their ethics and disclosure policies; to helping to raise more than $50,000 for TheFineYoungCapitalists (an organization with the aim of supporting work by underrepresented labor in the media industry) to getting advertisers to pull out of unethical sites (to the point of costing Gawker into the seven figures).

And yet, GamerGate is labelled as ''an evil white male'' misogynistic movement?

Wait. The same consumer revolt which raised thousands of dollars to help women in the industry is against women?

Huh?

The same consumer revolt which seen from the hashtag #NotYourShield, compromised of a vast range of ethnic minorities and females advocating their support for GamerGate's goal of ethical reform is against women and solely exists on the basis of prohibiting ethnic diversity?

Huh?

Yeah, you read that right. Despite a good chunk of the consumer revolt consisting of ethnic minorities (ironically, moreso than those who oppose the revolt) and females, it's somehow labeled as a hate group against the very group of people the consumer revolt consists of! --- which is is an utterly unfortunate betrayal of rationality and reason.

Being Indian myself, I've frustratingly been met with the claim that I'm an evil white racist misogynist for associating with a ''hate group'' --- the claim that GamerGate is a hate group mostly comes from the fact that several notable females have received threats, but that's the deal with a hashtag movement. Anyone (e.g. third party troll) can send a hateful message and attach a hashtag to it on Twitter; for Gamer-Gate atleast, the harassment is actually a fringe minority coming from the hashtag.

If one is going to judge it to be a hategroup, surely it is a remarkable piece of illogic to use a minority to represent the majority of the movement? (judging an entire group based on the actions of a few is what leads to, by definition bigoted thinking). Or if you're trying to gauge the movement, atleast use something more representative.

Such as the sub-reddit KotakuInAction, the main hub of GamerGate which not only roundly condemns harassment in it's official site rules but has a subscriber total of around roughly 28,500 (and it's only rising). Surely, that is more representative of the revolt, no?

It is completely illogical, irrational and faulty to assume it is a hate-movement. But then again, are we to expect rationality on the Internet?

The reason that you've probably not heard of this is because of the lack of media acknowledgement of it; with them instead opting to give professional victims such as Brianna Wu and Anita Sarkeesian a platform to police what Gamers should and shouldn't do. Brianna Wu, a known liar who sent threats to herself and Anita Sarkeesian, a third-wave Feminist who claimed to have gamed since the age of 5, only to then being found to admitted that she has never cared for Gaming.

Hell, if we focus on the topic of harassment, shall we not point to the fact (and to no surprise, gained no coverage) of the pro-Gamer Gaters who actually received harassment on social media?

Such threats as seen in the link from the Anti-Gamer Gate crew literally call for the genocide of all Gamers and those who support GamerGate. Though who oppose Gamer Gate may protest that ''they are not a group/movement'' --- yet the woman they report so much on, outright said that Anti-Gamer Gate is a movement?

I have myself, witnessed several of my friends (who could be considered ethnic minorities) face harassment and doxxing for simply daring to associate themselves with GamerGate.

Here we have, an Anti-Gamer Gate movement, which evidently has dished out far more harassment. Shall we lump all those that oppose Gamer-Gate has abusive people based on the statistic? Or, is that a generalization?

I write this not to appeal to the gaming press; they know they're in the wrong, and they've cast their own narrative (which is beginning to fall apart). I do not write this to even appeal to the radical Social Justice Warriors who align themselves against Gamer-Gate, as they are simply not interested in what they claim to fight for (they only care about minorities and women who agree with the narrative, they're not interested in the facts).

I write this to appeal to neutrals; those who may be anti-Gamer Gate but have doubts. Do you honestly believe GamerGate is against the very group of people it consists of? Does disliking ultra-third wave politically correct Feminists make you a ''misogynist''? I think not.