Derailing Sarkeesian

After reading the optional articles, I was appalled. Being who I am, I decided to see what I could find out there. And I found this: an article about a Sarkeesian-type project (in Kotaku)--which is basically a BS troll. Sadly, there will be people who find this entertaining.

However, is it truly amusing? What is it about mocking feminism that is so appealing to certain people--men, in general? The logic is that, by lampooning Sarkeesian, they are discrediting what she is attempting to do. It is feeding into the rude, explicit, sarcastic, denigrating, and vile actions, words, and thoughts of the men who are somehow threatened by an attempt to challenge gender tropes in the gaming world.

Interestingly enough, the original site was taken down. I could not access the google.doc, and I was certainly not going to ask for permission to access it; lord knows what I would find.

The author of the above article states that, "yes, most of the stuff in the early drafts document was more than a little ridiculous (when it wasn't being offensive), it would appear that its creators are not just having a laugh;" and points to other writers around twitter talking about actually attacking this. Which brings me to the next point: the male hegemony.

My topic for this class's final project will be gender and the internet, though from what angle I do not know. If there are legitimate attempts to pursue misandry, I am of two mind about this. I appreciate it, as the internet could be a truly gender-neutral or gender-free space. At the same time, since it is currently a gendered space focused on male hegemony, should we not first address that? Or, will it take people of all gender and all races challenging all the current norms to really effect change?

Definitely some interesting supplementary materials this week!