Let me start off by saying that being a girl in the gaming community is (a) not rare at all and (b) so tedious. Do you know how annoying it is for a guy to say "Girls only play video games to get a guy's attention"? Because it's so annoying. I don't understand what you want me to say. "Yeah. You know, I just walk into a Gamestop and burn $60"? Why would I waste that much money on something that may or may not "impress" somebody? It literally makes no sense as to why videogames are characterized as such a male hobby. Girls have opposable thumbs, and we can move them. What's the challenge? Absolutely nothing. Anyway, let's get on with this. What is sexism?Sexism is when one or more people target a certain sex, and they stereotype, discriminate, or prejudice, typically against women, on the basis of sex. "#GamerGate" ControversyThis past August, the "#GamerGate" controversy started up when indie game developer Zoe Quinn's ex-boyfriend accused Quinn of having a romantic relationship with Nathan Grayson, a journalist for the video game news site Kotaku. Quinn, along with the many members of the gaming industry who supported her, received misogynistic harassment; people threatened and released personal information about Quinn's supporters, causing some of them to leave their homes. These harassers mainly targeted women, including Quinn, Feminist Frequency's Anita Sarkeesian, and indie game developer Brianna Wu. This harassment was undoubtedly sexist and misogynistic against multiple women in the gaming community. GamerGate's SexismBack in October, Anita Sarkeesian, creator of the YouTube channel FeministFrequency that describes the representation of women in pop culture, was supposed to speak at Utah State University, but she was forced to cancel the talk after death threats were made towards her by a student at USU. Some staff members received an email signed anonymously threatening that if Sarkeesian came to the university, it would be "the deadliest school shooting in American history," yet police refused to take action towards preventing firearms at the talk because of Utah's open carry laws. Sarkeesian received many death threats against her and other feminists at USU, and one threat claimed to be affiliated with the #GamerGate movement. Sarkeesian has said much about #GamerGate saying, "At this point supporting #gamergate is implicitly supporting the harassment of women in the gaming industry." Sarkeesian also reported that she has received death threats including her personal information which temporarily drove her out of her home. Sarkeesian told an audience: "One of the most radical things you can do is to actually believe women when they talk about their experiences... The perpetrators do not see themselves as perpetrators at all. They see themselves as noble warriors. We are blamed for the abuse we receive and regularly told that we are either asking for it or inventing it entirely." In October, indie game developer Brianna Wu mocked #GamerGate supporters saying "fighting an apocalyptic future where women are 8 percent of programmers and not 3 percent," so #GamerGate supporters retaliated by mocking her. They soon posted her home address and other personal information and eventually started sending her death threats. Wu was then targeted and threatened on Twitter; she had to involve the police, and she and her husband left their home. Two months later, after tweeting about the death of her dog, Wu received pictures of mutilated dogs that #GamerGate supporters emailed her corporate email. Wu has offered a reward for information about those involved in her harassment and has promised she would not be intimidated by the threats. Actress Felicia Day had made a post on her blog concerning #GamerGate and how she has avoided talking about it for fear of harassment herself. Her address was revealed in the comments. I wonder why she was so afraid of talking about it. Meanwhile, actor Wil Wheaton and former NFL player Chris Kluwe also posted about #GamerGate; Kluwe even used "creative insults," yet neither of them received any harassment. How surprising. Let's Change PleaseHow come all of these women are getting harassed, and sometimes even driven from their homes, when those two men - and most likely more male gamers from the community - don't get a single negative comment? We all know why. Now, I'm not saying that these male celebrities deserve to get harassed; I'm saying all of the women who spoke up about something they believed in did not deserve in the slightest any of the backlash that they got. If you've read this far and you still don't believe that sexism - in any community - exists, then you seriously have to reevaluate your priorities. These #GamerGate supporters - and many other groups of (mainly) men - have sent death and rape threats to women in the gaming industry and have leaked their personal information just to "prove" that misogyny and sexism don't exist; how ironic. Not only is the gaming community getting a bad reputation from their violence and "influence on mass murderers," but now that #GamerGate has started, this community will very soon start to be generalized as a bunch of big babies who can't deal with the fact that they are misogynistic - in more ways than just this #GamerGate movement - to nearly half of this community.
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RWBY is a web series that's made by Roosterteeth. Before the actual show started, each of the main characters got their own trailer; the trailers were just scenes of them fighting people/creatures. Each character in the show is based off of a fairy tale, myth, etc. The protagonists, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, go to Beacon Academy. Beacon Academy is where they are taught to become official Huntresses. They're "team name" is RWBY, and each letter represents the first letter of their names (and, coincidentally, their designated colors). RWBY only has one season so far, but so many characters, conflicts, and creatures are introduced in only 16 episodes. Ruby RoseRuby Rose is the team leader of RWBY and the main protagonist. She's very friendly, but she can also fight like it's her job. Ruby has a special power, or "Semblance", which is her speed. She can move so fast that at appears as if she can teleport. She named her weapon (a scythe mixed with a sniper rifle) "Crescent Rose." You can probably tell that her "color" is red, considering her name is a red jewel and a red flower. Ruby is based off of the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood," and in her trailer, she's shown at first as just a red hood and cape. So it's pretty obvious that it's alluding to Little Red Riding Hood. Weiss SchneeWeiss Schnee is very proper, and she makes it clear that her father is the boss of "Schnee Dust Company" (Dust is something that is used against the Creatures of the Grimm). Weiss' Semblance is her glyphs. She can create them to manipulate objects, or she can even use them as a platform. She carries around "Myrtenaster," a rapier with glyphs that channel the Dust inside of her rapier. It's very clear that her "color" is white because her first name is literally "white" in German. Her character alludes to Snow White; her name means "white snow," and her necklace has an apple on it. The very beginning of her trailer shows us that she's very preserved and very proper. Blake BelladonnaBlake Belladonna is super quiet, but when she does talk, she's usually very sassy. Blake's Semblance is called "Shadow," and it allows her to make clones of herself. Her choice of weapon is a folding katana with a pistol in it's handle attached to a long ribbon, and she calls it "Gambol Shroud." Considering that "blake" is an Old English term for black, Blake's "color" is black. Blake has two meanings: deadly nightshade and beautiful woman. Blake is both of those things, so that makes sense. She's supposed to be influenced by Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but I can't see a similarity. Her trailer is the first trailer to have someone talking in it, and it shows that she has a lot of dexterity and swiftness. Yang Xiao LongYang Xiao Long is Ruby's older sister (they don't have the same last name, but that's not relevant), and she's very straightforward and confident. Her yellow gauntlets, Ember Celicia, act as shotguns that have exploding bullets, and they project flames. Her "color" is yellow, and it goes hand in hand with her name, Yang, which means "sun" and "light." Yang is inspired by Goldilocks because of her "gold" hair, and in her trailer, the DJ at the club she goes to is wearing a bear hat. The trailer shows Yang to be very energetic and confident. Long story short: RWBY is a really good show and you should watch it. Just like Red vs Blue, RWBY isn't on Netflix, so you can watch it on Crunchyroll, Roosterteeth's Youtube Channel, or on the Roosterteeth Website.
Have you ever seen a TV show that uses video games? Well I have. One of my favorite shows (like top 5 at least), Red vs Blue, is made only by graphics from the Halo games. Two teams, the Reds and Blues, "fighting" each other in a civil war, are living in a box canyon called Blood Gulch. When I say "fighting" I really mean doing absolutely nothing. Later in the series, a team called Project Freelancer is introduced as a higher and more important group of people. You have to watch it before I start spoiling things for you. At first, this show might seem like the creators had no idea what they were doing; they didn't. Red vs Blue started this as a side project that a group of 5 friends started in their living room. They only intended it to be a 6-episode long series; they didn't know that it would soon have a total of 356 episodes in 11 seasons. Can you say over-achievers? Unfortunately, Red vs Blue isn't on Netflix (weaksauce, I know); however, the show is on the Roosterteeth YouTube, and it's on the Roosterteeth website. Make sure to watch it because, let me tell you, it's an amazing show. *Disclaimer: You do not have to be involved with Halo to like Red vs Blue. The only similarity is the graphics. |
BellaI like cheese and video games. Categories
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