 |
| Photo courtesy of Google Images. Thanks Google! |
It’s no secret that video games
have transformed into more than just a mere child’s hobby. When there are
legitimate competitions where money and careers are on the line, I think it’s
safe to say that gaming has carved a place in today’s culture. Heck, we even
have advertisements for certain games with some pretty big celebrity
endorsements, like Liam Neeson and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of course, when there
is a new entry in the culture, it brings with it a new set of slang.
Some of the terms are fairly
straightforward and easy to recognize, even if you haven’t played video games
before. For example, if someone says they got a “1Up” or an “extra life”, they
mean that they got an extra chance to play a level in case they lose.
The gaming culture has come under a
lot of fire, especially recently, for the gender issues. Not only are several
games receiving intense criticism for the unbalanced gender portrayals, but the
gamers themselves are being criticized for their sexist outlook (gaming is
still considered a predominantly masculine hobby, both by the community and the
game developers). The issue exploded in 2014 with the Gamergate scandal, and if you haven't heard of it, well, that would be impressive, since even people who don't play video games heard of the massive controversy surrounding Gamergate.
If you're unfamiliar with the events that transpired, here's a quick summary. A former boyfriend of female video game developer Zoe Quinn wrote a disparaging blog post about her, with numerous others accusing her of entering a relationship with a journalist to get more coverage. Basically the whole thing blew up with numerous other notable female figures in the gaming industry receiving numerous online harassment, from threats of assault to rape and murder. If you want a more in depth summary, here's what the Washington Post had to say on the matter. Sure it's a little opinionated, but with something as intense as the scandal, it's impossible to discuss it without including your own two cents.
Thankfully, this incredibly dark controversy has, more or less, come to a close. According to Venturebeat, the hashtag of Gamergate has seen a considerable drop in Googletrends, and they've shown that many large developers, like Intel, have started very large movements to help defend the progressive gaming culture and the people within.If you're unfamiliar with the events that transpired, here's a quick summary. A former boyfriend of female video game developer Zoe Quinn wrote a disparaging blog post about her, with numerous others accusing her of entering a relationship with a journalist to get more coverage. Basically the whole thing blew up with numerous other notable female figures in the gaming industry receiving numerous online harassment, from threats of assault to rape and murder. If you want a more in depth summary, here's what the Washington Post had to say on the matter. Sure it's a little opinionated, but with something as intense as the scandal, it's impossible to discuss it without including your own two cents.
So this whole Gamergate and gender controversy has more or less blown over, right? It was a mostly self contained issue, and it was found out that most of the online harassers were a small minority of the gaming community. It's not like this sort of thing is going to repeat itself on a much larger scale, right? Well, I already posted a link in that last sentence, so, uh, spoiler, it did in fact repeat itself.
This brings up a different question that at the moment, I don't have the answer for. Why does this keep happening? Why is it that anytime gender is introduced into a cultural movement or debate, the whole thing explodes in a frenzy of sexist and hateful posts? Grab a shovel, because we're going to have to dig deeper.
