Tags
One of those curious issues/events that have received far more coverage online in non-traditional rather than mainstream media, the Gamergate controversy (more briefly explained here) provides an interesting view into cultural and social issues, focused on a fast-growing segment of the entertainment and technology industries, especially with the explosive growth of the mobile-devices market.
Initial accusations of a lack of media ethics in gaming journalism have been overshadowed by widespread hostility, much of it directed against feminists, or arguably simply misogynistic in nature. The sub-cultural image of the gaming ‘nerd’ has become a focus of this, while older articles pre-dating the whole event do provide insight into the broader problem of discrimination against women in a traditionally male-dominated arena.
Ideas and Events 
http://tsaquiff.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/medical-marijuana/ part 3
http://tsaquiff.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/the-sneaker-game/ Still having problems posting part 2 (sorry sir!)
http://tsaquiff.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/what-is-the-true-message/ still having problems uploading sorry sir!
Personally I feel that the whole Gamergate controversey has been severely blown out of proportion. I personally do not care about video game journalism, and also do not see why people would be concerned over an issue like this. Looking deeper at the issue, the only reason why the issue blew out of proportion is that the “hivemind” of reddit is extremely anti-women in general, with particular hatred towards feminists, or “Social Justice Warriors”. In my opinion both sides of the coin are wrong.
For the pro-Gamergate supporters, there is simply too much that they are demanding. They want a total paradigm shift, where games have to abide by gender-equality and include more female characters that take a lead role, when there simply is no need to. Furthermore, they are pushing for a more transparent video game journalism, when there is once again no need to. The whole idea that mainstream news like Fox or CNN is extremely biased is a common thought on reddit, and this may not be necessarily true. Unfortunately, this bias translated to the whole issue that mainstream sites like Kotaku are trying to push their own political agenda by supposedly censoring themselves. Once again, there is no need for a paradigm shift as things are fine as they are. In addition, most of the feminists opposing the anti-gamergate crowd are also extremely anti-men, and are not pushing for equality but rather a matriachy. This is why, in my opinion, pro-gamergate is in the wrong
For the anti-Gamergate crowd, they are simply angry white males. They were the ones that started the whole issue, and they are still staunchly anti-feminist. They are rather extreme as well, going as far as hacking people to expose personal information. They fit the group of a “basement-dwelling neckbeard” but refuse to admit it. Ridiculously enough, some of these people even stand for so-called “men’s rights”, an excuse to be misogynistic. This is why they are in the wrong too.
The idea of mysoginy in gaming culture is rooted in sheer ignorance. When one opens their eyes beyond ten year olds yelling slurs on how they slept with others’ parents, mysoginy is almost non-existence. The Zoey Quinn incident stems more from the fact that she dishonestly “paid” for positive reviews of her game, rather than the fact that she is a female.
The idea of gaming being a traditionally male- dominated arena is one which is a stereotype as well. In gaming (both the subculture and in actual games), women typically make up around 50% of the gaming population, but tend to be more underground than male gamers. With the advent of online multiplayer, most are able to successfully hide their identities so as to avoid the courting of simple minded ten year olds.
Furthermore, many females have successfully entered professional circuits and scenes. Scarlett from Starcraft is one such example, and is one of the most top female/transsexual players in the international circuit. Another example is Dodger, a female youtube celebrity who does game playthroughs, reviews, live casts and other videos much like her male counterparts. Both are highly respected even in the notoriously toxic youtube comments, with almost all comments disregarding her gender entirely, treating her like any other youtuber. This contrasts the Gamergate incident heavily, which is actually an anomaly in the gaming scene as a whole.
“I believe that there is a small minority who are in it to cause trouble.”
John Bain/Totalbiscuit, on the Gamergate incident