GAMERGATE: Both Sides Have The Same Melt Value

[Great Rumbler]

The timestamps don't lie, Triumph!  The timestamps never lie!

Yo dawg, I heard you like timestamps, so we put timestamps on your timestamps so you know exactly what time that stamp was timestamped.

[Human Snorenado]

Oh my GOD. This stuff in the past page is SCARY.

It's not real, himu! I mean, people on the internet are clearly not crazy enough to do this sort of thing!/magoose

[Himu]

I believe it! Considering what I experienced on reddit, I know it's real!

[Howard Alan Treesong]

etiolate when you die if your grave doesn't say "rest in peace" on it you are automatically drafted into the skeleton war

spoiler (click to show/hide)

replace "SJW" with "skeleton"

[close]

[Himu]

This may be a good opportunity to talk about that to show what kind of people we're dealing with.

I was arguing about Ferguson in one of the default sub reddits one Sunday evening. As usual, the basket cases had racist and myopic rationale justifying it. The very next morning when I woke up, I checked Reddit out and got a message. This message detailed that the person knew me in real life, has been following me for months on reddit and offline, and all of this because of my gender identity. This person said they knew me, that they knew where I live, that I was a filthy cheeseburger, and that I will be raped. It was sent with a throwaway account. I was on edge an entire week, had to make a new Reddit account. I even bought pepper spray and a knife. I was scared that the threats were true, and I was distrustful of people in real life. I didn't go out of my house except for work for a week. In the end, my friends and I concluded that it was just trolling and some person waging psychological warfare on an innocent person just for kicks.

And I'm not a well known person within the gaming industry, and this was just over Ferguson and having boobs. If you doubt these messages and threats you're a moron and you've never really lived it. Even if they're fake, they're still scary as shit, and Gamersgate is an entire "movement" full of people doing things like this.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

This may be a good opportunity to talk about that to show what kind of people we're dealing with.

I was arguing about Ferguson in one of the default sub reddits one Sunday evening. As usual, the basket cases had racist and myopic rationale justifying it. The very next morning when I woke up, I checked Reddit out and got a message. This message detailed that the person knew me in real life, has been following me for months on reddit and offline, and all of this because of my gender identity. This person said they knew me, that they knew where I live, that I was a filthy cheeseburger, and that I will be raped. It was sent with a throwaway account. I was on edge an entire week, had to make a new Reddit account. I even bought pepper spray and a knife. I was scared that the threats were true, and I was distrustful of people in real life. I didn't go out of my house except for work for a week. In the end, my friends and I concluded that it was just trolling and some person waging psychological warfare on an innocent person just for kicks.

And I'm not a well known person within the gaming industry, and this was just over Ferguson and having boobs. If you doubt these messages and threats you're a moron and you've never really lived it. Even if they're fake, they're still scary as shit, and Gamersgate is an entire "movement" full of people doing things like this.

sorry to hear that.

I wish more outlets would speak out against this harassment. tired of the "both sides" crap.

[magus]

Oh my GOD. This stuff in the past page is SCARY.

It's not real, himu! I mean, people on the internet are clearly not crazy enough to do this sort of thing!/magoose

if there is definitive proof that this happened, i won't say anything and admit i'm wrong, but don't tell me you would trust reading anything about gamergate on someone that write shit like this

https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/512690892012924929

this person is plenty of crazy itself, i'd be more willing to see this as an hate movement if for once the target was... you know... a normal person, once again

[Trent Dole]

PRESENTED BY INTERNET EXPLORER.

[tiesto]

I'm legit surprised that gamergate is still going on and, from the sounds of it, getting worse...

[nudemacusers]

I'm legit surprised that gamergate is still going on and, from the sounds of it, getting worse...

it's like a venereal disease, except no sex is involved.

[Steve Contra]

Magoose 

[benjipwns]

magus you dumbass nobody deserves to get doxxed and subsequently get sent hate and rape threats (Image removed from quote.)

it doesn't matter who they are, what they believe, what they've done (Image removed from quote.)

What if they were Hitler?

AHA! CHECKMATE!

#GAMERGATE IS FOR THE CHILDREN

[Phoenix Dark]

Holy shit, these dick weeds drove a woman from her home?

She couldn't drive herself!

spoiler (click to show/hide)

because women can't drive
#gamergate

[close]

[Take My Breh Away]

British Newspaper, The Daily Mail, called #GamerGate a hate movement

Keep in mind, the Daily Mail openly supported fascist leader Oswald Mosley and Hitler in World War 2 and in general hates anything that upsets middle England or anything sexual on TV (Despite having the highest concentration of up-skirt paparazzi shots on the internet)



Get called out by former fascism supporters, Brehs 

[Positive Touch]

Jesus himu I'm sorry you had to go thru that and I'm glad you're alright.

social media sites are gonna have to undergo a major revamp in the coming years. they always claim to be about freedom and openness, but always end up providing cover and anonymity for terrible sociopaths. it has to change.

[Tasty]

This may be a good opportunity to talk about that to show what kind of people we're dealing with.

I was arguing about Ferguson in one of the default sub reddits one Sunday evening. As usual, the basket cases had racist and myopic rationale justifying it. The very next morning when I woke up, I checked Reddit out and got a message. This message detailed that the person knew me in real life, has been following me for months on reddit and offline, and all of this because of my gender identity. This person said they knew me, that they knew where I live, that I was a filthy cheeseburger, and that I will be raped. It was sent with a throwaway account. I was on edge an entire week, had to make a new Reddit account. I even bought pepper spray and a knife. I was scared that the threats were true, and I was distrustful of people in real life. I didn't go out of my house except for work for a week. In the end, my friends and I concluded that it was just trolling and some person waging psychological warfare on an innocent person just for kicks.

And I'm not a well known person within the gaming industry, and this was just over Ferguson and having boobs. If you doubt these messages and threats you're a moron and you've never really lived it. Even if they're fake, they're still scary as shit, and Gamersgate is an entire "movement" full of people doing things like this.

Jesus Christ I fucking hate people sometimes.

[Tasty]

Holy shit, these dick weeds drove a woman from her home?

She couldn't drive herself!

spoiler (click to show/hide)

because women can't drive
#gamergate

[close]

[tiesto]

Just read your harassment story, Himu... that's some fucked up shit.

[I'm a Puppy!]

This may be a good opportunity to talk about that to show what kind of people we're dealing with.

I was arguing about Ferguson in one of the default sub reddits one Sunday evening. As usual, the basket cases had racist and myopic rationale justifying it. The very next morning when I woke up, I checked Reddit out and got a message. This message detailed that the person knew me in real life, has been following me for months on reddit and offline, and all of this because of my gender identity. This person said they knew me, that they knew where I live, that I was a filthy cheeseburger, and that I will be raped. It was sent with a throwaway account. I was on edge an entire week, had to make a new Reddit account. I even bought pepper spray and a knife. I was scared that the threats were true, and I was distrustful of people in real life. I didn't go out of my house except for work for a week. In the end, my friends and I concluded that it was just trolling and some person waging psychological warfare on an innocent person just for kicks.

And I'm not a well known person within the gaming industry, and this was just over Ferguson and having boobs. If you doubt these messages and threats you're a moron and you've never really lived it. Even if they're fake, they're still scary as shit, and Gamersgate is an entire "movement" full of people doing things like this.

what the fuck is wrong with people?
I'm sorry Himu. 

[magus]

magus you dumbass nobody deserves to get doxxed and subsequently get sent hate and rape threats (Image removed from quote.)

it doesn't matter who they are, what they believe, what they've done (Image removed from quote.)

I'm not saying she deserve it, but if a person that spend so much vitriol hating on a group, start trying shit with it and coincidentaly get threatened soon right after, and the person in question is an activist it's suspicious as fuck

[Tasty]

I'm not saying she deserve it, but

No.

[Human Snorenado]

Magoose, you are fucking distinguished mentally-challenged.

[Shadow Mod]

magus you dumbass nobody deserves to get doxxed and subsequently get sent hate and rape threats (Image removed from quote.)

it doesn't matter who they are, what they believe, what they've done (Image removed from quote.)

I'm not saying she deserve it, but if a person that spend so much vitriol hating on a group, start trying shit with it and coincidentaly get threatened soon right after, and the person in question is an activist it's suspicious as fuck

 

No one has to start shit about anything. Just criticize (and rightfully so) someone's sacred hobby or question their misogynistic myopic worldview and suddenly you have people e-stalking you like never before.

Being a woman with opinions is so threatening to people they'll find any avenue to get you to shut up, and that includes threats and doxxing.

[chronovore]

#Gamergate Trolls Aren't Ethics Crusaders; They're a Hate Group

This is largely the reason I posted the article about Auermann (sp?) the other day; I think there are a lot of hateful/scared manbabbies out there who honestly believe they’re entitled to some hardcore Truth about what’s going on in games, and “games journalism,” because reasons.

And I think there are some trolls amongst the GG movement who have co-opted it and turned it into this bile-spewing misogynistic hydra, and have got the little nerds chasing their own entitled tails around.

This may be a good opportunity to talk about that to show what kind of people we're dealing with.

I was arguing about Ferguson in one of the default sub reddits one Sunday evening. As usual, the basket cases had racist and myopic rationale justifying it. The very next morning when I woke up, I checked Reddit out and got a message. This message detailed that the person knew me in real life, has been following me for months on reddit and offline, and all of this because of my gender identity. This person said they knew me, that they knew where I live, that I was a filthy cheeseburger, and that I will be raped. It was sent with a throwaway account. I was on edge an entire week, had to make a new Reddit account. I even bought pepper spray and a knife. I was scared that the threats were true, and I was distrustful of people in real life. I didn't go out of my house except for work for a week. In the end, my friends and I concluded that it was just trolling and some person waging psychological warfare on an innocent person just for kicks.

And I'm not a well known person within the gaming industry, and this was just over Ferguson and having boobs. If you doubt these messages and threats you're a moron and you've never really lived it. Even if they're fake, they're still scary as shit, and Gamersgate is an entire "movement" full of people doing things like this.

Good grief, Himu. That’s horrible. As a transsexual it is particularly wise to be especially careful with your safety. I’m sure that you know, but likely many here do not, that the incidence of murderous violence against transsexuals is terrifyingly disproportionate. 1-in-12 trans people are killed, and the number is apparently 1-in-8 for transsexuals of color.

[magus]

Magoose, you are fucking distinguished mentally-challenged.

Magus, you might sincerely be the dumbest person I've met on the internet since I posted on gamefaqs in high school. You're winning a decade of dumb award.

why? for believing crazy activist exist? it's not much different than believing crazy neckbeard around the world are so threatened by women that they are going to send rape and death threat to anybody who speak against them



if this person doesn't want attention and is truly scared about gamergate as a hate moment, why the fuck is she on tv? there are plenty of "decade of dumb" people believing there is something wrong in this whole accident, i'm going to listen to their side

No one has to start shit about anything. Just criticize (and rightfully so) someone's sacred hobby or question their misogynistic myopic worldview and suddenly you have people e-stalking you like never before.

Being a woman with opinions is so threatening to people they'll find any avenue to get you to shut up, and that includes threats and doxxing.

there are plenty of people that having been voicing their opinion without trouble both pro and against,and some people saying that they got threatened from the against side too which nobody would cover (and of course i wouldn't believe either, if you can't trust group 1 talking shit about group 2 you can't trust the reverse either) yet for some incredibly odd reason, the shit hit the fan only the instant an activist get involved

of course if i point this out it means that...

1) i am dumb
2) i believe in crazy conspiracy theories
3) i think harassing people is ok

go ahead, pick one

[benjipwns]

I at first thought that was an original dual analog controller for the PS1.

[Shadow Mod]

Dude I got threatened and doxxed just by posting on a forum, it doesn't take much at all, so no I don't just "believe it", I "endure" it. So honestly, get a fucking clue.

[benjipwns]

Dude I got threatened and doxxed just by posting on a forum, it doesn't take much at all, so no I don't just "believe it", I "endure" it. So honestly, get a fucking clue.

Yeah, but I'm not saying you deserved it, but you might have deserved it. These kind of things always have two sides and the truth is always absolutely forever in the middle.

[Rufus]

Hey and maybe you should just shut the fuck up to make the problem go away, because that's totally not why people are getting harrassed in the first place.

[chronovore]

if this person doesn't want attention and is truly scared about gamergate as a hate moment, why the fuck is she on tv? there are plenty of "decade of dumb" people believing there is something wrong in this whole accident, i'm going to listen to their side

Magus, either way, blaming the victim isn’t cool.

People have a right to voice their opinion that there is underrepresentation of their group in games, sexism in games, they can even say they don’t support feminism or affirmative action or whatever, but then saying those who spoke up should expect rape- and death-threats is unreasonable.

For what it’s worth, I have a hard time believing that people who are pro-feminism, pro-diversity, and against the threats of rape and murder are making similarly antisocial and violent threats against their opposite number. If there are any threats, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were false-flag operations run from puppet Twitter and email accounts, just to rile up their own troops.

[magus]

Dude I got threatened and doxxed just by posting on a forum, it doesn't take much at all, so no I don't just "believe it", I "endure" it. So honestly, get a fucking clue.

well i'm sorry that this happened to you (and to himuro too) and you have reason to believe this shit is awfull and real... however i don't have any, and what i see are a bunch of forum nerds piling on other forum nerds and taking anything that put the other forum nerds in a negative light as absolute facts and having the time of their life mocking people, and that's pretty lame

Magus, either way, blaming the victim isn’t cool.

i'm not blaming the victim, creepy said i'm dumb for thinking there is a "CRAZY CONSPIRACY THEORY" and i just pointed out why i think there is a reason to believe otherwise (this person has reason for wanting to cast gamergate in a negative light)

For what it’s worth, I have a hard time believing that people who are pro-feminism, pro-diversity, and against the threats of rape and murder are making similarly antisocial and violent threats against their opposite number. If there are any threats, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were false-flag operations run from puppet Twitter and email accounts, just to rile up their own troops.

but this can go both side, which is the whole reason i tought we shouldn't simply touch the matter and just label as a dumb internet fight

did you guys listen to me? nooooooooooooooooooooooope!

[benjipwns]

There are people who do stuff like leave nooses randomly or write "slurs" on doors or carve B's into their face or what have you to gain attention and try to ride off the victim status but these stories generally fall apart quickly, and are much much harder to coordinate on a mass scale. So while I wouldn't dispute the notion of individual false flags that are unintentional projection I will say that kittens can be really cute.

And I stand by that. No matter how much of a pariah it makes me.

[Great Rumbler]

I'm not saying that MLK deserved to have his affair secretly recorded by the FBI and then leaked to his wife, but he was an activist so it's very suspicious. He should probably just shut up and stay out of it.

[chronovore]

did you guys listen to me? nooooooooooooooooooooooope!

Magus, we are listening, or we wouldn’t be responding at all.

I’ll say this one time, and then I’m out: THERE IS NO PARITY. There is no way to draw an even line between the two sides. Women are a minority in the industry. They’re culturally oppressed. They are paid less, and work in an environment where their professionalism is discounted constantly. That’s /IN/ the work environment.

Now a small subgroup of nasty-minded gamers is placing an incredible amount of energy into targeting this already underrepresented portion of game developers and game academics, essentially terrorizing the human vectors most likely to bring legitimacy to the medium we all enjoy playing. Because they’re afraid someone is going to take away their chain mail bikini wearing valkyries and upskirt schoolgirls. Because they feel some academic is in danger of emasculating them even more than they’ve already managed to do to themselves.

Every game dev I know isn't into it for the money, they’re into it for the joy they can bring to players. When it’s clear some portion of the audience would like them to commit suicide and rape and murder their children rather than have a rational conversation or be held accountable for their opinions (how many #GG supporters are using /their/ real names?) it is difficult to maintain one’s energy.

Here’s a good article exposing the conservative nature of GG:
http://jonstonechannel2.tumblr.com/post/99246356388/why-bother-with-gamergate

I also want to resist #gamergate’s arrogant attempts to position itself as representative of ordinary consumers who play games - as representative of me. I would like people outside of gaming culture to know that this ugliness is the spittle and spite and self-immolation of a cornered minority, joined by the callous excitement of others who are seduced by the music of revolt and aren’t particularly scrupulous when it comes to picking a side, while others still hitch their own misgivings, prejudices and grudges to an irresistible bandwagon.

[demi]

Am I a villain for choosing to ignore this whole thing? Would like to know how I balance on the moral scale

[Phoenix Dark]

Bob sides are missing the point of this entire discussion: the federal deficit needs to be cut.

[magus]

Actually with magus here, we can see exactly how this Gamergate tard festival has gone so far and so long. Expose a bunch of possible pederast forum posters with no social interaction and a worldview shaped by little but RPGs and watch as they crumble mentally. These people have no tools or interaction for dealing with things like this. They don't read about any of it. They don't know enough women to contextualize any of it. They are functionally incapable of seeing how toxic the culture in their hobby can be. If what you're being informed by is exclusively terrible JRPGs and anime, how can you expect to have any sort of nuance wrt women in entertainment?

The entrenched antifeminist/MRA gamers are different. It's easy to see why they're MRA's; they've been burned from a lifetime of rejection or they fear not having power over women. But there's also this innocuous/childlike Gamergate element that simply doesn't have the ability to parse it.

jesus esch, are you serious there? i just want people to listen to both sides of the story... if you want to go "THE OTHER SIDE IS FULL OF MYSOGINISTIC NECKBEARD,WE CAN SEE ONE RIGHT HERE!" i have no fucking idea what to tell you other than i'm seriously disappointed in you people

Magus, we are listening, or we wouldn’t be responding at all.

I’ll say this one time, and then I’m out: THERE IS NO PARITY. There is no way to draw an even line between the two sides. Women are a minority in the industry. They’re culturally oppressed. They are paid less, and work in an environment where their professionalism is discounted constantly. That’s /IN/ the work environment.

Now a small subgroup of nasty-minded gamers is placing an incredible amount of energy into targeting this already underrepresented portion of game developers and game academics, essentially terrorizing the human vectors most likely to bring legitimacy to the medium we all enjoy playing. Because they’re afraid someone is going to take away their chain mail bikini wearing valkyries and upskirt schoolgirls. Because they feel some academic is in danger of emasculating them even more than they’ve already managed to do to themselves.

Every game dev I know isn't into it for the money, they’re into it for the joy they can bring to players. When it’s clear some portion of the audience would like them to commit suicide and rape and murder their children rather than have a rational conversation or be held accountable for their opinions (how many #GG supporters are using /their/ real names?) it is difficult to maintain one’s energy.

but this is what one side says, the other side says this

http://reason.com/archives/2014/10/12/gamergate-part-i-sex-lies-and-gender-gam/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2014/09/04/gamergate-a-closer-look-at-the-controversy-sweeping-video-games/

I do have personal experience with the gamers' mortal enemies, the so-called "social justice warriors," to know they can be a highly toxic Internet presence. Those who voice their loathing of "the SJWs" are not simply talking about people sympathetic to socially progressive causes but about cultist zealots who enforce the party line with the fervor of Mao's Red Guards, though luckily without the real-life power. In social-media discussions of art and entertainment, the "warriors" can be found sniffing out and attacking such ideological deviations as liking a heterosexual love interest for a character perceived as gay, liking or disliking a character on the wrong side of race-and-gender identity politics, or (I kid you not) using the "ableist" nickname "derpy" for a klutzy pony on the TV cartoon My Little Pony.  Let them gain enough influence in an online community, and they will poison it for anyone who wants to talk to other fans of their favorite shows, movies, or books—or games—without relentless hectoring about "privilege" and "oppression."

this is a real problem, it's not as big as problem as someone getting death threat sure, and you guys might make fun of it as just a bunch of nerds going "m-muh bikini armor" but it's a problem i'm more familiar with so of course i'm going to support this side instead

i wouldn't have bothered to come here in the first place, if you guys had the grace to post stuff like the one above and have a normal humane discussion rather than just dogpiling on people

[TakingBackSunday]

I'm judging you all so much right now for continuing to add to this farce

[Himu]

Shut the fuck up, BN.

[TakingBackSunday]

ok

[Fifstar]

This thing is still going?

[magus]

This thing is still going?

Sadly yes, mostly because of dumbshits like Magus.

oh no, don't give me all the credit, it takes two to dance

[Himu]

Magus, I know lots of people like you on my fb. I don't think you're dumb, I just think you're a bit naive. I'm not holding it against you because I think ultimately, you're a kind hearted person and you don't really mean any harm, and I think such names and attitude should be reserved for fucks like that.

[Positive Touch]

magoose post a pic of yourself

[Phoenix Dark]

magoose post a pic of yourself

http://instagram.com/p/uHAvnOP9Pz/?modal=true

[magus]

magoose post a pic of yourself

[Positive Touch]

I just wanna see what a daigo nerd looks like

[Positive Touch]

a Saudi weeaboo and westaboo all in one? 

[Joe Molotov]

a Saudi weeaboo and westaboo all in one? 

Too many dualities.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

a Saudi weeaboo and westaboo all in one? 

And very much a whatever the version aboo is when it comes to english shows.

He said in plain words with no irony that "England has superior storytelling and comedy", but he doesn't even like Black Adder or Monty Python. Just crap like Little Britain 

tea-aboo

[Madrun Badrun]

Can some one sum this up in 8 bullet points or less?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Can some one sum this up in 8 bullet points or less?

• fuck
• all
• gamers

[Madrun Badrun]

Can some one sum this up in exactly 8 bullet points and a footnote?

[Momo]

Am I a villain for choosing to ignore this whole thing? Would like to know how I balance on the moral scale

You're in a room with me, and knowing me, you're probably in a bad spot morally.

[Positive Touch]

has any major organization in the industry spoke out about this yet? any magazines, websites, devs, publishers, ANYTHING? because I'm seeing a lot of silence which is strange because I don't even have to try to find opinions on hot topics like framerate comparisons and exclusivity arrangements, but strangely very little on this.

[Momo]

The media is pretty much ignoring this stuff. I've been happily sailing around in bliss not knowing what the fuck this was about until very recently when the bore and a former person I used to follow made the mistake of thinking I was interested in reading retweeted gameraids nonsense.

[Tasty]

has any major organization in the industry spoke out about this yet? any magazines, websites, devs, publishers, ANYTHING? because I'm seeing a lot of silence which is strange because I don't even have to try to find opinions on hot topics like framerate comparisons and exclusivity arrangements, but strangely very little on this.

Polygon and Kotaku have posted quite a few articles. Giant Bomb's finally starting to speak up. This has hit non-gaming sites like Slate, CNN, and MSNBC, apparently.

I imagine most of the silence is due to fear.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

has any major organization in the industry spoke out about this yet? any magazines, websites, devs, publishers, ANYTHING? because I'm seeing a lot of silence which is strange because I don't even have to try to find opinions on hot topics like framerate comparisons and exclusivity arrangements, but strangely very little on this.

I imagine most of the silence is due to fear.

I guarantee it. Nobody I know (dev OR press) is in favor of this bullshit, but nobody wants to be the next target on the psychopaths' hit list.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Fear is a part of it, the other part being that this is so monumentally embarrassing and stupid that it delegitimizes a lot of the gaming industry's attempt to sell itself as something other than an ADHD distraction for boys with intact virginities.

Yeah, "psychopathic woman-haters continue 3-month rampage we've been ignoring until now" is a hard lede to sell

[Great Rumbler]

By design, Gamergate is nearly impossible to define. It refers, variously, to a set of incomprehensible Benghazi-type conspiracy theories about game developers and journalists; to a fairly broad group of gamers concerned with corruption in gaming journalism; to a somewhat narrower group of gamers who believe women should be punished for having sex; and, finally, to a small group of gamers conducting organized campaigns of stalking and harassment against women.

This ambiguity is useful, because it turns any discussion of this subject into a debate over semantics. Really, though, Gamergate is exactly what it appears to be: a relatively small and very loud group of video game enthusiasts who claim that their goal is to audit ethics in the gaming-industrial complex and who are instead defined by the campaigns of criminal harassment that some of them have carried out against several women. (Whether the broader Gamergate movement is a willing or inadvertent semi-respectable front here is an interesting but ultimately irrelevant question.) None of this has stopped it from gaining traction: Earlier this month, Gamergaters compelled Intel to pull advertising from a gaming site critical of the movement, and there's no reason to think it will stop there.

In many ways, Gamergate is an almost perfect closed-bottle ecosystem of bad internet tics and shoddy debating tactics. Bringing together the grievances of video game fans, self-appointed specialists in journalism ethics, and dedicated misogynists, it's captured an especially broad phylum of trolls and built the sort of structure you'd expect to see if, say, you'd asked the old Fires of Heaven message boards to swing a Senate seat. It's a fascinating glimpse of the future of grievance politics as they will be carried out by people who grew up online.

What's made it effective, though, is that it's exploited the same basic loophole in the system that generations of social reactionaries have: the press's genuine and deep-seated belief that you gotta hear both sides. Even when not presupposing that all truth lies at a fixed point exactly equidistant between two competing positions, the American press works under the assumption that anyone more respectable than, say, an avowed neo-Nazi is operating in something like good faith. And this is why a loosely organized, lightly noticed collection of gamers, operating from a playbook that was showing its age during Ronald Reagan's rise to power, have been able to set the terms of debate in a $100 billion industry, even as they send women like Brianna Wu into hiding and show every sign that they intend to keep doing so until all their demands are met.