Stop paying attention to her. She does not deserve it.

Are you juxtaposing all people who criticise this person with "male gamers who are obsessively trying to discredit"?

Personally; I've never threatened or hurt anyone and I certainly don't hate women or approve of gender inequality (my girlfriend is a feminist who works with genus problems within safety politics, more specifically; females in conflicts). That said; this woman annoys me, not because she's a woman but because she's snarky, constructs poor arguments or even fabricates entire angles and issues (Thunderf00t's video is a good example of this) and she made people pledge a small fortune to her personally that she has spent essentially doing nothing of scientific or sociological worth. That is also why people like Thunderf00t react; it is not that issue is invalid, but the method and conclusions are invalid and false.

If we want someone to delve into the issues of sexism in games, we might want someone honest, reflected and down to earth who does it more out of service than a desire for accolade and attention in social media and on youtube.

Your whole "if you don't agree with this woman, you're basically saying it's okay that women are abused and disrespected" etc. reminds me of the ultra-polarized political climate here in Sweden, you're not doing yourself or anyone else any favors by turning the argument upside down or backwards. Unfortunately, a lot of self-proclaimed feminists take it too far, such as suggesting that everyone who disagrees are children and needs a scolding by their mother, so a lot of actual issues that need attention globally drown in the rhetoric and condescension and elitism. It turns other people away from the issues, leaving a minority shaking fists and heads at being labelled as extremist and infantile, it accomplishes nothing.
You claim that others need to grow up, which is true in most cases; gamers and others who hate and spread bile are super lame, but you're more or less attacking those who oppose her, going so far as to seemingly label all critics as childish and lacking in insight and empathy. If you do not possess the ability to apply critical thinking, even to the ideas and reasoning of someone you mostly agree with, it disqualifies all your attempts at master suppression techniques right away.

The subject is a valid one to discuss for sure; but there are good and bad ways of discussing things. I don't consider yours among the good ones.

PS: You don't know she didn't fabricate this just based on the fact that there are hateful comments on other sites and videos. It's all speculation. There are many people on the web and otherwise who are threatened and choose to play on it for personal gain; I even know a guy who stabbed himself in the stomach, faking a mugging, all to get attention and end up in the newspapers. You don't know anything; you only have access to the internet like the rest of us, leave the investigation to the police/FBI.

Well this is a lie - she started a kickstarter - got backers who volunteered money into a system that says 'YOU ARE NOT GARUNTEED A PRODUCT FOR YOUR MONEY' in big neon letters when you sign in - and was funded. 

It wasn't that much money - and she's producing the video series she promised on top of that.  Kickstarter even lets you remove your pledge up to the very last second of the campaign for any reason.

She didn't 'con' anyone - in fact if nothing else potato salad guy shows us people will give money to anything.

How are her video snarky at all? I've watched them all and find the tone to be very straight forward and dry.
Also, she didn't MAKE anyone give her money. She came up an idea for a project and she followed through. Just because it got a lot of attention she is now supposed to live up to some impossible standard of what the videos should be.

How do you know they are fake claims... just because they were not reported. You know the situation I am talking about was actually a news posting (please give cash for op to save life) on a reputable gaming site. It took a while for the site to actually hear the truth and they then promptly buried it.  So what I am saying is just because these things are not reported by so called reputable news sites, doesnt mean crap. 

All i am saying is if you slate anyone who has a differing opinion to you as "fools" then you are just as bad as they are. If the suggestions that have been made about twitter posts etc have some validity then surely there is something wrong here, and should be investigated -  dont you agree? 

She may have done nothing wrong, and it might just be vindictive idiots - we all know what the internet is like, but what if there is something wrong, you seem to suggest just because there is lots of hate, then no one should say "hmm something isnt right".

I don't really think it is. It frequently helps to have an outsider's perspective on a subject because they tend to notice things that other people may be too close to really see. Now, I can't say whether Anita Sarkeesian's commentary is any more worthwhile because of this, as I've admittedly never watched one of her videos, but if there's a problem with her work I don't think it's because she's some carpetbagger who isn't qualified to talk about video games. Games are just another form of media, and I sincerely doubt most of the same gamers who so resent Sarkeesian for sticking her nose in "our" business would give a damn if she were just another person criticizing movies from a feminist perspective. If her work is really so bad or sophomoric or uninformed or whatever as to justify any of the venom she's been receiving, I suspect it has more to do with being a professional activist who stirs up controversy to make a buck (which, again, I don't know if she does or doesn't do) than with her non-gamer status.

Her videos are apparently snarky because they point out tropes that are used to degrade women in games.  Tropes being overly used devices that evoke an audiances expectations - like a mobster at a strip club.  She points out at the beginning of every video she does - that using a trope doesn't make the game sexist - and doesn't make *you* sexist for enjoying the game - but somehow she is snarky because showing a piece of a game (i.e. trope) is cherrypicking.

Oh and apparently from the arguments I've seen over and over - something can't be a trope if it's not 100% forced on the player - that is if you (by the players actions) *can* do something but aren't forced to do it then it's an invalid critisim of the game for some reason.

Not all her points are valid - but she did get paid to point these things out (and *not* to point out any of the good things mind - that's not her job for sure in any way shape or form) and she seems to be doing a great job - judging by the *industry* giving her an award - so game devs seem to be listening.  It's just this rabid foaming at the mouth hatred of her that is disgusting - like this entire topic for instance, considering the FBI is involved - and lying to them is a federal crime - if she's faking it she'll soon wish she hadn't - if she isn't... then isn't this really a disgusting thread basically saying she's not allowed to take threats seriously? 

Either way she's got a valid point (about the threats) or a mental illness - both outcomes seem like poor targets for scorn.

To me feminism is equal treatment, not special treatment. People deserve not to be abused for what they are. I have seen the ugly side of sexism where organizations hold women as second class citizens and wanted nothing to do with them. Why I am happy to work in an industry and for a company that cares about what is between your ears and not what is between your legs.

On media and portrayals of women to me I just like choice and variety of experiences. I love Diablo, and part of it is that small gender choice among classes. That said I have zero issue playing Gears of War or Mario with male characters. It's a nice bonus to play as a female, but plenty of great male characters I have enjoyed playing as. I don't feel threatened by various depictions of women. Sometimes I roll my eyes at helpless damsel, but if the game is fun I am going to save her sorry self anyways.

I have no issue with some people being more sensitive either. People are free to complain to me that I liked "Sucker Punch", but as long they don't censor or remove my ability to watch it I shrug it off. Free markets means all sorts of ideas get thrown around and responsibility is on each person to listen or ignore those ideas.

Lastly, if this fake then she should be ashamed. If it is real the people responsible should suffer consequences. No one should live in fear, and no one should "cry wolf" and diminish real problems others face. I will see how it plays out before stating anything further.

fair points

however, i think you should pay attention to the fact that elavating someone to the status of god and calling any criticism of them as uncalled for because they are a woman is nonsensical for several reasons

one of which is that feminists themselves claim thaxt they are trying to achieve a world where its not someone's sex that grants them respect and admiration but their actions

as a result what i'm investigating here is the actions of anita as the feminists are telling me to

and her actions here imply that she may have made up the threats against her

i think you need to take a step back and analyse what you're doing here as it is defeating the very cause feminists are claiming to be fighting for

and that is to hold women accountable for their actions and not treat them like children

Madworld - 

What I'm trying to say (more politely) is that ... I feel the people who are obsessively investigating these claims are coming from a place of disrespect. They want very badly for it to be true so they can justify their opinion that women gamers don't have a place in "our world". I've formed this opinion by reading the overwhelming reactions all her videos inspire. It made me wonder why this topic drives everyone so insane - and i see no other reason other than that it's because it's coming from a women's voice. 

While I'm the opinion minority in this forum thread, many game developers agree with with this - and that there is in fact an issue. She's doing a good thing for the video game industry, she's getting the people who create games to think twice before they choose the predictable choice. Don't we all want more unique ideas in the games that we play?