Non-academic Resources

Contents


Feminist Media Studies

Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.feministfrequency.com/resources/

SUMMARY: Additional resources on feminist media studies.

Anita Sarkeesian’s “Tropes Vs. Women in Video Games” crowdfunding page

Tropes vs. Women in Video Games. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/566429325/tropes-vs-women-in-video-games

SUMMARY: A crowdfunding page for a video series in which Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency will explore five common and recurring stereotypes of female characters in video games. This page has been source of much harassment and antagonism against Anita.

Cybersafe Girl. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://www.cybersafegirl.ca/index.php3?lang=E

SUMMARY: Cybersafe Girl is a regional, bilingual public education program about social media safety and girls. The project is developed and supported by the Atlantic Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women in Canada to provide information to girls, families and educators about how girls can be safe online, that is...

  • safe from cyber violence.
  • safe from sexual risk and harm.
  • safe from online sexual predators.

Gamergate controversy. (2014, November 16). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamergate_controversy

SUMMARY: Wikipedia page on Gamergate

(cross-ref w/ Gamergate)

Talk: Gamergate controversy. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Gamergate_controversy#.23

SUMMARY: Wikipedia Talk page on Gamergate

(cross-ref w/ Gamergate)

Online Harassment

Cunningham, E. (2014, September 1). The Bikini Bridge to Nowhere. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/09/the-bikini-bridge-to-nowhere.html

SUMMARY: This article examines the summer 2014 hoax of the #BikiniBridge: “The fact that women are particularly vulnerable to body-image based trends, combined with the accessibility of social media, leads to the ability for these so-called trends to explode. It's an even more frightening reality that within mere hours, a new idea of how we want our bodies to look can take off.”

Diver, M. (2014, October 14). Does Someone Have to Actually Die Before GamerGate Calms Down? Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.vice.com/read/calm-down-gamergate-283

SUMMARY: This article traces some of the most iconic experiences of cyber harassment and gamergate (Brianna Wu, Zoe Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian).

(cross-ref: Gamergate, Women and Games)

O'Bryne, W. (2014, October 23). Results from Pew Internet Research on Trends in Online Harassment & Threatening Behaviors. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://feed.wiobyrne.com/2014/results-from-pew-internet-research-on-trends-in-online-harassment

SUMMARY: This article summarizes the results from Pew Internet and American Life Project. “The results show that there are a lot of advantages to the Internet...but there is a dark side as well. Issues of anonymity, criticism, and support tend to increasingly be a problem in online spaces.”

Trouble at the Koolaid Point. (2014, October 7). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://seriouspony.com/trouble-at-the-koolaid-point

SUMMARY: This blog post examines online harassment through the lenses of the author’s own experiences of cyberviolence.

Video Gamers Are Having A Bizarre Debate Over Whether Sending Death Threats To Women Is A Serious Issue Or Not. (2014, October 14). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com.au/gamergate-death-threats-2014-10

SUMMARY: This article discusses the issue of women in the video game industry getting threatened and harassed, as well as the absurdity of the Gamergate controversy and its consequences for women in the industry who speak up about gender issues.

Wu, B. (2014, July 22). No skin thick enough: The daily harassment of women in the game industry. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/22/5926193/women-gaming-harassment

SUMMARY: Brianna Wu talks about the daily harassment and threats women who dare speak their mind about gender issues in the video game industry go through. She illustrates her thoughts with four case studies, highlighting the radical differences between being a man and a woman in the industry and the consequences that has on women. She deconstructs four popular myths about gendered harassment in the gaming industry: 1) Everyone in the games industry experiences harassment. Women are just too sensitive about it. 2) Women in the games industry get special treatment for being women, and your life can be made easier by your looks. 3) Women should just laugh off online harassment and not take it personally. 4) The game industry is a field men are drawn to more than women.

From online harassment/stalking to ‘real life’ violence

Buni, C., & Chemaly, S. (2014, October 9). The Unsafety Net: How Social Media Turned Against Women. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://m.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/10/the-unsafety-net-how-social-media-turned-against-women/381261/

SUMMARY: This article discusses the role of the internet and social media in creating unsafe online spaces for women that promote violence against women.

When offline harassment meets online harassment: Dismantling patriarchy is gruelling work - Young Feminist Wire. (2014, October 31). Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://yfa.awid.org/2014/10/offline-harassment-meets-online-harassment-dismantling-patriarchy-gruelling-work/ 

SUMMARY: It is about a PSA project aimed at raising awareness against street harassment: a young woman walks for the streets of NYC for a day recording the experiences of harassment that so many women endure every day. She walks silently, and yet several men comment on her, catcall her, harass her as if she was a dog, or worse, a piece of meat. But that's not all! As soon as the video goes online, the model hired to shoot this PSA starts getting cyberharrassed for her partaking in this project, to the point of receiving rape threats as well. It is interesting to note that not all articles mention the cyberharrasment when discussing the PSA video!

(cross-ref: Gender violence)

Dries, K. (2014, October 29). Woman in Viral Catcalling Video Gets Rape Threats. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://jezebel.com/woman-in-viral-catcalling-video-gets-rape-threats-1652179594

SUMMARY: The article mentions the rape threats Shoshanna B. Roberts has been getting on youtube after the famous Catcalling video featuring her walking the streets of New York came out.

(cross-ref: Gender violence)

McGahan, J. (2014, October 21). She Tweeted Against the Mexican Cartels. They Tweeted Her Murder. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/21/she-tweeted-against-the-mexican-cartels-they-tweeted-her-murder.html

SUMMARY: A woman under the name of Felina who was a “citizen journalist” and the administrator of Valor por Tamaulipas, a very popular citizen news hub, was murdered after her identity was discovered by the drug cartels she was tweeting against. This article exposes the events that led to her death.

North, A. (2014, October 27). What Jian Ghomeshi's Accusers Were Afraid Of. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/what-jian-ghomeshis-accusers-were-afraid-of/?_php=true&_type=blogs&smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&_r=1

SUMMARY: Mr. Donovan and Mr. Brown draw a direct line between online threats and other women’s fear of speaking up: The women they talk to don’t want to put their names to their experiences, for fear that what happened to Ms. Ciccone will happen to them.

It’s rare to see the ripple effects of harassment so laid bare, to see one woman’s abuse explicitly named as a continuing source of intimidation for other women. Mr. Donovan and Mr. Brown have provided not only an account of the allegations against Mr. Ghomeshi but also a clear illustration of how widely the effects of online harassment can spread, and how long they can last.

(cross-ref: Gender violence)

Zoe Quinn

Parkin, S. (2014, September 9). Zoe Quinn's Depression Quest. (2014, September 9). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/zoe-quinns-depression-quest

SUMMARY: This article examines Zoe Quinn’s violent harassment, experience of doxing, and the circumstances that brought her to make Depression Quest.

(cross-ref: Women and Games, Cyberviolence, Slut shaming)

Lee, D. (2014, October 29). Zoe Quinn: GamerGate must be condemned. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29821050

SUMMARY: Games publishers must "stand-up and condemn" the movement referred to as "GamerGate", says a developer forced to leave her home due to threats.

(cross-ref: Gamergate)

Anita Sarkeesian

Hern, A. (2015, October 15). Feminist Games Critic Cancels Talk After Terror Threat. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/15/anita-sarkeesian-feminist-games-critic-cancels-talk?CMP=fb_gu

SUMMARY: This article examines the circumstances that made Anita Sarkeesian cancel her talk at Utah State University after receiving terrorist death threats.

(cross-ref: Women and Games, Cyberviolence)

"Women Are Being Driven Offline": Feminist Anita Sarkeesian Terrorized for Critique of Video Games. (2014, October 20). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.democracynow.org/2014/10/20/women_are_being_driven_offline_feminist

SUMMARY: This is a video interview with Anita Sarkeesian discussing the threats that were made against her in light of a lecture she had scheduled at Utah State University, as well as gamergate. She says: “There’s a sort of sentiment that online harassment is not real, that we shouldn’t take it seriously. But, you know, as you just showed, Elliot Rodger had his manifesto online and his videos online before he actually took action. So, this is a larger culture of women, you know, one, not being believed about their experiences with online harassment, and when it is seen that they actually are being attacked in really vicious ways, it’s just brushed off as, "Oh, it’s just the Internet," or, you know, it’s just boys being boys, when that’s really not what’s happening here. These threats are very real, whether they are committed or not. [...] Online harassment, especially gendered online harassment, is an epidemic. Women are being driven out; they’re being driven offline. This isn’t just in gaming. This is happening across the board online, especially with women who participate in or work in male-dominated industries. So the harassment actually has a very real effect on us as a society, in terms of making this space unwelcoming for women. But it also has a chilling effect. So, women who are watching this happen, who are watching me get terrorized for two years, are going to question whether they actually want to be involved, whether they want to speak up, and whether they want to participate.”

Felicia Day

Chu, A. (2014, October 30). I’m not “that creepy guy from the Internet”: How Gamergate gave the geek community a bad name. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://www.salon.com/2014/10/30/that_creepy_guy_from_the_internet_how_gamergate_shattered_faith_in_the_geek_community/

SUMMARY: Nerdy gamer guy of Jeopardy fame talks from the heart about gamergate and Felicia Day. Very personal story and perspective.

(cross-ref: Gamergate)

Day, F. (n.d.). The Only Thing I Have To Say About Gamer Gate. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://thisfeliciaday.tumblr.com/post/100700417809/the-only-thing-i-have-to-say-about-gamer-gate

SUMMARY: In this blog post, Felicia Day (actress), discusses her fear of standing up against gamergate, in light of her own experiences of cyberharassment.

Romano, A. (2014, October 23). Felicia Day's worst Gamergate fears just came true. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.dailydot.com/geek/felicia-day-gamergate-doxing/?tu=dd

SUMMARY: This article examines the backlash that followed Felicia Day’s blog post on gamergate, and the responses to her doxing.

Positive Examples

Erica Evans Portrait. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.techgirls.ca/portraits-of-strength/ericka-evans/

SUMMARY: This is Erica Evan’s (video game developer) Portrait of Strength. Portraits of Strength features women in STEM who have helped break barriers and achieved great things within their industry. These are the movers and shakers making a better world for future female leaders in STEM. Here are the stories of how they’re changing the ratio, serving as role models for girls and young women across Canada, and inspiring us all.

Rethink: An Effective Way to Prevent Cyberbullying. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from https://www.googlesciencefair.com/projects/en/2014/f4b320cc1cedf92035dab51903bdd95a846ae7de6869ac40c909525efe7c79db

SUMMARY: Cyber-bullying is an online form of bullying, that research shows may result in depression, low self-esteem and in rare cases suicides in adolescent victims(12-18). Research shows that, over 50% of adolescents and teens have been bullied online and 10 to 20% experience it regularly. Research also shows that adolescents that post mean/hurtful messages may not understand the potential consequences of their actions because the pre-frontal cortex, the area of brain that controls reasoning and decision-making isn't developed until age 25.  Passionate to prevent fellow adolescents from cyber-bullying, I realized I could use my science & technology skills to effectively prevent cyber-bullying "at the source"(before it occurs). I hypothesized that if adolescents(ages 12-18) were provided an alert mechanism that suggested them to re-think their decision if they expressed willingness to post a mean/hurtful message on social media, the number of mean/hurtful messages adolescents will be willing to post would be lesser than adolescents that are not provided with such an alert mechanism. In order to check if my hypothesis was true, I created two Software systems: 1) Baseline 2) Rethink. "Rethink" system measured number of mean/hurtful messages adolescents were willing to post after being alerted to rethink, while the "Baseline" system measured the same without the alert. Results proved that adolescents were 93.43% less willing to post mean/hurtful messages using a "Rethink" system compared with "Baseline" system without alert. After successfully proving my hypothesis, I put together product prototype for "Rethink" for web and mobile platforms.

(cross-ref: Cyberbullying)

MediaSmarts Reports

Steeves, V. (2014). Young Canadians in a Wired World, Phase III - Sexuality and Romantic Relationships in the Digital Age. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://mediasmarts.ca/sites/mediasmarts/files/pdfs/publication-report/full/YCWWIII_Sexuality_Romantic_Relationships_Digital_Age_FullReport.pdf

SUMMARY: A survey on Sexuality and Romantic Relationships in the Digital Age: 1) the internet as a resource, 2) managing relationships online, 3) pornography, 4) sexting.

Steeves, V. (2014). Young Canadians in a Wired World, Phase III - Cyberbullying: Dealing with Online Meanness, Cruelty and Threats. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://mediasmarts.ca/sites/mediasmarts/files/pdfs/publication-report/full/YCWWIII_Cyberbullying_FullReport.pdf

SUMMARY: A survey on Cyberbullying: 1) mean and cruel behavior, 2) dealing with threats online, 3) student strategies for dealing with conflict online, 4) bystanders and interveeners, 5) rules and attitudes about cyberbullying at school and at home

(cross-ref: cyberbullying)

Weber, R. (2014, April 16). The game that saved a life. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-04-16-the-game-that-saved-a-life

SUMMARY: This article traces the circumstances that led the creators of High School Story (a mobile game set in a high school environment) to receive messages from a suicidal teen player, who later claimed the game is what saved her life.

Normalization of Sexual Violence

American Psychological Association,Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2010).

Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report-full.pdf

 

Sakuma, A. (2014, April 15). Study: Many young girls view sexual violence as 'normal stuff' Retrieved November 12, 2014, from http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/many-girls-view-sexual-violence-normal

SUMMARY: This article discusses the main findings of a study on normalizing sexual violence: The eye-popping results, from a study on Normalizing Sexual Violence [...] exposes how objectification, sexual harassment and abuse are viewed as everyday experiences for many young women. It also features a short video discussing the role of rape culture in promoting victim blaming and “slut shaming”.

(cross-ref: Gender violence)

Organisations and Resources

Girls Action Research Review: A Compilation of Research on Girls’ and Young Women’s Issues. (2009, August 1). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://girlsactionfoundation.ca/files/Girls_Action_Research_Review_2009_LR.pdf

SUMMARY: The goal of this literature review is to provide innovative research about girls, their issues, and the factors that impact their lives. At Girls Action Foundation, we recognize that girls and young women encounter unique social, political, and economic challenges in their everyday lives. This literature review of recent research compiles quotations and statistics that highlight the experiential realities of girls and young women, as well as factors that may affect their lives.

Fullwood, P., Davis, D., & Debold, E. (2000, January 1). The New Girls’ Movement: New Assessment Tools for Youth Programs. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.cpn.org/tools/manuals/families/pdfs/new_girls_movement_assesstools.pdf

SUMMARY: For the past several years, many people engaged in on-the-ground work with youth have shown increasing interest in evaluating the effectiveness of their programs. Many more are seeking innovative ways to use evaluation research to advance the work of grassroots organizations involved in social change and social justice. The New Girls' Movement: New Assessment Tools for Youth Programs is designed for youth programs and foundations interested in conducting and supporting a particular research approach -participatory evaluation research.

Gamergate

Brooker, C. (2014, October 20). Gamergate: The internet is the toughest game in town – if you’re playing as a woman. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/20/gamergate-internet-toughest-game-woman-enemies

SUMMARY: This article attempts to contextualize gamergate and gender bias/discrimination in video games.

Sargon of Akkad (2014, September 26). The Feminist Ideological Conquest of DiGRA (Part 1) #GamerGate #NotYourShield. Retrieved November 25, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28D6_8KuIpc

SUMMARY: From the author’s description “A brief overview of the history of DiGRA from its founding in 2003 through to the 2014 regime and documentation of the feminist takeover of the DiGRA executive board.”

Dewey, C. (2014, October 14). The only guide to Gamergate you will ever need to read. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-gamergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/

SUMMARY: This article attempts to define and contextualize gamergate.

Wagner, K. (2014, October 14). The Future Of The Culture Wars Is Here, And It's Gamergate. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://deadspin.com/the-future-of-the-culture-wars-is-here-and-its-gamerga-1646145844

SUMMARY: This article attempts to explain, define and contextualize Gamergate and gamers identity through Brianna Wu’s and Zoe Quinn’s experiences of harassment.

(cross-ref: Online harassment, Women and Games)

GamerGate - Technoculture, Art and Games. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://tag.hexagram.ca/gamergate/

SUMMARY: TAG news - Carolyn Jong and William Robinson discuss gamergate in two separate articles.

O'Neil, L. (2014, October 17). #StopGamerGate2014 hashtag suggests internet is growing tired of GamerGate - Your Community. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2014/10/stopgamergate2014-the-internet-has-had-enough-of-gamergate.html

SUMMARY: This article traces the insurgence of gamergate and its online response.

At the Intersection of Gamergate & Weevgate, Abusers & Their Knowing Apologists. (2014, October 12). Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://olaasm.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/at-the-intersection-of-gamergate-weevgate-abusers-their-knowing-apologists/

SUMMARY: After noxious, not-so-crypto-fascist Andrew Auernheimer (aka “weev”) published a rambling, racist screed on a white supremacist blog – our community took several journalists to task for work they had previously done to obscure his odious, Nazi politics. OLAASM recently published our own exploration of the topic, focused primarily on our larger concerns: cynicism, opportunism and the white supremacy they both serve. However, all of this ignores the reality that “weev” was a well-known, misogynist harasser long before any celebrity journalists whitewashed his perfidious past and committed to making him an icon. The question remains: why? Did they not know or did they not care?

Johnston, C. (2014, September 9). Chat logs show how 4chan users created #GamerGate controversy. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/09/new-chat-logs-show-how-4chan-users-pushed-gamergate-into-the-national-spotlight/

SUMMARY: A set of IRC logs released Saturday appear to show that a handful of 4chan users were ultimately behind #GamerGate, the supposedly grass-roots movement aimed at exposing ethical lapses in gaming journalism. The logs show a small group of users orchestrating a "hashtag campaign" to perpetuate misogynistic attacks by wrapping them in a debate about ethics in gaming journalism.

The Danger of Letting Monsters Pass As Internet Trolls. (2014, October 7). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from https://news.vice.com/article/the-danger-of-letting-monsters-pass-as-internet-trolls

SUMMARY: This article focuses on the importance of naming “trolls” for the abuses they are responsible for, without letting their label minimize the actions they stand behind.

#GAMERGATE: The Threadening [Read the OP] -- #StopGamerGate2014. (2014, September 5). Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=889097

SUMMARY: Important to monitor what's going on is community sources like the NeoGAF thread here which dates back to early September. Also, there are a number of homegrown websites dedicated to tracking the main talking points of the movement and addressing them with sources - a good example is here:

GamerGate's Misconceptions Thus Far. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from https://pixietalksgamergate.wordpress.com/gamergates-misconceptions-thus-far/

SUMMARY: A list of misconceptions that have been held up as fact on #Gamergate.

Games for Social Change

Papo & Yo (2014, September 14). Retrieved November 25, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papo_&_Yo#Plot

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