#GamerGate
A female video game developer is publicly accused by her ex to have cheated on him in order to get a positive review from a game reviewer. The allegations prove to be false, but despite this, the developer is sexually harassed and threatened by the online 'gamer' community. To top it off, her personal information is hacked and posted online, which makes the threats and harassment worse.
Around this time, a female cultural critic, who produces a web series addressing video games' representations of women, releases a particularly scathing critique of misogynistic representations in games. She is also sexually harassed and threatened by the online 'gamer' community. To top it off, her personal information is hacked and posted online, which makes the threats and harassment worse, to the point where she is forced to leave her home and call the authorities.
#RayRice
Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice goes to trial for domestic abuse. Earlier this year, he was caught on video in a hotel elevator punching his girlfriend out and dragging her out of the elevator. Rice is accepted into a 'pretrial intervention program' which is basically probation without prosecution. Months later, the NFL suspends Rice for 2 games. Then when more video surfaces, the Ravens end Rice's contract and the NFL suspends him indefinitely. While many football fans have supported the suspension and even critiqued the NFL for not investigating the incident earlier, certain Ravens fans, many of them female, have rallied around Rice, wearing his jersey to games and posting photos online.
This intersection of fandom and misogyny is frightening, especially when it ends with fans justifying, threatening or actually committing acts of violence against women. This may seem a silly lens to look through for such a serious issue. But considering the statistics of violence against women in the US--between 1/4 and 1/6 American women have reported being the victim of attempted/completed rape and 1/4 American women will be victims of domestic violence in their lifetime--any little thing we can do to slow this epidemic of abuse is worthwhile.
Some quick research on the subject reveals that while fan-sexism is in the news, it's nothing new.
Camille Bacon-Smith's history of female fans of Star Trek--Enterprising women: Television, fandom and the creation of popular myth (1992)--describes how Star Trek fandom was essentially born out of the split between the predominately-male literary science-fiction fans and a new generation of female fans. Not welcomed in the 'boys' club' of literary sci-fi, these women gravitated towards the Star Trek television series. In fact, according to Henry Jenkins, the moniker 'Trekkie' (as opposed to the less controversial 'Trekker') was "a term applied by literary SF fans to these women who were now attracted to television, and it was an exercise in cultural hierarchy. A trekkie was like a groupie..."
In 2008, Katharine W. Jones of Philadelphia University published a study entitled "Female Fandom: Identity, Sexism, and Men's Professional Football in England" in which she examines female soccer fans' attitudes about sexism within the culture. Interestingly, she finds that "Women used three strategies to respond to sexism and homophobia. First, they expressed disgust at abuse, sometimes redefining fandom to exclude abusers. Second, they downplayed sexism. Their third strategy was to embrace gender stereotypes, arguing that femininity was inconsistent with 'authentic' fandom and that abuse was a fundamental part of football."
As someone interested in the possibilities for fandom and related cultural practices and communities to be a place in which new forms of civic participation and social relations might be created, the idea that these fan communities perpetuate and commit acts of violence is particularly distressing. Maybe this semester, I can figure out what to do about it. Maybe I can reappropriate fandom from the gamers and the haters and find a way to condemn abuse and bring about change. Like this girl and her dad...
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