It was not terribly long ago that I, in the pursuit of new online stomping grounds to glean newsworthy interests from, stumbled into the metaphorical internet refugee camp of GamerGate. My original intent was something raconteurish, along the traditional path of muckraking; that I was tasking myself with advocating for the popularly-perceived Devil by means of doing a story which would buck the trend of branding the pro-GamerGate camp as misogynist prior to fair consideration. I had flattered myself to think of that perspective as being unique, mostly due to how few and small the sympathetic voices were.

I can tell you, with all the integrity and credibility due to my name, that theirs was the most orderly and polite refugee camp I had ever witnessed belonging to a group of people marginalized by public media. The GamerGate crowd that I have been in contact with are not your run-of-the-mill angry young people hurling the verbal equivalent of Molotov Cocktails. They are a group of people who are deeply troubled by their misrepresentation to the public, and to the “Social Justice” astro-turfing that accompanies every near-breakthrough they have had that might have lead to a fairer shake in the media.

One of the most stunning experiences I have had so far, while keeping in contact with the community after the publication of my first story on them, has been to discover that GamerGate feminists are real. Despite what a person would assume after being constantly bombarded with the narrative of their misogyny, do-it-yourself feminism is an everyday aspect of the movement. The only condition to that statement is that the feminism which GamerGate represents is the type that becomes offended at the suggestion that women need help to achieve what a man can. It is the type of feminism that believes in promotion by merit, not quota, and where the women are themselves individually powerful enough not to require leadership to assist in determining what they are allowed to think or say.

That goes back to the cumulative character of the people who make up GamerGate. It would have been easy for any of them to eschew the label and enjoy the comfort of being a less persecuted human being. Instead, the character of the average gamer-turned-media-activist tends to be such that they stand directly in the line of fire, knowing that the temptation to disassociate from the movement is the primary means through which a corrupt confederation of clickbait media institutions and Social Justice charlatans intend to dismantle it.

That is how I went native; by becoming convinced that these people represent the highest ethical standard, and through watching them put their personal reputations in harms’ way on principle. For evidence towards the veracity of my words, a person needs only to observe the GamerGate hashtag and take notice when something horrible or abusive is said. Then, if they were so inclined, they should take the next logical step and view the full profile of the guilty account. While there, enjoy some of the screenshots and reference links. For a person to invest heavily into the narrative of either side of this ongoing controversy, it has to mean something to them. It has to touch on something that they find important to their ideals. I know that it does for me, and I can state quite simply what that intersection is. I care, first and foremost and above all else, to know the truth of things.

Blog by Brian Whittemore

Sources:

Forbes

Photo by Kyle Nishioka – WikiMedia License

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