The author's message

In this section, we will provide a few points that can help you in a discussion about Sarkeesian’s message. Overall, through “Online Harassment and Cyber Mobs”, Anita Sarkeesian puts three main points forward: that being a woman or a feminist does not mean one has to avoid typical “boys-only” industries, that online harassment is dangerous and not a game, and that sexual objectification exists in popular culture and should be addressed.…

...

Feminism vs. “boys-only” industries

In her speech, Sarkeesian makes it clear that she is a feminist and that she has always been interested in playing video games. For some, these two aspects automatically exclude each other. Sarkeesian, however, states that this should not be the case. When she explains that she has been playing video games for quite some time, she states that video games are “a lot of fun to play” (l. 10) and that they “have lots of positive b…

...

Online harassment is not a game

Another important message that Sarkeesian puts out there is that online harassment is not a game. She makes several references to “trolling” (ll. 96), “cyber bullying” (l. 95), or “cyber stalking” (l. 96), which are nowadays seen as “how the internet works” (l. 91). She also talks about these activities being generally conducted by teenage boys but draws attention that things can escalate quickly:

Well, often when we talk about online harassment we think of teenage boys in their parents’ basements, and while I was attacked by some teenage boys, I was also attacked by thousands of grown men. (ll. 57-79)

Sark…

...

Sexual objectification in popular culture

Finally, Sarkeesian’s speech draws attention to an important issue: that sexual objectification in popular culture is real and more deeply-rooted than one would imagine. Through her example, she shows how a simple desire to create a series of videos presenting the sexual objectification of women in video games led to a traumatic experience:

So in their minds, they concocted this grand fiction in which they’re the heroic players of a massively multiplayer online game working together to ta…

Teksten herover er et uddrag fra webbogen. Kun medlemmer kan læse hele indholdet.

Få adgang til hele Webbogen.

Som medlem på Studienet.dk får du adgang til alt indhold.

Køb medlemskab nu

Allerede medlem? Log ind