TheQuartering [1/19/2021]
Hollywood just can’t keep it’s big mouth shut. Aquaman 2 is on a mission to alienate literally everyone from the fandom.
This story is not another attempt to chronicle the activities of racist and misogynist men who harass women and people of color on social media and in multiplayer games.
Nor is it an existential inquiry into their particular niche in the video game community. Rather, this story asks: Where do they come from? Why they are here? And what allows them to stay?
What follows are interviews — under a variety of rubrics — with 11 writers and academics who have studied and published useful work on the problem of misogyny and racism in gaming and in popular entertainment. Most have experienced harassment and abuse from toxic gamers.
Gaming has attracted (or spawned) many angry young men who are comfortable with harassing and abusing women. How did that come about?