Remember the Anita Sarkeesian kerfuffle from May 2012? That was when blogger Sarkeesian created a Kickstarter project to fund a five-part series of short films about women’s roles in videogames…which led to a tidal wave of Internet hate. Good news for those of us who have been waiting for the results: The first part of this documentary series will be released to YouTube on March 7.
Except that it’s now a twelve-part series. Sarkeesian’s harassment, though detestable, had one very positive consequence. The attention she received drove a number of curious bystanders to her Kickstarter site, which was fully funded—and more; the initial $6,000 Sarkeesian requested blossomed into $158,000. This gave her money to create not only a video series with a high production value but also a classroom curriculum about the topic.
In other words, if you bash Sarkeesian, she will take your hate and turn it into cash, then use it to change the way people think about women in videogames. Awesome.
Topics include “Damsel in Distress,” “The Fighting F@ck Toy,” “Women as Reward,” and “Unattractive Equals Evil.”
I’m looking forward to every single moment of this series, which you’ll be able to watch here.
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