DC Men Kicking Ass!

Jennifer Lawrence puts the gender pay gap on blast in killer op-ed

> koretzky contacted the IGDA before AirPlay

> says he was ignored.

So Brianna Wu claimed to have received a fresh wave of harassment after the airplay thing the other day (providing absolutely no proof of course. as usual. But hey, Listen and believe, amirite?) and then quit twitter- Sorry, “took an extended leave”

BUT NOT BEFORE TWEETING OUT HER EMAIL ADDRESS TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE CAN CONTINUE TO HARASS HER

Is she even real? I’m honestly starting to think Brianna Wu is a master troll and has just been rusing us this whole time. NOTHING she says or does makes any kind of sense. She’s either trolling us all, or she is legit batshit insane.

This is a visual response to the misogynist comments and online harassment I have faced since posting my injuries at the hands of a man I got into a barfight with last weekend. The story went viral, and I was on CBC Radio as well as in CBC news reminding women of the dangers of fighting back against sexual harassment and aggressive men. After being sexually harrassed several times and standing up for a fellow woman in the bar, I threw a drink on him, he attacked me and choked me, I smashed a pint glass over his head, and he punched me in the face. In the end, I ended up with 6 stitches across my nose, two black eyes, and other bruises and cuts not worth mentioning. I don’t know what happened to him, but I know I cut him badly and there was a lot of blood.

The amount of support I received, especially from strangers, was overwhelming. But so were the opposing comments on the articles posted, and the private messages I received from angry men who saying I deserved it, and worse, and they wish I had been murdered. Many roll their eyes and will say things like, “never look at the comments!” But we do need to look at the comments. They are representative of the darkest corners of humanity that exist beyond the internet. People need to know this is real. These are real people walking around in our daily lives; the guy sitting next to you on the metro, the person you call for your internet tech support, the branch manager at your bank. It could be that cute boy you have a crush on in your class, or that self-proclaimed “nice guy” you just started dating. These are real people typing these things on their keyboards and they represent our real-life problems regarding violence against women.

So when I am in a familiarly dangerous situation where I feel threatened because of my past experiences, there is a good chance my reflex is going to be fight and not flight and that “fight” might just be a pint glass over the head when you put your hands around my throat. Choking someone because they threw a drink on you for continually harassing you and your friends is a disproportionate response. As far as I’m concerned, not listening when a woman says “no” to your sexual advances and failed pick-up artistry is equal to throwing the first punch, and I was sticking up for myself. I have no regrets, despite what my face may look like. The fact I feel like I have to explain all this in my defense is ridiculous.

This piece is an act of activism through art, inspired by recent conversations on the importance of art which results from internet culture, DIY, Molly Soda, and the project I’m currently working on for Così e Così, who is also a big influence of mine in general..

Update for Aug 15-21

Satirical cartoon about SPJAirplay, and about it’s true importance.

Bomb threats are irrelevant. Relevant is, that there was a debate. 

Not with Ben Kuchera, who is willing to become a hypocrite to ridicule any opposition (http://gamer2002.tumblr.com/post/126613089171/ben-kuchera-speaks-against-those-who-want-to-tell) or goes straight to people’s employers over quoting his own articles, because he is angry over something he misinterprets  (https://archive.is/IpGZ9#selection-3727.0-3733.0)

Not with Leigh Alexander that used stereotype of autistic children in her venomous text (https://archive.is/nWG2P#selection-1619.256-1614.7), not to mention refers to people in such mature manner as shitshlingers, and sends her followers on a guy who asked for a free discussion (https://archive.is/hITeX).

Not with Arthur Chu who is capable only of going on fuck you rampages (http://gamer2002.tumblr.com/post/103202071066/recently-ive-reblogged-and-archived-arthur-chu)

And not with anybody else who can only sit in own ivory tower and look down at other people.

But with actual, professional journalists. Even if there were disagreement with some (khem khem Koretzky khem khem), GamerGate being given a chance to speak and be listened cannot be denied.