Sargsyan, Anita

Anita Sargsyan was born in 1983 ^[2] in Canada and grew up near Toronto . Her parents are Armenians who emigrated from Iraq to Canada in the 1970s ^{[3] [4]} . Sargsyan later moved to California and identifies himself as Canadian-American ^{[1] [4] [5]} .

Sargsyan earned a bachelor 's degree in communication studies from the at and a master 's degree in social and political thought from York University in Toronto , which she graduated in 2010. Her thesis is entitled “I will make you a man: Strong Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy on Television” ( Eng. I'll Make a Man Out of You: Strong Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television ) ^{[6] [7]} .

Sargsyan launched her website Feminist Frequency in 2009 when she was a student at York University. She created it in an attempt to create accessible feminist criticism of the media ^{[7] [8]} . Videos shot for the site analyzed feminism's social and cultural gender structure and mass culture, for example, applying the Beckdel test to films nominated for the 2011 Oscars and emphasizing the role of LEGO in strengthening cultural norms ^{[9] [10]} .

In 2011, she created a series of videos, “ Tropes vs. Women, ” in partnership with magazine. The series explores common pathways in portraying women in video games with a particular focus on science fiction ^{[8] [11]} . The series consists of six videos that are dedicated to such paths as the , and the Smurfetta principle ^{[1] [12]} .

In 2011, Sargsyan co-authored the essay Buffy vs. Bella: The Re-Emergence of the Archetypal Feminine in Vampire Stories ^[13] . She spoke at conferences and workshops, talking about media criticism and video blogging, and also gave an interview to The Observer in March 2012 about contemporary media culture ^[14] .

In March 2012, Sargsyan and her blog, Feminist Frequency, were mentioned in the E-Sources on Women & Gender list by Feminist Collections magazine ^[15] . Her blog was used as material for creating university-level courses in women's studies; she spoke at universities, speaking on the subject of female characters in popular culture ^[16] .

Sargsyan decided to create a series of videos about displaying women in video games after she was invited to speak with the developers at Bungie ^[7] . On April 17, 2012, she launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter , which will go on to create a series of small videos that will explore gender paths in video games ^[17] . The planned goal of 6 thousand dollars was achieved in 24 hours ^[18] . The total amount raised reached $ 158,922, which was donated by 6968 people ^[19] .

Sargsyan planned to release “ ” in 2012, but postponed the launch to a later date, explaining that the additional funds raised on Kickstarter allowed her to expand the scope and scope of the project. The first video of the series was published on March 7, 2013 ^[20] . The first three videos of the series talk about the Virgo in Trouble trail , according to which a male hero must save a passive and often helpless wife ^{[8] [12]} . Chris Suellentrop of The New York Times said the first four videos in the series are a must-see for anyone interested in video games. He also added that they were the reason why he asked Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto about the topic of a virgin in trouble that is present in his games, to which he replied that he did not think about it ^[21] .

In January 2015, Intel announced that it will work in partnership with Feminist Frequency and other groups that will participate in an attempt to increase the diversity and ownership in the technical field, which will cost $ 300 million. Groups should help to influence the improvement of career opportunities, the attraction and better representation of women and minorities in the technical field and gaming ^{[22] [23]} .

On January 23, 2015, the Feminist Frequency website published its first annual report and announced that they plan to create two new series of videos dedicated to the “positive” display of women in video games, as well as the image of male personalities in games ^{[24] [25]} .

On March 8, 2016, Feminist Frequency launched a crowdfunding campaign for an animated video series called Ordinary Women . The series consists of five issues and explores the lives of such prominent women as Ida Bell Wells-Barnett , Emma Goldman , Murasaki Shikibu , Ada Lovelace and Ms. Zheng ^[26] .

In March 2016, Feminist Frequency began an official partnership with the online victimization support group, agreeing to become a financial sponsor ^[27] .

Following the launch of the Trails Against Women project, a wave of sexist persecution of Sargsyan began. Attackers sent her threats of rape and death, hacked her web pages and pages on social networks and spread her personal information. They published scornful comments about her online, vandalized her Wikipedia page, which added racial bullying and sexual images, sent Sargsyan drawings that depicted the rape scenes of Sargsyan by video game characters ^{[28] [29] [30] [31] [ 32] [33]} .

One of the attackers created the computer game “ Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian” ( Eng. Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian ), which called on the player to flood the image of Sargsyan with a mouse click ^{[30] [34]} . Toronto feminist Stephanie Guthrie received threats of rape and death for criticizing this game ^{[29] [35] [36] [37]} . The , who was the result of a long dispute between him and Guthrie, is believed to have significant implications for online free speech in Canada ^{[38] [39]} . Sargsyan responded to threats against Guthrie in the newspaper, condemning the widespread persecution she and other women faced on the Internet ^{[40] [41]} .

Because of the cyber-hydraulic, Sargsyan was invited to give a speech on sexual harassment and online communities at the TEDxWomen conference and at several universities ^{[42] [43] [44] [45] [46]} . In March 2014, Sargsyan was supposed to speak and receive the award " ". The organizers later reported that they received an anonymous threat about an installed bomb and the San Francisco police carefully inspected the venue before the ceremony continued. ^[47]

In August 2014, the Feminist Frequency blog published a new edition of the series “Trails Against Women in Video Games”. This coincided with the ongoing pursuit of in the Gamegate discussion. Due to the persecution of Sargsyan by Gamemergate activists, the increase in the scale and specificity of the threats (including death threats), she was forced to leave her home. San Francisco police confirmed that they referred the FBI case for further investigation. ^{[48] [49]}

On October 14, 2014, Sargsyan and the University of Utah received terrorist threats related to the planned lecture of Sargsyan, which she was due to read later that day. One of the terrorists claimed to be associated with a game gate. ^[50] The threats mentioned the 1989 Montreal Polytechnic School massacre as a source of inspiration. The university and the police did not believe the threats, since they were similar to the others that Sargsyan received, but planned to strengthen security measures. Sargsyan canceled the event because she considered the measures taken insufficient, because the university could not prohibit the carrying of weapons on its territory according to the laws of the State of Utah ^{[51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58]} .

Sargsyan and her work attracted much more attention after the release of the series “Trails Against Women in Video Games,” followed by Internet harassment. These events have helped raise the issue of sexual harassment in the video game culture in the media ^[59] . This issue has been discussed in many magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times and The Guardian . ^[60]

Noting that Sargsyan received a large amount of support during the persecution, Sal Humphreys and Karen Orr Vered admitted that in general this campaign may lead other women to not follow suit. Sargsyan for fear of receiving similar threats and becoming the target of persecution ^[61] .

In September 2014, Sargsyan made a speech at the festival, where she said that the statement that she and other women had fabricated her bullying was itself a form of bullying. “ Harassment is the background radiation of my life, ” she later said in Businessweek ^{[62] [63]} .

Threats to Sargsyan and the University of Utah have led to public attention to misogynistic and brutal baiting on the Internet, as well as to the relevance of hidden weapons on campus. wrote that such threats confirm Sargsyan’s position regarding the connection of some video games and the abuse of women. The newspaper also called on the state to give universities the ability to prohibit the carrying of firearms on their territory in cases where it is not just inappropriate, but also harms the mission of a higher educational institution ^{[52] [64] [65] [66] [67]} .

On October 29, 2014, Sargsyan gave an interview on the Colbert Report talk show, where she discussed the cyberbullying that Gamergate arranged for her and her views on how to make video games more inclusive. She told Colbert that video games often portray women in a way that reinforces cultural myths that women are sexual objects, and her goal is not to censor video games, but to increase the awareness that women can be portrayed as more realistic and less stereotypic ^[68] .

Internet harassment of Sargsyan and other women in the field of video games was shown on January 14, 2015 in the release of “ ”. When asked at ABC News why there was so much anger, she replied that she believed this was based on the idea that the video game industry was largely for men, that games were created by men for men, and that it was a very misogynistic reaction ^[69] . Sargsyan appeared in the documentary “ ” ^[70] .

Sargsyan's Feminist Frequency blog was featured by Media Report to Women and Feminist Collections ^{[15] [71]} . In 2012, the Gamasutra website considered Internet harassment and the success of the Feminist Frequency blog as a catalyst that drew attention to the importance of diversity and inclusiveness in the video game culture and industry. This call for inclusion was named among the 5 trends that identified the video game industry in 2012 ^{[59] [72]} . In 2013, Newsweek magazine and The Daily Beast website named Sargsyan one of the “125 influential women” ( Eng. 125 Women of Impact ) ^{[73] [74]} . She also received an honorary award from the for the 2013 video “ Damsel in Distress ” ^[75] .

In 2014, Sargsyan received the Ambassador Award at the 14th “ ” awards ceremony for her work on representing women in video games, making her the first woman to receive this award ^{[76] [ 77]} . For her work, she was also nominated for the Women in Gaming Award in the Microsoft Intermediary Award nomination ^{[78] [79]} .

After the anti-feminist’s threat to mass shoot during a speech by Sarkisyan at the University of Utah , Rolling Stone magazine called her the most valuable critic of pop culture, adding that “ feedback only proved her point: there is a problem in the game industry ” ^{[ 80]} . In December 2014, The Verge website named it one of the 50 most important people at the intersection of technology, art, science and culture ^[81] . In March 2015, Time magazine included Sargsyan in the list of 30 most influential people on the Internet ^[82] , and in April of that year included it in the Time 100 list ^[83] . In May 2015, Cosmopolitan magazine included it in the list of 50 most exciting people on the Internet ^[3] . In the same year, Sargsyan was nominated for the James Tiptree Jr. Award for the video series “Trails Against Women in Video Games”.

• 2015 - “State of the Game: Creators and Critics on Video Game Culture”

• Jung Sarah

• - Anita Sargsyan official website