/b/, Twitch, and the rules of the internet (TA)

It seems possible if not inevitable that "women become full and active participants in our digital world", but it isn't going to happen without the digital world putting up a fight.

Anyone who has become part of, or even just observed an internet culture will know that they are dominated by men, in more ways than one. Moreover than just sheer volume, the most successful members of the most popular sites are all men. And yes, I mean all of them. Go check for yourself - I point to Twtich TV and Youtube as prime examples of this male-dominated culture. In the rare and gawked-at event in which a female attempts to become part of this culture it is viewed as extremely odd, and yes, an intrusion, one which is necessarily met with blatant sexism or misogyny, but rather infantilized, made "cute", set up as a spectacle in which the male participants laugh at the ridiculous notion that a woman could actually be part of this culture. I have not seen many successful women come out of these cultures, but in the few cases that I have seen the women in question would be considered "sexy", and draws excessive attention to the fact that she is a woman. In several cases I have seen these types of female accounts/channels/whatever manner of distribution are an accessory to an already popular male one. This type of corruptive dichotomy, as well as the atheistic characteristics of said female participants serve both to perpetuate the stereotypes of women on the internet as hypersexual and manipulative, as well as serve as a microcosm of the dependency of women on men that is already such a problem, (to use the common phrase), IRL.
   
On to Ms. Sarkeesian's predicament. I reference 4Chan's rules of the internet to attempt to explain why this happened. Rule 30: There are no girls on the internet. Obviously not true, but this idea points out the fact that it is indeed a male-dominated culture. People claiming or who actually are female are viewed with suspicion, often leading to mocking or slander. They are obviously the minority, so this makes this easy. Rules 42 and 43: Nothing is sacred, and The more beautiful and pure a thing is - the more satisfying it is to corrupt it. The anonymity of the internet lets people mock things in ways that would be wildly unacceptable, such as the misogyny shown throughout various sites. Rules 18 and 19: Anything that can be labeled can be hated, and The more you hate it the stronger it gets. Rule 20: Nothing is to be taken seriously. The amalgamation of these "rules" is the mindset and act of "trolling". That is, deliberately inciting anger or other such emotional responses in people by acting in an ignorant, extreme or otherwise inflammatory way.

And I think Ms. Sarkeesian got trolled. Hardcore.

Now, I of course DO NOT CONDONE these actions, or in any way believe that such trolling MAKES THIS ACCEPTABLE. Rather, I think that the "troll" mindset of slander and incitement, combined with male dominance of video game culture and the internet at large made her an outlet for the aimless misogynistic sentiments that reside on the internet. As for the organization of the hate campaign, the internet has an incredible ability to loosely organize itself, especially if it is against a particular individual or organization. I point to the "battletoad" meme as a more humorous example (WARNING - some strong language) http://imgur.com/VY2xE .

In conclusion, the attacks Ms. Sarkeesian are an exemplification of the worst parts of internet culture. Juvenile, thoughtless attacks based on nothing but casual misogyny and a misguided sense of tribal belonging. Even though the culture of the internet is deeply rooted, the culture in our offline lives have a profound effect on our digital ones. And as such, in our offline lives, even though women are essentially equal to men under the law, they are increasingly objectified in new and more horrible ways. We stand at a crossroads here. Will rational thought lead us to a society where genders are no longer typed, packaged and sold, or will educational and intellectual apathy combined with corporate greed lead us to a typed and chauvinistic society?

I really don't know.