Here's the thing that people seme to be missing in this whole kerfuffle:

The real problem is that this blogger started a kickstarter in order to fund her "research". Translation: she founded a kickstarter in order to allw her to play video games. Now, call me crazy, but since 99% of all internet users have or have access to said games and game systems already, and a similarly large amount are also are willing and able to make and post videos/digital films/blog posts, why is she asking for money to do this?

Again, writ large and condensed: SHE IS ASKING FOR MONEY TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES AND MAKE VIDEOS ABOUT DOING SO. Does this make any sense? Are we not to suppose that we are funding her "reaserch" by buying her a complete entertainment center, when she could otherwise do her "research for...oh, I don't know...$100 total (including pizza and soda). ? It's a crass move, and breathtakingly so. That is the real problem.

I'm going to attempt to write this opinion in an erudite manner to explain why this young lady stirred up a hornets nest on 4chan, and why the author is somewhat subjectively (though not entirely) in her journalism here. The primary problem with 4chan is they joust with rage and insults; but don't always elucidate their position clearly.

First off, let me attack the financial aspect of what shes doing. Why did she need kickstart money to do this research? Multitudes of people make these types of videos for free on 4chan because it is of interest to them. The fact that money was necessary to do it, immediately puts her whole process in an unfavorable light. We're all brought up that way, when money becomes involved, we form nefarious opinions due to long experience in society.

Let's get to the crux of the matter though, this girl is attacking what she percieves to be sexism in modern video games. We've been rescuing the princess regularly ever since medieval times, so yes, there is a built in stereotype to a degree. But let us look at some of the modern views taken. Women are attractive in video games, as are men. Society is driven by beauty, in video games, on TV. Sex sells, as they say. To suggest that this phenomenon is solely male driven is most certainly sexist. If we reframe the argument to suggest that there are no psychologically powerful women heros in video games, that is simply false, as many have been listed in the debate.

I think that everyone would accept there is perhaps some level of validity in what she cares about, but heres ultimately why it inspires anger among the 4channers. They see a notorious double standard among the sexes today that some but not all are guilty of, really not too unlike race relations. All stereotypes are built with at least a glimmer of fact. To these people, this girl is seeking money to attack sexism against women in a traditionally male arena while at the same time conforming to those same stereotypes in a video by arguably attempting to make herself attractive to the viewer (who wouldnt). The earings/lowcut shirt (at least in some of her other videos), are these not all means taught by society to women to make themselves more attractive to those around them? Sex does sell, but these internet folks view it as an extreme form of hypocrisy especially when money is involved. Fact of the matter is that most of these men (and they are predominately men attacking her) have dealt with this form of hypocrisy time and time again in real life, so it struck a raw nerve with them. The examples, while anecdotal, help to paint a picture. Having to chase after women, buy them things, meanwhile many of these girls (in some case refered to as vapid sex objects) chase after what can be deemed as "alpha males." Reference that new Carly Rae Jensen song "ill be out with the boys, try to chase me" Yet some of these same girls who play with the old norms expect men to shed their norms in favor of equality. Subsets of women complain about these gender relations as this lady has, and subsets of men complain in their own way as well, as many 4channers do. Racial relations are very similar, if you start talking about affirmative action, youll get a raw nerve response as well. Whos at fault, which came first, the chicken or the egg?

This lady crossed a threshhold that involved money on an issue that many men have legitimate anecdotal experiences of hypocrisy regarding, and while she shouldnt be completely ostricized (I don't advocate the nasty things being said about her), for women to flock to her defense entirely and not recognize the larger issue at play here is completely objective and unfounded. Feminism and sexism are two separate issues I agree, but many are all too willing to play with those titles for their own prejudices and purposes. With all of that being said, I feel this story could've been reported more objectively, and this young lady needs to accept this is just one area of the vastly largeer and more complex paradigm of male/female relations.

TLDR: 4chan spewing hate based on personal experience, their hate isnt true hate..just a raw nerve that temporary really pissed them off, lets all look at bigger picture.

Why does everything men do have to measure up to a womens self worth.
you don't like our half naked avatars, go make your own game with half naked firemen.
you think i would care and do research on how it effect men, get over yourself.

AGAIN....if you don't like what has been made, make your own!!
stop trying to change what WE make to fit what YOU want.

Related to this topic is artist Amber Hawk-Swanson's performance piece titled "Online Comments" (http://tinyurl.com/82o3llv) in which she read two-and-a-half hours worth of comments on press she received for a project she did years ago (The Amber Doll Project).

For anyone who thinks this project is a waste of time- read some of these comments. And then think about what will be posted on sites like 4Chan and Youtube where the standard of commenter is frankly far worse than on here.

You'd think the Fire Department was down here with all these cherry-pickers.

The thing about this Kickstarter project is that it accomplishes absolutely nothing. The video series the Kickstarter has funded will most likely be boring and repetitive due to spewing the same opinions about women in video-games that we've heard many times over and over.

Everybody knows women aren't portrayed very well in most video games. And nobody truly cares, considering the main video-game demographic is 15-25 year old males. Let alone the fact that the idea of character archetypes such as the damsel-in-distress have been around since stories have begun to be told.

The true problem has more to do with the way women WANT to be represented in video-games rather than how women ARE represented in video games. More often than not you get good female characters like, say, Samus Aran from Metroid (though considering her recent character bastardization in Other M she's arguable) or Heather Mason from Silent Hill dejected into the pile of characters who don't fit how women want to be portrayed for asinine reasons. And more often than not, when good female characters are brought up into the argument, they're waved away as "exceptions to the rule" or ignored entirely. On the whole women are actually presented quite well in video games, with bad representations being the true exception to the rule.

In bizarro world of "liberalism", where males are white knighting feminazis, defecating on the same males, this book will probably be considered as something positive.

In reality, the absolute majority of enemies in games are males. The absolute majority of main antagonists are males. Almost every one to be killed, mutilated, tortured in every game is a male. Males are being depicted as objects of strength as often as females are being depicted as objects of beauty, and backwards.

All in all, it's time for feminism to be banned as sexist, discriminatory and filled with hate-speech, cult.

This women, building her identity on hating males, should receive medical attention.

And white knights, infesting Internet, should realize that they're only defending this creature, because they're males, acting according to their natural instincts.

Oh man, women, smart enough to cook, stupid enough to make something else

Article was fantastic, thanks for the objective read.

I don't get the point of this girl's project. What does she want? Like, if she was given complete facist control of the video game industry and was able to destroy everyone's creative input and use entirely her own, what would her idea of a perfect video game be? Games are just fantasy that people use for entertainment. Is she telling me I shouldn't be entertained by any of these games? Why should what I like be not worthy of the money I chose to spend on it? Is she telling me that I would like a game that has a more powerful female lead more than a male? I thought the purpose of feminism was to make gender a non issue. Besides the fact that different games have different characters, it never really crosses my mind. I've played games with strong female leads, and games that had women in bikini's. If the gameplay was good, I liked them both regardless. Am I part of the problem now?

The video game industry is just that, an industry. These are just the games that sell. Is she mad that they sell well? Or that the industry/game companies are making them in the first place? The main demographic for video games is still young men. Yes, more and more women are gaming now. If they make a game that fits the feminist agenda, maybe it would sell, maybe it wouldn't. The company probably doesn't want to take that chance when they could make a game that DOES sell for sure. Is it the company's responsibility to change social policy in the US? Speaking of which...most of these games are made in Japan. Is this girl really being audacious enough to demand social change in a different country all together. Yeah right, imagine if a Chinese person made a youtube video demanding a complete social restructure in the US. It just seems sloppy and devoid of a point, other than "RAGE! The game doesn't make me happy!!"

I just don't get it...

The reaction justifies the project. She is courageous!

(This is the opinion of a high school sophomore)

I understand how some women can be offended by the portrayal of female characters in video games, and how they are tailored by men to be the "Eye Candy" that hooks, mostly younger, gamers into wanting to purchase this product. But do understand that this is pretty much just that.
Most teenagers are not able to have sex, so they have to resort to 'fapping' to video game characters or porn. And the very same concept that people try to implement onto trolls where "if you don't like the video, don't watch it" can be applied in the context of "If you don't like this character, don't pay attention to them", and you might also see from the troll's viewpoint, how easily a task that is to accomplish.

And the argument "Tits or GTFO" being used to summarize the young gaming audience towards female characters is slightly fabrication. Yes, there are many over-sexualized characters, but there are also games where the female is a powerful protagonist or antagonist. Portal, for example, every character in the game is female, and that doesn't detract from the experience at all.

Also, what's the problem with having women that are visually appealing? It brings extra appeal (which is what developers want in the first place), and prevents a game from being a "sausage-fest".

The same goes for male characters, too. How many games have you seen where the man is a muscle-bound, physically superior hunk. Obviously, that isn't to attract females who happen to play video games. Every guy gamer loves staring at another man's muscular glutes. These are games, made for entertainment, and these arguments are almost pointless.

I would also like to point out that as of the publishing of that article, some $55,000+ had been raised to help raise awareness about the alignment of PIXELS ON A SCREEN! Do any of you realize how much that money could have helped someone who NEEDED it?

I type this argument in the comfort of my bed, with a laptop, at 12:14 A.M., just before I fall soundly to sleep.