To more public calls for change

So is all this trashtalk about women just a big joke, something to take for granted as part of life in gaming, the Internet, sport, business, computer programming, uh…everywhere? Or is it just more of the same old shit and something to get rid of?

The latter, according to the New York Times.




Mr. Bakhtanians sounds confused – he thought he was supposed to be harassing a player on his own team?



We’re doing that too!

Executives in the $25 billion-a-year industry are taking note. One game designer’s online call for civility prompted a meeting with Microsoft executives about how to better police Xbox Live. In February, shortly after the Cross Assault tournament, LevelUp, an Internet broadcaster of gaming events, barred two commentators who made light of sexual harassment on cameraand issued a formal apology, including statements from the commentators.



People in this scene are saying that too.


Men call me things.



Same here.

It’s uncanny, isn’t it.


  1. Illuminata, Genie in the Beer Bottle says

    Oh my god, what BULLIES the New York Times, EVO, Pakozdi, LevelUp and Sarkeesian are!

  2. says

    Also notice that Bakhtanians lost a lot of support when a video surfaced of what exactly he said rather than the theoretical idea of his making sexist trash talk.

  3. eric says

    The coach and commentator thing is just baffling. Hopefully some of this will go away as the tournaments become more mainstream. I can imagine the Bakhtanians of the world losing positions to coaches who, y’know, actually help their players win. Particularly if this goes the way of many individual sports, where the competitors themselves hire and fire the coaches.

    Likewise with the commentators; I can imagine if the money gets serious, jokers like these will lose out to people whose commentary is about, y’know, the game.

  4. CanadianChick says

    what a disgusting piece of crap that guy is. Even if we could ignore his blatant harassment, which I can’t, what kind of ‘coach’ constantly distracts and annoys his team?

  5. scrutationaryarchivist says

    As 2012 wears on, I become increasingly convinced that it will be remembered as a year of reckoning for geek culture. Is it going to smarten up and open up? Or will it fence itself off from civil society, and steadily decline?

  6. Cam says

    Or, third option, will it fork into civilized and feral versions? Because I can tell you this: we female geeks, we’re not going away easily.

  7. Nomen Nescio says

    @#6: since when was geek culture NOT fenced off from civil society? one could make a good argument that geek (sub)culture started out BECAUSE of geeks being excluded from mainstream, “civil” society.

  8. iknklast says

    “what kind of ‘coach’ constantly distracts and annoys his team?”

    A coach who believes that women want to be treated like sex objects. Strange how many men have come to believe that, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.

  9. says

    I made a video, discussing Online survival strategies. We really need to regroup. Fourteen year olds are setting the “standards” for discourse in society. We need to brush up on etiquette & self defense.

    Some strategies for speaking truth to power, confronting abuse and dissolving the haters. In response to

    “Don’t Feed the Trolls – SkepchickCON/CONvergence panel”
    Published on Jul 8, 2012 by ZOMGitsCriss

  10. says

    These conversations are happening in gaming. They are happening in science fiction. They are happening in programming. Of course, they are happening in atheism and skepticism.

    I feel like we’ve just hit some kind of cultural tipping point. There are women (and men) in so many different areas simultaneously standing up and saying “No more.” I think that a lot of good is going to come out of this.

  11. Godless Heathen says


    I assume his “evidence” is television shows and men’s magazines. So, when he meets actual women who tell him that’s not the case, he can’t incorporate that information into his worldview.

  12. says

    @Nomen Nescio
    That is exactly right. I happen to think that the upswing in such vile behavior in geek culture can be at least somewhat (lots of weasel in that somewhat) explained by the mainstreaming of geek culture. IMHO a lot of the douchebros that inhabit this realm would not have been geeks 25 years ago. They would have been jocks or preps. The explosion of home gaming and online gaming as well as the mainstream acceptance of geek oriented films has greatly expanded the pool of possible geeks way beyond our original subculture.

  13. Brad says

    What is this “coach” and what the hell is it doing in videogames? Are we sure it’s not rejected furniture from Peewee’s Playhouse?

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