Feminist media critic,
Anita Sarkeesian, appeared on Wednesday night’s
The Colbert Report, and the Internet is buzzing.
She appeared on the show following a segment about the ongoing GamerGate movement and ensuing controversy, as she has been a target of aggression from some segments of the movement. We won’t break down GamerGate here, but you can catch up at this Wikipedia entry here.
Sarkeesian teased the internet earlier in the day, tweeting out a photo of her sitting at The Colbert Report desk. And sure enough, she popped up on the show later in the evening.
The GamerGate movement and accompanying hashtag is a campaign described by supporters as a call to effect change in video game journalism. The movement has attracted mainstream media attention lately, however, in the wake of prominent critics and game developers dealing with harassment and threats. Earlier in the month, Sarkeesian was given no choice but to cancel a scheduled appearance at Utah State University after a threat was sent to the school promising “the deadliest school shooting in American history.”
Colbert doing what he does with the story, and Sarkeesian’s appearance indicate that this thing has surely gone mainstream.
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