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The increasing influence of game critic Anita Sarkeesian has been demonstrated yet again with a striking cover on Bloomberg Businessweek.
The image carries the slogan ‘Video Game Avenger: One woman’s crusade to vaporize gaming’s grossest trolls’ while the accompanying article is dubbed: ‘The Gaming Industry’s Greatest Adversary Is Just Getting Started’.
Harassment is the background radiation of my life,” Sarkeesian says in the article. It is a factor in every decision I make. Any time I tweet something, or make a post, I’m always thinking about it. When I post our videos, it’s a consideration. It affects where I go, and how I behave, and how I feel walking down the street every day.”
She also took the opportunity to once again press home her call to action for publishers and developers to begin taking responsibility for the content they produce and sell to consumers, and of the progress she feels has been made.
Major publishers need to enforce a zero-tolerance policy of sexism and racism and homophobia,” says Sarkeesian. Developers need to start moving away from the entitled macho-male power fantasy in their games. They need to recognize that there are wider stories that they can tell.
People are talking about women and games seriously; people are taking the critiques seriously. It’s been a huge shift. This discussion is becoming more mainstream.”
The cover is just the latest in a line of high-profile media appearances for Sarkessian. Last month she featured on spoof US political chat show The Colbert Report and won headlines in numerous outlets including a front page spot on The New York Times.
