Thumbs up to gaming reviewer for tattling on trolls to their mothers

I’ve been fascinated by Gamergate — well, fascinated in the sense that you slow down and try to see all the details of a freeway accident. I’m no expert on online gaming, but I have seen my share of Grand Theft Auto and similarly sexist (or worse) games, which I only semi-successfully managed to keep out of my sons’ hands until they left for college.

You only had to spend a few minutes with one of the iterations of Grand Theft to be deeply  troubled by the way women were portrayed — that is, abused — on the screen.

From what I’ve read about gaming since Gamergate hit the headlines in August — when a female game developer started receiving death threats and other online harassment — the portrayal of women has only gotten worse. (I checked out one game “Dead or Alive Paradise,” where women strip on poles. Good grief!!!!)

Gamergate has involved not just death threats and rape threats aimed at women in the industry but the release of women’s personal information and photos. For the most part, women who have tried to retaliate with words have led their “critics” to double-down in their expletive-laced, violent responses.

So 21-year old media and communications student (and video games journalist) Alanah Pearce, in Brisbane, Australia,  decided to fight back in a different way: Talking to the mothers of the internet trolls.

Pearce realized that most of the online abuse she was taking was not from creepy adults but young boys. From The Guardian story:

When Pearce sat down to figure out the best way to resolve the situation, she concluded she was best off contacting the boys’ mothers directly, “especially as most of them write to me through their personal Facebook pages. It’s shockingly easy to find out who their families are.”

Enlisting mothers may not be any more successful, but it’s worth a try. Here’s one result from Pearce’s efforts:

Pearce forwarded a mother a threat her son allegedly made on Facebook: “ill rape u if I ever see u,” followed by an expletive.

The apparently shocked mother apologized to Pearce: “omg little [expletive]. IM SO SORRY.

Let hope these mothers are more than sorry — and that they take action to shut down their sons’ offensive online behavior.

Just as importantly, Pearce’s unorthodox response to the abuse she’s taken is leading to more mainstream commentary (like this one!) spotlighting the widespread misogyny in gaming culture. If you think this is some small niche issue, do yourself a favor and learn more about this billion-dollar industry.