Posted: Sep 12, 2014 1:15 pm
Oh, I don't think this has been posted here yet. It's the blogpost from Zoe Quinn's ex wherein he accuses her of serial infidelity and abusive/manipulative behaviour.
Now, I really don't care if Quinn has difficulty with monogamy; so do many people, so fucking what. I care only slightly more that she had previously characterised sexual infidelity as bordering on rape. I do care about the abuse and manipulation, having experienced a bit of this myself.
The bombshell was that the guys Quinn slept with were all in a position to advance her career. Which did advance. Despite the fact that her "game" sucked balls. This takes the issue out of the private sphere and into the public.
That is what the legitimate issue here is about. Corruption in the gaming media. It's an issue that has been building for some time. It has involved a nagging sense of "something not quite right", observations of inappropriately "cosy" relationships (as in friendships rather than fucking, as a rule) between those who produce content and those who review it.
The whole Zoe Quinn "scandal" was simply a particularly egregious example of the culture of nepotism that has so quickly developed in gaming journalism. The straw that broke the camel's back.
Now, would that "straw" have had the effect it did without the extra weight of a bit of "slut shaming"? If, for example it had been a male creator sleeping with his female boss and female journalists? Perhaps not. Perhaps it would.
Regardless, this "scandal" should engender a discussion about objectivity and professional distance in gaming journalism.
Whether it does is another matter entirely.
Now, I really don't care if Quinn has difficulty with monogamy; so do many people, so fucking what. I care only slightly more that she had previously characterised sexual infidelity as bordering on rape. I do care about the abuse and manipulation, having experienced a bit of this myself.
The bombshell was that the guys Quinn slept with were all in a position to advance her career. Which did advance. Despite the fact that her "game" sucked balls. This takes the issue out of the private sphere and into the public.
That is what the legitimate issue here is about. Corruption in the gaming media. It's an issue that has been building for some time. It has involved a nagging sense of "something not quite right", observations of inappropriately "cosy" relationships (as in friendships rather than fucking, as a rule) between those who produce content and those who review it.
The whole Zoe Quinn "scandal" was simply a particularly egregious example of the culture of nepotism that has so quickly developed in gaming journalism. The straw that broke the camel's back.
Now, would that "straw" have had the effect it did without the extra weight of a bit of "slut shaming"? If, for example it had been a male creator sleeping with his female boss and female journalists? Perhaps not. Perhaps it would.
Regardless, this "scandal" should engender a discussion about objectivity and professional distance in gaming journalism.
Whether it does is another matter entirely.