Thread by @Delafina777

And now seems like a good time to repost this and remind everyone that abusive management and abusive fan bases generally work in tandem, whether or not it's intentional:

rhizome.org/editorial/2018…

https://twitter.com/Delafina777/status/1463199596964827140

Like, there's a LOT of good stuff in there, and you should read the whole thing, but I want to pull out a few quotes:

"Angry gamers can easily be understood as a pool of reactionary scabs that serve as a resource for videogame companies that prefer it when its workforce is afraid, quiet, and deprived of the leverage it needs."

"Most [game workers] who spoke to me asked for anonymity, and many described an undercurrent of intense paranoia that contributed to a desire to stay quiet, keep to the grind, and be grateful for their continued employment."

I cite this article a lot because it's the only one I've found that talks about the way abusive management uses the constant threat of a force of angry, abusive fans to keep workers in line, but I also find it frustrating that it doesn't delve further into that.

(I don't really blame the author--it would actually take pretty extensive investigative journalism that most journalists can't *afford* to do to get any receipts, and receipts are often hard to come by since threats by management are veiled and almost always verbal.)

But to be very clear: game companies push marginalized employees to *use* their marginalization for the company's benefit.

They want women and people of color out there representing the company (and often aren't subtle about "hey, we need a woman on this Twitch stream") for the optics.

They want marginalized workers on panels talking about the sexism/racism/homophobia/transphobia/ableism/etc. problems with the industry at large, and how THEIR company is doing better than most.

Their workers' marginalized identities are something for the company to consume and use as marketing. (It almost never translates to more than lip-service culture change in the company itself--they want you talking to the public about change, not them.)

They rarely, RARELY acknowledge that talking publicly about issues of marginalization, about abuse in the industry, about toxicity, comes with a LOT of risk to marginalized workers who do it.

When they do acknowledge it, it's almost always in terms of "oh, okay, we'll talk to convention security about having extra security in the room for your panel."

And that's the extent of it. As if the threat is only in that one physical space, for that brief time.

But just because they don't acknowledge the threat doesn't mean they aren't aware of it.

And once you've gone along with the company's urging to be on this panel about racism or sexism or whatever in the industry, you've made yourself a target. You're on the radar. You've got rage-filled reactionary gamers watching you closely, looking for any excuse to pounce.

And now the company has leverage. Because all they have to do is put out a statement that implies that maybe they didn't agree with EVERYTHING you said on that panel, or in that interview, and they've signaled to the mob that their protection is withdrawn and you're fair game.

And it's been interesting to see the difference between, say, younger women in the industry who want to talk about this stuff and are eager to get out there, and older women who are very, very gunshy.

It's easy to look at the older women who don't want to talk publicly, who don't volunteer to be on the panels, who don't volunteer to be interviewed, and think that it's because they lack courage or are getting more conservative as they get older or don't care.

Like, I used to think that.

And sometimes it's true. There's definitely a lot of "I got mine, and I'm not risking it, screw you" in there, and it doesn't help to ignore that.

But I've also had older women in the industry take me aside and be like "Do NOT volunteer when the company asks someone to be on this Women in Gaming panel.

It.
Is.
A.
Trap."

And increasingly, I've come to believe that there is an element of gaining leverage in game companies' pressure on younger marginalized employees to "be their authentic selves" publicly, on the company's behalf.

They know it's painting a target on you. That's leverage.

And everyone keeps acting like there's no intent behind any of this.