Feminist talks about video games are being targeted by terrorists

How did we get to this point? Somehow talks about the way women are portrayed in video games are being derailed by terrorist threats.

Anita Sarkeesian, who created the Feminist Frequency video blog and the Tropes vs. Women series, cancelled a planned speech at Utah State University today after its centre for women and gender director received an email threatening a mass shooting. It is understood that other threats were received as well.

Writing on Twitter, Ms Sarkeesian said she was forced to call off the talk after being informed the university was powerless to prevent people carrying firearms attending, due to the state's open-carry laws.

This is despite the email threat to the university warning if Ms Sarkeesian and other speakers went ahead with their talk a repeat of the 1989 Montreal Massacre, where 14 people were killed at a polytechnic by Marc Lépine who claimed his life had been ruined by feminists, would take place.

Some of Ms Sarkeesian's tweets about the incident include the GamerGate hashtag, and she claims at least one threat made a specific reference to this.

Some gamers have been rallying around the GamerGate hashtag since August, amid claims of misogyny in the industry, as articulated by Ms Sarkeesian and others.

Some of these gamers have tried to present themselves as victims in a conspiracy to misrepresent the industry as discriminatory against women, going as far to claim that female game developers were sleeping with male journalists in order to win positive reviews.

Zoe Quinn was forced out of her home in August after the entirely-false rumours were started, while Briannu Wu did the same more recently after violent threats to her and her husband.

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