What are the legal implications of misogyny in video games?

The paper identifies and addresses three key areas: female portrayal in games, women working in the industry and female professional gamers. It ultimately decides that more industry support in all three sections is key to changing the deeply ingrained misogynistic culture. You can find it here.

I’ve had a few misgivings about publishing it. On one hand, I completely agree with the knowledge sharing and community culture that is UBC Law (and the internet in general!) Although I know the paper is flawed, if it is even vaguely interesting to someone else then that’s super. What’s more,  no matter how inconsequential, anything that encourages people to think (and hopefully act) to improve the misogynistic culture surrounding gaming has some value. On the other hand, I wonder if posting the paper is a smart idea. In light of what happened to Anita Sarkeesian, Jennifer Hepler, Zoe Quinn and numerous others, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from researching this paper is that the trolls lurking at the bottom of the internet can cruelly act without any consequences. Although I’m fairly sure a lone law student’s paper isn’t that interesting to 4chan, I really don’t fancy being doxxed. Also, it’s a bit embarrassing to publish your coffee-fuelled paper.

Hopefully you enjoy it! Please post any comments below as I’d be really interested to hear what other people think about this live issue.