Everyone on the Internet is mean. Seriously, every single person who has ever booted up a computer is a total jerk, and that is the only plausible explanation for the vitriol of YouTube users, the violent comments hurled at feminist pop culture critic Anita Sarkeesian, and just the general garbage spewed on Twitter all of the time. At least, that would be the easy explanation behind our culture’s predisposition to online flame wars. As it turns out, the answer to what makes us all so mean on the Internet, and what to do about it, is fairly nuanced, and a difficult problem to fix.

We all know that the response to Anita Sarkeesian‘s online harassment over her Kickstarter campaign has been supportive, but sometimes, it’s just great to see someone say those words out loud and make some goshdamn sense for once. That is what Jay Smooth (aka John Randolph) did in his most recent installment of Ill Doctrine, his video blog. And we think it’s a reassuring and positive way to end a week of otherwise gnarly internet behavior — with someone with something good to say.

(via Ill Doctrine on Vimeo)

Over the past week, Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency has been subject to some truly vicious harassment, the kind that only the internet can deliver. Sarkeesian is currently running a Kickstarter project to fund a new video series called Tropes vs. Women in Video Games. The associated YouTube video has been flooded with thousands of hateful comments, a sampling of which can be found on the Feminist Frequency website (warning: graphic language).

Whether or not you like Sarkeesian’s work is utterly moot. You might disagree with some of her points. You might disagree with all of her points. You might even vehemently disagree. That’s not the issue here. The issue lies in this: A woman declared her intent to publicly voice her opinions about video games. For that, she was called a bitch, a whore, a slut, a cunt, a dyke, and a baffling assortment of racial slurs. She was threatened with violence, rape, and death. She was told to shut her mouth, get back in the kitchen, and die of cancer. Her video was repeatedly flagged for terrorism in an effort to get YouTube to pull it. Her Wikipedia page was defaced with pornography and profanity. All for the crime of being a woman talking about women in video games. No, not for being a woman talking about video games. For being a woman who had announced that she would, at some point in the future, be talking about video games.

Robinade has back and front views of dresses for each Avenger (and Loki, Fury, and Coulson). I’d love to rock the Iron Man one. (Tumblr)

Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency as usual, says many intelligent things, this time about how changing the perspective of The Hunger Games (from first person in the book to third in the movie) and the way that the story is presented an consumed (from private reading to public viewing) changed certain aspects of the experience, and even in some cases the meaning of the story as a whole.

Kind of what you’d expect from a story that plays with themes of exploitation in entertainment. In the beginning of the video she mentions another video just about The Hunger Games as a book. You’ll find it embedded below.

So, we’ve got one more week until the Oscar telecast, and that gives us yet another week of people trying to handicap the possible winners. But goodness or badness of the movies aside, how do they stack up when it comes to how women are portrayed? Feminist Frequency asked this question and have put the Best Picture nominees to the Bechdel Test: Two women, with names, talking to each other, but not about men. You’ll find that this year’s nominees … will disappoint you. At least when it comes to this. They’re obviously not “bad movies,” but Hollywood clearly has some work to do when it comes to telling quality stories about women.

(via Pajiba)

We had strong opinions about the Lego Friends line of toys targeted to girls, and we weren’t the only ones. The folks over at Feminist Frequency created a two-part series explaining the history of the Lego brand, their marketing strategies, and the implications and complications that come along with Lego Friends. It’s totally something we would have made if we made that sort of thing. Lucky for us, that’s what Feminist Frequency is all about. Watch Part 1 and hit the jump for the second half! 

How do we love thee, Feminist Frequency? Not only is your two year old video still the definitive word on the Bechdel Test, now you’re covering an entire series of female-oriented tropes? /sigh

Oh, and if you’re curious about some of the feeble ways that people have tried to subvert the Smurfette Principle, check out our launch Power Grid.

(via Sociological Images.)