Derogatory posters of Anita Sarkeesian were seen plastered all over the area surrounding E3.
A new twitter account called @femfreakE3 claims credit for them.
All your tropes are belong to us honey! #GamerGate #E3 pic.twitter.com/OqHtNFCCjY
— FemFreak (@femfreakE3) June 18, 2015
The poster in question labels features a black and white photo of Sarkeesian’s face, with the label ‘Fem Freak’ in bold text. This is accompanied by the caption ‘All your tropes are belong to us, honey’.
Printed all across the background is the GamerGate hashtag, in light gray text.
As was intended, they did not go unnoticed. These posters have already sparked a good deal of new criticism of GamerGate.
IGN Editor Mitch Dyer is one of those speaking out.
Anyone who says Gamergate is about the press and not hatred hasn’t seen the branded signs scorning Anita Sarkeesian around LA. Idiocy.
— Mitch Dyer (@MitchyD) June 18, 2015
But was it really GamerGate?
There is also an ongoing discussion about whether this was actually the work of GamerGate supporters.
While some seem to be in favor of the posters, many GamerGate supporters condemn the person responsible.
I don’t know who the hell you are, but leave #GamerGate out of your vandalism hobby. https://t.co/xdnIZ6bTqh
— murphy78 (@enjoy_murph) June 18, 2015
Some even argue that these posters are a ‘false flag operation’ meant to garner sympathy for Sarkeesian.
What if @femfreakE3 is a strawman account set up by Anita herself to bolster her image? A last-ditch effort? pic.twitter.com/iJNWZVsrGR
— A_Squirrel_In_Pocket (@Fuegofandango) June 18, 2015
#GamerGate is winning hands down and unethical games journos and SJWs have been BTFO. *Someone* creating a false flag was inevitable.
— Paolo Munoz aka Pabs (@GameDiviner) June 18, 2015
An outside party?
It is even possible that this was the work of an outside party with completely unrelated motivations.
Game journalist Oliver Campbell points out that it could be an advertising campaign, riding on the sensationalism for attention.
Observe how it’s PERFECTLY FRAMED to make sure ALL of Fallout 4 ads are in the shot. https://t.co/DRrSxTAUPE
— Oliver Campbell (@oliverbcampbell) June 18, 2015
Requesting signal boost #GamerGate #OpSkynet #FemFreak posters likely work of completely unaffiliated street artist pic.twitter.com/z65eZOPsEN
— Wintermute (@st_wintermute) June 18, 2015
In addition, an article on Destructoid made the claim that a group called Unsavory Agents was behind the posters and that:
The group is also known to place razor blades underneath these posters to cause harm to those who try to remove them.
The latter statement was subsequently retracted as it was unsourced. In addition, while Unsavory Agents does exist, their work seems to be predominantly politically based, and they do not seem to have any affiliation with video game related issues.
Overall it is still unclear what motives drive the party behind these posters. However, there seems to be a general consensus that it was in exceedingly poor taste.
What’s your take on this? Who do you think may be responsible? Let us know in the comments below!
