Speaker: Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency

We are excited to co-host Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency at American University on March 6th, 2019. Details follow…

I Am So Tired: The Costs of Online Harassment

What is it like to be a public figure who is known more for the targeted acts of aggression and hate directed at you than for the creative or scholarly work you produce? Anita Sarkeesian, creator of Feminist Frequency video series, will recount the formative experiences that made her into the activist she is today before she unpacks the ways that the behavior of online harassers upholds and furthers a reactionary political agenda and silences the voices of women everywhere.

Who’s Anita Sarkeesian?

Anita Sarkeesian is an award-winning media critic, host, and the creator and executive director of Feminist Frequency, an educational nonprofit that explores the representations of women in pop culture narratives. Her work focuses on deconstructing the stereotypes and tropes associated with women in popular culture as well as highlighting issues surrounding the targeted harassment of women in online and gaming spaces. Anita has been interviewed and featured in publications such as Wired, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Good Morning America and The Colbert Report. Anita was named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2015. Anita’s first book History vs Women: The Defiant Lives That They Don’t Want You To Know, co-written with Ebony Adams is out now. See: http://www.anitasarkeesian.com

What’s Feminist Frequency?

In 2009, Anita Sarkeesian borrowed a camera and some lights, tacked a piece of fabric up on her living room wall, and started making videos examining pop culture from a feminist perspective. Those early videos were short and simple, but the core of Feminist Frequency was already visible in them: the belief that media has the power to change the world. Today, Feminist Frequency is a not-for-profit educational organization that analyzes modern media’s relationship to societal issues such as gender, race, and sexuality. We strongly advocate for the just treatment of all people online and believe that media and media literacy are essential tools for eradicating injustice and creating a more equitable world. https://feministfrequency.com (Some particularly great videos are about gender and the Smurfs, gender and Lego, and women in Hollywood are at these links.) 

Sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Communication, Anthropology, AU Game Lab, Communication Studies, Film & Media Arts, Humanities Lab, Office of Campus Life & Inclusive Excellence, Sociology, Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies