If you ask a Gamergate supporter what the movement is about, they'll most likely tell you that it's about ethics in games journalism, and maybe say something about determining what constitutes a "video game." Ask the same question of a games journalist, and they'll say it's about misogyny. Based on all the evidence I can find, I have to say I side more with the latter camp.
The very first comments about Gamergate that invaded my media bubble were calling indie game developer Zoe Quinn a slut, and accusing her of trading sexual favors for positive reviews of her game, "Depression Quest." Of course, it *would* be unethical if that were what Zoe Quinn did, but not a single Quinnspiracy theorist has given a link to a concrete example of anyone Quinn slept with giving a positive, or even any review of the game. It's unfortunate for Quinn's former boyfriend that she slept around, but clearly journalistic ethics are not in question here, just regular relationship issues.
Apart from the Quinnspiracy accusations, which Gamergate members swear are a separate issue, several Gamergate tweeters tweeted rape and murder threats against several anti-Gamergate figures, who were (shockingly) disproportionately women. Many of these women were "doxxed," their personal information released online for all to see. Even if the intentions of Gamergate were completely pure from the beginning, the legitimacy of the movement was seriously damaged by this abhorrent behavior. Further, the disproportionate threats against women are a pretty strong indicator that misogyny plays more of a role than Gamergate hashtaggers will let on.
Even ignoring the threats against prominent women, the false accusations against Quinn are not as innocent as they may seem, These claims are personal attacks on a professional woman for having the audacity to be a woman, promote social awareness, and be a game developer. To discredit her, Gamergate focused on a classic stereotype, the professional woman who uses sex to get ahead. There is pretty strong evidence, in fact, that the whole movement started with a handful of 4channers discussing a way to get to Quinn. One user wrote in an IRC, "i couldnt care less about vidya, i just want to see Zoe receive her comeuppance [sic]," Another says " I just want to see her die horribly," and a third writes "I feel like I would probably fuck Zoe. But not out of a loving sense of sexual attraction. More of that 'hate fuck' sense where you just want to assert your dominance as a male on her, a primal savagery. Then I’d probably have to sterilize myself to prevent the genome from spreading." The classic misogyny of these sentiments, paired with the violent rape and murder imagery eliminates any claims that "journalistic integrity" is at the heart of this. Even if the focus was on ethics, the ethics in question heavily favor males, and no one batted an eye over ethics until a woman was allegedly involved.
Not everything brought up in discussions of Gamergate was completely illegitimate, but the focus was clearly on attacking professional women. Many of those involved in the hashtag war probably really believed it when they said they were talking about ethics; the dangerous thing about misogynists is they often have the intelligence and cunning to mask their misogyny with enough seemingly innocuous cover to attract good, reasonable people to their side. When this Quinnspiracy and doxxing business is in the past, these legitimate concerns can potentially be discussed in an open way.
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