Anita Sarkeesian facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anita Sarkeesian
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Sarkeesian in 2011
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| Born | 1983 (age 41–42) |
| Nationality | Canadian-American |
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Anita Sarkeesian (born 1983) is a Canadian-American feminist media critic. This means she looks closely at how women are shown in movies, TV shows, and video games. She often points out ways these portrayals can be unfair or use old-fashioned ideas.
Anita is the person who started Feminist Frequency. This is a website that shares videos and comments about how women are shown in popular culture. Her video series, Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, looks at common patterns, called tropes, in how female video game characters are presented.
Many people, like media expert Soraya Murray, see Anita Sarkeesian as a leader in a new movement. This movement aims to challenge old ideas and unfair ways women are shown in video games. Anita has also given talks at big events like TEDxWomen and the United Nations. She even appeared on The Colbert Report to talk about making gaming and media more welcoming for everyone.
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Early Life and Education
Anita Sarkeesian was born in Canada and grew up near Toronto. Her parents were from an Armenian family in Iraq. They moved to Canada in the 1970s. Later, Anita moved to California in the United States. She now identifies as both Canadian and American.
She earned a college degree in communication studies from California State University, Northridge in 2007. After that, she got a master's degree from York University in 2010. Her master's project was about strong women in science fiction and fantasy TV shows. It was titled I'll Make a Man Out of You: Strong Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television.
Career Highlights
Feminist Frequency
| Feminist Frequency | |
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| YouTube information | |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Genre | Commentary |
| Subscribers | 210 thousand |
| Total views | 34.2 million |
| Subscriber and view counts updated as of December 16, 2024. | |
Anita Sarkeesian started Feminist Frequency in 2009. It's a nonprofit group and website. She wanted to make it easier for people to understand and talk about feminist ideas in media. The videos on the site looked at how gender roles are shown in popular culture. For example, one video used the Bechdel test on movies nominated for the 84th Academy Awards. This test checks if two female characters talk to each other about something other than a man.
In 2011, Anita created a video series called Tropes vs. Women. This series looked at common patterns, or "tropes," in how women are shown in media. It focused a lot on science fiction. The series had six videos. They covered tropes like the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" and the "Smurfette Principle".
Many universities have used Anita's blog for women's studies classes. She has also given talks at universities. She speaks about how female characters are shown in pop culture.
Anita was inspired to make a video series about women in video games. This happened after she was asked to speak to game creators at Bungie. On May 17, 2012, she started a Kickstarter campaign. She wanted to raise money for short videos about gender tropes in video games. Her goal was $6,000, but she reached it in less than a day! In the end, she raised $158,922 from nearly 7,000 supporters.
Anita first planned to release the Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series in 2012. But she decided to wait. The extra money allowed her to make the project bigger and better. The first video in the series came out on March 7, 2013.
The first three videos talked about the "Damsels in Distress" trope. This is where a helpless female character needs a male hero to save her. Chris Suellentrop from The New York Times said these videos were "essential viewing" for anyone interested in video games.
Many people believe Feminist Frequency has changed the gaming world. Colin Campbell from Polygon noted that since the project started, video games have shown more positive female and minority characters. They also use fewer of the old tropes Anita talked about. In 2015, Intel announced a partnership with Feminist Frequency. This was part of a big effort to increase diversity in technology and gaming.
In 2015, Feminist Frequency announced plans for two new video series. One would look at positive ways women are shown in video games. The other would explore how male characters are presented.
In 2016, Feminist Frequency started a fundraising campaign for an animated series. It was called Ordinary Women: Daring to Defy History. This series explored the lives of important historical women. It was released in 2017.
The Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series finished on April 27, 2017. The last episode was called "The Lady Sidekick". Anita then announced that Feminist Frequency would make another series. In March 2019, they released a three-part series. It was similar to Tropes vs. Women in Video Games but focused on "Queer Tropes" in video games.
In August 2023, Anita announced that the nonprofit part of Feminist Frequency would close. She mentioned feeling "exhaustion and burnout." The nonprofit's programs stopped in early 2024. However, the Feminist Frequency Radio podcast and Anita's past video series will still be available online.
Other Work
In 2011, Anita helped write an essay called "Buffy vs. Bella: The Re-Emergence of the Archetypal Feminine in Vampire Stories." This essay was part of a book about vampires. She also spoke at events about media criticism. She was interviewed by a UK newspaper, The Observer, in 2012. She said that media should create "authentic, human female characters."
In October 2022, Anita started a new video series. It's on the streaming service Nebula and is called That Time When. This series looks at times when pop culture and politics have come together in recent history.
Media Appearances
Anita Sarkeesian and her work became much more well-known after she announced Tropes vs. Women in Video Games. She faced some challenges and discussions about her work appeared in many places. These included The New York Times, The Guardian, and New Statesman.
She also appeared in a 2015 documentary film called GTFO.
On February 11, 2019, Anita gave a presentation at the University of Alberta. This was part of a week focused on preventing gender-based violence.
Awards and Recognition
Anita Sarkeesian's Feminist Frequency blog was recognized by Feminist Collections. In 2012, Gamasutra said that Feminist Frequency's success brought new attention to how important diversity is in gaming. They called this focus on inclusion one of the top trends in the game industry that year. In 2013, Newsweek magazine named Anita one of their "125 Women of Impact."
In 2014, Anita received the Ambassador Award at the 14th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards. This award was for her work on how women are shown in video games. She was the first woman to receive this honor. She was also nominated for the Ambassador Award at Microsoft's 2014 Women in Gaming Awards.
Rolling Stone magazine called her "pop culture's most valuable critic." They said that the difficulties she faced only proved her point: that gaming had a problem. In December 2014, The Verge named her one of the "50 most important people" where technology, art, science, and culture meet.
In March 2015, Time magazine included Anita in its list of the thirty "Most Influential People on the Internet." In April of that year, she was chosen for the Time 100. This is the magazine's yearly list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In May 2015, Cosmopolitan included her in its list of the "50 Most Fascinating People on the Internet."
Feminist Frequency won a Peabody Award in 2022. This award was for "Digital and Interactive Storytelling."
Selected Publications
See also
In Spanish: Anita Sarkeesian para niños
