Lady Bits Kickstarter by Liana Kerzner

[Bevin Warren]

Just wondering if there was a reason for The Escapist not covering former employee Liana's kickstarter?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1221065590/lady-bits-by-liana-kerzner

 

[StatusNil]

Just wondering if there was a reason for The Escapist not covering former employee Liana's kickstarter?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1221065590/lady-bits-by-liana-kerzner

Couldn't say, but maybe they were worried about a perceived conflict of interest in effectively advertising a former colleague's project? Personally, I think a proper acknowledgment of the relation would have sufficed.

Be that as it may, nice to see it got funded. If people still want to have a conversation about female characters and such, it seems right for it to include someone like her who both understands games and enjoys them. And is capable of having a conversation, of course. That certainly hasn't always been the case concerning the subject matter.

Anyway, there it is for anyone who still wishes to pitch in. So good for you for spreading the word.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

I wish her luck.

She's going to need it.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

And five years latter we will have people writing about how we should stop idolizing Liana Kerzner. Oh and I can't wait for the Liana Kerzner effect video and gatega... Ok this joke was trite when is started. Basically it just kind of looks like bizarro tropes Vs women. It dose kind of look neat.

Oh and the reason the escapist isn't reporting on it. It's because the escapist doesn't report on anything.

 

[jademunky]

Looks ok so far, seems like she is presenting herself as a more approachable version of feminist frequency.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Why would they? Was it part of her severance package that all future works will be covered?

 

[jademunky]

Why would they? Was it part of her severance package that all future works will be covered?

It seems like a good business practice to make it look like working for the escapist would be a good career move for a budding content creator. It certainly has been in the past.

 

[maninahat]

Just wondering if there was a reason for The Escapist not covering former employee Liana's kickstarter?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1221065590/lady-bits-by-liana-kerzner

Because they don't cover very much of anything these days, least of all what every last one of their former writers is doing?

I tended to have trouble with Kerzner's writing - she obviously has a lot of interesting insights, but there is a general lack of organisation to her opinions and she has an annoying habit of shielding her occasionally objectionable criticisms with a "just kidding! (but not really)" approach.

EDIT: just looked at her KS pitch video. Again, I'd like to know her insights, but there is, again, that same disjointed, rambling, bantz approach that puts me off. Also I don't think highly of all the cheap digs at Anita Sarkeesian.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

I give it 12 months at the outside before she says something that has the sweaty perma-virgins calling for her blood.

I don't. Kerzner came down firmly in defense of GamerGate at the time and she's the kind of "feminist" that says they are a feminist yet never has anything positive to say about feminism and only admits to the most watered down "inequality is sort of bad but we shouldn't do TOO MUCH about it"-style of equality before promptly siding with people that are grossly anti-equality but provide lipservice to equality as a shield from criticism. One might say she is a less educated Christina Hoff Sommers.

Frankly, I don't give much for Kerzner, her writing or screen presence. She always struck me as more interested in saying something to get attention then saying something to actually provide insight or perspective on the issues she approaches.

 

[jademunky]

Kerzner came down firmly in defense of GamerGate at the time and she's the kind of "feminist" that says they are a feminist yet never has anything positive to say about feminism and only admits to the most watered down "inequality is sort of bad but we shouldn't do TOO MUCH about it"-style of equality before promptly siding with people that are grossly anti-equality but provide lipservice to equality as a shield from criticism. One might say she is a less educated Christina Hoff Sommers.

She's one of THOSE? Shit, I should've guessed from her kickstarter video.

 

[the December King]

Gee, I hope she does well. It seems like a hard subject to talk about at the moment.

 

[Zhukov]

I don't know who Liana Kerzner is, but that Kickstarter pitch reads like, "Awww, did mean ol' Sarkessian hurt your gamer feelings? Here's a certified female and REAL GAMER to tell you that everything is just fine. There there."

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

I don't know who Liana Kerzner is, but that Kickstarter pitch reads like, "Awww, did mean ol' Sarkessian hurt your gamer feelings? Here's a certified female and REAL GAMER to tell you that everything is just fine. There there."

Agreed. She tries to assert she's just interested in having a lil' old chat about gaming without any of the drama or stereotypes, then proceeds to insecurely, defensively double down on the 'I'm not a gamer-grrl! I'm a real gamer, behold my credentials!'.

I do remember Kerzner for ostensibly coming across as a gater apologist, and disagreeing with her on almost every 'point' she tried to make about feminism and/or depiction of female characters.

...however, in between the rather pathetic digs at The Sarkeesian, if Kerzner emphasises context and the distinction between sexist moments and 'sexist games', then she might make some good points, as Feminist Frequency really did start to misrepresent certain games and moments rather terribly. I feel FF often had valid positions to argue from, but did so in variously inept and/or misleading ways (especially towards the latter vids where they started scraping the barrel by plucking tropes out of the air).

One might say she is a less educated Christina Hoff Sommers.

Not sure what joke to roll with on that one...

Frankly, I don't give much for Kerzner, her writing or screen presence. She always struck me as more interested in saying something to get attention then saying something to actually provide insight or perspective on the issues she approaches.

I'm not sure she was an attention seeker, just rather bull-in-a-china-shop in terms of wanting to have and express an opinion.

 

[maninahat]

I don't know who Liana Kerzner is, but that Kickstarter pitch reads like, "Awww, did mean ol' Sarkessian hurt your gamer feelings? Here's a certified female and REAL GAMER to tell you that everything is just fine. There there."

She used to write and make videos for the Escapist, back when it was trying to expand into cosplaying. She was a bit odd.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

One might say she is a less educated Christina Hoff Sommers.

Not sure what joke to roll with on that one...

Frankly, I don't give much for Kerzner, her writing or screen presence. She always struck me as more interested in saying something to get attention then saying something to actually provide insight or perspective on the issues she approaches.

I'm not sure she was an attention seeker, just rather bull-in-a-china-shop in terms of wanting to have and express an opinion.

Perhaps. The thing that stuck the most with me was her editorial [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comicsandcosplay/columns/cosplaydossier/16928-A-Cosplayer-s-Response-to-Xbox-s-Core-Values-at-GDC] on the issue of GDC hiring "dancers" for their attendee party, dancers that turned out to be women in skimpy outfits. The whole issue was with the stupidity in reinforcing the "gamers want to ogle girls" and "women don't attend GDC" stereotypes, but Kerzner in her desperation to butt in tried to argue that there was no difference between these professional models and hobbyist cosplayers. In fact, the column has her arguing that Microsofts response was not in regards to professional models but some sort of attack on cosplayers, when there's absolutely no connection between the two. That column solidified my opinion that Kerzner is more interested in being heard then having anything relevant or interesting to say.

 

[StatusNil]

Keepin' it positive, how nice. It's a good thing we have Feminism to teach us to respect the opinions of even "odd" "attention-seekers" "desperate" to "butt in" on "conversations" best left to Senior Feminists like Jonathan McIntosh. And I can't believe she's, like, friends with them! Double gross!!

Seriously, here's someone who knows about games and even likes playing them, and she considers the actual merits of hysterical accusations regarding gamers like a rational adult, as if it wasn't the 17th Century in old Salem Town anymore. These then are the main points against her as a critic of the medium.

 

[maninahat]

Keepin' it positive, how nice. It's a good thing we have Feminism to teach us to respect the opinions of even "odd" "attention-seekers" "desperate" to "butt in" on "conversations" best left to Senior Feminists like Jonathan McIntosh. And I can't believe she's, like, friends with them! Double gross!!

Seriously, here's someone who knows about games and even likes playing them, and she considers the actual merits of hysterical accusations regarding gamers like a rational adult, as if it wasn't the 17th Century in old Salem Town anymore. These then are the main points against her as a critic of the medium.

Kerzner, is that you?

You can't criticise our snobbery for preferring "senior feminists" one second and then praise Kerzner for being a totes real gamer and rational adult the next. Well okay, you did. But it was silly.

 

[StatusNil]

You can't criticise our snobbery for preferring "senior feminists" one second and then praise Kerzner for being a totes real gamer and rational adult the next. Well okay, you did. But it was silly.

Eh, I don't see how. Being a quote-unquote "gamer" and a rational adult are qualities that one would suppose would help someone to have an understanding of the medium they are going to be critically evaluating.