Anita Sarkeesian has released a financial breakdown of the way funds raised in her 2012 Tropes vs. Women Kickstarter were spent.
The 2014 Feminist Frequency Annual Report discloses information on a number of things, including views on Sarkeesian's YouTube channel---5.7 million---and demographic information on her viewers, including age and locale.
California saw the most Feminist Frequency viewers for 2014, while the 25-34 demographic was the unsurprising age group most tuned-in to the channel, with 41.5% of the total viewers.
Perhaps most interestingly, Feminist Frequency gained non-profit status in May of 2014 and continued raising funds throughout 2014, including a whopping $230,000 in December alone. Below is the financial breakdown for 2014.
As you can see, the vast majority of funds were raised in Q4, which explains the huge difference between money raised and expenditures.
Sarkeesian also released the progress Feminist Frequency made in 2014, which included:
- Released two episodes in our ongoing Tropes vs Women in Video Games series addressing the topic of Women as Background Decoration
- Released the video “Playing with Privilege: 25 Invisible Benefits of Gaming While Male”
- Received Game Developer’s Choice Ambassador Award - March 19, 2014
- Nominated for Microsoft’s 2014 Women in Games Ambassador Award - March 20, 2014
- Wrote “Anita Sarkeesian on Video Games’ Great Future” - New York Times Op-Ed - Oct 28, 2014
- Wrote “Five Feminist Moments in the History of Video Games” - Matter, The New York Review of Video Games - Dec 17, 2014
- Focused on advocacy efforts regarding online harassment including consulting with tech and social media companies to improve their platforms and participating in a task force working on short- and long-term strategies to end digital abuse
- Mentored a Women in Tech public speaking workshop
- Presented and lectured on topics of online harassment and women’s representations in games at five universities and three conferences
- Twenty media appearances and interviews
I'm a little disappointed to see only two videos in her Tropes vs. Women were series were released (for a total of six in the series since 2012.) That seems like incredibly low output compared to other YouTube series and channels on a much more generous budget than most.
More than anything, these stats show that Sarkeesian has become a media talking head rather than a YouTube personality---her 20 media appearances in 2014 dwarf all other stats provided. I would love to see more video game discussion and debate in the mainstream media, and hope that news programs continue to bring Sarkeesian and those with opposing views onto their shows in 2015.
Perhaps Fox Business's John Stossel---who has spoken up in defense of video games and their lack of connection to real-world violence---could host discussion or debate on the subject of sexism, free speech, and other hot topics in video games. The $100 billion industry is prime territory for this sort of debate. Unfortunately, most of the dialogue surrounding Sarkeesian is too heated and controversial to be described as healthy dialogue.
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Sarkeesian has also finally released the financial breakdown for her 2012 Kickstarter campaign which you can see in the following chart:
Salary and wages make up the largest piece of the pie, taking up fully 44% of the budget. Other expenditures include games and systems, backer rewards, taxes and so forth.
It's good to see some transparency on this project, which is quite probably the most controversial Kickstarter to date, even if some details remain vague.
As an addendum: I have some serious disagreements with Sarkeesian on the nature of video games and the role of video games in society. I'm not always a fan of the way she approaches the discussion either, though I think she raises some good points.
That being said, I would ask that any commenters both here and on social media who choose to engage on this subject remain civil and respectful. As Sarkeesian notes in her Kickstarter update, "the extreme harassment that I experience has become an intrinsic and inseparable part of this project" which, to be honest, is a terrible shame. Too much of our discussion surrounding video games, game journalism and criticism has become a discussion of harassment.
Debate around these issues is important, both for intellectual purposes and because any healthy industry---but especially the entertainment industry---needs healthy discourse, disagreement, and debate to thrive. Let's make that happen.
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Here are the plans for Feminist Frequency in 2015:
- Begin a new video series examining the representations of men and masculinity in video games
- Begin a miniseries presenting examples of positive female characters in video games
- Continue producing Tropes vs Women in Video Games beginning with “Women as Reward”
- Continue and expand efforts to advocate for equitable online spaces by educating and consulting on issues of gendered online harassment
- Expand the organization by hiring new staff members
- Complete a rebranding of Feminist Frequency including a new logo design and website
- Create Feminist Frequency merchandise
You can read the entire report here [pdf.]
