No Girls Allowed: File Sharing Culture and BitTorrent

[SalemMoonlight]

Awesome video, I too find it highly irritating that most websites are bombarded with pornographic, sexist and demeaning advertising catered towards men.

Thank you for speaking out on this issue.

[s0nnyburnett]

Perhaps this is part of the reason my engineering courses are always sausage fests. It's a shame because I know more men and women would like to see more women in the science/technology fields, the barriers are difficult to pass through but once past them I would hope a more welcoming environment lies within.

[Rampala]

Thanks for the link on where to get torrents without the porn! You'd think that, being a lesbian, I *should* find these pornographic ads appealing, but they're annoying and demeaning at best.

[mzzzhedison]

Haha. I'm a lady lovin' chick myself and even *I* get annoyed at these Ads on File Sharing websites. If I wanted to watch porn, I'd go and watch it. I don't need the encouragement. Not to mention those pop-ups that invade your entire screen, thus forcing you to close it yourself and confirm the decision more than once.

[kyrat]

Same w/ gaming websites, SciFi sites & some tech sites. When I see ads like the Evony ads w/ the sexy babes calling you lord/master- contact the site's webmaster. Often times they don't know whats on their site cuz they outsource & someone else runs ads based on who they think is visiting the site. I point out that it makes me not want to visit the site again. Often theyll ask the advertiser to remove that ad./ & as someone else pointed out-some guys don't want to see nonstop porn ads either.

[spookerd]

I was unaware bit torrent tracking sites had ads since I use adblock plus. Because I'm a "techno geek" like that.

[TheMadFriday]

I'm also sick of being bombarded by porn while filesharing. I don't want to be a full participant in geek culture though, I just want my music -_-.

And be nice to Big Bang Theory, it's awesome.

[rmorrisme]

You hit on something that I've felt for a long time but couldn't articulate. I have been involved in geek culture for my entire life but have always felt like I was somehow transgressing into a male space.

[Orvokkai]

AdBlock <3

[Disthron]

Wait Wikapidea is sexist?! That site always seemed pretty gender/race/whatever neutral to me.

Now that I think about it, it's usually a big deal in shows like GT-TV when they have a woman on. Kind of reminds me of a scene in one movie, wish I could remember the name, where a high school class turns to the 1 black girl in the class to get "the black perspective" of "The Colour Purple" as if every black person would have the same reaction to it.

[snakeeyez77]

I've now watched all 25 of your videos, FemFreq.

Anyway, as a straight guy, I'm just as sick of internet porn advertising as you are. Whether it's for porn or "sexy singles in my neighborhood" or whatever. It reminds me of all those pop-up ads in the corner of my TV screen I see every day. The more pop-up ads they throw in my face, the more they encourage me to change the channel! . . . or just watch less TV

[mizakzee]

Learn the word kyriarchy, it's far more accurate than patriarchy.

[meerkatsnaughty]

I agree!!

I have been saying this when i first saw this on the torrent sites.

[dilidoh]

adblock. 

[razieldumas]

It was either Carl Sagan, Sam Harris or Richard Dawkins (I can't remember which) who said in an audiobook that I was listening to recently that there aren't very many women involved in scientific pursuits (this can be extended to geek culture) because they're told that there aren't very many women involved. So, they then assume that the field or the culture isn't for them, or they make that assumption and they go on from there. It's a very defeating stereotype.

[cactustactics]

Out of interest, where did you get the 'women in Open Source' statistic from? I saw an article recently that mentioned a big project (pretty sure it was Ubuntu) was requiring developers to use their real names instead of pseudonyms, and many women were horrified because of the harassment they knew they'd be subjected to when their gender was known - there were plenty of examples. I'm just wondering if that need for gender anonymity means the numbers end up skewed

Awesome videos by the way!

[amm0439]

I agree with the main message of the video, wholeheartedly. However, that Big Bang Theory reference is basically stereotyping and overgeneralizing men that are part of digital culture, when A.) a great deal of them don't fit that PHYSICAL stereotype, and B.) even from some of the comments here it is clear that a good deal of them also disapprove of this type of advertising. So it's off-putting when your main message is to portray women as full human being and then you use stereotypes for men.

[Onemark]

I for one would welcome you to this sausage fest! 

[Kennychipmunk]

Nice commentary;I should let you know though that wikipedia is not allowed in my community college because it indulges in plagarism. I am a majoring in what use to be a boys club but due to the rise of environmental geology and marine biology the geological field is beginning to be more diversified.Oh and I am a straight guy, which while it may surprise you I had my ways of thinking changed when my exgirlfriend came out of the closet.Anyway great rant and you have a great day

[feministfrequency]

@Kennychipmunk Is wikipedia actually *blocked* on your campus or do the profs just frown upon using wikipedia?

[Kennychipmunk]

@feministfrequency It is available but anybody using it as a source is given an E.But I see your point blocking anything is censorship no matter how inaccurate it is.I myself use library databases because they are much more accurate,but even then I use the database to try to find the original journal article if possible.Being a science major I prefer the original sources.

[Miryr]

Wikipedia makes a point out of having no advertising, if anything it's the culture which downplays females not directly the sites themselves.

[5chocolatedragon]

Great video. I am also a female Geek and I'm tired of being bombarded by things that obviously weren't meant for me, a heterosexual female.

[seraphimlance]

To start, I'm a dude.

Now, this video was actually really good. I could do without that shitty sitcom reference, but besides that, it was really good.

However, I disagree on your opinions that you threw out there on one point. Why would you want to be targeted by ad agencies?

As the demographic being targeted, I feel like they are pandering to the lowest common denominator. I feel less intelligent when an ad that is based on tits is directed specifically at me. You aren't missing out.

[kchano]

Thank you for this! I want to learn about programming, I want to talk about gaming and comic books and go to cons. But as soon as people (men) find out I'm a woman, it's "r u hot send pics" or "tits or gtfo". My opinion was perfectly valid and interesting before they found out about my uterus. Why does that make a difference? A lot of us just end up choosing male avatars to avoid being discovered and subsequently discounted as a contributing member of nerd culture. Very depressing.

[BastetAsshur]

Hi,

I agre with your take on this type of advertising. One question however: How does this impact on Wikipedia? The ads you talk of aren't on this site. It seems to me that this site is the perfect place to learn some 'geek culture'.

[feministfrequency]

@BastetAsshur Wikipedia is just an example of an online space that is dominated by men.

[00GreyEyedGirl00]

I'm surprised you didn't mention that girls that are interested in technology and such (like me, you, and many other women out there) are often stereotyped as all being "fat ugly dikes," discouraging women even more from interacting with technology. I might be wrong but weren't similar stereotypes being made about women who went to college back when women were first allowed to attend college? Where do you think these stereotypes come from? 

[alexpinn]

Great video!

Just wanted to let you know kickasstorrents does advertise porn...

[feministfrequency]

@alexpinn Ya, I learned that recently... if you have an account, you don't see advertisements so I didn't notice it for awhile. I'll take that annotation off my video, thanks for reminding me.

[DoctorShepp]

Lawl. Big Bang Theory. I laughed.

[princedepressia]

Thank you for mentioning Evony. I'm a guy and played Evony before those ads came out. When those ads came out,, I quit Evony for good. The game was crappy anyway, and those sexist ads was the straw that broke the camel's back - only it was more like a log, not a straw.

[jeibal02]

This makes SO MUCH SENSE, Im not a female, but it does piss me off marginalized females are, and to me, a gay male, this is even more bothersome because Im not interested in it...and there are so many other areas were I sympathize with females because it has to be bothersome to know that your body is more so a sexual object than something of substance to society and culture..

[udoprog]

I appreciate this video and the rant about trackers - I hate this shit too.

The only Issue I have is that you didn't properly introduce the Idea's behind FOSS and WP which are humanistic in nature, vs. trackers which purely are patriarchal constructs to generate ad revenues from a sick world.

I agree that FOSS and WP are a boys club, but resulting from the underlying social problem which wasn't discussed in detail, instead it felt "bundled" with the trackers and that is a bit unfair.

[Scifimaster92]

The fact that only 13% of Wikipedia contributers are women may explain the site's pro-pornography, anti-feminist bias that I have been told about.

By the way, great choice of music! I'm sort of a fan of electronic music, and the guys at Kraftwerk certainly were (and still are) an important contribution to the genre.

[LicoriceLain]

@Scifimaster92 "Pro-pornography, anti-feminist" Are you using those terms interchangeably and are you claiming them both to be negative attributes (hint, hint)? I may just be a different type of person, but even if I encountered something anti-pornography/anti-sex work, I wouldn't avoid it simply due to that. There is so much int he world to learn that having such barriers up can hinder you. However, I do agree that advertising does prevent gender equality and I want to see it change.

[AmandyChan]

A similar issue exists in gaming culture. I'm a gamer, and I recently got XBox Live, which allows you to play online with other gamers and communicate on the mic. And the way women are treated on XBox Live is ridiculous! When men hear a female voice, they bombard you. While playing Gears of War 2, one man immediately started calling me "his bitch" and all sorts of objectifying things, and THEN sent me a friend request, meaning he ACTUALLY thought that's how you're supposed to treat a woman.

[00GreyEyedGirl00]

@AmandyChan Fellow female Xbox Live gamer here. I totally know what you're talking about, guys that do that are just trying to test you, to see if you're a push over or not so they can continue to be demeaning towards you. Or they're doing it to troll you and try to get a reaction. You probably already know all this but the best thing to do is just block all communications with them and report them.

[pishposhthis]

AMEN!

Once I was skimming pirate bay and my roommate asked me if I was looking at porn. That's how ridiculous it is.

[AuDacitYofTruTh]

I completely 100% agree with you and you know what else is being intentionally and intentionally being denied to women? SPORTS! Playing sports isbecoming more and more a boys club. I can't readsports magazine any more due to the unlimited number of pics'hot chicks' there for no other reason than to be objectified and it is rarely that u c women's sports in A SPORTS MAGAZINE! It is just outrageous and then they have the audacity to say women don't like sports as if they had nothing to do with it

[Dyakki]

Ah, nevermind. You listed the music at the end of the video. My bad. :]

[Dyakki]

Question: What music was used in your intro and outro for this video? Me likes it. n_n

Also, great video! I'm a guy and I get this stuff. :]

[HuggyXBear064]

The only barriers to you getting into the culture is your unwillingness to bare yourself in front of a camera.

But in all seriousness get off your high horse and stop spouting all the feminist bullshit, men have heard it all before and we just turn off when you start talking.

I'm not saying feminism is wrong, I'm just saying it turns people off, if you want to change something, stop sounding like a crazy feminist and actually fucking do something.

[ReiSilver]

what I hate is that some of these adds are conning on to my add blocker and when I try to block an image it's been made flash file, try to block the frame and the whole site goes, arrgh

[cannedkitty]

I'm a str8 dude and I can't stand these ads either. Can't imagine how i annoyed I would be were I a female.

[patsybob]

Activision Shunning Female Lead Characters? ( i think so! )

Article from Playstation lifestyle: "According to Gamasutra, Activision rejected the original concept of a game starring a female lead character in 2007" and "When approached with a game codenamed “Black Lotus” starring a female, Activision apparently “killed [the project], said they don’t do female characters because they don’t sell.” This project later went on to become True Crime: Hong Kong (staring a male lead :P)

[00GreyEyedGirl00]

@patsybob I find that odd since Activision actually has a good amount of female gamers. You'd think they'd want to profit off of that.

[liquidstone14]

this is intensely relevant. good one, FF. i'm liking this.

[Maverynthia]

I think this video could have been expanded into other areas like the Emulation community. I was browsing two forums and the first was talking about (in bad chatspeak) how one character was "so gay" (The character in question has been friend's with the main character for a long time etc...) and the other forum wanted someone to put back in some "underboob" costume so they could objectify the female character. (Said costume was not related to what the main goal was)

[Lissshizzle]

Haha you're so true about the ''boys club''

I play Grand Theft Auto Multiplayer and they are always like ''omg, you're a girl?!''

[turtlewings]

I hated those friggin' Evony ads with a passion, and I heard the game sucked rocks anyway. Like your purple glasses tho', I had frames like those but in black.

[FunkyBeccaBecca]

i love the scythe and farscape at the end of this vid. <3 <3 <3

actually. everything about this video is awesome-- I COMPLETELY agree. WHAT THE HELL bittorrent tracking sites! hahaha

when i try and teach my lady friends about bittorrent its usually the porn that dissuades them.

[ooglywomang]

I completely agree with your theory of the internet boy's club.

I love gaming, but have to stay anonymous to avoid being harassed or treated differently. My favorite games are all first person shooters and contain almost zero female characters/avatars or outright objectify women if they are represented at all. The worst is the LAN conventions; the ratio of males to females is about 100 to 1, and the targeting of those few women by the surrounding crowd is enough to make anyone a technophobe.

[00GreyEyedGirl00]

@ooglywomang (Female here) I went to a LAN party once, there was only one other girl there. It was still really awkward though, I felt out of place and like everyone was staring at me. However the main reason why I didn't go back was because a lot of the guys that were there smelled REALLY bad :S Not trying to stereotype. Despite the awkwardness and the smell though many of the guys there were really nice and welcoming.

[CherylRose]

I noticed those Evony ads before as well, that one doesn't even make sense.

[Ezmyrelda]

Adblock and similar software don't actually get to the heart of the problem. Which is a patriarchal culture in which sex taboo and obsessed over. Very few people actually understand much about healthy relationships before they start having sex. It took me 15 years to come out and start transitioning because nobody ever told me that you don't have to be straight to be transgender. We have repressed sex so much in our society that it has become an unhealthy focus in the only uncontrolled frontier.

[joaozinho78]

As an enlightened male (probably more feminist than most women I know) I 100% agree with your sentiments. They use and abuse women to target weak (typically addicted to gaming and free movies) men, and seriously, you really just wanted that pirated concert or whatever.

As far as women in the industry, I think that's a somewhat separate argument. Guys can be douches or not be all day long--until more women demand the kind of presence you do, things won't change....

[Connnacht]

We see what we want to see. I think it mostly comes down to money. Ads are displayed based on what makes the most money. Companies can often determine their audience's dynamics, so their ads can be tailored to them. How sad it is that the easiest way to make money is to plaster ads all over the place with naked women. I guess using men's own debased or lowest animal instincts against them is currently the most profitable. Perhaps women (and their computers) are harder to ensnare?

[friendlyandfun]

You should have mentioned adblock (or similar tech) in the video -- help peeps get proactive! Actually, I would like to see a follow-up to this with real suggestions on how to actually dismantle the internet boys-club.

[feministfrequency]

@friendlyandfun I don't use adblockers, but I welcome people commenting on the blockers they use if folks would like to try them out. I don't think the solution is trying to block out what already exists but rather dealing with the root of the problem.

[friendlyandfun]

@feministfrequency I don't use ad-block either, but I'm still curious about "getting to the root of the problem." You are very focused on the symptoms in this vid. Problem/symptom identification is important, but it's really great to have solutions or suggestions included as well. Though I suppose a good rant never hurt anyone (don't examine that last sentence too closely!).

[feministfrequency]

@friendlyandfun to put it simply, the root of the problem is patriarchy

[AnneloesF]

@friendlyandfun I agree! I would really like a follow up video with some suggestions how women can help dismantle the boys-club. I understand that guys need to take steps in removing some of the barriers, but what can we ourselves do, other than urging them to do so? I'd love to hear your views on that feministfrequency!

[MrFalderal]

Yeah, those ads are severely annoying me as well. However, most of them get filtered out by Adblock plus for Firefox. Still, I get that this video is not only about you being annoyed by seeing the ads but also by knowing that they are there and others see them.

A general question, though: Are you completely against all pornography or just against pornographic advertisements?

Btw, its nice to see that you seem to be a fellow Wikipedia contributor ;).

[tauceti1234]

Hear hear!

[WarioDuke]

I saw a comic strip witha good and simple explanation about why there's so few geek girls, I'll look it up when my internet stops being so crappy. Also there are sometimes when the media abuse sexual images for the sake of advertisement but we must remember they use them because they work on their target market. Thus sexism is a problem deep in lots of societies, including my country, Mexico.

[slamcrank]

I use "NoScript" for Firefox. (it kills the ad scripts, but it has to have input from you to know which ones to trust/not trust). It's pretty easy to use and very intuitive after you start killing scripts. Hope it's ok to post a link to the add-on. All best!! I love your channel!!

[melissa10474]

Thank-you!

Gosh, I always felt so horrible going to those sites :/

[alexwr2007]

Men don't all fit into the same boxes, either.

A lot of us download adblocker - gets rid of any ads you'd want to get rid of.

Noscript is good to have as well. Happy surfing ~

[latebadger]

Very true. I imagine that the nerdy 'boys club' is also a sanctuary for them. No doubt they have insecurities being around women, so they like to feel comfortable around other men. This is a bad cycle because not only does it exclude women, but it feeds negative & sexist stereotypes.

[SazzyIsSnazzy]

Wow I cannot express how much I love this video.

[comedycreator100]

this is the first time i actually agree with you.

and im a guy

[JadeMouse]

I am completely fed up with glancing at ads on the sidebar of a webpage and seeing pictures of some sort of warrior princess with a huge chest and barely anything on, advertising internet games. It frustrates me even more that my younger brother or young cousins are equally likely to see stuff like that because I usually find these things on otherwise perfectly innocent pages.

On a side note, you are really beautiful!

[feministfrequency]

@JadeMouse thanks for the compliment but I do not approve comments that discuss my appearance good or bad, just for future reference.

[uriel1998]

Strangely, right before this video, YouTube offered me "The hottest girls in gaming". Talk about proving your point. ::headdesk::

[niminonono]

thanks for better audio, appreciated :)

[MireilleeL]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS. 

[tassleho]

And this is why I love Demonoid - the two advertisements I see: khaki short-sleeved button up top and get 50% off booking your vacation with Hyatt.

I hate to bring up a chicken/egg argument, but I'm not sure torrent site advertisements are scaring women away rather than the core audience to torrent sites are male to begin with, and the advertisements are being geared toward them.

As more women are becoming interested in torrenting - hopefully the culture evolves with this change.

[Okhlopkov]

I fully agree with the video (as usual). Its hard to avoid or combat such offensive ads. I use firefox myself, and i even installed a plugin that allows me to kill any scripts working within a website (usually third party scripts like those ads). I hardly ever see such sex ads anymore. Good riddance anyway. Its even annoying for a man like myself! And using piratebay is better also, since they got less ads than most torrent sites.

[feministfrequency]

@Okhlopkov What plugin are you using? Also, piratebay unfortunately is flooded with these ads as well... A few of the examples I used is from their site.

[Okhlopkov]

Hmm.. i turned off my script blocker to see if i could detect any of such offensive ads. The only one i saw was from a thing called "piratedater" lol. I didnt consider it that offensive. The plugin i am using is called "NoScript". You can find it through the add-ons section. I have to warn you that the blocker is quite "restrictive". Sometimes it even kills certain functionalities on a website (but u can easily re-allow those specific scripts). It takes a while to get used to.. but its handy! :)

[gatofelix06]

@feministfrequency Flashblock is pretty good for avoiding ads made in flash. And Noscript does the same for javascript.

[LurkingGoblin]

it should also be noted that not all guys who even like that stuff like the ads, personally they annoy me. I don't even use any of those sites.

if they were smart they would advertise dvd box sets, games etc,

[MrFalderal]

@LurkingGoblin Uh, do you really think it would be smart to advertise the very same thing people usually get through these filesharing sites? It would be like saying "Hey, once you are here, don't you wanna download this and that?" :D

[TomerMMHA]

@LurkingGoblin True. Now there are ads of phone apps that use scanners technology to see through clothes of women in the street. The advertisers just assume that men would want to piss all over the privacy of another human being. Just because I'm a heterosexual male, doesn't mean I support the violation of the individual's autonomy of herself.

[Supersomonerandom]

@LurkingGoblin couldnt agree more. and im a guy, too

[00GreyEyedGirl00]

@LurkingGoblin ....But people go to those sites to torrent those things....

[patsybob]

I also heard that Evony use women to sell the game and mention of a "Queen" in some of their advertisments even though there is no such woman in the game, clearly just an attempt of using sex to sell the game!

[puklop]

No, Its because most bittorrent sites are like the seedy parts of town and the ads are like the other element that go with it. Sex ads are like the hookers on that same corners as the drug dealers(sites that allow to take illegal shit).

The reason you don't see ads geared towards women is the same reason you rarely see male prostitutes standing tall next to their female counterparts, because its easier and more profitable to sell sex to men. Especially on the dark side of the net.

[sagelord87]

@puklop very on point coment. couldnt have said it any better

[mp4401]

I was never aware of this, i just took it for granted. but this is a good point. Here's to the consciencious geek

[amzendel]

I'm a young straight geek guy, and frankly I disgusted with all the porn ads, enough already. Honestly it would be more effective advertising to relate to the search terms I enter. For example, when I download music why not advertise for other music sites or perhaps the fashion associated with said music. When I download mac applications, why not advertise other mac apps. Its really simple, and its what turned google into a multi billion dollar industry.

[znikkisan]

I especially like the last part - I love geeky stuff. But when I try to participate (at cons, especially), the geeky boys look at me in a way that expresses this sentiment: "You can't know ANY THING about Star Wars/Doctor Who/Ect - how dare you try to know about it, now get into that metal bikini Leia wears and stand there silently while we take pictures of you"

[allylucky13]

omg...I SO agree with you!!!

This is exactly how I feel!!

[spreadtheawesome]

Thanks for the video! My school offers a computer programming course, and I've always been interested in programming.

I was the only female taking the course that year (it's offered in four different slots), girls would approach me and express surprise that we were "allowed" to take it! And, of course, several people thought I was taking the class for the "good odds", implying that the fact I took a course that was filled with males so that I would have a better chance of "snagging" one.

[anukool87]

@spreadtheawesome That's just disgusting. What school is this?

[SJeeShow]

I have criticized the use of women's image in video games such as evony in one of my video ! It's crazy how there's only room for heterosexual young male in the world of video games/add. For evony, they are using obvious pornography, even if it's totally related to the actual product. I don't believe it's the good way for them to bring consumers... I'll post my video I talked about as video ans...

[arkne]

I imagine that most of the websites that would be willing to advertise on the generally disreputable bittorrent sites are going to be disreputable themselves, ie porn. If less sexist industries thought their advertising budget would be well spent, then they'd already be posting ads. I think this is far more a consequence of the lack of women visiting those sites than a cause of it.