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Jennifer Scheurle (chair of IGDA Women in Games SIG) accused of emotional abuse and manipulation (UPDATE: Scheurle apologizes)
- Thread starter Syriel
- Start date
Have seen and heard about Jennifer often on twitter and if this turns out to be true then man... who can you even trust anymore?
If this is true the amount of projection she has engaged in is staggering.
She's also got this whole thing where she has said in the past that people shouldn't believe receipts/evidence so oh boy.
She's also got this whole thing where she has said in the past that people shouldn't believe receipts/evidence so oh boy.
Sounds like a description of typical toxic narcissist interpersonal behavior. I have a family member like this. I don't really think grooming is an appropriate label for what was described in that thread, unless there is more context I am not aware of, but she does not sound like someone who should be in any position of power over people.
Yeah, I believe this, if only because her tweets feel like they were posted out fear, anguish and Nitrous Oxide. As if the underlying though while posting this is, "I shouldn't put her name? Did I put her name? I won't put her name. I put her name TWICE."
That shit is miserable.
That shit is miserable.
It means interacting with underage people with the intention of making them your lover when they come of age.
Grooming is a precursor to sexual abuse, but it refers to building a relationship/gaining someone's trust specifically to take advantage of/exploit them. This could be ruining someone's career in secret while pretending to be close to them - or go as far as sexual abuse.
that is grooming, but grooming is a lot more general than that one specific example.
This is one I've been absolutely shocked by. It just shows how you can't tell who someone is just cus they seem nice online. I understand why the victim was reticent about coming forward as Jennifer seems to be very popular in dev circles. The victim's very brave and I wish her only good things, I will defo be heeding her words and have unfollowed Scheurle.
Oh wow... I almost went to a wrestling show with her just prior to the pandemic but it got canceled.
She was doing a lot in Seattle during the George Floyd stuff.
She was doing a lot in Seattle during the George Floyd stuff.
The OP clarified there was nothing sexual about her behavior and that grooming may have been the wrong word to use. Either way, it was abuse.
Fuck, my partner has pretty much looked up to her as a dev icon for a long time now. To the point of seeking advice in Discords and what not. This sucks. We can't ever have nice things.
Also weird to see a former colleague as one of the tweets in this thread O.o
Also weird to see a former colleague as one of the tweets in this thread O.o
Probably not. She'll likely be dismissed from some professional circles and probably go radio silent for a while.
Anna Brandberg Shares Receipts
Honestly, I'm mostly concerned that the Shipbreaker fans already angry about the union storyline and "sjw" characters will use this as extra fuel to campaign against further changes to the game. (Jennifer is the lead designer at that studio)
Wooof, that's not a good look for that organization at all. These people found the courage to report and nothing happened.
The Gamergate types were already calling for her to be fired when she was at Arenanet because of her views.
When she was eventually fired for unknown reasons those types jumped on the fact she had been so outspoken about BLM.
I'm sure they will use this to further their cause.
Seems to me that this organization does not really care about Devs if they are not known to a wider public or just want to protect those
who have something to say within their ranks. That looks bad
Yeah:
Either way, it sounds like Scheurle was a huge asshole, and not accountable to how she hurt people.
I think it's possible to overemphasize specific terms. When someone hurts you, you often look for a box to put that hurt in, a framework for understanding the pain. That's what happened here. After sitting on it for awhile, the person who stepped forward apparently decided "grooming" wasn't the best word, but abusive behavior is still abusive behavior.
OP
OP
Neilg answered this earlier in the thread. Grooming doesn't have to be sexual. I used that word because it was used in the tweet.
The original Twitter thread has been followed up on to say it wasn't sexual, but was abusive behavior. And she doesn't appear to be the only one, based on comments from others, or the previous complaints sent to IGDA.
Mods have updated the title.
This is awful. They knew and kept her in a privledged position which they knew would put her in the path of the particular people she liked to victimise.
Grooming doesn't only mean sexual, though. This can still be grooming. Building a relationship with someone to gain their trust then to eventually exploit, gaslight, and abuse them is grooming.
So what type of abuse are we talking about? I guess I don't understand exactly what she was doing to warrant the call-out.
Holly shit, rather than pretending to care now, they basically enabled her for years.
I'm not trying to call you out I just want to say that I understand. I have been bullied my entire childhood and throughout high school. I just want to say you trust the individual person standing in front of you. Not ideologies, not where they were born, not what other people say about them but the real person standing in front of you. If this was unnecessary and your statement was rhetorical then disregard I wrote.
Why would you trust anyone you don't know just because people say nice things about them on Twitter? Famous, revered, idolised, whatever. Surely experience has taught us better.
Some people will accuse me of trust issues. I believe the opposite is a trust issue. I believe that trust has to be earned, it's not a given, not a default, not assumed. And once earned, it's not indefinite.
It seems I wasn't clear enough. I never trusted her or anyone that I don't know. Heck I never even followed her. But seeing how many other known devs interacted with her, in what position she is and how outspoken she is one might assume(!) that she is a person that wouldn't end up like a shithead. I can even see people working with her thinking she might be a decent person, until she might backstab you.
Why would you trust anyone you don't know just because people say nice things about them on Twitter? Famous, revered, idolised, whatever. Surely experience has taught us better.
Some people will accuse me of trust issues. I believe the opposite is a trust issue. I believe that trust has to be earned, it's not a given, not a default, not assumed. And once earned, it's not indefinite.
Because of people like her, one might never trust anyone professionally
Well let me be honest, no person ever should trust anyone professionally in an absolute manner. You make plans both under the assumption that every person your working with is working under good faith while also making sure that everything is in order if they aren't.
I read your quote and I Stand by what i said. Disregard everything else because in reality it is circumstantial evidence treat as people as individuals. Other people's experience can inform your decisions but they can not replace your own decisions. Take care.
Noni is such a kind and caring soul (she's a fellow producer from Sydney like me), and it breaks my heart that she had to go through such shit. I had heard of hearsay of Jennifer's narcissistic ways from people her (she lived in Sydney for a few years), so while it isn't surprising that this has come out it still makes me mad.
Oh wow. I can't wait to see their response.
Spoiler there will be no response.
So hardcore manipulation.
That's pretty messed up all the same.
Power. Simple as that. And old as time itself if you see this quote from Plato "The measure of a man is what he does with power." Anyone can seem like a totally normal and fine person until put in a position of power. A lot of people become assholes and scum when they get power.
Someone's getting FIRED.
This tweet didn't age well, if the allegations are true.
Lord this is just...a perfect storm of absolute horse shit.
Pretty terrible look on their part, someone dumping 120 pages of receipts and they're sitting here acting like it's the first time they've considered paying it any attention three years later.
"power corrupts" and yada yada. It's a simplistic take but so many turn into terrible people with even a smidge of authority.
Also being a good liar/manipulator is one of the best skills to have if you want to move up a hierarchy. So you'll finds lots of manipulators in higher positions.
The rep in charge of that twitter did not know what they were walking into.
Aw SHIT. I was really looking forward to that game's final release from Early Access. Well, guess it's better that I know now who's worked on the game.
Doc Burford (Adiós, Paratopic) did a lot of narrative work on Shipbreakers, too. I'm guessing more cool folks were behind that game that contributed to the space working class and anti-capitalist narrative.