I feel like the whole kickstarter "thievery" isn't really an issue. I think people must accept a certain amount of risk when just giving money to people in instances like crowdfunding. There are times when people who had Kickstarters literally bolted with the money. I remember a guy who kinda lost his mind, set all of the rewards for people on fire in a video and ghosted! Plus she was pulling from like minded people to fuel an idea they all shared. Even if she supposedly hasn't delivered as much, I wouldn't consider it stealing. Those are people who I think would have freely given her money regardless. I'm not privy to kickstarter updates and I think she did publicly address the issue before, even going so far as to state that the volume of support has changed things. I really don't hold that against her.
Its the fact that she is an academic who took content from other content creators without permission or credit. I'm not a college graduate but "credit your sources!" has been beaten over my head for years. With Cowkitty, one of her excuses was "It looked just like the real Daphne so we thought it was official." Good on Cowkitty's skill as an artist, but still shitty to resist taking it down after the artist asked. She claimed it was fair use for nonprofit, Cowkitty said "Okay, show me proof of non profit status" and then it was over with Sarkeesian not giving proof and respecting Cowkitty's wishes.
If it was once, it wouldn't bother me, but more times she took without crediting or asking. A piece by an artist named Heather Sheppard of a character from Thomas Was Alone was taken. I haven't checked recently but I don't know if that was ever resolved. Then the LP footage being taken. It really made me angry to see her treat other content creators that way. Like she can just take what she wants and do what she pleases to other people's things.
I don't hate Anita. I never agreed with her much before Tropes, and I don't agree with her much now, but I still think that her just speaking up illustrated a huge problem in the gaming community. Problems with women, and problems in general with being criticized or questioned. We like to stick our noses up and think we're superior or smarter than other forms of media, but we can't handle someone voicing their opinion about our games? Stop getting so angry and going after this woman, she's not gonna take your games away! I think what she did was still very important. I hate that she has had to fear for her safety for talking about her opinions. She showed just how nasty it gets for women online. Those are all great things she did. I just don't agree with her theft or her content, and I don't like the idea of being represented as a woman gamer by her.
I think Fusion's video series Girl Gamers is a better series in showing a female perspective on gaming.
So I know this went on really long and seems like a rant, but I have played games since I was a little girl. Its a hobby and community that's important to me. I was excited (despite not agreeing with Sarkeesian) to see Tropes vs Women, and then was disappointed to see how it all played out. I think a lot of people in this community and even girlgamers just assume that if you don't like Sarkeesian, you approve of what's happening to her or think that all is fine in the world of gaming, when that's not it at all. Its become extremely polarizing and its frustrating to see this attitude of "if you're not on my side 100% then you're an enemy!"