Anita Sarkeesian heads down under for the All About Women festival

That’s exactly what Anita Sarkeesian will be doing on 8th March (that’s International Women’s Day incidentally) when she flies down to Sydney to join an already great lineup for a day of panels, readings and talks as part of the All About Women festival.

The event itself isn’t a gaming-specific event, and will see Sarkeesian speaking alongside the likes of prominent academic and journalist Germain Greer (with whom she’ll speak on a panel entitled How to be a Feminist), novelist Tara Moss, feminist writer Clementine Ford, The Atlantic contributing editor Kate Bolick and English professor and author Roxane Gay.

Discussion of media portrayals of women have certainly been on the cards at previous All About Women festivals, but not with a specific gaming focus before. It’s a lineup of heavyweights, but hopefully Sarkeesian will be able to bring a complex and detailed understanding of games to the table.

Outside of the above panel, Sarkeesian will deliver a talk entitled Gamergate and Beyond: Women in Popular Culture, which will undoubtedly sport her very direct and no-nonsense approach to cultural criticism and be reason enough for many local people in the industry to attend.

Tickets for Sarkeesian’s talk are $25, with the Opera House offering discounts for purchasing tickets to multiple events on the day, and go on sale at 9am Sydney time next Monday.