Sexism and computer games
Well this thing with Anita Sarkeesian… is just making things a little bit more interesting in the world. I have placed my thoughts regarding misogyny in computer games under the little cutty thing.. if you don't want to know don't go there..
There is an interesting.. well I would say it’s a discussion but I don’t think it is, hysterical screaming ranting frothing and so forth come to mind, with various people actually trying to have an adult and sane conversation around the edge.
It’s got everyone defensive and so all self-conscious and protective. It is hard to change your set view of something. I know I have had to do it a lot.
The touchy subject has been raised that women depiction in computer games are often done so in a misogynistic and outdated way. The greater argument being that women aren't really depicted at all, except as either victims and/or objects (either as sexual objects or as just 1 dimensional background fluff - kinda like the screaming blonde in the movies). Which, in my honest and frank opinion, based off my experience as a game player, is not a completely inaccurate description of what is going on..
I am a Female Gamer.., I play computer games. I have played computer games since the 1980’s arcades to today’s online MMORPG. I remember standing at the Gauntlet arcade game with my stacks of 10p’s religiously feeding the machine as I crunched through dungeons after dungeon.. My brother and I epically completed Alien Vs Predator the arcade game, I played space harrier, G-loc, Operation Wolf, Space invaders, Streets of rage, Tron etc..etc..etc.. then we got a Spectrum +3, I played Gift from the gods, Thundercats(which by the way was never finished so you always get killed at the same spot), The great Escape, Short Circuit. Then we got a Mega drive and I was introduced to Sonic the hedgehog and other such games. Then came the PC.. I played Baldur's Gate + expansions, Icewindale, Planescape torment, Dungeon Keeper, Monkey Island.. the list goes on. These days its PlayStation 2, X-box 360, Wii. Etc.. My steam account is getting quite full even if I can only play 1 game at a time thanks to a small hard-drive and the inevitable lack of RL time.
Through all of these I can name only a few games that I have played where the main character is female. Tomb raider comes to mind, Portal, resident evil, American Magee’s Alice series to name a few, and I am sure there are others which a number of people will no doubt let me know.. but a large majority of popular games I have encountered the main, character (i.e. you) is male.. and female character’s tend to be some form of victim who you must help or some form of vaguely sexy eye candy.. but have little or no characterisation other than that ..I will note that the more RPG style game tend to buck this trend because they are written with a more “adventurer is you” outlook, where you are the protagonist whether you are male or female all that changes is the pro-nouns and in some cases who will “fall in love with you”.. Although even that is changing with better tolerance for homosexual players.
But the importance is not that a few games are out there that are actually addressing the issue of misogyny and equality in their gaming world but that the majority of high profile games still persist the stereotypes AND are not actively addressing that they are doing this, and in fact feel it is okay to carry on in this fashion. Which is, to me anyway, quite insulting.. I, as a female of the human species, am not a second class citizen, I am equal in law to everyone else in my country. I am not Untermensch!.. (if you don’t know what that means.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untermensch) I am a human being, with opinions and character and I live breath and feel like everyone else. I work in a full time job, get paid have a home to live in. I do DIY when its required, I defend myself when I am attacked. I function quite perfectly well with or without male assistance. Not because I a operating on some “Feminist agenda conspiracy” but because I am an active human being with an ability to use tools and look after myself.
If I am put into critical situations I act, I don’t just sit there waiting for a man to come and take over (on his white horse and his suit of armour etc.etc..) the days of the princess in the tower awaiting some random bloke- who may or may not be as dodgy as heck- to arrive and be the “one true love”” is over.
The issue though is not what I want though but what popular media is giving me the consumer. And this is where it gets complicated. Tv-Land, Movie-land, book-world and computer-universe all do one thing. They supply an immersive world for its consumers which allow us “the participant” to venture into “their world”. This world allows the participant to escape their mortal pains and become gods, magicians, magnificent heroes, despicable villains etc.. it’s a fake world, an illusion.
And in this quiet illusion everything is black and white.. you are good they are bad.. (it doesn’t matter if you are the “badguy” or the “goodguy” - it’s always Us and Them). You don’t have to worry that your Trireme is infact powered by probably 170 slaves bolted to their oars.. or that your harem of beautiful women were, quite possibly forcibly removed from their homes and families to be there and that they aren’t necessarily giving you their permission to have sex with them or possibly they aren't even above the age of consent.. You are the Hero! So you riding into a village and massacring the defending force is glorious.. despite the fact that they may just be farmers defending their property from an invader. Nobody wants to think about that! you are burdened with glorious purpose..! you must do these things (It’s like the Death Star conversation in Clerks.. I can’t look at the Death Star in Return of the Jedi in the same light..)
Several things need to take place
Popular media needs to begin to bravely step forward and start THINKING about what they are producing. Computer games are the next bastion of chauvinistic attitudes which needs to be flipped open and scrutinised. They don’t have to stop making Assassins Creed, Gears of War, Call of Duty and all the other War/combat sims assassination, violent etc.. games, they just need to spend some time thinking about what it is they are making.. I know it costs some money to do this and well actually means engaging the brain cells.. but you know.. making acceptable realistic female characters who are part of a cadre of character’s, who are treated with a bit of respect and acknowledgement of their equality with the male characters and shown how their inclusion actually benefits everyone as a team member could actually be A GOOD THING! TM. You can have your Call of Duty games and you know what maybe some of the characters could be women.. you know.. you spend a lot of time rendering a dog into a pixel perfect rendering of a dog.. why can’t you do that with a woman.. you know so that we aren't just relegated to being worth less than a canine! It just takes a little bit of thinking about things. Ask the questions look for the answers.. seriously is it worth making the game to appease the 5million or so fan boys or the 2.5 mil males who will play anything with an assassin in it plus the 15 million or so female gamers. Who by the way are an untapped market..!!..
Misogynistic personalities who vehemently advocate the continuation of these practices to the point where they are threatening people who are only stating their point of view need to be identified and told NO!.. I don’t know if they realise but you know what.. the Ku Klux Klan did the very same thing to the black minority back when equal rites where being fought for them. It’s the same... threatening to kill someone, rape them, kill their family, burn their property because they dared to want to be treated fairly and humanely. It is the same!!
I never used to think that I was a “Femanist”.. Femanism was always painted to me as an Anti-male thing, that women didn't need men.. I still don't think of myself as a feminist, I think of myself as a 'Humanist', I think that we should think of ourselves not in terms of being male or female but as being human beings, and if you wouldn't do that to another human being then don't do it just because I'm female!. I want to be able to walk into an MMORPG with a female name in decent attire (actually a lack of distinction in wardrobe would be nice too, so access to those jeans and that duster as a female char would be just as nice as a Male Char having access to the ballgown and skirt ensemble) and feel that I can be female and be an adventurer, I am there to kick arse and chew gum, I may or may not have gum. I want to be a Gear in Gears of War and fight like a space-marine, I want to be an Commando in Call of Duty, I want to be an Assassin or even possibly a Templar in Assassins Creed (you never know:)).. I don’t want to be sneered at by idiots who think the best thing in life is to tell me they'd do me the indubitable honor of F**king me or that I should be raped because because I just legitimately snipered them or blown their ship up or dropped a grenade on them in a game where this is the point.. and to be honest telling me that I should be killed and my family and belongings be destroyed just because I dared to say something offends me or that I didn't like something is well just not right!!.. I don’t accept this crap in the real world why should I accept it in my computer games?..
And this is what game writers/developers need to think about when making their games.. and its what game players need to remember when playing games..
It is the little things..
And don’t be a dick!
There is an interesting.. well I would say it’s a discussion but I don’t think it is, hysterical screaming ranting frothing and so forth come to mind, with various people actually trying to have an adult and sane conversation around the edge.
It’s got everyone defensive and so all self-conscious and protective. It is hard to change your set view of something. I know I have had to do it a lot.
The touchy subject has been raised that women depiction in computer games are often done so in a misogynistic and outdated way. The greater argument being that women aren't really depicted at all, except as either victims and/or objects (either as sexual objects or as just 1 dimensional background fluff - kinda like the screaming blonde in the movies). Which, in my honest and frank opinion, based off my experience as a game player, is not a completely inaccurate description of what is going on..
I am a Female Gamer.., I play computer games. I have played computer games since the 1980’s arcades to today’s online MMORPG. I remember standing at the Gauntlet arcade game with my stacks of 10p’s religiously feeding the machine as I crunched through dungeons after dungeon.. My brother and I epically completed Alien Vs Predator the arcade game, I played space harrier, G-loc, Operation Wolf, Space invaders, Streets of rage, Tron etc..etc..etc.. then we got a Spectrum +3, I played Gift from the gods, Thundercats(which by the way was never finished so you always get killed at the same spot), The great Escape, Short Circuit. Then we got a Mega drive and I was introduced to Sonic the hedgehog and other such games. Then came the PC.. I played Baldur's Gate + expansions, Icewindale, Planescape torment, Dungeon Keeper, Monkey Island.. the list goes on. These days its PlayStation 2, X-box 360, Wii. Etc.. My steam account is getting quite full even if I can only play 1 game at a time thanks to a small hard-drive and the inevitable lack of RL time.
Through all of these I can name only a few games that I have played where the main character is female. Tomb raider comes to mind, Portal, resident evil, American Magee’s Alice series to name a few, and I am sure there are others which a number of people will no doubt let me know.. but a large majority of popular games I have encountered the main, character (i.e. you) is male.. and female character’s tend to be some form of victim who you must help or some form of vaguely sexy eye candy.. but have little or no characterisation other than that ..I will note that the more RPG style game tend to buck this trend because they are written with a more “adventurer is you” outlook, where you are the protagonist whether you are male or female all that changes is the pro-nouns and in some cases who will “fall in love with you”.. Although even that is changing with better tolerance for homosexual players.
But the importance is not that a few games are out there that are actually addressing the issue of misogyny and equality in their gaming world but that the majority of high profile games still persist the stereotypes AND are not actively addressing that they are doing this, and in fact feel it is okay to carry on in this fashion. Which is, to me anyway, quite insulting.. I, as a female of the human species, am not a second class citizen, I am equal in law to everyone else in my country. I am not Untermensch!.. (if you don’t know what that means.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untermensch) I am a human being, with opinions and character and I live breath and feel like everyone else. I work in a full time job, get paid have a home to live in. I do DIY when its required, I defend myself when I am attacked. I function quite perfectly well with or without male assistance. Not because I a operating on some “Feminist agenda conspiracy” but because I am an active human being with an ability to use tools and look after myself.
If I am put into critical situations I act, I don’t just sit there waiting for a man to come and take over (on his white horse and his suit of armour etc.etc..) the days of the princess in the tower awaiting some random bloke- who may or may not be as dodgy as heck- to arrive and be the “one true love”” is over.
The issue though is not what I want though but what popular media is giving me the consumer. And this is where it gets complicated. Tv-Land, Movie-land, book-world and computer-universe all do one thing. They supply an immersive world for its consumers which allow us “the participant” to venture into “their world”. This world allows the participant to escape their mortal pains and become gods, magicians, magnificent heroes, despicable villains etc.. it’s a fake world, an illusion.
And in this quiet illusion everything is black and white.. you are good they are bad.. (it doesn’t matter if you are the “badguy” or the “goodguy” - it’s always Us and Them). You don’t have to worry that your Trireme is infact powered by probably 170 slaves bolted to their oars.. or that your harem of beautiful women were, quite possibly forcibly removed from their homes and families to be there and that they aren’t necessarily giving you their permission to have sex with them or possibly they aren't even above the age of consent.. You are the Hero! So you riding into a village and massacring the defending force is glorious.. despite the fact that they may just be farmers defending their property from an invader. Nobody wants to think about that! you are burdened with glorious purpose..! you must do these things (It’s like the Death Star conversation in Clerks.. I can’t look at the Death Star in Return of the Jedi in the same light..)
Several things need to take place
Popular media needs to begin to bravely step forward and start THINKING about what they are producing. Computer games are the next bastion of chauvinistic attitudes which needs to be flipped open and scrutinised. They don’t have to stop making Assassins Creed, Gears of War, Call of Duty and all the other War/combat sims assassination, violent etc.. games, they just need to spend some time thinking about what it is they are making.. I know it costs some money to do this and well actually means engaging the brain cells.. but you know.. making acceptable realistic female characters who are part of a cadre of character’s, who are treated with a bit of respect and acknowledgement of their equality with the male characters and shown how their inclusion actually benefits everyone as a team member could actually be A GOOD THING! TM. You can have your Call of Duty games and you know what maybe some of the characters could be women.. you know.. you spend a lot of time rendering a dog into a pixel perfect rendering of a dog.. why can’t you do that with a woman.. you know so that we aren't just relegated to being worth less than a canine! It just takes a little bit of thinking about things. Ask the questions look for the answers.. seriously is it worth making the game to appease the 5million or so fan boys or the 2.5 mil males who will play anything with an assassin in it plus the 15 million or so female gamers. Who by the way are an untapped market..!!..
Misogynistic personalities who vehemently advocate the continuation of these practices to the point where they are threatening people who are only stating their point of view need to be identified and told NO!.. I don’t know if they realise but you know what.. the Ku Klux Klan did the very same thing to the black minority back when equal rites where being fought for them. It’s the same... threatening to kill someone, rape them, kill their family, burn their property because they dared to want to be treated fairly and humanely. It is the same!!
I never used to think that I was a “Femanist”.. Femanism was always painted to me as an Anti-male thing, that women didn't need men.. I still don't think of myself as a feminist, I think of myself as a 'Humanist', I think that we should think of ourselves not in terms of being male or female but as being human beings, and if you wouldn't do that to another human being then don't do it just because I'm female!. I want to be able to walk into an MMORPG with a female name in decent attire (actually a lack of distinction in wardrobe would be nice too, so access to those jeans and that duster as a female char would be just as nice as a Male Char having access to the ballgown and skirt ensemble) and feel that I can be female and be an adventurer, I am there to kick arse and chew gum, I may or may not have gum. I want to be a Gear in Gears of War and fight like a space-marine, I want to be an Commando in Call of Duty, I want to be an Assassin or even possibly a Templar in Assassins Creed (you never know:)).. I don’t want to be sneered at by idiots who think the best thing in life is to tell me they'd do me the indubitable honor of F**king me or that I should be raped because because I just legitimately snipered them or blown their ship up or dropped a grenade on them in a game where this is the point.. and to be honest telling me that I should be killed and my family and belongings be destroyed just because I dared to say something offends me or that I didn't like something is well just not right!!.. I don’t accept this crap in the real world why should I accept it in my computer games?..
And this is what game writers/developers need to think about when making their games.. and its what game players need to remember when playing games..
It is the little things..
And don’t be a dick!