questions I can't get answered

[quarrel]

Here an issue that truthfully stymies me. Time and again I hear that video games don’t need to be made less violent because research has perpetually failed to find any causal link from game violence to real-life violence. But time and again I hear how games do need to be more inclusive and representationally respectful toward women and other

Comments

[shaterri]

I think given the dichotomy between the two statements you outline in your first paragraph, it makes sense to take neither of them on faith. Does a lack of any causal link between video game violence and real life violence mean that video games aren't too violent, or does it simply mean that their violence has different effects and different consequences than the most trivially obvious one that's been the focus of the testing to date?

I think a lot of the double standard also comes from whom the two statements are directed at: the former has traditionally been pulled out in response to calls for greater regulation of games (and often alongside discussions of the ESRB and its effectiveness with respect to other rating systems), while the latter is a much newer narrative and (right now, at least) a more industry-internal narrative - not something that the games industry is saying to the outside world (whether it's something we should be raising as more than just an internal critique is another interesting question, and I think the

[terrycloth]

Girls don't *just* like pink. They also like other pastel colors! And secondary colors! While boys like eye-searing yellow and red and blue.

At least, judging by the toy aisle. Which you'd think would be the best researched data set since figuring out what appeals to who is those company's only job.

[shaterri]

(Also, I feel like I should thank you for giving this user icon perhaps the most appropriate context it's ever had. :P )

[rowyn]

I don't think there *is* anyone "in the know" who can answer your nature vs nurture question. In order to tell if something is cultural vs innate, you have to be able to step outside of culture, which doesn't happen in the real world where children are raised. Adults treat even infants differently based on gender, so by the time you can tell what preferences a child has, they're already influenced by culture. in theory, a global study might answer the question, if you could somehow account for all the *other* variables, but I don't think that's happened yet.