Tropes vs Women in Video Games

[Alatar]

A little background first.

Anita Sarkeesian is a media critic and the creator of Feminist Frequency, a video webseries that explores the representations of women in pop culture narratives. Her work focuses on deconstructing the stereotypes and tropes associated with women in popular culture as well as highlighting issues surrounding the targeted harassment of women in online and gaming spaces.

Recently Anita announced that she was looking for funding to examine sexism in videogames and the Internet exploded in the usual masochistic, misogynistic way, with countless anonymous trolls offering to find and rape/kill her, or asking her to "go make me a sandwich". Ha bloody ha.

However, the other side of the internet rallied behind her, fully funding her kickstarter campaign and in the process rejuvenating many discussions about the treatment of women in the gaming industry.

Anyway, here's the first two episodes in her series. Don't be concerned if you're not up to speed on the latest in Videogames, she aims for a diverse audience and explains everything.

The Damsel in Distress Part 1

The Damsel in Distress Part 2

For completeness, here's her earlier series on Women vs Tropes in general media

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBBDFEC9F5893C4AF

*Edited to correct order of links

[yovargas]

Ooh, will be very interested to watch these later. The initial story of her extreme, despicable harassment was very disturbing but in the time since, I feel like it's been a catalyst for some very valuable, much needed discussion about sexism and misogyny within gaming culture. The medium has been long overdue for a little self-examination.

[axordil]

Of all the weak, lazy tropes in gaming, those involving the treatment and use of women as plot objects are probably the weakest and laziest. I tend to agree they're also the most damaging.

[Alatar]

I was really hoping this would have garnered more interest. Is it the videogames bit that's putting people off, cause honestly, the same tropes apply to movies and TV

[Primula Baggins]

Movies and TV might be more familiar than video games to a lot of people here. I haven't played a game since Myst—not a judgment, I've just ended up choosing other things.

I see images of women from games, but (a) usually it's put up by someone selecting for absurd or offensive images, and (b) the esthetic is familiar to me from when I was 5 and used to pay 12 cents for Wonder Woman comics at the Japanese grocery up the street in Seattle. Comic-book women have always looked like that.

But of course it goes beyond image to what the women's role is in the story—victim, ornament, reward, or active participant? Even in 1964, Wonder Woman was the last, despite her silly costume and ridiculous build. She probably helped me pick up the notion, considered absurd back then, that I could grow up to be anything I wanted to be.

ETA: I'm working now, but I intend to watch the videos.

[Lalaith]

I started to watch the first video; I just didn't have 23 minutes or so at that point to finish. It seems like she's going to make a very good point.

[Alatar]

For those who want a quick fix, this series is about tropes vs women in pop culture, and each episode is between 5 and 10 minutes long.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBBDFEC9F5893C4AF

[yovargas]

I got around to watching them last night. A big part of my thought while watching them was how strange it was that creating such a simple couple of videos ended up creating such a firestorm of controversy around her. Threatened with rape and death for pointing out that Mario always saves the useless Princess?? Sheesh. We have not, apparently, progressed quite as far as we think we have.

[Nin]

Alatr, I'm not at all a gamer and I ended up watching several of her videos with great interest (so thank you for the links). E.G I watched the Lego analysis, and the description of the trope of mystical pregnancy as some others. After that I also read some analysis of Twilight in Fifty shades of Grey in the same tones - so you definately made made me think, sorry for not telling it more clearly. I rarely post here, anyway.

I found several statemetns very interesting, especially as I rise two boys who are gamers... (but right now they mostly play minecraft, so really the tropes are not really concerning them right now - but they are concerned by many other medias).

Concerning the generation of my boys (and some of my students), I was quite alarmed by some of their ideas on girls in general which I found terribly stereotyped - but also of the girls behaving (and dressing!) in these very stereotyped ways. Although girls are often the best students in my classes, and are very suer of themselves in some manners, they still seem to act according to some patterns - ane I wonder where this is coming from. I found a sort of answer in those analysis.

On the other hand, as a teacher I also see how school often favors girls and how difficult it is to be a boy nowadays in some aspects.

Maybe the title is misleading or too exclusive - I would certainly be interested in a discussion of stereotyped behaviour and portraits as well as in gender advantages and disadvantages.

[yovargas]

I was very glad when she pointed out in the full-lengths how these helpless damsel tropes aren't just bad for girls but bad for boys too. They present a very limited, stunted way for males to deal with their problems and to relate to other women.

[axordil]

There's been a bit of a shitstorm over at SFWA (the professional organization for writers of speculative fantasy in the US) following a really awful misogynist piece in their Bulletin that elicited some negative feedback, and a response from the original authors claiming they were being censored because people were calling them out for being, you know, misogynist jerks.

In the midst of it this piece came out on the website:

http://www.sfwa.org/2013/05/guest-post- ... ent-158441

John Scalzi, the outgoing president, has formed a task force to look at the Bulletin and what place and function it has. I half expect them to cut it loose.

[JewelSong]

What an excellent article.

I have never played a video game and I am not even sure I know what a "trope" is. But that article was excellent.

[axordil]

Tropes are the building blocks of story: visual motifs, character types, overall plot arcs, even particular camera angles or uses in those media using cameras (or virtual cameras).

They are in themselves neither good nor bad. How one puts them together is where the good or bad comes in.

I would point you at tvtropes.org, the wiki of tropedom, but you might miss your flight.

[Frelga]

Ax, that was a great article.


Well, I've already said my piece on the original subject elsewhere, and didn't have anything to add. Until now.

While reasonably clean, this is from Oglaf comics, which is emphatically NOT SAFE FOR WORK. But hilarious. But REALLY NSFW. Explore at your own risk and keep little kids away.

But this one is ok. Glamazon Way

[yovargas]

(Gee, thanks a lot, Frelga, you made me waste the last 90 minutes reading those comics. )

[Impenitent]

I had not seen this thread at all until today. Haven't the time to read/watch all the links but will do so after work (whenever that may be).

[Primula Baggins]

Am I bad that I had already seen those comics?

Yeah.

[axordil]

On a related note:

http://www.annaguirre.com/archives/2013 ... eek-in-sf/

The problem is in ourselves, not the stars.

[Cenedril_Gildinaur]

The reaction was quite rude.

But I do wonder how well the "non-sexist" games will sell.

[Frelga]

CG, what obstacles to commercial success do you foresee?

Here's another article, beyond virgin/whore: the art of creative womanhood, which makes for a nice follow up to the one Ax posted.

There’s something dangerous about being a woman: to others, to society in general, to yourself.

Womanhood also raises the possibility of rebellion, of rocking the boat, of breaking taboos, of being ambitious and competitive, of taking your creative and intellectual work as seriously as any man’s (and prioritizing it accordingly), of being sexy and sensual and sexual not to please men in general or your partner in particular but because you enjoy it. Womanhood goes beyond wife and mother to be artist, CEO, wanderer, adventurer, trickster, road warrior, rebel, revolutionary, sage, scientist, visionary, spy, elite athlete, general badass…whether she’s in black leather or a Herve Leger dress.