CRACKED: "6 Sexist Video Game Problems Even Bigger Than the Breasts"

[Casual Shinji]

So Ellie crying because she sees Joel again (who for all she knew might not even make it) after having faced overwhelming odds is sexist now too.

...

I'm throwing it out there; I just don't get it anymore.

Yeah, I think the problem that people have is only be able to imagine a strong female character being synonymous with the Ice Queen [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IceQueen] trope.

A good example I have of a strong, well written, female character that isn't an ice queen is...

Spoiler: This girl

(First one I could think of off the top of my head)

I can still see her legs though, and she wears a skirt and boots that are obviously designed with a woman in mind. I'm sorry, that's still sexist.

Not untill every character is an emotionless, featureless grey entity shall we achieve gender equality in games.

 

[Yuuki]

That article is a brilliant example of the phrase "if you look hard enough for sexism, you will find it". Some feminists can even find sexism/misogyny in a glass of water, it's a rather remarkable ability of theirs. I won't name names, but I'm sure most of us know at least one

Gaming has an issue with what some perceive as sexism, along with a plethora of other issues. I don't know any developer who has intentionally expressed their hatred for women, the very thought sounds absurd if you think about it.

No, most of the noise is coming from a vocal minority of people who are ranting/unhappy about TRENDS - yes, trends. Patterns that develop over a huge scale and have absolutely nobody in particular to blame for their existence. So it's easy to see why people blame/criticize trends...since they're not pointing fingers at anyone in particular, they don't have to face any consequences. It's like criticizing the seas for being salty. Some people make a living out of it

 

[The Ubermensch]

I've had an interesting relationship with Feminism, which is what this is, second wave feminism. I wish the third wave feminist would stop calling what they're doing feminism, and call it egalitarianism or something.

Anyway, back to me, I made a graph showing my state of mind growing up in an environment saturated by feminist propaganda between the age of about 13 to 23. Some of the peaks are meant to be a bit further back, But I made this in like 5 minutes.

The green line shows the feminist propaganda I've been exposed to. The Red line shows how much I care, you'll notice it is now in the negative because I've been saturated with said propaganda that much (And the pink line) that I fucking hate the movement and everything related to it, to the point where it might actually be having the opposite of the intended effect. The pink line is a little more complicated, it really represents my self loathing. For the longest time I accepted that there was something wrong with me, the peak should really be behind the red lines peak. The blue line represents my identity as a heterosexual male, you can see it has recovered, but not completely; Any hole is a goal. The Blood red line shows how ready I am to initiate gene modification practices to give me both working sexual organs and show everyone how it's done.

I think what's getting lost in translation with these feminist arguments, particularly within the gaming community, is that the majority of males that these people are preaching to aren't in the demographic that caused the strife. Your average male gamer who reads Cracked or the Escapist is about 22 years old and white, and has been blamed for every single civil rights violation, racist, misogynistic, and Environment damaging act that their parents did, while they look up at the glass ceiling that their parents occupy in the super saturated job market, all the while been told that they are useless if they don't have a job and/or live with their parents and constantly reminded to check their privilege levels THE MOMENT the 18-28 y/o white male tries to make the kind of argument I just made.

"We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no great war... No great depression. Our great war's a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. - We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman Is really the answer we need."

 

[Phrozenflame500]

RIP The Escapist Forums Cracked you used to be funny but now all you talk about is social justice.

6,5 and 3 are more cultural issues, and it seems a bit disingenuous to limit these just to video games (i.e. sexualization of violence, the "Damsel in Distress" are all common tropes in other media).

I agree with 4 (fuck Other M), and 1 and 2 although 1 is more a problem with the whinyness of the gaming community then actual games.

 

[The Ubermensch]

RIP The Escapist Forums Cracked you used to be funny but now all you talk about is social justice.

6,5 and 3 are more cultural issues, and it seems a bit disingenuous to limit these just to video games (i.e. sexualization of violence, the "Damsel in Distress" are all common tropes in other media).

I agree with 4 (fuck Other M), and 1 and 2 although 1 is more a problem with the whinyness of the gaming community then actual games.

I maintain that Ellie's and Joels relationship was critical of the traditional relationship. Although in saying that; It's not really acceptable to expect a teenager, Male or Female, to shoulder the responsibility of the future of the whole fucking world now is it?

IS IT?

And I maintain that Zelda in the post 64 era is not sexist. In Ocarina you have Zelda, who is not a damsel in distress for the entire game, which feminism would have you believe. She's said to be the embodiment of Wisdom to Links Courage to Ganondorfs Power. So you can make the argument the Zelda isn't courageous, but that kind of goes down the drain when you realise that Navi was there the whole time. And I loved Navi okay, I don't care what anyone says. Tears of joy were shed when she said "Fuck this Ganon guy, I'm with you 100% Link-kun".

Zelda in Twilight Princess sacrifices herself by the way, for Minda, who, I don't know what she is but she's not a helpless female character. At the worst there is a spectrum of female characters in Zelda

And number 3? If you cut off a guys dick and you're a woman you go on a talk show circuit, if you forcibly ripped out a woman's ovaries and you're a man you're a war criminal in need of torture. I'm not saying that rape is good, I'm saying that damage to my equipment is both painful and terrifying, and it's been a popular culture thing since the three stooges. You know, with forgetting all the things wrong with institutionalised penis mutilation, because despite what you think there is a fuck tonne wrong with unnecessary circumcision, as in a 50% loss of nerve endings.

For everything the author has listed there it either is a straw man argument, there is a counter argument, the documented people they have listed are horrible people using the issue to raise their profile, or there is an equally serious cultural problem on the men's side that doesn't get attention.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

And number 3? If you cut off a guys dick and you're a woman you go on a talk show circuit, if you forcibly ripped out a woman's ovaries and you're a man you're a war criminal in need of torture. I'm not saying that rape is good, I'm saying that damage to my equipment is both painful and terrifying, and it's been a popular culture thing since the three stooges. You know, with forgetting all the things wrong with institutionalised penis mutilation, because despite what you think there is a fuck tonne wrong with unnecessary circumcision, as in a 50% loss of nerve endings.

I never understood this argument, because it isn't really an argument. You're agreeing sexualization of violence against women is bad, but then you sting in something about men for some reason. Men's Right is not the opposite of woman's rights, having bad stuff on the men's side doesn't justify bad stuff on the woman's side.

For everything the author has listed there it either is a straw man argument, there is a counter argument

Pet peeve of mine, that isn't what a Strawman Argument is, the author isn't misrepresenting the opposing argument, he's just using faulty evidence for his own argument.

or there is an equally serious cultural problem on the men's side that doesn't get attention.

See above.

Other then that I pretty much agree with everything you said.

 

[K12]

I think the idea that female NPC characters who appear helpless is a sexism issue is a bit unfair, especially using the Last Of Us and Bioshock Infinite.

In most games the majority of NPC characters are there for the player to save/ defeat/ get things from; the problem is that since most protagonists are male it makes this look worse than it is. In buddy team games (e.g. Bioshock Infinite, Half Life 2) you always seem to be playing as the male half even though they probably save you as much as you save them.

I agree that many "save the princess" stories often end up feeling like a treasure hunt where the treasure just happens to have a vagina.

Generally the points were worth making (again) but fairly poor examples chosen.

The problem with most sexism issues is that they are industry wide and specific game examples are meaningless. It is kinda sexist that "boy saves girl" overwhelmingly outnumbers "girl saves boy" but no individual game can be considered sexist for being a case of "boy saves girl". Same with the gender of the protagonist (and/or player characters), the gender of villains and the kind of character traits they have.

 

[tangoprime]

So wait... what you're telling me is, they made a meh article about sexism in games, and didn't have to raise tens of thousands of dollars beforehand to do it?

 

[EstrogenicMuscle]

Beware, poor man-gamer man. For the world is on our side now!

Fear for your testosterone! Fear for your breasts! Fear for your body-builders! The fem-pire is here!
Run, coward! Run run run! I hunger! Beware, coward! I hunger.
RAWWWWR. I AM FEMISTAR. BEWARE, I LIVE.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Ugh, fuck this article and fuck Cracked. I stopped reading their shit because their exceedingly smug, post-modernist "Oh actually it doesn't work that way hmm hmm" attitude just sickened me. This "article" is nothing but shallow, lowest common denominator clickbait at its very worst. Oh, just because Samus' characterization got messed up with Other M and Lara was different from her past self in the new Tomb Raider, suddenly there's a problem of "Dominant turns submissive". And because Hotline Miami featured pixelated "rape" ONLY IN THE TRAILER and there was a near-rape scene in Heavy Rain, now games all glorify rape.

Seriously, fuck that and fuck whatever fuckwad wrote that piece of shit article.

What are you talking about? No, I'm not jaded about the sexism discussion at all!

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

So even Cracked has got in on the gender issues in videogames bandwagon: http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-sexist-video-game-problems-even-bigger-than-breasts_p1/#ixzz2fNWnPC8E

Amongst other things, they claim that The Last Of Us and BioShock Infinite are sexist because Ellie and Elizabeth need the help of the male main character. >.<

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child) )

Goddammit, that was fucking depressing, my Friday is ruined.

OT: I saw it, and I just have to say that it only confirms to me what I already believed; context is everything.

Burly Bear Man Joel comforting Emotionally Unstable Helpless Little Girl Ellie might seem like an eye-rolling cliche, but consider how she behaved through out the game, sometimes going beyond what Joel would do (such as shanking that guard at the beginning)and what had happened before the scene with her stabbing the fuck out of her scary cannibal murder rapist captive who captured and hunted her.

 

[Vegosiux]

RAWWWWR. I AM FEMISTAR. BEWARE, I LIVE.

Can I have a tour of your place? I am partial to fortresses of doom because I need to rip off their architecture for my own just like taking pictures of such places! Devices and contraptions to make the manliest of all men wish they had brought their brown pants are just icing on the cake.

(Thanks for your post, love it)

 

[ERaptor]

Not untill every character is an emotionless, featureless grey entity shall we achieve gender equality in games.

*sign*

Currently, if i WERE a Game Designer, i wouldnt even TRY to make a female character. It's gonna be bashed anyway. Dear God shes wearing a skirt! Sexist Pig! I see some skin beneath that armor! Begone villainous swine, and take your anti-woman Propaganda with you this instant! She cried for a few seconds! No women in history ever cried! How dare you portray women as humans with actual flaws and emotions!

Seriously. Its heading for the "If it isnt focused on good female characters and displays them over the top, its automatically bad." station. I fu*king smell it. I see actually good female Characters drowning beneath this giant horde of idiots setting false standards.

 

[HannesPascal]

The Escapist is elitist, misogynist, and has a fascist moderating team. That's its "thing", its character gimmick, what have you.

Do you include yourself in "The Escapist" or not?

OP:
I've to agree with the general content if not the examples.

In all media women generally have daddy issues and can't be happy without a strong man in their life. The damsel in distress is a really old trope, but the age of these phenomena and the fact that it's not exclusive to video games doesn't make it all right. The best thing is to put good (no idea what "good" actually is) women in more games, certainly not saying that every game here on out needs a female protagonist though.

Regarding 3 I think (my entirely baseless conjecture) is that we know that rape is bad and because of this it is used in media as some sort of character building. Some female leads are strong because they got raped when they were younger (main reason why I stopped watching "Top of the lake".

Regarding 2 I don't really think I've experienced that, I don't count Borderlands since Lily, Maya and Gaige are some of the best characters in their respective games. But I'm sure there's some games that still use it.

Regarding 1 yes sexism irl is always worse than sexism in media since you know it happens to real people. The main sexism related problems are women not being paid equally (for the same job) and the poor representation of women in politics. But regarding that some gamers are total assholes to women (I say some since I at least no I'm not a total asshole,well I hope so anyway) the best thing is to call them out on it, and yes it's way better to be a white knight than an asshole since being nice probably won't harm anyone.

 

[Moth_Monk]

I've had an interesting relationship with Feminism, which is what this is, second wave feminism. I wish the third wave feminist would stop calling what they're doing feminism, and call it egalitarianism or something.

Third wave feminism was back in the 90s. Aren't we onto the fourth wave at this point?

 

[The Ubermensch]

Not disagreeing with your points here (I mostly agree actually) but might I say that your profile name scares the fuck out of me? I really hope there is some ironic context I'm missing...?

Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy of the Ubermensch was usurped and perverted by the Axis during World War II if that's what you're referring too. It was Nietzsche's opinion that man had outgrown god, and could build upon themselves, and as such, if you had out grown god, you had outgrown any privileges or hindrances that birth had given. Each man was his own man and had a duty to become or support the Ubermensch, the Over man, the Transhuman if you will. He looked down on racial supremacists, saying that if he had his way they would be culled from the earth.

Perhaps something got lost in translation?

I never understood this argument, because it isn't really an argument. You're agreeing sexualization of violence against women is bad, but then you sting in something about men for some reason. Men's Right is not the opposite of woman's rights, having bad stuff on the men's side doesn't justify bad stuff on the woman's side.

I did say as much, but I don't think I clarified. So what I'll do instead is give you an anecdote in an attempt to explain my reasoning behind this argument.

There was a girl I liked, we were seeing each other a bit, but we hadn't done anything. I, at the time, considered her a smart girl, she could hold a conversation about my interests which she ended up sharing, and argue back.

So long story short pant comes off and she starts freaking out because I'm not circumcised, I didn't know there was an issue with this, I mean, I knew that uncircumcised men could carry the fungi that cause cervical cancer, but that's a hygiene thing... And I clean...

Now I really liked this girl so I considered having a circumcision, so I looked into it. I not only found out that I was right, but the actual removal of the foreskin causes nerve death resulting in a reduction of sensitivity. I presented, a person that I thought was a logical thinking person that I adored mind you, citations about this.

She was not interested in hearing it, resulting in an argument. This repeated as I talked to others. Now to me this is akin to vaginal mutilation which is openly discussed and universally condemned, and penis mutilation is institutionalised.

This has parallels to female on male rape, which my mother denied ever happening until I showed her news reports which she dismissed.

I'm making a criticism of the feminist movement in general, where "You go girl" is the cry of the audience involving a woman wielding a knife and a man and his toger. I'm saying it's hypocritical to call foul when cohort 1 wrongs cohort 2 but to say nothing or even cheer when cohort 2 does something comparable to cohort 1.

Pet peeve of mine, that isn't what a Strawman Argument is, the author isn't misrepresenting the opposing argument, he's just using faulty evidence for his own argument.

You are quite correct, I was in rant modo. I meant logical fallacy in the form of cherry picking data or "Bias Confirmation"... I think.

I of course used Anecdotal Evidence, but I argue that I use that to show where my personal opinion comes from and leave it there for people to agree or disagree with.

 

[The Ubermensch]

I've had an interesting relationship with Feminism, which is what this is, second wave feminism. I wish the third wave feminist would stop calling what they're doing feminism, and call it egalitarianism or something.

Third wave feminism was back in the 90s. Aren't we onto the fourth wave at this point?

Don't go there man; it's not worth it. Why the egalitarians still feel like calling it feminism and cohorting themselves with the bigots is beyond me to begin with.

 

[SuperScrub]

And number 3? If you cut off a guys dick and you're a woman you go on a talk show circuit, if you forcibly ripped out a woman's ovaries and you're a man you're a war criminal in need of torture. I'm not saying that rape is good, I'm saying that damage to my equipment is both painful and terrifying, and it's been a popular culture thing since the three stooges. You know, with forgetting all the things wrong with institutionalised penis mutilation, because despite what you think there is a fuck tonne wrong with unnecessary circumcision, as in a 50% loss of nerve endings.

I never understood this argument, because it isn't really an argument. You're agreeing sexualization of violence against women is bad, but then you sting in something about men for some reason. Men's Right is not the opposite of woman's rights, having bad stuff on the men's side doesn't justify bad stuff on the woman's side.

You know we really should start changing Mens Rights to White Heterosexual Cisgenedered Male's Rights (W.H.C.M.R) because Black Men have gone through turmoil, Homosexual Men have gone through turmoil, and Transexual Men have gone through turmoil and they probably wouldn't want to be associated with whiny white boys complaining about the "evil feminists" taking their games away.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Good thing Bioshock and The Last of Us are fun!

 

[Vegosiux]

You know we really should start changing Mens Rights to White Heterosexual Cisgenedered Male's Rights (W.H.C.M.R) because Black Men have gone through turmoil, Homosexual Men have gone through turmoil, and Transexual Men have gone through turmoil and they probably wouldn't want to be associated with whiny white boys complaining about the "evil feminists" taking their games away.

Add to that "Anglosaxon" too I suppose, specially seeing as where I live, well, there's hardly any "white privilege" because an overwhelming majority of people are white, yet some are still being discriminated against based on their ethnicity...Or, hell, just call it "Men's Rights Movement Members' Rights" or something.