Skullgirls Artist Weighs In on Sexism Controversy

Mike Kayatta

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Aug 2, 2011
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Skullgirls Artist Weighs In on Sexism Controversy



Alex Ahad calls the initial Skullgirls sexism interview "disrespectful" and "misleading."

Alex Ahad, the artist responsible for much of Skullgirls' art style has responded to Reverge Labs' lead developer Peter Bartholow's statements [http://new.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114581-Skullgirls-Dev-Dismisses-Cries-of-Sexism] regarding the game's alleged sexism. According to Ahad, the quotes that implied Skullgirls wasn't sexist because a woman had animated them were taken out of context from "a conversation" instead of an "actual interview," a statement which Eurogamer (who took the initial statements) vehemently denies.

The interview "shouldn't have been taken as an actual, serious argument against sexism," Ahad has argued on his Deviant Art page. "It's rather disrespectful to both Kinuko [lead animator] and her work, as well as the company as a whole."

For those curious, here's a quick summary of events thus far: During a recent interview, Bartholow claimed that people accusing his all-girl brawler of sexism were displaying "misplaced and shallow chivalry." He also went onto argue that "[the game's] lead animator was a woman" and that "all the people who seem bothered by it are guys." These comments put some people on the offensive, not about Skullgirl's roster of oft scantly clad anime babes, but instead, regarding the argument he made against those calling it sexist in the first place. Now, due the sudden kerfuffle, Ahad has decided to attempt clarifying the situation.

"I wish it was made more clear that we don't support the female-animator argument as a valid point against sexism at all," Ahad wrote in response to Bartholow's interview. "It has an incredibly misleading tone since the very first quote is 'our lead animator is a woman.' It's also in poor taste to call out another game/character by name as an example."

"Ultimately," he continued, "the things you see in Skullgirls are there because it just happens to be stuff that I wanted to do. There are elements in the world that are just here because it's cool and was fun to make. I enjoy drawing girls and monsters. I particularly enjoy drawing monster-girls. There is something more exciting about a design that is both twisted and cute at the same time. It's more interesting than just an overly aggressive monster, or something totally saccharine."

The artist later went on to define his feelings on sexism in general, separate from Bartholow's specific quotes on the subject.

"The real issue comes from what their role and actions are," Ahad wrote. "If a character is a side-line character and their sole purpose is to be a sex object, then it is sexist. If the character is a competent contributor to the story, then it is not sexist, even if they look sexy. Looking at a screenshot by itself, or judging by the artwork alone is extremely shortsighted. People who make knee-jerk reactionary judgments should have never been acknowledged."

It's interesting to see this supposed controversy evolve into a somewhat two-pronged debate. On one hand, there still exists a faction of those who believe the game itself to be sexist, and Bartholow's comments as weak justification. On the other, there seem to be those completely fine with the game's art style, but in disagreement with his justifications in general. Even Ahad himself seemed to think some comments as regrettable, describing at least part of them to be "in poor taste" while attempting to defend them. With the game set for release early next year, it will be interesting to see how this back-and-forth affects sales. What do you think, Escapists? Will this recent attention drive publicity or just turn gamers off from purchasing it?

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-12-13-skullgirls-artist-responds-to-sexism-controversy]


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Feb 13, 2008
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I think Skullgirls has got a lot more column inches from this than it would have got otherwise.

Make of that what you will.

Now, how do I generate some more controversy for my new book "Was Hitler Gay?"
 

uppitycracker

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Oct 9, 2008
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the bottom line really needs to be, if you are offended, then you can easily head that way ------>

we live in a world filled with media supporting every level of entertainment and distaste that you can possibly imagine. it's to the point where fighting it is pointless and delves into the realm of stamping out anothers voice or self expression. it's sad enough to see the things some people love get pacified because a few uptight morons are offended. who the hell cares, live and let live.
 

Kahunaburger

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May 6, 2011
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Mike Kayatta said:
The interview "shouldn't have been taken as an actual, serious argument against sexism," Ahad has argued on his Deviant Art page.
Heh. C'mon guys, interviews aren't for srs bsns. Everyone knows real professionals make public statements via Deviant Art.

The_root_of_all_evil said:
I think Skullgirls has got a lot more column inches from this than it would have got otherwise.
This.
 

Sentox6

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Jun 30, 2008
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The_root_of_all_evil said:
Now, how do I generate some more controversy for my new book "Was Hitler Gay?"
The title includes the words "Hitler" and "Gay". I think your work is done.
 

hazabaza1

Want Skyrim. Want. Do want.
Nov 26, 2008
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Man, they are getting a shit ton of free publicity. Mind you, the game looks good, so I guess that's a good thing.
 
Feb 13, 2008
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Sentox6 said:
The_root_of_all_evil said:
Now, how do I generate some more controversy for my new book "Was Hitler Gay?"
The title includes the words "Hitler" and "Gay". I think your work is done.
The front cover has the Swastika flag covering a huge pair...was that too far?
 

Lyri

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Dec 8, 2008
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Sober Thal said:
Is this a publicity stunt of some kind?

I don't get the controversy.

EDIT: *Reads other posts

Yeah.
It's basically advertising itself in such a way to point out that it has scantily clad women in it.
Nothing new here.

This was never brought up when X-blades was in dev.
 

yunabomb

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Nov 29, 2011
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From what I have seen so far, Skullgirls is sexist, but not nearly as bad as most fighting games.

The problem isn't really that the characters are sexy or sexualized. The problem is that a lot of this sexiness has the purpose of fanservice (take a look at the screen shots for Valentine. Her stances are designed to show off boobage). When characters are designed to show off to presumeably male, heterosexual players, it cheapens the characters. This is a big problem in gaming (just look at Mortal Kombat. All the female characters are showing off all the time).

Now, how the characters act and comport themselves makes Skullgirls's portrayal of its characters far better than that of other fighting games. Their actions show off their personality and style. Whereas in other games the female characters are frequently showing off their hotness for the players.
 

LiquidGrape

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Sep 10, 2008
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While what little I've seen of the game looks harmless enough (if predictable), Ahad's description of what constitutes sexism is reductive at best. He utterly fails to address the issue of Male Gaze, which is the most commonly adopted manner of sexism in video games.

Most of the time it isn't even questioned. It's just accepted as the status quo that we're getting that ass shot, but oh, since the character is a 'strong female character' it's empowering per default.

Please.

Alex Ahad said:
"I think the role of a character plays more of a defining element than what they look like. People complain about hour-glass figured female characters, but rarely do they complain about muscular/perfectly fit male characters. Both of these are completely fine and acceptable in my opinion."
Gee, it couldn't possibly be because both are implicit male fantasies?

P.S
(please note that I do not object to neither hour-glass figures nor six packs - in fact I encourage them - just not as equating factors in an argument of this kind)
D.S
 

HobbesMkii

Hold Me Closer Tony Danza
Jun 7, 2008
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Okay, kids! It's time for a case study:

See how a rather minor case of woman not being drawn anywhere close to real (and keep in mind this is not the first game, and neither will it be the last game, to do so) has been blown into a full on sexist video-game?

Well...this is how you make it much, much worse.
 

draythefingerless

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Jul 10, 2010
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or perhaps the human body is sth to be appreciated, male or female, and should not obligatorily be attached to meaningful, complex and more important characteristics. sometimes, you should just appreciate that ass(male or female) and shut up, because there is nothing wrong with liking the human body.
 

Sentox6

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Jun 30, 2008
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The_root_of_all_evil said:
The front cover has the Swastika flag covering a huge pair...was that too far?
If the saying "all publicity is good publicity" is true, then you're a genius.
 

Kopikatsu

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May 27, 2010
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Let the facepalming commence!

There are eight people in the cast, and the only one who is 'scantily clad' is Ms. Fortune (Justified because wearing clothes that cover her body completely would screw with her fighting style).

Peacock wears a dress that covers her entire body (And has bloomers besides), Parasoul wears a one piece dress, Cerebella also wears a one piece dress, Filia has a normal school outfit, Painwheel has a dress that covers everything that needs to be covered (And she's fan disservice anyway); Valentine does show a bit more cleavage than is necessary, but her outfit is also a one piece dress (Although it is pretty short); and Bloody Marie wears a gothic lolita outfit that covers her entire body.

The only people with abnormally large breasts for their frames are Cerebella, Parasoul, and Valentine...less than half of the total characters.

The way people talk about the characters, you'd think that they'd all be J-cups in G-strings.
 
Feb 13, 2008
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HobbesMkii said:
Well...this is how you make it much, much worse.
Or better for product knowledge...

Major news outlets containing detailed pictures of "TERRIBLY SEXIST SHENANIGANS!"

Who else do we know like that?



DISCLAIMER: "Is Hitler Gay?" is not a real book (I hope) and I'm not saying Revenge Labs planned on this. But it's certainly making a lot more people aware of Skullgirls that may want to buy it primarily for titillation.
 

PotatoeMan

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Jun 11, 2011
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Marketing is largely responsible for most sexism complaints. You will always find someone accusing some product or other of being sexist for having scantily clad women in the advertising or the product itself but sex sells. Though you will never hear the same about similar ads with males being ?exploited? i.e. the diet coke ads.
There are also lots of ads particularly aimed at women that are far more sexist. There are many ads depicting males as clueless where as far less if any implying the same of women (household cleaning product ads are s good example of this, perceived demographics etc). I put this down to activist groups trying to justify their existence and being topical.