Sweden Considering Sexism Labels For Video Games

[Augustine]

Trying to formalize something of this sort seems to me the path fraught with peril, if not bizarre. But I'm not entirely unsympathetic to the idea of experimenting with this, as long as it's not where I live

In regards to the criticism of limitations of the Bechdel test... I genuinely wonder - are there other, more sophisticated alternatives to it?

edit: I just realized that the test is based on a narrative of a tiny comic and I am speechless...

 

[Jake Martinez]

Oh the delicious smell of Fahrenheit 451: the early days. This is truly PC run amok. Scientists getting shit over the shirts they are wearing, games being labeled by what is perceived by fringe radicals as sexism..what a time to be alive.

Glad to see someone reference Fahrenheit 451 correctly.

It always infuriated Bradbury that most people assumed his novel was about government censorship.

It's actually about a world in which a citizenship with a fragmented identity continually demanded passages be removed from books because they offended them, eventually leaving behind books so heavily edited that they were worthless.

Only then, did the firemen start burning them.

Something to consider.

 

[blackrave]

Tax paying citizens of Sweden
(swedians? swedonians? swedonites?... swedtards???)
DEMAND THOSE 272,000 KRONES BACK!

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Tax paying citizens of Sweden
(swedians? swedonians? swedonites?... swedtards???)
DEMAND THOSE 272,000 KRONES BACK!

Any of those are fine with me, but the correct term would be Swede (and Kronor) ,)

We can't..We are barely allowed to vote for a party..7 parties on paper but only 2 in reality..and those 2 only differing in 1 or 2 aspects.
Oh, but we do have a new rising 3rd party to vote for. A "very lovely" and "down to earth" party which everyone "embraces".
Ok, enough quote tags. heh

Not only do our road taxes and fuel taxes not go to maintain the roads or plant more tree's or whatever, they all get lumped together and doled out as the government sees fit.
I think that's true but I'm no a hundred percent sure of course.

 

[Zeriu]

I hate Marcus Fenix as a character, yet I still don't think he's sexist. Mainly because he's designed to appeal to men rather than dehumanizing him.

I could just as well argue that Barbie was designed to appeal to girls, just to prove that Barbie isn't a sexist caricature.

 

[Dr. Crawver]

Didn't take very long for people to jump on the "what about men" train did it.

As a man, I wish the issues my gender faces would be more than something brought up with the sole purpose of shutting people up.

Wow, only took until post 6 before someone pointed out the flaw with "what about men" post. Bravo. Really, I mean it.

 

[Darkmantle]

Well the ext time I'm told that these video game feminists "aren't coming for our games" or "arent trying to stop them from being made", I hope you are there to correct them for me.

And why would I do that? In case you couldn't tell, a label is not "coming for our games" or "trying to stop them from being made," it's a label. As far as I can tell, the label doesn't get you banned from stores, or increase your price, or anything other than identify the game for what it is.

You just said it's a label to try and discourage people from buying the games. That is an attempt to shrink the market and make those games not as widely created.

It's social engineering and moral policing. You might not be able to do it in the same way it was done in the past, but the intent is still there. If you had your way. games with that label wouldn't exist.

 

[blackrave]

Tax paying citizens of Sweden
(swedians? swedonians? swedonites?... swedtards???)
DEMAND THOSE 272,000 KRONES BACK!

Any of those are fine with me, but the correct term would be Swede (and Kronor) ,)

We can't..We are barely allowed to vote for a party..7 parties on paper but only 2 in reality..and those 2 only differing in 1 or 2 aspects.
Oh, but we do have a new rising 3rd party to vote for. A "very lovely" and "down to earth" party which everyone "embraces".
Ok, enough quote tags. heh

Not only do our road taxes and fuel taxes not go to maintain the roads or plant more tree's or whatever, they all get lumped together and doled out as the government sees fit.
I think that's true but I'm no a hundred percent sure of course.

1)Kronors? Really? I was convinced that it was either krones or krons. (also- proper term is euro... comrade)
2)Sorry, I know it's swedes (to understand joke, watch RedVsBlue)
3)Huh, politics suck in Sweden too? The more I think about it the more I believe we should try anarchy next :/

 

[Hugga_Bear]

3)Huh, politics suck in Sweden too? The more I think about it the more I believe we should try anarchy next :/

Good luck not dying. Even if a country successfully moved into an anarchist state it wouldn't last very long. Other countries would come knocking. (see Spain's attempt). I personally would love to see an anarchist state in action but the universal fear of it is so ingrained...and then there's the corporations fears. All that money, leaving future them's hands.

As for this subject, well firstly as has been pointed out throughout the thread this is quite clearly NOT a decision being made by the current political parties. For one thing there wouldn't be such an absurdly narrow focus if a political party and not a private organisation were doing it. It's just...it's obviously not a government initiative guys, stop freaking out.

Besides all this I think the comparisons to an Orwellian state are absurd and damaging. We are inching closer to Orwellian control, the United Kingdom is a premier example of this and it sickens me to be living here sometimes. Putting little labels on the videogames we play is not going to change very much and fear of a slippery slope is inherently fallacious when considering that, again, it is a PRIVATE company and not the government considering enacting this idea. Considering.

As for the idea itself it's inherently flawed. Without a strict set of definitions about what makes a game (or indeed anything) sexist anyone would struggle to accurately label these games, particularly given the huge amount of parody. I mean Bayonetta come on, that's like a nightmare for these people. If it did work, if a board of people could accurately tell people which games were sexist and which games were not then it would be interesting and little else. Escapist needs to breathe, your anger is clouding your ability to read guys.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

1)Kronors? Really? I was convinced that it was either krones or krons. (also- proper term is euro... comrade)
2)Sorry, I know it's swedes (to understand joke, watch RedVsBlue)
3)Huh, politics suck in Sweden too? The more I think about it the more I believe we should try anarchy next :/

1.)Just Kronor, 1 Krona, 2 Kronor. Norway and, I think, Iceland has a similar currency denomination which could blur together.
I was actually for Euro in the very first vote I was allowed. I have since reversed my position. I was too idealistic and naive.
Comrade eyh? sounds good to me ,)

2.)Ah, ok, heh.

3.)I'm very much for a state actually, a *babble* long list of vague and undefined words *babble* . Anarchy would just be.. anarchy really.

 

[Machine Man 1992]

Didn't take very long for people to jump on the "what about men" train did it.

As a man, I wish the issues my gender faces would be more than something brought up with the sole purpose of shutting people up.

There are, but they tend to get bomb threats and angry mobs called on them.

Kind of sad really.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Uhh, sure, why not? I mean, we already label games for racist content.

On the other hand, why don't just get rid of these labels altogether and just leave the age rating? Others form of entertaiment don't have them.

 

[JazzJack2]

The correct rationale behind having law is utilitarian, not moral. Does the law benefit people, respect their rights, or benefit society? Murder isn't illegal because it's wrong, it's illegal because if it were allowed the fundamental social fabric would unravel.

It's simply baffling you could suggest such tripe and then harp on about Orwellianism. Utilitarian law was and is the basis (or at least justification) for police state rule in Communist countries, the idea of laws being utilitarian is even more open to abuse by authority figures than laws based on morality.

 

[Alatar The Red]

This is just pants on head retarded.

I understand labels that systems like PEGI have.

-narcotics/drug use
-violence
-sexual content
-online interactions
-horror (used for games that label themselves as horror games, though clearly the weakest tag by far)
-swearing/crude language

stuff like that can work because it's clear if those things are included or not. And once you've marked those on the box the buyer of the game can make his own decision whether he's okay with X Y or Z.

Sexism however is completely open to interpretation. You can objectively say that there is drug use in a game. You cannot objectively say that there is sexism in a game. And that is because drugs being there is not a matter of opinion while sexism is. If your country forces a subjective "sexism" label on a product you're living in a moral policing authoritarian system that does not like freedom of speech.

And before you ask, I think that age suggestions / restrictions / etc. on media are also a borderline crime because they're also subjective. You can inform objectively what's in the game (such as violence, online interactions or drug use). Sexism is not one of those things. Sexism is subjective and does not belong anywhere near a government sanctioned / forced label. And shame on anyone who calls themselves a progressive and thinks otherwise.

 

[Adam Lester]

as a swede all i can say is, wow are you guys are taking this seriously? i mean even if it would be passed (currently a non- goverment organisation recieved funding to investigate this) and used in sweden do you honestly belive the rest of the world would give a shit?

as for "or when some of the nation's movie theaters and TV channels began issuing ratings indicating whether or not films being shown passed the so-called "Bechdel Test."" this is the first i have heard of this. any other swedes around to point out what channels/publications actually do this?

As an American, I'll sigh and roll my eyes before muttering "probably". Just be glad that none of it will go past the keyboards.

 

[Darkmantle]

It's social engineering and moral policing. You might not be able to do it in the same way it was done in the past, but the intent is still there. If you had your way. games with that label wouldn't exist.

Pretty much all forms of law, policy, and social interaction are social engineering and moral policing. It's only bad when you personally would prefer things stay the same. And, if I had my way, these games would simply be a smaller part of the market than they are now, because the amount of it now is pathetic.

Good, now next time someone tells me people like you aren't "coming for your games" I hope you will be there to correct them.

At least you're honest.

 

[Snotnarok]

This is really overdoing it isn't it? Are they going to label books, TV shows and movies who have any hint of sexism too? This topic is very subjective as some find Peach sexist and stupid while others just don't care. Who's would dictate this bizarre label?

It's not black and white like everyone wants it to be, sure there's some stand out examples but I think if you can't tell if a game about girls in bikinis sword fighting may be a little dodgy you may just ...not care.

But, whatever, I'm really tired of these arguments as all it is, is people creating walls between one another, breaking out into fights over a topic that frankly isn't about sides. We're all humans trying to co-exist on a single dirt ball flying through space, gonna have to learn to get along or at least understand you can't just cover something up because one is offended.