Sorry but as it stands about the only way to make a character stand against the male gaze is to actively engage with it. If your character isn’t existing in spite of it or actively fighting it as part of their arc, then they are absolutely in compliance with it. It’s the default for all human stories and art in the west. There is no official non-male gaze and what non-men create that doesn’t comply with the male gaze is considered non-entertainment. So I really don’t want to listen to someone drivel on and on about it to soothe the egos of gamers who want to think their art is somehow more special in some way that magically removes it from the problems in every other kind of art and from the realities experienced by the developers and creators making choices about it.
You’re making art in 21st century America? Your art has issues with women and race… gratis. How is it going to handle those problems? Probably by pretending they don’t exist.
I agree that’s not a great term. Does she use it to describe human sex workers, or just the agencyless sex worker NPCs in the games who exist to unlock achievements and the like? If the latter then I’m not convinced it’s firm evidence she’s sex-negative in general. I’d be interested to hear the answer, but her opponents aren’t smart enough or self-aware enough to ask the question.
Bigots and misogynists are prone to creating their own enemies and elevating them to the status of nemeses. As this article indicates, the Gators’ harassment, while awful, has only spurred her to be more determined and insightful than she was at the beginning.
I see Sarkeesian is still a good troll magnet, specially with people that either haven’t seen the videos or haven’t made an effort to understand them.
Heck, I’m supposed to be the kind of guy who should be against her (white, male, hetero, ex-game developer), and while I don’t completely agree with her in all her claims, I still think she’s the best thing that happened to the games industry.
Seems that Boing Boing BBS is slowly attracting rabid breitfarts. We had our share of liberals in the past, but at least they were honest about that and DID put forward good arguments.
That is the video that is linked near the end of the article right? I just got to it, did you watch the same video I did? If you argue you can see the butt behind the cape, which you can, in glimpses, you would still have to agree that the contrast between Batman and Catwoman is pretty obvious in that video.
I included it below, the video should be timestamped to start on Batman (3:05), Catwoman is in the first few seconds of the video and at 1:30. It’s a fun video, I encourage everyone to watch it!
Edit:
I got the “too many separate posts” warning, so had to edit.
Timestamped to start at 13:43, skip to 14:22 if you are impatient.
We can actually look at your idea that the technology of the period is the reason Lara looked the way she did by comparing titles of similar and earlier vintage. Staying on the PS1 we can start with Power serve Tennis. https://youtu.be/txxVn6eCCus?t=1737 The system was capable of rendering a clearly female lead without intentionally creating a massive chest. We can see it in higher profile games like Tekken, with Michelle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHZKTUkEAp0 those games may have any other number of issues, but it clearly isn’t a hardware issue. Both came out about a year before Tomb Raider. The same year as Tomb Raider we saw one of the more iconic female leads of the PS1 era, Jill Valentine and somehow the polygons didn’t have the same issues.
As for the linked Twitter threads, the idea that because Lara Croft fills some wish fulfillment for women, doesn’t disprove the idea that she is an incredible example of the male gaze in video games and pretending it does is a gross misrepresentation of the term.The male gaze in feminist art criticism is the idea of depictions of women coming primarily from a male heterosexual view. Lara Croft, even for all of her fans that aren’t straight guys, was designed by a guy, in an industry primarily run by guy, and marketing heavily to guys. It is possible to be both a subject of the male gaze and still a powerful female lead.
I mentioned it earlier by name, but this Veritassium video explains as well as one can explain an intentionally obscured rating and recommendation system and how is affecting the platform.
Correct. Plenty of batt-butt on view, if that’s your jam.
Perhaps, but catwoman’s outfit has been sexist long before “videogames made it so”. I’m not saying it isn’t, but this worldview predates the videogame by decades. I’d also argue that catwoman is presented as a very capable, powerful character in the game regardless of her catsuit, and she holds her own alongside Batman. She’s not just eye candy.
It’s not, and no thanks. I’ve seen one and I’m good, I know the formula. I don’t have a problem with it existing, but I’m … not a fan of the formula.
Meanwhile, I’ll be playing ultra-violent games where people are ripped apart and loving it, but that’s not a viable world view according to Feminist Frequency:
It’s almost like men and women “frequently” want different things out of videogames, isn’t it?
and is it a problem if we have a wider range of games and a wider range within games to move things along? not only that but there are also males who like different types of play as well. some of my favorite games through the years have been games set in the mario and zelda universes. i’ve also enjoyed games from the harvest moon series. one of my favorites years ago was a game called something like chibi-robo. i don’t particularly need high levels of murder and sexuality to enjoy a game.
As you pointed out, we have quite a range already, so I’m unclear why in Doom “this level of extreme violence shouldn’t be considered normal”. I mean what next, an argument that video game violence leads to… y’know?
The narrative framing is so contrived, so artificial, that’s why I never liked this video formula, and I’m glad she’s moved on to other things.
I just love how some people act as if their existence as male depends on gun ownership or the unquestioned veritable orgy of high octane shooter games.
Like, fucking chill, dudes. Nobody is forcing anyone to play Overcooked 2. Existence as male does not, on fact, hinge on owning twenty goddamn firearms or walls of action figures or great gobs of gibs.
That’s not what is being said, though — specifically what was said is that
Enjoying this game is “abnormal”. How would you feel if someone told you you were “abnormal” for enjoying Overcooked 2? Or Barbie Fashion Horse Designer, or … whatever game, really?
(I am personally something of a prude and tend to agree that cheesy exploitative borderline-porn games shouldn’t be considered “normal”, either. I blanched when I saw that “Super Naughty Maid 2” was trending in the Steam store tonight for example. That stuff is so lame.)
Context: in the year 2015 CE, Anita Sarkeesian had been forced out of her home by would-be assassins, had to go offline for weeks, had to hire private security, and was the constant target of threats by manbabies who were pissed that games were being deconstructed - and critiqued - as art.
So yeah, in that context, I too would be - and still am - disturbed by a celebration of violence, in a culture where men poise their entire masculinity on a capacity to do violence.
You are not abnormal for enjoying a game. You are abnormal for hinging your entire identity on the worship of violence.
Do you feel that all cultural artifacts have no effect on our behavior, or just video games? It doesn’t have to be a direct ‘36 hours after playing this video game you WILL go on a real-life killing spree’ to be worth critiquing.
I think it normalizes sexual and physical violence. If we (in the U.S.) were living in a culture that was based on self-restraint, that would be different, but for us it isn’t a temporary break from reality the way it is in, say, Japan.
Just because violent and bigoted id fantasies exist doesn’t mean they should be the vast majority of available options.
How many more consumers would be buying and playing games if there were actually as much diversity in those games as in real life? Wouldn’t that be a Good Thing?
It really does keep people like me from exploring the gaming world: I don’t want to have to wade through that drek to MAYBE find something that wouldn’t make me rage at the screen.
It keeps people like me from being willing to put my voice in my work. Just the fear of it. I don’t want to bring repercussions like that on myself as I’ve had enough trouble. I can make things that don’t say anything that doesn’t appeal to whomever happens to be in the position to decide for whatever I get for it… and my life will be easier. Sadder, but easier… The effect is real and pervasive. I do think there is too much worrying about the children. I’m worried about all these adults who don’t realize they haven’t grown up.
I mean what next, an argument that video game violence leads to… y’know?
