Anita Sarkeesian posts her first "Tropes vs. Women in Video Games" video.

[Geosurface]

So, Anita Sarkeesian also known as Feminist Frequency has finally posted her first "Tropes vs. Women in Video Games" video, here it is: link

I don't know how familiar you are with her, but she basically complains that video games are sexist... endlessly. She had a kickstarter a while back where she made an obscene amount of money (far beyond what she requested) in order to fund these videos (which don't appear to be distinct in any way from the videos she was making before she "needed" funds btw)

Most of the obscene amounts of money came from people who sympathized with her being trolled by people from reddit etc, who took issue with her agenda and often took issue with it in rude, crude ways (as they do about everything they say... hey it's the internet) - so she ended up with like $150,000 beyond a request of I think like $8,000 initially. That's just me trying to remember the figures.

The funny thing was, she only ever allowed comments on one video. The one where she announced her kickstarter. A lot of people think this was deliberately to troll for the most vile "sexist" comments as a way to portray herself as the victim. It worked.

Well, in her first video she gripes about the "damsel in distress" trope in video games, which I'm certain I've heard her complain about numerous times before...

You won't ever hear her spend much time talking about how men are portrayed (unrealistically muscled, powerful etc) and of course... men don't see any male character and immediately kneejerk into thinking that's meant to represent THEM and start thinking of ways that this might offend them... but if they did, I'm sure a lot of men could complain about unrealistic portrays of male characters.

I can't help but feel like what she's doing is roughly equivalent to me saying I'm a fan of daytime soap operas (a traditionally female-dominated market) but then starting letter writing campaigns to all the networks who produce these TV shows, complaining about how all the men are either portrayed as very financially successful (success objects) or young, muscular, etc? How I felt these weren't realistic portrayals of real men? How they should show some balding, pudgy men too? How I don't like the portrayal of men as being conniving kidnappers, etc that is often shown on these soaps?

I mean, at what point would it become rational for someone to start wondering if I really WAS a fan of soap operas after all? Mind you, Anita is complaining about this stuff at the point in gaming history where these problems are at their absolute LEAST BAD, there are tons of games these days with more realistic portrayals of women... and female protagonists... so to me this makes me think there really is never a point where it will be enough. The game of feminist appeasement is a losing one, the only way to win is to not start playing.

 

[purbeast0]

video games demographic is males from like 13-40. we don't want to see fat ugly every day women in games, we want to see hot attractive women, just like in movies.

i would like to see her complain about how big and muscular all the guys are in street fighter (except dhalsim) and gears of war.

 

[akahoovy]

My God, could this video be any more boring.

edit: Not a jab at you OP, just stating my feelings on trying to watch this. So far she's complaining about a 1999 Rare Software game.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Watched the first 30 seconds and then realized she was stupid and this entire feminism movement is retarded.

 

[akahoovy]

Holy shit, it's Daisy in SMB2, not Peach. Jesus. Get it right!

 

[Midwayman]

The game of feminist appeasement is a losing one, the only way to win is to not start playing.

Pretty much. Women and men are different. Deal with it.

 

[akahoovy]

Wow, it gets worse. She starts saying that women are objectified in video games because they are always stolen from men and that they are property to be retrieved. Then she says that women are the ball in a game being played between villain and hero. No one plays a game to win the ball, dumbass.

 

[dank69]

I might think about watching her videos if she wore some sexy outfits.

 

[MonKENy]

anyone who disables comments is a weak pathetic person afraid to be challenged because they know they are full of shit.

Obviously shes had enough negative feedback to know she cant allow people to have an opinion of her or she would get downvoted the hell out of there.

 

[Geosurface]

anyone who disables comments is a weak pathetic person afraid to be challenged because they know they are full of shit.

Obviously shes had enough negative feedback to know she cant allow people to have an opinion of her or she would get downvoted the hell out of there.

Yep.

A big red flag that what you're watching is a load of bullshit is always when they've got the comments moderated or disabled, and voting up/down disabled too.

If your ideas can't stand up to criticism, there's probably a reason.

I love that her whole premise is "women are just as tough as men!" (which is palpably false if we're talking about physical strength btw, and the fact that I even have to assert this is absurd) but then she puts the shields up to protect her delicate feelings from the comments and thumbs downs

Kinda torpedoes her own point about women being just as tough, eh?

Mind you, I think feminism had a legitimate list of grievances with society (sort of) at one point, in the past... I think there were some good points made in the 60's, etc. I think it solved most of those problems and then kept going... and going... and going. It's an industry now and it's fueled by perpetually finding something to bitch about. So, naturally... they will always find something to bitch about.

 

[Anonemous]

So, Anita Sarkeesian also known as Feminist Frequency has finally posted her first "Tropes vs. Women in Video Games" video, here it is: link


Most of the obscene amounts of money came from people who sympathized with her being trolled by people from reddit etc, who took issue with her agenda and often took issue with it in rude, crude ways (as they do about everything they say... hey it's the internet) - so she ended up with like $150,000 beyond a request of I think like $8,000 initially. That's just me trying to remember the figures.

It would be ironic if she used the 'damsel in distress' to get that money if what you say is true.

 

[Geosurface]

I also love how she talks about how this "damsel in distress" thing dates back to ancient Greek myths, and was prevalent in the middle ages... yet, she thinks she's going to be the one to overturn it?

At what point do you figure out that what you're up against is something hard-coded into human biology? Something which taps into something deep within most people? If you're not one of those people, that's unfortunate... but there are other games/movies/etc especially these days, which don't follow that formula. Why try to get the ones that do changed, when most other people are enjoying it?

Including most women btw... ever take a look at romance novels? A lot of them feature a helpless woman captured by, saved by (or both) a powerful, dashing man. Sometimes it's a heroic man, sometimes it's a scoundrel, sometimes it's both within the same story... this is a huge theme in female-targeted, female-written romance novels. Has been forever.

Of course, that's probably the fault of the "patriarchy" too right? Because women have never participated in civilization throughout history or helped establish what was popular... even among themselves... it was always the evil men forcing things on them MUHAHAHA! :|

But yea, although this "trope" has been in place since antiquity, or the dawn of our species... I'm sure all that was needed to dismantle it was her to come along and whine about it.

If the video game industry is so fraught with these horrible tropes and so much sexism and what not, how is it she came to consider herself a fan of it? Or is this yet another female infiltration of traditionally male spaces to subvert from within?

It would be ironic if she used the 'damsel in distress' to get that money if what you say is true.

An excellent point, and if you're curious about it here's the story of what happened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6gLmcS3-NI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpFk5F-S_hI

Those are a 2 part video tearing her reasoning apart, by some dude on YouTube, it's very well done and I can't recommend them highly enough.

 

[DAGTA]

Blah blah blah

Is she complaining about movies like Magic Mike? What about Twilight? What about 50 Shades of Gray?

Guys have video games. Women have their guilty pleasures not based in reality, too.

 

[BladeVenom]

My God, could this video be any more boring.

Or annoying. Is she so stupid that she thinks people need it explained what a damsel in distress is, or does she think people watching her are that stupid? That's as far as I got in the video, I couldn't take the stupidity, and you're right it was also boring.

 

[Wyndru]

1990's Eddie Vedder wants his shirt back.

 

[Slew Foot]

Stupid ugly feminist chick is stupid and ugly, news at 11

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Yes, I dread every minutes of being protrayed as a 300 pound wall of meat capable of fist fighting a tank.

 

[akahoovy]

Ahh, Geo's link to the Youtube videos that break down what she's doing puts things in perspective. I'd never heard of this person.

Honestly I think this is a rampant tactic to gather money for any cause in which civil rights are concerned, or even something scientific in nature like global warming. The problem I have with it is her trying to be the face of female video game players. I don't know where you draw the line of someone who plays video games casually and someone who plays well and is a problem solver, but she's not it.

 

[CrazyHelloDeli]

 

[UglyCasanova]

Only watched the first couple of minutes of it, but I can see where she is coming from with some of it. Video games are primarily played by men (most genres anyways, and I would imagine that percentage is decreasing slowly but surely) and is an easy target, but popular culture still objectifies women and stereotypes are everywhere.

I fully support the feminist movement in and of itself, although I find some of its most vocal proponents to be somewhat off putting. My daughter is extremely smart and outgoing, and I do try to steer her away from becoming engrossed in the stereotypes that society (men & women) try to pump into her little head 24/7. It's an impossible task and I certainly don't get militaristic about it, but I want her to grow up with the realization that its ok not to put on makeup, she doesn't have to conform to what society thinks is appropriate for females, and ultimately she has one life and I want her to live it however she would like.

The feminist movement gets a bad rap from the "feminazi's" that are very vocal and can be somewhat obnoxious, but I would counter that the ultra-masculine stereotype that is quite litteraly everywhere is much more obnoxious and actually harmful to both girls and boys, its just accepted and to a degree expected.

 

[lupi]

i'd hit it.

 

[LumbergTech]

She actually makes a good argument. She doesn't make outrageous claims about what damage the problems she is pointing out cause. There is plenty of research that has been done not by feminists that show the same type of stuff in commercials. There are also arguably negative stereotypes that are pushed upon men relentlessly that could be discussed in equal detail.

 

[MonKENy]

Only watched the first couple of minutes of it, but I can see where she is coming from with some of it. Video games are primarily played by men (most genres anyways, and I would imagine that percentage is decreasing slowly but surely) and is an easy target, but popular culture still objectifies women and stereotypes are everywhere.

I fully support the feminist movement in and of itself, although I find some of its most vocal proponents to be somewhat off putting. My daughter is extremely smart and outgoing, and I do try to steer her away from becoming engrossed in the stereotypes that society (men & women) try to pump into her little head 24/7. It's an impossible task and I certainly don't get militaristic about it, but I want her to grow up with the realization that its ok not to put on makeup, she doesn't have to conform to what society thinks is appropriate for females, and ultimately she has one life and I want her to live it however she would like.

The feminist movement gets a bad rap from the "feminazi's" that are very vocal and can be somewhat obnoxious, but I would counter that the ultra-masculine stereotype that is quite litteraly everywhere is much more obnoxious and actually harmful to both girls and boys, its just accepted and to a degree expected.

you need to watch the vid geo posted. Shes a stupid wise and beautiful woman who ripped alot of people off

 

[gevorg]

Looks like a bunch of butthurt internet trolls harassed her online and gave threats all over the place (Facebook, Twitter, etc), hence why she keeps a tighter grip on her videos.
Her TED Talk clearly explains it.

 

[MonKENy]

Looks like a bunch of butthurt internet trolls harassed her online and gave threats all over the place (Facebook, Twitter, etc), hence why she keeps a tighter grip on her videos.
Her TED Talk clearly explains it.

yeahhhh no.