Bioshock Infinite: 5 Points That Prove It’s Another Sexist Game

Thinking back too, there were no female enemies in the game at all. None.

Unless you count the Siren, one of the most difficult enemies. Oh, and the female Vox Populi gurillas. Don’t count them and I would agree with you.

A sexist game?
Cry me a fucking river.

You all realize that the author wrote this piece as a parody of “feminist” arguments against games. The parody has fallen a bit flat, but you all need to read a little more carefully.
However, I think the parody obviously falls a bit flat for a couple of reasons. One, Bioshock Infinite turns the “rescue the girl” narrative on its head (so much so that you can’t really parody it) and two, no feminist who would make these arguments against the game. In fact, the second point is probably what brings about this piece’s inability to get a laugh. You’re just being hostile towards Anita Sarkeesian, who does make valid points about tropes in video games and the treatment of women (whether you agree or not).

Stop saying, “Let’s face it” and jumping on the band wagon with this fem rights nonsense. This game is NOT sexist — quit trying to make it out to seem like it is. “Let’s face it,” if you’re going to spend this much time writing and editing a bogus article on a bogus topic, you have too much time on your hands.

there are female bad guys from the beginning to the game to the end. they are all over the place. generally commanding the others.

She cant fight because she just realized there are more than 15 people in the world other than what she saw in a window.

she needs help because she realized that there are more than 15 people i the world other than the time windows.

all the characters in bioshock have been men being controlled.

This is horrible and wrong.

When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When you’re a misandrist hiding behind the fig leaf of feminism, every portrayal of women is sexist.

It’s finally happened. I’ve finally read the most idiotic article of all time.

If we want to go that way, it’s just as easy to say the game is racist. After all, The blacks needed a white person to help them out. To start off, if you look at the time period they’re using, the simple truth is that men and women weren’t of equal standing at that point. Not having women in combat while the men ran around and protected them seems completely reasonable in this circumstance.

Secondly, I fully support balanced representation and I do believe that while the female gamer base is growing, representation in video games like in so many other male-dominated nerd hobbies is not growing to match. The point I need to reiterate is that there’s a need for balance. Like every other -ism, the tendency is to try to correct the problem by suddenly making everything in favor of the discriminated party or crying foul whenever it isn’t. Balance! That is, know which gender is right for which role in which setting. I do not feel discriminated against in this case because a man was running around doing the heavy lifting while the girl provided support in this instance. It feels appropriate. And, given the setting, I think having a female lead would’ve felt wrong and out of place. Yes, I would like to see more strong female leads who’s primary value isn’t her sexuality, but not at the expense of strong male leads. Having a male lead doesn’t automatically make a game sexist.

you know…there are female soldiers in the game

I agree that there is nothing stopping Booker from being portrayed as a female except, and I’m no history major, the whole being a soldier thing at wounded knee. Also I do remember running into female police and Vox.

On a side note about feminism I would like to say that feminism is all about female equality. It’s not about taking over the whole world by hairy lipped, wang hating lesbians. I have a mother, a wife, and many female relatives so why wouldn’t I want them to receive the same amount of pay as a male counterpart in the work place? People mistake feminism for the extremist cartoonish versions of feminists portrayed by people like Rush Limbaugh.

This is 1912. No female enemies? Then you are blind as fuck, because I remember killing plenty of female cops. I don’t want to waste my time to argue probably with feminist. There are already a lot of smart comments below. We don’t need more bullshit like that in the internet -.-

There are loads of female NPC-enemy soldiers in Bioshock Infinite. Loads of them.

No female enemies? Did we play the same game? There were plenty of female enemies… Or were they men with very feminine voices? LOL. Yah, practically nothing in this article really proves a point. Without Elizabeth’s help, Booker would have died like 20 times in this game…

fuck you fucking faggots, fucking bitching about every fucking videogame. fucking kill yourself.

Seriously, enough with the “sexism” bullshit already. Let devs do what they want to do.

I specifically remember killing several women in a very brutal fashion. You didn’t even play the game.

wow, so it’s sexist because you don’t play as a female?
i was open to this article until that point.
how stupid. we want to play as a male so we can relate to what’s going on. it’s a first person game you know!

I would get it being a trolly article but the problem is that there has to at least be some connection to the game first. Nearly all of the information is incorrect.

One of the most striking things about the combat to me was just how prevalent female enemies were in the game. They showed up as Vox Populi, The Siren bossfight, regular Columbia police, and Columbia military officers.

Bro, do you even game?

Please consider playing the game with your eyes open instead of just looking at all of the gameplay footage that didn’t even appear in the game. Also, Rosalind stated in a voxophone that she and Robert are exactly the same, just different genders.

This honestly made me smash my head against the desk.

wtf? this whole post is just a pile of fuckin bullllshit… this game wasn’t sexist you dumbass.. geez… if anything YOU are sexist…

Is there a way to vote down this trash article! The author didn’t even play the game!

video games arnt for girls anway, along with comics and driving

#5. There were women enemies. Elizabeth isn’t a killer; she’s a frail soul not accustomed to the violence that comes so easily to Booker. This is made evident by her fleeing from you after you murder the enemies who attack you and how in shock she becomes once she takes Daisy’s life.

#4. Booker had the key (given to him in the box handed to him by Lutece in the opening scene) so there was no way out of that tower until Booker arrived with it. It’s to be thought that the Siphon kept Elizabeth weak enough to not sustain portals that she could travel through and escape on her own.

#3.Rosalind Lutece brought her brother Robert through a tear and helped to “mend him” once his mind began to go and experience the hemorrhaging that causes nosebleeds. They were separated by these different universes and collectively worked with one another through slow communication between those worlds to be brought together. If anything, the Luteces’ show how man and women are seemingly 2 sides of the same coin.

#2. As with your other inferiority-complex-based comments, this whole ‘A girl can’t succeed without the help of a man’ mentality is complete garbage. Daisy was the LEADER of the Vox. Booker might have been a hero in that world, but Daisy was still their lead. And like Comstock’s corruption, Daisy’s taste of power lead her to become corrupt and even willing to kill a child. You see these things as mad vs. woman, but it’s more black and white than that; it’s simply the morale good vs. evil.

#1. Booker could have been female, yup. And though chivalry is dead, there is a rather significant subsect of male gamers out there who enjoy the role of coming to the rescue of a female. It’s a primal thing with men; to protect and provide. Like a mother’s instinct to care for their child. These women, who are in need of a guy to save them might be seen as a shortcoming to you because they “rely” on a man, but this isn’t so scrutinized a situation. Your gender bias makes you not see things from both sides of the coin. Elizabeth is an amazingly powerful ally, one whom Booker would have died if not for her help (even though in the end, she kills Booker/Comstock by drowning him)

A game can only pick 1 of 2 sexes for the player to roleplay as. And in the event the player isn’t the same sex as the character, the chances that the person can relate to the player’s in-game behavior becomes less so.

There was a story of a guy who hacked a Donkey Kong ROM so that the Mario character was swapped with the Princess. He did this for his daughter so she could rescue Mario. No matter how “equal rights” you want to slap onto that, he’s did nothing more than put the male in the role he didn’t want to see his daughter in. A child is impressionable at those ages, and chances are has not even made the discernment between what it is they are doing, instead wanting to play as a female merely because they too are one.

The problem is that you’re looking at things from a gender perspective. If you just look at them as people and recognize that all these choices make perfect sense, instead of hunting for sexism, you’d see that.

1) It’s a gameplay mechanic, she is supposed to back you up without interfering, allowing the player to have fun without having to worry about protecting someone or having them interfere. Without this aspect the entire mechanic of the game is shafted. Moreover, there is no reason for Elizabeth to know how to fight, she was raised in a cage her whole life. The fact that Elizabeth is not only a woman and the single most powerful character in the franchise means something.

There were in fact female troops that the player mangles, they were less common than the men but very much present. If there weren’t it would still make perfect sense. The game takes place in a backwards ass, extreme right society in 1912, a period and place where woman aren’t allowed to join the military or police force.

2) She needed a man’s help to succeed, but in return, Booker needed a woman’s help to succeed. Their genders had nothing to do with it, they needed each other’s skill sets. Without Elizabeth Booker would have died/failed his quest very early on. You’re making us tiptoe a line so narrow that it states we can’t ever have be as or more useful than any female character or ever help them in any crucial way, thus making any and all male heroes completely impossible to implement in any manner that imparts any meaning unto the story.

3) You’re right, that is a big stretch, so big that it’s complete nonsense. Yeah, they don’t overlap one another, and? How does that in any way de-empower women? It’s a bit strange and I think that I’d need to play the game again and carefully examine all this again to really get a good understanding of it, but it’s not sexist. A better explanation would be that with their ability to manipulate time and space it would allow them to resist such an overlap.

2) Daisy required Booker’s help to succeed because he’s the hero of the story. Were Booker not to help her succeed she would be utterly irrelevant and have no reason to be there. The fact is that the leader of the revolution and one of the more powerful characters in the game was a woman. I guess it’s not enough equality to have women in positions of power and influence, no they must succeed without any help from any men, whatsoever. The true sexism here is the idea that males aren’t allowed to contribute by your logic. Also, Daisy didn’t succeed, she failed, she died and then she failed. She got off a good attack and did some real damage to Columbia but she inevitably failed. She was stopped by a man AND a woman, proper gender equality.

1) You prove my point for me, the story wouldn’t be believable if Booker/Comstock were a woman. Going to war in 1912 and ruling a city with prejudiced right wing philosophy in a time when women couldn’t even vote? Yeah, that doesn’t make any sense, none at all.

Oops, grammar mistake
not a native English here

All wrong, elizabeth is allowed to fight, she just doesn’t want to, and she doesn’t like you killing people either, and wtf are you talking about with ‘no female enemies’… Also I’m pretty sure you’ve asked somebody to make a choice that was hard for you before.

Elizabeth didn’t need a man’s help to succeed, she needed anybody’s help to succeed, but a man was told to help her.

If they wanted the Luteces to prove inequality, they would only have made the guy a scientist

You’re just totally wrong about the vox, nuff said…

And finally, nobody can say a game is sexist because they think that the protagonist should have been female… actually if Booker was female, one could argue that it’s sexist because he’s not male, or homophobic because he’s not gay, or racist because he’s not black or discriminates against anything because he’s not it…

And what’s with this line “Do I actually believe Bioshock Infintie is sexist? Hell no. Are the points extreme? That’s par for the course in these arguments.”

Is it a joke or are you making points that you think could be used?

Because either way, this article sucks…. and you spelled Infinite wrong…

UGH, why can’t people just read the last line? Some of these comments are making me lose brain cells from doses of sheer stupidity.

you know when there is something messed up about this woman when your own girlfriend says that she needs a good dicking.

Im sorry but didnt elizabeth rule the entire world at the end and kill daisy? this article is a joke, pick another game to prove sexism exists in video games because this is NOT the right game.

I am deeply offended by your use of the word “ballboy”, the correct term is “sphereperson”. Please adjust accordingly.

So many people just got trolled.

The game takes place in 1912….if gamers are too young or stupid to know that the game reflects the zeitgeist of the early 20th century, they should stick to playing Super Mario where your only main concern is centered around jumping high. That’s a fun HAPPY game! yaaaaaaaay….

The story plot was that her mother died giving birth.. so no he could not be a female. Also without Elizabeth pick locking you wouldn’t get very far so they need each other this has been a waste of my life. )=

This article just shows a lack of research. If you haven’t noticed, there are female enemies, if you look at some of the police officers, they ARE women, and you do in fact HAVE to fight them. Also, Elizabeth doesn’t get to fight? Seriously? She may not get to do that in regular combat, but she kills Daisy. That doesn’t even get some consideration? (Sorry for the spoiler there, but I suspect the majority of you who read this article have already played, and/or beaten the game). It is obvious the author of this article is someone who hasn’t played much of it, or any at all, and just got their facts from Wikipedia.

First of all, Elizabeth does not want to fight. She had never been in a fight until during your first outing with you, and she becomes frightened of you. Secondly, there are lots of female enemies. I have shot several female enemies in this game. The person making these arguments has obviously not played this game. Also, if Booker were a woman, there would no sense to the Bioshock lore. Always a man, always a lighthouse.

Are you serious? Is this some kind of sick joke? No? Sigh. What a f*****g waste. Some game spoilers ahead. The person wrote this obviously hasn’t even played BioShock Infinite. SHE is the sexist here, not the creators. First, there ARE female enemies. I’ve seen some African-American women with guns try to shoot me in this game. I think the “no female enemies” refers to that there aren’t much white women as enemies. The only one I can think of right now is the ghost of Lady Comstock. You hear that? ONE OF THE BOSSES IS A FREAKING WOMAN! Are you stupid?! Second, from my reaction to Elizabeth, it seems like she can’t actually survive on her own. She has no gun training, no experience in fighting, otherwise she would actually fight. I don’t know why she wouldn’t tear open tears like when in combat with booker, maybe she didn’t want people knowing of her ability. This is why she didn’t actually fight at all. My opinion is that the creators didn’t want a lot of help from here in combat otherwise it would’ve been too easy. Third, and call me a sexist if you want, considering this rubbish article, I think the majority of people who play FPS games would look a little bit more at having a male player. There are other video games with female characters however. Fourth, the twins not being equal because of their different gender? F**k. Just f**k. What the heck. That I’m not even gonna rant on since anyone with a right mind knows that this is just eaten dog poop puked up by a cat. In fact, that’s what this entire article is. Obviously no, they’re not the same person because they’re from DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS. They act the same, they talk the same, they dress the same, they’re two different versions of themselves with their difference being their genders. They, essentially, are twins, just not biologically. No one even said they’re ‘real twins’ either. The reason they don’t overlap each other is because they can travel between dimensions. The alternate realities Booker and Elizabeth went to were also entered by the twins, so they don’t overlap each other. To top it off, no one ever said men and women are equal. They’re not. One carries the ability to impregnate, the other has the ability to become pregnant and give birth. Aside from sexual differences, that’s the only general difference between men and women. Fifth, since when did a woman start a revolution? No woman in the ’1910s started a revolution like this. And Daisy was an African-American woman, so she would have a very hard time making one anyway. Booker happens to be a white American. And he’s an actual gun thug. So it seems like he would do wars and shooting and stuff pretty better.

I have never before seen another rubbish piece of writing such as this in my life. She calls this game ‘sexist,’ despite all of the bulls**t she wrote here. People like her will most definitely end up in hell for any life they ever live if they actually say things like this. This “Anita Sarkeesian” has shown just how far people can go with mislead and unjustified opinions on sexism.

It sounds like Anita never played Bioshock Infinite. Anita also sounds like a huge wiener.
Anita = Feminist extremist wiener.

I’m pretty sure Elizabeth carried Booker through half the battles. Also: Rosiland Letuce. Yeah, a woman made Columbia possible. Anita, get your shit together.

did a feminist write this?

Is this a legitimate website? Because this HAS to be a joke.

5. Nobody attacks Elizabeth because Songbird protects her and to Columbia, Songbird might as well be Amon-Ra. There weren’t a whole lot of female combatants in either the Revolutionary or Civil wars either. Perhaps one should note the time period before complaining.

4. Booker can’t even open locked doors without Elizabeth.

3. Men and women aren’t equal. Women have bewbs. And are pretty. Men can’t match that.

2. Ahh whatever…

1. Can’t argue. I’d love way more female action heroes in games, and pick one every time. I’ve seen male action heroes already. But Booker would be a horrible name for a female hero. So…I guess I can argue.

Thank

5 points that prove Damon is an idiot.

Everything he said is wrong in some way. But at this point, everyone and their mother has proven him false, and all Damon cared about was cheap hits, so why bother?

Pointless. Even as a parody this does nothing except clog up the internet! At least doing the arguments for and against each point would have given this some credence but all I have here, in front of me is an article that offers no information or insight beyond what was said by another (actual journalist) Yeah she made a point that may not be true but she was abused by gamers as they did not agree. this is not the way we should conduct ourselves it we believe this to be untrue. As a group we should be assuring these people that only a tiny percentage are that way inclined, that we as a group do not want to be represented that way. Instead you parody her arguments and offer no reassurance that we as a collective do not view it like that.

Actually, there is a female enemy. She’s one of the regular police guys, but they’re certainly women. What a dumbass article.

That was one of the most retarded things i ever read. You really took the time to write alle that stuff?

Try a career as fiction writer.

>Complains about sexism

>Doesn’t consider it’s based on the game’s time

>Says nothing about the racism

Gee, you’re quite the chooser… Be it that it is fictional, it still tries to follow a timeline in the game and to be honest I respect that. It was uncommon for women to “fight” in any way, shape or form so it’s not surprising to me that the game doesn’t feature many women. Now, during the same time there was racism and such too which is why certain scenes are included in the game. Not because the developers are racist or anything.

Personally I think this article was a waste of time, and was almost painful to read. I’m getting pretty sick and tired of people complaining about stuff just for the sake of complaining.

Congratulations on writing the most embarrassingly baiting article in the history of the internet. I sincerely hope you enjoy the .02 percent spike in traffic. I imagine it will be the last time anyone cares what you have to say.

FIRST PARAGRAPH
LAST SENTENCE
READ THEM
FUCKING MORONS

#1 There are plenty of female enemies in the game
#2 Although Elizabeth is booker’s daughter and is the one being “escorted”, she is by far the most powerful character in the game
#3 Although Booker could have been a female character, since the game is marketed towards males, doesn’t really make much sense
#4 Daisy Fitzroy needed weapons…not a man…
#5 The Lutece “twins” are really two versions of the same person…not “twins”…argument does not make sense…

It DOES make a difference for recording purposes if the player had a chance to pick their gender/name, as that significantly increases the amount of recordings necessary to keep the storyline coherent and also make the player feel as if their character has a significant role…

I know the article is kind of tongue in cheek, but it’s just nonsense…

What a pile of shit this article is

And can I say your idea of gender equality is way off. Feminism isn’t about giving women everything men have in a sort of binary, everyone gets one of everything system. Its about getting women the respect and proper treatment they deserve in society. So doing things like making the male protagonist female isn’t gender equality because its just a token gesture that goes against the context set by the time period therefore ruining the story. True gender equality in a game like this is making the female characters plays as an important role in the story as the men, and Bioshock Infinite does that! Elizabeth, Daisy, Rosalind Lutece, they are perform actions that have a dramatic effect on the story and each action is done consciously. It could be argued that the women are more competent in this game as they decide to perform the actions they under take, male characters like Comstock, Fink and Booker all perform actions that change the story dramatically but only make these decisions when blinded by their own xenophobic opinions, their personal drive to make a profit or their suicidal tendencies, respectively. So again, shut you face and remove your head from your ass before you comment on anything we adults talk about.

The first comment is totally wrong because there ARE female enemies in the game (a whole lot less than men but there are women ) also elizabeth does fight enemies but she usually just hides in cover but if an enemy comes close she will kill them plus shes got powers that could f*** booker up in a second. Shes also helpful with ammo/health and salts get ur facts right if you are going to make such a claim. Also it is mostly males that play videogame even though there are loads of female gamers most videogame companies do direct their games toward males (their biggest customer base) step one of marketingremember this you don’t see a big fat hairy dancing around in makeup/hair dye commercials

Why does this article even exist?

who ever wrote this needs to actually play the game as there are many idiotic comments, the worst being no female enemies. as there are on both prophet and vox sides. so check ur crap next time

Did they decide to make a ridiculous article to see what reactions would follow? Such stupidity can’t be intended seriously. I hope.

Also, i killed a shitload of female soldiers in the game. So get that lie out of this article, it pisses me of even more than the rest of it.

Are you fucking kidding me? so if booker was a woman and elizabeth was a man it would be the exact opposite. then we would have another idiotic article but talking about women empowerment. its a game, no one cares about the equality of men and women. they just want to have a good time playing. guaranteed no gamer ever thought of inequality when they played this game. ever.

This article is a troll, right? It’s the only explanation I can think of. Even the silliest of freshman women’s studies students on Jezebel couldn’t take any of these points seriously. Also, EVERY SINGLE POINT IS DEMONSTRABLY INCORRECT. I seriously made a better video game critique in the bathroom this morning.

but…it wasn’t deal with it and make your own game. The entire scenario for this game is turn of the century (the 20th century). It wasn’t exactly a time of gender equality. There are plenty of games with strong female leads and supporting characters. Some aren’t even sexed up. If you don’t like it make us a game and we’ll play it and check it out.

a woman wrote this I imagine.

I think I had my first aneurysm.

Does anyone still take feminism seriously anymore? I mean really? Elizabeth is an educated character that is full of life, good info, and concern for others. They didn’t have to add her. No one owes you anything. You want a female character? Learn how to develop your own games and make a game with a female protagonist, where she has the physical strength of Hodor and the brain of Einstein. Why should a man have to do it for you, since you are equal?

This is all most as bad as Pokemon Black and Blue (Peta parody)

none of you read the first paragraph…smh

This is the dumbest bullshit ever. Every point makes me rage more and will never visit this site again. It must be easy being an online columnist just have down syndrome and pull stuff out your ass, boom there’s an article. Starting on 5) Um, no female enemies? how about Lady Comstock, one of the most formidable boss battles.

If you want to reread the first reason its wrong.
When you try to get tickets to fly there are female enemys. When your sneaking over the roofs in the first second there are female enemys.
Who ever ranted about there being no female enemys needs there eyes checked.

The only strong female characters requiring mens’ help to succeed isn’t sexist. The fact is they needed SOMEONE to help them, and most of society is only aware of two genders. To avoid these arguments being made, everyone in the game would have had to be female. These arguments are sexist because they imply that the fact Elizabeth needed Booker’s help is anything to do with him being a man. Hell, if everyone in the game was female, someone somewhere would still cry sexist because there had to have been men involved at some point for those women to have been born. You just can’t win.

The fuck are you talking about? There were a bunch of female enemies.

Nice strawman, bro.

Does the fact that no feminists are saying things like this about Bioshock Infinite do anything to deflate your smug sense of self-importance?

They even argue and discuss matters with each other so that doesnt seem to me as sexism between them. There are differences between anybody.
2.Daisy requires someone to help her. It is complete coincidence that she finds Booker and gets his help. How would a female even get through all the trouble to help her(explaining this further in 1.).
1. What for a bad image would a female gambeling Pinkerton agent be?? This woman wouldn’t make a believable protagonist selling her child and such. This game just needs a male protagonist to make it a good game.

Concluding, Bioshock Infinite doesn’t contain sexism and in the few points where it does it’s so because of the time(1912) where feminism wasn’t booming and the whole society worked different,
If you want to play a game with a female protagonist, go and play Tombraider!!
P.S. Sorry for my bad English.

Dude, your weak attempt at skewering the very legitimate complaints about the very real sexism in videogames just makes you look like a clueless douchebro who missed the point and is trying to sound intelligent while throwing your own feces.

Started reading this… Got half-way through number Five… Had an uncontrollable urge to put the laptop down and take a nap.

wow this is by far the stupidest thing i’ve year all year every single point in this list is wrong false or would have made for an awful or not as good game.
and to think there are people that believe this stuff.
by the way gullible is written on your ceiling.

Another game about another rugged gunbro who saves the girl, liberates the browns, and goes down to redeem himself and save all the universes in another boring messianic gesture. All while glorifying gun ultra violence.

Nothing but inane, narcissistic masturbation for white boys. That’s Bioshock Infinite.

God what a baby. You can pretend sexism is imaginary if you want. It won’t make you any less of a sexist.

When I played the game, I did see woman enemies. Also in one of the scripted scenes, she fights away a guy trying to grab her. And for number four, i think its the other way around, because remember the asylum part? I cant be the only one who died constantly because she wasnt there to provide ammo and health.

the Arguments presented are half assed at best. the Cloumbian Army had Female Soliders including officers, Elizabeth was a priosoner who had no training, but that wrench she beat me with certainly shows she is willing to assert herself. Rosliand Lutece was arguably more successful then Robert, and the two are oddballs in that they are forcibly separated from the Universe, which grants them thier omnipotence. Daisy Fitzroy did not need a man, she needed an OUTSIDER, and that was the player character.

Point five is incorrect there are female enemies in the beginning. I beheaded a female officer as I recall.

More feminist garbage… BTW men and women aren’t equal as proven by a myriad of scientific studies. BTW feminists, male geniuses out number female geniuses 7:1.

Wow. I just bought this game and completed it within three days. There are n o signs whatsoever of sexism… and I’m a female gamer..

The game is set in 1912 it has to portray sexist and racist points or eles it won’t reflect the time period. Look at Bioshock 1 and 2 where woman had more rights because of raptures freedom laws. So the series is not intentionally sexist nor racists for any other purposes.

The article fails. Not because it’s a silly attempt to label a game as sexist, but it’s a failed attempt to satire straw-feminism.

what a stupid article. did you really play the same game that I did? I was actually surprised by the non-sexist nature of the game (given the time period) in a place where sexism was rampant.

you didn’t see any female enemies? What?? you’re kidding right? there are quite a few female soldiers. are you blind?

didn’t you listen to any of the voxophones? there are several from Lance Corporal Vivian Monroe that were quite impressive. Hellooo. Lance Corporal Female Lady in that era? died for her cause?

Daisy Fitzroy can’t succeed without a man’s help? Isn’t she like the leader of hundreds of men?

Booker should’ve been made a female? What about the “always one man, always one lighthouse” line? Conveniently forget about it?

Urhh I’ve had enough. This so called “article” is embarrassing. The Bioshock makers obviously thought things better than you have. Don’t be a writer. Its quite embarrassing. Thanks

Set in 1912 = sexist, therefore game is sexist and racist, does she not care about the blatant racism? sigh

Those 5 points really don’t mean shit. Game developers shouldn’t have to make female enemies and all that other stuff to prove that they’re NOT sexist.The game is set in 1912; the time when sexism WAS a big deal. If the game is sexist (which it isn’t) it would be an accurate portrayal of how things were back then.

What a bunch of…

Spoilers ahead:

5) Elizabeth clearly stater, during mst of the game, that

she hates killing, but she understand what Booker has to

do to get out of there with her, so she helps him with

ammo and tears.

On the choice of the cage and the baird, is pure

pshycology in that scene, the scene shows that Elizabeth

is trusting in Booker, why? because he got her out of the

tower, even though he has not get her out of Columbia,

he is already a Horo to her.
Also there where many female enemies in the Vox

Populi army, and even a boss fight with Miss Comstock,

so there was plenty of female enemies.

4)Elizabeth is more a help to Booker that Booker is to

her.

She couldn’t scape the tower by the simple fact that her

powers were drained in there, and Booker get her out of

there by the simple fact that he has guns.

Elizabeth didn’tneed Booker to sacrifized himself in

order to achieve her goal, Booker wanted to destroy

Comstock and fix his mistakes with his daughter, the

only way to do it is the way Elizabeth sowed him. See?

Booker nedded Elizabeth to achieve his goal.

3)People overlap their bodies and thus, memories..

because they were dead in a very similar universe

conected to theirs.
Not everyone overlap their bodies and thus, memories.

Look at Booker, he never overlapped with Comstock.

Luteces never died, never overlapped because of this,

and because their universes were very different, also,

overlaping their boddies would be simply impossible

since he has an Y cromosome and she doesn’t.

2) Daisy didn’t required much help from Booker, in fact,

she used him. In the revol universe, Daisy promised

Booker to help him find Elizabeth if he got her guns, but

he died in the process, Daisy then make people believe

he was a martyr to motivate the Vox Populy, but he

wasn’t, he never was a martyr in that universe, was a lie,

a plan she made.

1)Booker’s character works a lot better as a man,

because if he was a woman, that would require her to go

to war, and also become the founder of the greatest city

ever made, all that, in a society full of sexism where

women can’t even vote. That, in that time, is more impossible that a floating city.

Answering your final questions:
There were female enemies besides Daisy.
It would be a radical change to the plot to change the character’s apearience, as I said, because Comstock being a woman is impossible.

PS: I’m sorry for my bad english, is not my mother language.

No female enemies?
I thought I found some. They arent FEMALE?

this is the most idiotic article I’ve ever read, and I am a big advocate for feminism and gender equality and representation in games.

Looked at thier other works they just another agenda pushing fuckhead of a “jounalist” this person should be fired oh wait they are getting payed to pull punches with this and other s absolute bullshit articles up

do me and everyone else a favor you twat stop writing shit articles that are and become leave this idustry the hell alone.

the point that PROVES this is click-bait.
by stating that this is click-bait, i have proven that it is, indeed, click-bait.

Obviously you know nothing about history, otherwise you’d realize the implications of the time period in which this game takes place.

This is a horrible article. Anita didn’t try to make any of these points or even mention Bioshock Infinite in her videos. This poor excuse for a journalist just made up a bunch of ridiculous false statements and alluded that they were made by Anita in an effort to get people to discount her as a blowhard extremist rather than listening to what she has to say. If you actually take a few minutes to hear her out the gist of what she says that game designers should spend a little more time thinking about the plot mechanics they use and any potential unintended consequences they may have on how society as a whole views women.

Wow, this is a stupid article. Just, wow.

Useless articles like this are why people think sexism is a joke. Which diminishes real sexism when it happens. Same issue happens with racism, people cry it at the drop of a hat, so when it actually does happen people don’t pay much attention and just assume it’s just more ridiculous bullshit.

Most of these points don’t even make sense and disregard character. This isn’t sexism, it’s a game with a male lead and a female sidekick who is her own character.

The number one point is the stupidest of them all. Just because a character can be female doesn’t mean the character should be. Actually, by trying to prove this character could of been female is in itself sexist.

The only reason that needs to be made is this: this isn’t an era accurate game, so one doesn’t even have to be so foolish as to break it down in that way.

If you don’t think there’s sexism in gaming, I’m sorry, but you are dumb.

If you think that men and women are already completely equal in modern society, I’m sorry, but you are dumb.

The idea that there is this underground army of ‘feminists’ out there that are just these vile trolls waiting to demonize all the things you love as sexist because they hate men and want to be superior to them is just fucking stupid. You’re arguing against something that isn’t real.

If you don’t get what feminism actually means, you should probably not pretend that you do. Just sit down, be quiet, and let the grownups talk.

If you are “correct” then why didn’t Booker overlap Comstock when he passed into his alternate time line? This is only one of many contradicting facts within this article, who ever wrote evidently did no research at all.

sooo you want gender equality? then when u get punched in the face buy a guy for being a bitch dont scream out OMG U CANT HIT A GIRL! and dont complain when ur told to lift something heavy. you say you want gender equality but deep down inside u know u love the fact u women have privileges in the real world over us men.

so as a feminist did u even play this game fully? i highly doubt it, this game while in its unrealistic setting (floating city as u called it) is following history where women typically didnt fight, and black people were slaves. didnt see anything mention about all the black slaves or do u only care about the sexism u think u see? what about the couple at the start of the game? the white guy about to be stoned on stage for dating a black slave?

the game was made like this for a reason woman if it was the other way around then alot of parts wouldnt make sense, maybe ur a guy in the game because majority of gamers are guys?

ehhh, in the end miss feminist, u just make me sick, u make me want to find the nearest girl and just punch her in the face for ur inability to see anything past ur narrow minded point of view. die..

I dont have time or even the effort to get into this. This article is just pathetic. Maybe all games should be all made with a-sexual characters so no one can bitch. Hell lets just remove the story of all games ’cause one person might get offended about one thing. IE a religious moment in a game (cough). This game rocked and I couldn’t give a shit who saves who. Or if i get digitally baptized. I am not religious therefore i found it so pathetic someone who was actually got a refund for the act. People seriously need to take chill pills. There are reasons people just don’t like people anymore; no tolerance. I myself have NO tolerance for ridiculous people CASE- END POINT. Can believe i spend so much time on this utterly useless string of words

This is fucking ridicules. this game is set in 1912 when women couldn’t even vote. in those times a woman’s place was the kitchen and the housewife they didn’t have sway anywhere in society until about 1947. obviously now it’s nothing like the 1912′s all the game designers are doing is staying true to real life.

its also the time the game takes place women didn’t get equal rights until the 60s this game puts Columbia as the utopia of that time and increased stereotypes it might show some racism but it does also evolve Elizabeth character over time.

damon you’re a fucking idiot, this entire post is bullshit, get your facts staight before writing something on the internet, sexist my ass

1. Screw feminists. They are on whole lunatic fringe just like Muslim extremists. Us males don’t complain when you have females completely dominating men in games like Beyond Good and Evil. But if god forbid of Bioshock doesn’t do this formula, omg everyone with a vagina start crying rivers! They are agenda driven, NOT logic driven. These peoples’ extreme elements are supportive of prepubescent kids having gender bending shows like Shezow and having kids have transgender surgeries before their hormones kick in and they can figure it out.

2. Games makers should not strive to disrespect male audiences since WE made them popular despite the stigmatism gamers had for their hobby, the media assaults such as with Jack Thompsons, Hillary Clintons, and Leibermans. The female audience as a whole did not trudge through like we did through unpopularity.

3. The ladies have games as well. Femshep? Skyrim. I mean these are top selling titles. The trend gets better and in some cases more ridiculous. So there is no excuse for feminists to turn their granny panties into thongs for no reason.

4. WHO cares really? Beyond the typical lone person who wants to be hipster and hate the main consensus like that old idiot that says “nay” in the Simpsons, most people liked the game. Everyone is going to complain about something. I can guarantee you people hated games like Zelda Ocarina of Time. These people’s opinion are not based on fact and reason. Just their warped personal preference.

To be quite honest the article might be sexist…if taking a stance as extreme as this to prove sexism only comes from a sexist viewpoint perhaps? =P

The Lutece twins are more than just twins… They are the same person, just different gender.. Honestly it’s like you didn’t focus on the game when you played.

I won’t venture into any intellectual debates and only say this; Please don’t ruin video games with all your bullshit.

Game developers are not conduction social experiments or trying to reflect the ideal you might have. It’s merely for entertainment.

There are female enemies in the game. There are female founders as well as female vox that are hostile and you can kill them.

Who the hell cares if a game features a man or a woman, that doesn’t prove or say anything that women aren’t equal to men.. And again, do we all need to take in accounting that ‘men’ play video games and hardly no women do?? Women are allowed to vote and do everything the same as a man but video games is where a man can succeed and feel like a man. People debating on whether video games are sexist or not is as pointless as a man complaining that only women are allowed to give birth and that it’s sexitst that men aren’t.

As to point 1, Booker was one of the pinkerton boys. That was one of his major plot points that the things he did as part of that group mentally scarred him. There were no female pinkerton boys (as noted by the name). So if they made booker female then they would have to scrap that entire story arc, drastically altering his character background, or show no respect for the players’ intelligence.

It fits the period the game isn’t sexist the time period itself was sexist in real life.

“Bullshit”

Honestly, when I was playing this game I always felt like Elizabeth was the main character. She was the center of the entire story line and she was the character that persevered in the end. I probably would have enjoyed the game more if you got to play as Elizabeth.

I would have loved to play the game if it had the choice to play a female protagonist. Same goes with the Assassin’s Creed games. I can’t be the only one feeling this way, the developers are probably missing out quite a few sales because of this.

So so so dumb.

5) Elizabeth can fight she just chooses not to and there are female enemies. 4) no comment 3)The lutece twins are the same people from diffrent universes 2)she has an ARMY! 1) it dosent matter if booker is a man or woman either way it would have been a good game.

She’s my (Booker’s) daughter
of course she needs my help <3

The game is intentionally sexist. It takes place in 1914, and in a very rigid society. And there ARE female enemies, several to be exact. Whoever made this list has obviously never played the game.

This is actually a fascinating thread. What strikes me though as disturbing is the level of bitter hatred sometimes directed toward women in general and feminists in particular. I think feminism isn’t really some (flawed) argument for equality, but an argument against the underlying hatred that causes inequality. There were so many vicious and bizarrely emotional responses from men; I wonder why they feel so attacked?

there were absolutely female cops and it was absolutely crucial to the story that Booker was an amry leader who, as comstock, becameaa religious fanatic convert. Damon you are as big a fool as these feminists who are just looking for something tocomplain about

There were plenty of female soldier’s

5) Elizabeth DOES kill people several times. Once by sumoning a tornado, she is the one killing daisy fitzroy with a pair of scisors and all the people from new york once she takes her role as the seed of the profet. There are also alot of female policewomen and female vox atacking you the whole game.

4) You could also look at the way that a child needs a grown up’s help to succed. You’re the one who came there with a key that she did not have access too. Also numberous times she does hit you uncouncious and she is also the one saving your life. This does look to me more like two people helping each other rather then you constantly helping her out.

3)Maybe because men and women are NOT equal? Different is not something bad and it is something to be celebrated not discouraged. Neither is superior to other. Also the female Lutece allways seems to be the one wining the bets and the one wining arguments. While the male is the one who keeps rowing.

2)Daisy Fitzroy is the leader of a group and she is a WOMAN, and a BLACK in an age where blacks were being second class citisens. She is helped by both men adn women achieving her goal.

1) I honestly wouldn’t care if the main cast was male or female, not for one second did i try to judge this like the author of this sad post did.

OP please hang yourself because you are corrupting the gene pool with your extra chromosome.

You’d be rather wrong on the Lutece(s). They’re so equal that they’re practically interchangeable if you don’t focus on superficial gender aspects. Rosalind and Robert are the same person for all intents and purposes. This same person is capable of interacting with multiple bodies simultaneously. The degree to which you emphasize their differences (choose the bird OR the cage instead of the bird and the cage {note the key shown in the rescue scene}) is the degree to which you emphasize one side of the dichotomy more than the other.

You make some excellent points and you present the counter arguments well. I can dig but on a few points I disagree. Mainly in Bioshock infinite there is a female enemy type. One of the cops is a woman. She usually carries a pistol and gives orders. That doesn’t sound sexist.

Obviously you haven’t played the game or else you would know that often when you fight the “footsoldiers” there is a FEMALE commander who is yes STRONGER than her male grunts but also COMMANDS them saying things like “Flank him” or “Don’t let him out of your sights.”

Oh boy.
I wonder if the author is an extreme feminist.
I wonder.
Seriously? I… Seriously? I can’t even… Ugh. All of these points are forced and absolutely none of them are valid. There’s one thing to want equality in genders then there’s just simply wanting everything to revolve around women. Your only reason for Booker being a female character is “because he could’ve been”. There is way too much wrong with this deluded article for me to even start.

I thought the game was set in some parallel version of the later 1800′s?
In those days gender equality was certainly not something that was even thought of, since the game is set in that world, not to mention the out-dated beliefs of the people of Columbia (racism for example) I wouldn’t expect Zachery Comstock to be a strong believer in gender equality. So why would he have female soldiers?
Not to mention the fact that Elizabeth is disgusted when she first sees you kill someone and calls you a “Monster”. Her character would have been completely unbelievable if she had gone from a young girl who has spent her entire life isolated and is sickened by the sight of death to a person who is willing not only to take the life of someone else but also to be ABLE to kill one of the trained guards although she has never used a weapon in her life.

shit. *because

Yeah, gee, who would’ve guessed that a woman would need a man’s help in the 1950′s, one of the more sexist decades in US history.

This entire list is retarded.

I thought those were all valid points, actually. But if there is sexism in the game, it’s because our culture is sexist. The game is a product of our culture. Pointing out sexism in a game isn’t about criticizing the game (because Bioshock is awesome), it’s just about raising awareness about commonly accepted gender biases, so mainstream that they become internalized.

I can barely respond to this.This is asinine….

This post gave me cancer

Don’t mistake this mad twit with being a feminist. It’s idiots like this that give rational feminists a bad name. She’s just a misandrist who’s obviously unhappy unless she’s hating on men.

One could argue that the entire setting of the game reflected the culture of the historical period which it was set in – a time which was far more sexist than today. I believe if you listen carefully to the snippets of back story hidden around the place, there’s even a tongue-in-cheek reference to Rosalind Lutece’s gender in relation to her profession as a scientist. Elizabeth’s “damsel in distress” role is intended as a stereotype because it is later challenged as the character develops, culminating in the ending (which I won’t ruin for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet).

you do fight female soldiers particularly when you start to fight the vox populi…

bull shit

Its clear to see that the person who argued has certainly NOT played the game

Such a sensationalist “click on me” title for something that you instantly disown in the opening paragraph — Stop writing for this horrible website. You’re better than that.

Does it really matter? The game was very good, shouldn’t we be forcing on that more than whether it had sexism in it? Besides since some people are more strong or wise does not make them sexist in any way? We are all different, no matter if we are females or males. Yes men tend to be strong but this does not make it true about all males, nor does it mean woman can’t be as strong. This goes the same for intelligence and all other types of traits. It’s just who we are and what we chose to believe in. For example, Booker lived a life filled with war and death and it makes sense for him to fight, as for Elisabeth it makes sense for her not wishing death (as seen when she runs away from Booker because he killed someone) from her years of living in a tower. The game also showed how someone can change no matter what sex, which can be shown from looking at Elisabeth at the beginning (from her manners and how she acts) and then looking at how much she changed at the end. The same can be said about Booker, for I found him more distanced and cold at the start, but near the end he became warm and kind towards Elisabeth. So I honestly don’t see the Sexism nor do I think it’s an important thing to forces on, for we are all born whether male or female it doesn’t matter, the same goes for what races you are or how you look. The most importation thing is that anyone can change for the good or worst, and can make a difference in anyone’s life. As for laws, I believe that males and females should be accountable the same way, or as close to it as possible, however let’s just forces on the game being very good and hope for Bioshock 4 to come soon :).

(I’m not very wise so I may or may not be right, but it’s what I believe.. ^_^ .)

Okay, first off.

If you would ever have payed attention in the game, you would know that Elizabeth’s roles and help aren’t sexist. That’s just her role. Booker DeWitt freed Elizabeth and she in turn did what she could to help. She’s not a killer. In fact, she asks Booker (MULTIPLE TIMES) if he had ever gotten used to killing so many people and even goes on to feel remorse after she kills Daisy Fitzroy.

Also, You choose to focus SPECIFICALLY on that she needed a man’s help. Yeah, she would have needed anyone’s help. The fact that Booker was that person and that HE saved her does not make it sexist.

Those last two are simply your opinion. The reason there were no female enemies are because that is the point of the game. Columbia looks like paradise at first glance, but upon further notice you discover a community of sky-racists and class warfare. During the 1910′s, women weren’t allowed to join the army, simply be in the nurse corps.

Bioshock Infinite was an OUTSTANDING game, going even so far as to tackle, of all things, quantum mechanics. And you choose this, this…

..feminist bullshit.

So I, quite frankly, do not give a flying fuck

Clickbait

This is the dumbest thing I EVER read.

guys, if women were in charge we would just be discovering fire. nuff said

More Anita Sarkeesian bullshit. “Oh the main character is male, nothing stopped the developers from making it female, therefore it’s sexist”

Give me a break.

I think its kind of a poor way to open up a topic with a fact that’s incorrect.

“No Female Enemies”
I gotta ask, how the hell do you skip over the obviously female troops that bombard Booker with bullets in some of the first areas in Columbia? You can over exaggerate things to your own interpretation like how Elizabeth was forced to bend to Booker’s (very limited and surface deep) choices in the game, but god damn at least do some research if you want the readers to know you’re not some copy and paste flame starting journalist.

Well said Manhattan_project_2000 another point to add. The time period says it all as well. Women had no rights then, so to go along with manhattan projects point, no woman could’ve joined the army

I’d say Bioshock infinite isn’t really sexist until the most recent DLC, where elizabeth went from an interesting character to a hashed attempt at tying infinite into the rest of bioshock franchise, by making her less interesting, less powerful, and highly boring.

>character creation section
>FPS
pick one

Burial at Sea II makes this whole article laughably wrong, so I’m going to focus on Infinite itself.

5) Because she was locked in a tower with nothing but books for most of her early life. And there WERE female enemies.

4) Booker required a woman’s help to succeed. Why is this a thing? “A human being required another human being’s help to succeed, so obviously the game is racist/sexist/speciesist.” By the end of the game, she’s borderline-godlike, and the final scene is her drowning Booker.

3) No, they don’t. Go back and read the lore. The whole point was that they were ‘blown up’ and scattered through space and time.

2) See point four.

1) “Should have?” Awfully strong wording for an argument that amounts to “Well, it wouldn’t have hurt.” Maybe it wouldn’t have, but what’s the problem with him being male?

LOL Anita Sarkeesian is a laughing stock of exaggeration, blurred lines and generalization. Proving her wrong has become somewhat of a dead horse by now.

Let me sum up every feminist complaint on sexism in media, ever: it has a man that is not shamed for having a penis, therefore it is sexist and oppressing women’s rights special treatment.

Dumb article.Why not make him black? This is quasi-thinking at best.

am just going to point out THAT THERE ARE FEMALE SOLDIERS! that is all.

You can put that into ANY FKNG game if you want to, that’s so stupid. Gawd, could please someone make that woman shut the fck up?

This game was based in the early 1900s……..the world was very sexist back then

stfu. this article is garbage…

its crap like this that makes it impossible to have an actual discussion about sexism or equality.

“Are the points extreme? That’s par for the course in these arguments.”

Translation, I don’t take this topic seriously so I just wrote a shock article for attention.

What a waste of pixels. Even if true, I doubt the target audience gives a damn. I know I don’t so… so what?

If you read this and you’ve played Bioshock Infinite then you know what I mean about this article being hogwash. The only “Valid” point there would be the final one about Booker/Comstock being female, but let’s face it. Booker/Comstock being female wouldn’t work because Comstock is looked as a authority figure/Profit and the time they are in wouldn’t work with a female leader because it was a sexist racist time. This fucking article is complete shit. An article with invalid points that just doesn’t make any sense.

Lol, i like how Feminists call every little thing sexist because it doesn’t kiss their feet. This game also involves racism and religion among other controversies. This game was set in the late 1800s where all of these topics were a product of their time. If they changed anything it would completely ruin the delicate and deep story. It’s the COMPANY’s game, they’ll make the story how THEY want to, not you or any other radical feminists/extremists of any other group. Geezus people, learn to grow a thicker hide or avoid the game entirely instead of trying to change it because it made you wet your diapers.

go fuck yourself writer of this article

I bet a woman wrote this.

I wasn’t going bother reading this since your disdain for feminism was so clearly made in the first paragraph. But I did, and while I don’t agree with Sarkeesian’s opinion, I do still think you’re an ass. You could have presented this as a reasoned, intelligent, argument as to why you disagree with her. Instead you you presented it as proof that all feminists are unreasonable radical feminazi extremists. We aren’t. Some of us are just sick of listening to the knee-jerk misogynist bullshit that comes out of the mouths of men like you.

Umm- Booker could not have been female, because he couldn’t of fought in *any* of the battles at the time that led him to his decision, to his Schrodinger’s cat.

I actually found it not to be sexist at all, and I’m good at spotting that sort of thing. It would be unrealistic to think that Elizabeth would be able to fight after being in the tower. She had her own skills and was her own person, despite having been stuck in a tower all that time. And in a way, Carstark was afraid of her. He wanted her to take over for him but he was also afraid of her. Thus, he had to keep her in a tower and condition her. But anyways, it’s a little too much to explain everything I think about this story – it is too awesome, and it’s a little reaching to me to call this sexist at all.