Sexism, misogyny and online attacks: It’s a horrible time to consider yourself a ‘gamer’
Patrick O'Rourke
| August 28, 2014
| Last Updated: Aug 28 9:33 PM ET
More from Patrick O'Rourke | @Patrick_ORourke
More from Patrick O'Rourke | @Patrick_ORourke
ScreenshotAnita Sarkeesian's Feminist Frequency examines common tropes in video games.
COMMENT
Feminist Frequency and
Anita Sarkeesian’s
latest video, Women as Background Decoration (part 2), is thought-provoking, eye-opening and most importantly accurate.
In her latest video Sarkeesian examines how non-playable female characters in video games are often only used as objects of sex and violence. She discusses notable titles like
Hitman Absolution,
Bioshock: Infinite,
Watch_Dogs
and massive franchises like the Grand Theft Auto and the
God of War
series.
In general, Feminist Frequency’s videos have opened my eyes to the disturbing manner women are frequently portrayed in video games in a way I’ve often never fully considered before, and in the future will likely change the critical lens I look at video games through.
Unfortunately the video has been met with a wash of controversy and self-professed “real gamers,” afraid their beloved franchises will be influenced by the feminist masses (which is most certainly a good thing), have turned to various online communities, lashing out in hate-filled tantrums. Sometimes their disgust has bubbled up in very frightening ways and has gone so far as to dox — the act of releasing personal information on the internet — Sarkeesian’s home address and threaten her with horrifying physical violence.
Just for creating an intelligent video series that examines popular video game franchises from a feminist perspective, something that frequently occurs within other popular culture mediums, Sarkeesian has been driven out of her own home because of these death threats. For a group who frequently wants the medium of video games to be taken seriously, it seems strange that many people who identify as gamers are so unaccepting of criticism, especially of the feminist variety.
Even prominent figures in the video game industry like Tim Schafer, one of the creators of the
Monkey Island
adventure game series and owner of Double Fine Productions, were subsequently attacked for supporting Sarkeesian’s videos and her cause.
@JonTronShow @TimOfLegend can you people just leave my games alone? No women gave a fuck about gaming pre 2005 can you fuck off please???—
Kamal Noor (@KNoor1997) August 26, 2014
Over the last few weeks, in light of the recent Feminist Frequency controversy and the fiasco that has stemmed from various online communities attacking indie game developer Zoe Quinn and her title
Depression Quest, the term “gamer,” a word I once frequently identified with, has taken on increasingly negative connotations.
These gamers, who often frequent online video game communities’ comment sections, evangelizing what the term means in the context of their own twisted worldview, see themselves as the gatekeepers of the gaming community. They want to keep video games, now a multi-billion dollar industry enjoyed by a wide variety of people and genders, confined to solely focus on appealing to young men, a group that the gaming industry has already targeted for decades.
“Keep your feminist views out of
my
video games,” is a sentiment frequently repeated in various online gaming communities.
However, according to a recent
Entertainment Software Association (EA) survey, more adult women (36%), actually play games than young males (17%) and this trend has been increasing incrementally since around 2005. In fact, the number of women playing games on mobile devices and consoles has risen to account for approximately 48% of the entire market.
In terms of the Zoe Quinn controversy, a complicated intertwining of mostly personal issues that have somehow burst into a very public harassment campaign, many of the individuals attacking her hide behind the guise of a crusade against journalistic corruption, and the idea of “taking back” video games from an army of “social justice warriors” and feminists, in order to justify their brutal attacks.
Handout/Ubisoft
Assassin’s Creed III Liberation is one of the few video games to depict women in a positive light, although even it is still problematic.
They frequently cite how Quinn was in a relationship with a journalist at gaming news site Kotaku when an article mentioning her was published. Unsurprisingly their allegations and numerous angry, inflammatory YouTube videos, have been proven false, although Kotaku
another popular gaming website, Polygon, have acquiesced to changing certain guidelines around transparency in coverage.
As someone who sees video games as a large part of their life and values the medium as more than just simple, silly “games,” the toxic attitude of much of the core gaming audience is disgusting and at times even terrifying.
Questioning the integrity of journalists who cover video games, an industry often more difficult to cover than many people tend to assume and that is also frequently heavily influenced by gaming PR, is a worthy cause, but pretending ensuring journalistic integrity is the focus behind the attacks on Quinn is laughable.
So as the gaming industry becomes increasingly aware of the often horrible way it frequently treats women, both as fictional characters in video games and in terms of game developers and even just working within the video game industry, the big question is: Where do we go from here?
Better video game story lines featuring female characters that go beyond just being love interests or figurative damsels in distress is a great place to start. Some titles have already begun to do this, most notably
The Last of Us
and the game’s expansion, Left Behind, where much of the game is focused on Ellie, an interesting, multi-dimensional young woman.
Square-EnixThe recent Tomb Raider reboot is a for the most part positive example of video games progressing with how they depict women.
Lara Croft in the most recent
Tomb Raider
reboot, although some of the game was problematic, and Ubisoft’s
Assassin’s Creed: Liberation, are two other notable titles. But examples of positive female characters in gaming are rare and this is a serious problem the industry suffers from.
It’s also important that people like myself and those that play games in general become increasingly aware of the gender biases present in many of the titles we enjoy so much.
Although the way I view games has changed and evolved over the years, particularly after watching Sarkeesian’s series, it’s still possible to enjoy and revere these titles, while still being critical of some of their more problematic issues, particularly when it comes to their portrayal of women.
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Topics:
FP Tech Desk,
Post Arcade,
Anita Sarkeesian,
Feminist Frequency,
Playstation 4,
Video games,
Xbox One,
Zoe Quinn
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