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Quick trigger warning: a collection of possibly disturbing screenshots and concept arts from AAA games below!
Preface
Misogyny in games is everywhere and almost as old as popular games are. I love games, I work in games, I play games, games are awesome, powerful and wonderful. But the way the games industry and community treats roughly 50% of the human population is a giant festering ugly tumor, right in our favorite cultures’s face.
Considering the damage misogyny in games does to pop culture and to society at large (games are a large cultural force now), I find myself always flabbergasted at the consorted and massive efforts from gamers to keep things as disgusting as they are, whenever someone speaks up against it.
Instead of joining forces with people, who care enough to make games better for all of us and, yes, help women get a better standing in society, gamers get defensive. They play the victim, rationalize, become offensive and even resort to hostile attacks and vandalism.
This is not helping. It is generating additional damage to our culture, in fact. Whatever the aspect of games, the community or themselves it is, they get so protective about… they are completely poisoning and deforming it, by their own misguided actions defending misogyny in games.
Recent target of various forms of underserved vile by the thin-skinned heterosexual male gamer community is Anita Sarkeesian. She must to be a very very scary person for the male establishment, considering the massive amounts of preemptive warfare directed at her (including cyber attacks). Sarkeesian, a feminist popculture critic (and a very good one, I might add) is currently running a kickstarter project, which you totally need to check out and support.
This article is kinda written in, at least mental, support for her. We need more Sarkeesians and Borderhouses to make people more media savvy and get the discussion going. And we need more reasonable and serious attempts at finding common ground from publishers, developers and gamers, instead of pro-misogyny apologetics.
Here are 14 common defenses, deconstructed and answered:
1. It’s not misogyny.
What is argued:
Misogyny is about hating women. Displaying scenarios, where you save them and appreciating the female body has nothing to do with hating them.
Reply:
Yes, it is.
Dismissing the term misogyny, when it comes to the overwhelming sexualization of women and the objectification of women, is just a result of you not knowing your definitions correctly. Here it is:
“Misogyny …. is a central part of sexist prejudice and ideology and, as such, is an important basis for the oppression of females in male-dominated societies. Misogyny is manifested in many different ways, from jokes to pornography to violence to the self-contempt women may be taught to feel toward their own bodies.” – Allan G. Johnson
Basically, misogyny is not necessarily the explicit expression of hatred or even dislike towards women. Prejudice targeted at women is enough here. The default treatment of female characters as less, than male characters is misogyny. The frequent sexualization of female members of the community is misogyny. The casual use of gendered insults is misogyny.
It is understandable, that single instances of misogyny are sometimes hard to recognize as such. But looking at the overall picture, connecting the dots and recognizing patterns, makes it impossible to define misogyny out of existence here.
Own up or change.
2. It’s just words and pictures.
What is argued:
The way women are depicted in games and the gendered language gamers use are just words and pictures. There is no actual harm in that. If people would stop being offended, there wouldn’t be a problem.
Reply:
There is actual harm and damage resulting from derogatory words and pictures. Especially, when they are tolerated, accepted and even defended by a group.
This is some of what misogynistic language and imagery in games does:
– psychological harm: women get marginalized, humiliated and devalued by social peers.
– trivialization of sensitive issues: Issues like gender inequality, rape and domestic violence become elements of entertainment and slip into the realm of acceptable defaults. This makes it harder for the conversation about those issues in real life to be clear and productive. This is especially dangerous with issues like rape and domestic violence for example, where there are already tons of social barriers, misunderstandings and prejudices, keeping victims from pressing charges.
– save haven for real haters: Truly committed women haters have an environment for their hate speech, in which they rarely get challenged and sometimes even get defended.
– encouragement of abuse: Men willing to physically dominate and abuse women get positive reinforcement of their values.
– damage to culture image: The games community displays itself currently as a misogynistic group of people. This makes it harder for games to be accepted as meaningful hobby, valuable field of work or form of art.
– exclusion of 50% of the worlds population: Misogyny and even just strongly male-centered content is alienating for female audiences, making games less attractive for women, hindering industry growth and development.
– institutional discrimination: When a group with identifiable values becomes big enough, the market responses and institutions start offering goods and services tailored to the identified values. Misogyny becomes a business strategy and developers, publishers, print media and sites embrace it to increase revenue.
The thing is, words and pictures are neither sent nor received in a vacuum. YOur words have consequences.
Own up or change.
3. Some of my best friends are women.
What is argued:
I don’t have anything against women. I like women and nothing I do is meant to disrespect them. So stop calling me out for being misogynistic.
Reply:
Saying a gamer is misogynistic because of his behavior and saying one needs to be misogynistic to like how women are used in games is an assertion. Granted. Therefore it is a poor criticism argument. Granted. But here are the 2 buts:
But 1. The negative consequences listed under paragraph 2 are occurring as a result of your gendered language and your preferences towards misogynistic media as a consumer… not as a result of your inner feelings. You believing that you respect women does not offset the negative effects of you not treating women respectfully.
But 2. Once you are pointed towards the negative effects of your behavior (a simple “that’s insulting to me” should suffice), you need to adjust your behavior. Or you need to own up to the fact, that you value the way video games and language between gamers currently are higher than the social well being of women and higher than the social health of games as a culture.
Either way, saying you don’t meant to do harm, but deciding to continue to do so, do not go together.
Own up or change.
4. It’s Freedom of Speech! So shut up!
What is argued:
Stop complaining. I have the right to say whatever I want. You just can’t handle the freedom of speech.
Reply:
Using this argument is completely missing the point of the discussion, missing the point of “the freedom of speech” and involuntarily self-ironic.
First of all, nobody is prohibiting you from speaking. When someone tries to force you to stay silent about an issue, either by physical force, blackmail or lawsuit… we can talk rights. As long as somebody is just criticizing how you exercise your free speech, rights are no issue.
Second of all, the first amendment of the US Bill Of Rights, where “freedom of speech” is defined, guarantees only that the government will not create laws that prohibit you from speaking freely. There is nothing about “You have the right to say what you like and everybody has to be cool with that.” in this document or anything similar.
And third of all, telling somebody to shut up because there is freedom of speech is completely self-defeating. Whoever is criticizing you is just exercising his or her own freedom of speech.
It comes down to “rights” does not mean “right”. The Constitution guarantees you the right to be mean, derogatory and misogynistic, if you wish. That does not make it okay.
Own up or change.
5. I don’t like to be told, what to do.
What is argued:
Do not tell me what to do. I do not tell you what to do either.
Reply:
Social groups have rules. They have laws, conventions, etiquette and courtesy. You probably wait in line at a cashier, you pay for stuff you want to have, you say “thanks” and “your welcome” occasionally, you don’t verbally insult your boss… you do all those and similar things to socialize, to foster relationships and to simply be treated with courtesy in return. (Assuming you are no misanthrope.)
In that regard, it is already sad enough that one has to tell you that you need to change your behavior towards women in games. But then also rejecting that demand clearly articulates that you do not see women worthy of your courtesy, which is misogyny.
Own up or change.
6. C’mon. It’s just how video games are.
What is argued:
Video games have always been like that. Video games are stupid and silly. So why bother?
Reply:
No they have not always been like that. Before video games became a popular medium, in the early 80s, they where a playground for programmers and computer geeks. Around 1984, when the first movie licensed games and the arcades came up and games became part of popculture, suddenly marketers jumped on the one dominant demographic… men and boys.
There is nothing intrinsic about the medium itself, that makes it misogynistic. The culture is like that because people make it so. Because companies market to male audiences and male gamers behave like they own the place. For decades.
Own up or change.
7. Sexism goes both ways. But do we complain?
What is argued:
Men are as much stereotyped as women. They get to be the violent musclebound guy with the big guns. But do you see us be up in arms about that? No we relax and enjoy games for what they are.
Reply:
Yes, men and women both get stereotyped in games. But there is 2 very important differences here.
First, muscles and guns represent power. When men get stereotyped they get stereotyped as the powerful dominant force. While when women get stereotyped, they end up as the damsel in distress, helpless, weak, sexually available, submissive.
Also the stereotypes for men and women play into the real world ideas of the patriarchy, we are living in. Elevating the men as the powerful deciding group and degrading women to something men need to handle. Video game stereotypes of men and women are reenforcing real life misogyny.
Stereotyping in and out of itself value free. Positive or negative depends on the preconceptions that get represented by a stereotype. So, yes, there are gendered tropes for male characters also, but the women definitely get the short end of the stick here.
Own up or change.
8. You sound like a broken record.
What is argued:
Yeah, we know, alright. You are not getting support, when you are so damn persistent. Give it a break.
Reply:
This is as if you are telling the doctor not to tell you that you are sick. The diagnosis is not the problem… the problem is the problem. Sticking your fingers in your ears does not solve anything.
If you really are annoyed about the repeated criticism, you do not need to read the article or watch the video. As simple as that. There is no need to ask someone to cut it out, except if you want that person to stop expressing his or her views in general. Do not disguise your attempt at silencing a person with dishonest strategic advice, as if you share the expressed views and just want to help.
Own up or change.
9. You discriminate against men.
What is argued:
You hate men! You want men to look bad. You want to take our rights away and/or punish us.
Reply:
Yes, there needs to be privileges taken away for men to make room for more consideration for women. It’s called affirmative action not discrimination and it is necessary to help an oppressed group get the footing they need to break free from that oppression.
There is no need to insert anger, revenge, grudge, envy towards men here. Feminism is not about punishing males. It is about empowering females.
Currently, heterosexual men have almost all the seats at the gaming table and some of those seeds need to be cleared, if women are to sit there as well. There is just no way around it. If you care about women in games, you will have to sacrifice a big chunk of male centered stories in favor of allowing female centered stories and IPs for example. Men are not the victim here.
Own up or change.
10. Can’t we have a little fun?
What is argued:
We like sexy women naked in our games. We like sex in our games. We like violence in our games. You want to make all this go away. That’s not okay. That’s censorship!
Reply:
There is a room in misogyny in games as in any other popculture medium. Those rooms are called genres. There is porn, torture porn, horror, schlock, trash, exploitation. Tropes from these film genres are the default tropes for many video games. Your demand will fuel a market. You will get your stuff.
There is even a place for real life domination and violence against women. With a proper basis of trust and clear rules, there is the kink scene, where people consent to tie each other up, inflict pain, sometimes even tissue damage. All in the name of excitement, escapism, katarsis and fun. Also contact sports, where consenting adults engage in regulated fights.
Misogyny should not be a default. When there is proper labeling, every desire can be fair game, when only involving consenting adults. Your fear is not, that you wont get what you want any longer. You fear, that your preferences in games will become the same niche interest like they are in other media.
Own up or change.
11. It totally makes sense in the story of the game.
What is argued:
Nobody enjoys seeing women getting hurt or degraded. Displays that might seem misogynistic are added into games because they bring the story forward and enhance it. They need to be there. It makes total sense.
Reply:
Whatever story situation or context needs a display of a woman being objectified, sexualized, hurt or otherwise devalued, is created by the writers. Writers write stories and whatever happens in that story is prepared and embedded there by a writer.
Even with historic scenarios, where certain events are already defined, the writer can decide what to show, how long, how often and if he wants to add something to offset potentially questionable scenes.So, any scene that contains misogynistic messages is there, because someone wanted it to be there. There is always an alternative to misogyny in storytelling. Always.
Own up or change.
12. Aren’t you used to it by now?
What is argued:
Why do you even bother? You know that you get hate mail and stupid comments. It is how it is.
Reply:
Most people actively dealing with misogyny are in fact used to too much of backlash and too little progress. But progress is there.
Questioning if the effort and backlash are worth the progress shows how little empathy you have with women and how hard it is for you to put yourself into their shoes. Misogyny is not an inconvenience.
Misogyny is a blocking force for women and girls in their own personal development and a driving force for oppression and abuse towards women and girls. It must be fought and it needs to end. You are in the privileged position of not having to fight against misogyny. You just need to change a few habits.
Own up or change.
13. Shut up and make me a sandwich!
What is argued:
Kitchen. Mouth. Penis. Sandwich. Ovaries. Time of the month.
Reply:
Sigh… go away. Thanks.
14. Vandalism and attacks.
What is argued:
This space is intentionally left blank.
Reply:
You probably belong into jail.
So, I hope this helps dealing with some of the stupidest apologies and those, which are just prone for misunderstandings on both sides.
Have you backed Sarkeesian’s kickstarter project yet?
You’ll never be satisfied until you sterilize gaming completely. Honestly, if you want to change something you have to CREATE an alternaative and prove that it sales. If I’m not mistaken the was an attempted by a company called Purple Moon..it failed. HSN is trying the same thing using the same worthless data. You make 44% of game consumers and haven’t manage to do nothing but complain about games female(except for Anita) and male gamers have played. Yes, men have been objectified in not only games, but in you romance novels, porn(33% of female watch..2% purchase), Advertisements aimed at women(to purchase products for both themselves and their men), etc. If your honest about it, you know you wouldn’t have bought into a majority of items if didn’t gratify you in some way. Also, there’s nothing wrong with A danzel in destress. It repeat what men are hardwired to do..PROTECT. God forbid, the male protagonist do it out of a feelings of love,remorse or compassion. Also, other than Samus there are examples of heroic deeds by female characters like Zelda from the N64,Gamecube, and the Wii. The same Princess Peach Anita mocks has a DS game that has her rescuing Mario and Luigi. I’d also say that it’s pretty ignorant to think that women should be wounded or otherwise damaged in a action or survivor game. It would ruin the little realism it has. Also, Anita and other such commentators haven’t objectively (not that they have anyway) addressed the stories and full characterization Female protagonists. Specifically, Beyonetta that she raged about (just based on commercialism in JAPAN and powers used) and the New Tombraider. Lara Croft in the latest Tombraider is somewhat conservative in comparison to Beyonetta and she doesn’t let her RAPE keep her from being an excellent female protagonist. Though Rape isn’t the only means they could have use to express overcoming hardship but it was a very strong way of doing so. But I guess overcoming hardships won’t be excepted if it doesn’t have a feminist stamp of approval. Anyway this blog doesn’t address anything on a truly objective and open manner to where both sex will be satisfied. At the end of the day it’s a fantasy and a form of escapism..not real life. The thing is that most male gamers know and enjoy this fact…why can’t you?
HEy, …
I’m not in the mood to go though your comment and reply to your points here.
So, I will let your empty assertions about men, women, the games industry and feminism stand here as a second opinion, as unsupported by fact as this opinion might may be.
Cheers.
I see that this is primarily just a rant and that you’re not exactly trying to raise the level of discourse with this article, but number 11 probably deserves to be completely rewritten. There’s cogent arguments to be made against number 11, but yours is completely wrong.
You say there’s always an alternative to showing misogyny, but how would you have written this article without showing misogyny? Showing misogyny in a story doesn’t make that story fundamentally misogynist any more than showing misogyny in this article makes this article misogynist.
You must display what you are criticizing/commenting. Just like when you make a film review you have to tell the audience the film’s name and some of the plot points.
If you are making commentary and criticism on misogyny doesn’t mean it has inherent importance to a story that isn’t about social justice.
I love the things you have to say. It would be easier for me to love this article if your grammar wasn’t so bad.
Well, thanks for the kind words,… I guess.
And I know that my grammar makes my articles hard to love, but I appreciate the extra effort you put in to do it.
I’m not disagreeing with parts of the basic message, but the grammar in this page is awful. Also, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13 and 14 aren’t defenses for misogyny in games. Just being a reply to someone told about misogyny in games, even a negative or disapproving response, dose not make something a defense. If you try to tell someone air is normally about eighty percent nitrogen and they say that you are boring and annoying, they aren’t refuting your statement, they are calling you boring and annoying.
Have you even played Arkham Asylum? If so, you sure don’t act like it. He didn’t have her tied up because she’s a woman. He had her tied up because she is Harley Quinn and she is bat sh** insane, and LETHAL.
Thank you! This is a very well done article, and you’ve gained a reader at least. As a (hopefully soon to be published writer) father, I see this every damn day. I admit i’ve had to go over some of what i’ve written and re-write it, adjusting for the sexism. It is difficult for me to see the sexism; I benefit from it after all. But articles like this DO help. As a reminder, as a way (at least for me) to pause and step back. And really LOOK at things.
In regards to Harley Quinn, the whole scene is bullshit. If Batman were serious about keeping this super villian (who, supposidly has the strength and stamina of an olympic athlete.) out of his way, he’d have used zip strips. As it is, she could be out of that in five minutes. Which plays into so many cliches it’s not even funny.
And yes most of the comments are proving your point. Kinda like how all the cyber attacks proved Sarkeesian’s point. We have a long road ahead.
Own up or change? I’ll do both.
I am a woman who games, and have played games since I was tiny. I really appreciate the efforts that some are taking to bring awareness to these issues and to help stand up for women in the gaming industry. Kudos to you for taking a stand.
Unfortunately, the industry does a poor job of empowering female gamers from the get-go. Look at Super Princess Peach or My World, My Way. Sure, the heroine is the main character, but look at the attributes of the lead role. Princess Peach: she uses mood swings in order to battle; Elise: she has dedicated “Pout Points” she uses to change the environment and get her way. Both are hugely negative and damaging stereotypes on what could have been empowering and cute games for younger girls. Instead it reinforces that if you cry hard enough or pout long enough, you can triumph. That is absolutely *not* a message girls should be receiving. I’d much rather see a game that encourages and rewards the gamer for problem solving and thinking, even in simple terms (for younger gamers), than rewarding the players by succumbing to degrading stereotypes.
Although I loved the Mass Effect series and feel Bioware did a good job at creating a lead character who was not defined by sexual parameters, they still exploited women in that game. Miranda. You know exactly what I mean – the particular camera angle that showcased her butt in the white jumpsuit. The female characters were all quite busty. For anyone who knows anything about bra sizing (and I do), I’d guess they were all in the 34 F or G range (that means that the ribcage circumference would be 34 inches around, and the letter is how many more inches the bust measures, so an F-cup would be 6 inches greater at the fullest point). Jack may have been smaller chested, but she also certainly had less clothes covering her breasts as well. And don’t get me wrong, I was put off by the scene in ME3 where Shepard watches Vega do the pullups and it focuses on his chest. Sexualizing the men doesn’t make sexualizing the women any better. Games can be made where the story line is not impacted by the gender identity of the player.
I want to play a compelling story line. I don’t mind a game that challenges my preconceived notions, that puts me in the shoes of someone who I don’t immediately identify with. Many other gamers feel the same. I also don’t want the development and goal improving of physics engines to strictly be making more realistic breast jiggles. Yes, build physics engines to support and give realistic body movement, but do it for the whole body – ragdoll physics is a win in my book. Frankly, I’d love it if they spent more time making hairstyles that didn’t look like plastic pre-fab wigs. Make the physics engine practical to the entire character.
I read an essay by an artist I really respect on women in hip-hop. It parallels greatly the idea of women in gaming to me. I highly recommend reading it, and supplant “gaming” and “gaming developers” for “hiphop” and “rappers” and it delivers much the same message as you read here. https://www.facebook.com/dessadarling/posts/10150578918286905
lol shit people like you who make these complaints are just fucking awful, specifically complaint number 4 is ridiculous, a comic book character who just so happens to be a women…. AND A SUPER VILLAIN MIND YOU, is tied up and you have the option to tie up her mouth…. thats wrong? what makes you think shes getting tied up for being a women… AND NOT A MOTHER FUCKING SUPER VILAIN! and also, theres no sign of her being abused by joker in the arkham game continuity…
Glad someone sees it my way.
thank you mark!
I’m only mentioning this, because I want the world to be a better place. So, the only way to do this, is to stop critiquing the portrayal of anyone or anything in a form of media. Get over it. I’m serious. So, the woman in the game isn’t dressed properly.
You know what? I don’t really like that the male characters in the games are bulked up freaks! You don’t see me writing about it, wasting not only my own time I could be using more productively, but not wasting a readers time on a topic that isn’t going to change anything.
I’m sorry, but I’m really tired of being linked articles like this, and I’m even more tired of knowing that they exist. You know, it’s a freaking game. Yeah, girls are used as a plot device. Get over it. The save the princess thing is a classic, and it used to be a good thing. Now, thanks to liberal try-hards, God forbid a hero saves his princess.
As for the sexuality/nudity and what-not. Yeah, there really is no excuse for it. Fact is, it sells, and that is all businesses/corporations care about. You’ll have to work really hard to erase millions of years of evolution to wipe out the desire for sex. Good Luck.
All those points are addressed in the article. Thanks for proving them correct.
:)
Damn I wish there was a +1 right about now.
“You know what? I don’t really like that the male characters in the games are bulked up freaks! You don’t see me writing about it”
Maybe you should. If you don’t take a stance, nothing will ever change.
“Maybe you should. If you don’t take a stance, nothing will ever change.”
Love you for that sentence!
Word!
I’m getting sick of people stationg that
Samus’s outfit at the end of the first game “proves” she’s a sex object
or that she was just a reward for the player.
1) It’s not like they teased it for the player all through the game,
or she did some stripper minigames to get the morphball. Samus being a
woman was an afterthought, just like the Justin Bailey code and the
space bikini.
2) She wasn’t really posing to the player or teasing with her body.
The swimsuit was really just to emphasize she was a woman through NES
hardware limitations.
If Samus wants to kick off her armor and lay around the ship in a
leotard after a long day of blowing up pirates, more power to her.
I really don’t see how this diminishes her. The most thing about her
is that she’s a bounty hunter. Nothing about the post-game sequence
makes her look weak, and she’s not striking a sexy
pose.
Honestly, It wouldn’t have been all that different was had she been
wearing a Hillary Clinton pantsuit. The big message of Metroid was that
“the robot you were playing as was a woman the whole time” not “if you
beat the game quick enough you’ll see her in a bikini.”
It was an incidental gimmick from the first game. The character’s
moved on and (Other M aside) becime rightly identified as one of
gaming’s greatest icons.