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Anita Sarkeesian "Tropes vs. Women" Video will come out today [out now, link in OP]

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Fehyd

Banned
So did you only watch the Bayonetta video like most here(which, keep in mind, was about the game's marketing, not the game itself), or her rest which were very well informed and researched?

Just saying, don't be that quick to judge.

To be fair, most of her issue with Bayonetta comes to her being sex-negative. To some (even the Women in Videogames panel at PAX East a few years back), Bayonetta is actually considered a positive female character in videogames, because she basically owns her sexuality.

Its also why some of Sarkeesian's biggest female detractors are sex-positive feminists.
 
Having only played the demo of Bayonetta, what elements in the game redeem the imo obvious overly sexualized design of her? The backstory? That she's independent badass that can defend herself?
 
Jesus some of you guys have really caught feelings about this woman. I guess I'll watch these videos just to follow along with the meltdowns.
 

Village

Member
vectirgud_zps19d62a00.gif
 

Veelk

Banned
Good God, I had assumed that the hate died down after several month of delay, but people are STILL giving her shit for basically having the gall to speak.

She really has wasted her time. If people are already dismissing her arguments as being misinformed and biased, then I can only imagine the strawmen they'll set up when the actual videos put up. Regardless of the actual quality of her agruments, its clear very few are going to actually listen to her, going by the comments in this thread. Christ.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
oh man

watch your blood pressure because the salt content in this thread is gonna be ridiculous
 

Lime

Member
Good God, I had assumed that the hate died down after several month of delay, but people are STILL giving her shit for basically having the gall to speak.

She really has wasted her time. If people are already dismissing her arguments as being misinformed and biased, then I can only imagine the strawmen they'll set up when the actual videos put up. Regardless of the actual quality of her agruments, its clear very few are going to actually listen to her, going by the comments in this thread. Christ.

At least it motivates and airs the topic of sexism in games and it exposes the problem with knee-jerk defensiveness of gaming culture against minority claims to equal rights.

Hopefully the medium and culture improve and learn from this and they don't t retract into a niche, male-dominated 'boys club' culture.
 

sonicmj1

Member
Again, she is sexist. She feels that it's good when a woman is independent of a man, even though it would help her child more if the father was around to help (this is negative in Sarkeesian's eyes). I have nothing against single mothers (my mom raised all 6 of us almost by herself) or independent women, but a single mother or single father isn't something to celebrate or make far more positive than it is.

Whose asshole did you pull this shit from?
 

Alucrid

Banned
At least it motivates and airs the topic of sexism in games and it exposes the problem with knee-jerk defensiveness of gaming culture against minority claims to equal rights.

Hopefully the medium and culture improve and learn from this and they don't t retract into a niche, male-dominated 'boys club' culture.

You're exaggerating the influence, good or bad, that this will have on the medium or industry.
 

Lime

Member
You're exaggerating the influence, good or bad, that this will have on the medium or industry.

I'm hoping, not stating that it will necessarily be like what I described.

Besides, the problem of sexism in the games industry and culture automatically gets aired and publicly discussed thanks to the controversy, regardless of whether or not it will be a successfully analysis. This exposure and public discussion are certainly beneficial, I'd say.
 

Platy

Member
Bayonetta, scam, Bayonetta, scam, Bayonetta, 6k for youtube videos, Bayonetta

Every single thread

There are some dudes who got 200,000 dolars (within the FIRST WEEK) to make ONE youtube video on a theatre and .... where is the backlash ? =P

Wasn't there a bet made by two gaffers on whether or not she would leave out positive examples on at least one show

At least one positive game on EVERY video

To be fair, most of her issue with Bayonetta comes to her being sex-negative. To some (even the Women in Videogames panel at PAX East a few years back), Bayonetta is actually considered a positive female character in videogames, because she basically owns her sexuality.

Its also why some of Sarkeesian's biggest female detractors are sex-positive feminists.

There are no such a thing as "sex-positive feminists" ... it is called "feminists"

And for the 100000000000 time, she deleted the Bayonetta video and the complains about the lack of research was what made her ask for money on kickstarter to have time to research and better editing.
 

tkscz

Member
Damsel in Distress - Video #1
The Fighting F#@k Toy - Video #2
The Sexy Sidekick - Video #3
The Sexy Villainess - Video #4
Background Decoration - Video #5
Voodoo Priestess/Tribal Sorceress - Video #6
Women as Reward - Video #7
Mrs. Male Character - Video #8
Unattractive Equals Evil - Video #9
Man with Boobs - Video #10
Positive Female Characters! - Video #11
Top 10 Most Common Defenses of Sexism in Games - Video #12

I'm starting to loose faith in her ability to make a good argument and not come off as sexist herself. Seriously, Mrs. Male Character? Man with Boobs? These sound like they're going the way of saying these women are more like men, which would technically be sexist against men, stereotyping us as being one distinct way, that if a woman acts like, she's "a man with boobs", and women, claiming they should behave s certain way, or they are not "a real woman". Again, will watch to see if she does that, going from her other videos she will, but she said she won't. So BOTD.

Whose asshole did you pull this shit from?
1. Eww, that is one nasty analogy
2. I watch her videos, this is simply how she comes off. Anything making women SEEM empowering (regardless of if it is or not) she takes as positive, without putting much effort into them.
 

Alucrid

Banned
I'm hoping, not stating that it will necessarily be like what I described.

Besides, the problem of sexism in the games industry and culture automatically gets aired and publicly discussed thanks to the controversy, regardless of whether or not it will be a successfully analysis. This exposure and public discussion are certainly beneficial, I'd say.

The spotlight seems to have shifted more from the issue of sexism to the issue of Anita Sarkeesian.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I'm starting to loose faith in her ability to make a good argument and not come off as sexist herself. Seriously, Mrs. Male Character? Man with Boobs? These sound like they're going the way of saying these women are more like men, which would technically be sexist against men, stereotyping us as being one distinct way, that if a woman acts like she's "a man with boobs", and women, claiming they should behave s certain way, or they are not "a real woman".

These are trope names that are basically pulled off of TVTropes. That's just what they're called.
 

Pociask

Member
I'm not sayin', I'm jus' sayin', some people would say the extreme reaction against any feminist (ill-informed or not) criticism of video games shows how male-dominated and anti-women the video gaming society has become (/always has been).

Anyway, I don't get the pre-hate, anymore than I get announcements of announcements. She'll be releasing videos - very soon! - that can be picked apart on their substance. Why don't we judge the work itself?

I'm hoping, not stating that it will necessarily be like what I described.

Besides, the problem of sexism in the games industry and culture automatically gets aired and publicly discussed thanks to the controversy, regardless of whether or not it will be a successfully analysis. This exposure and public discussion are certainly beneficial, I'd say.


I consider these videos much like lancing a boil - uncomfortable, brings a lot of ugly stuff to the surface, but hopefully positive in the long run.
 

Fehyd

Banned
There are no such a thing as "sex-positive feminists" ... it is called "feminists"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex-positive_feminism Women who identify as "sex-positive" disagree with that assessment.

And for the 100000000000 time, she deleted the Bayonetta video and the complains about the lack of research was what made her ask for money on kickstarter to have time to research and better editing.

I wasn't aware she issued any statements about the video. Just deleted the video off her youtube feed and acted like it never existed. I'm definitely open to being corrected though.
 
At least it motivates and airs the topic of sexism in games and it exposes the problem with knee-jerk defensiveness of gaming culture against minority claims to equal rights.

Hopefully the medium and culture improve and learn from this and they don't t retract into a niche, male-dominated 'boys club' culture.

Women already have equal rights. Being represented in a video game is not a right. Also, disparaging remarks like "boys club" doesn't help. The guys who work in the industry are busting their ass trying to make a living, and even that's not happening in today's struggling industry with many of them getting laid off. It's a crappy club if anything.
 

tkscz

Member
These are trope names that are basically pulled off of TVTropes. That's just what they're called.

Then she should be putting some effort into changing those names, or coming up with her own names for them. I can understand why go with them, they are the tropes after all, but they come off as sexist themselves, and as such, makes it seem like she will be sexist (like in previous videos).
 

Village

Member
Sexual characters are not automatically sexist characters.

agreed, you don't gotta be with it but you got knowledge that she can do what she wants.( the character i mean)

However, doesn't make her outfit NOT suck, if this is what this video about how she looks like a hot mess, it maybe a lot more enjoyable.
 
I wasn't aware she issued any statements about the video. Just deleted the video off her youtube feed and acted like it never existed. I'm definitely open to being corrected though.

She deleted it, cut the portion where she commented on the actual game, and then reposted it. She also left a message saying that those comments were just a joke that people took the wrong way.
 
Sexual characters are not automatically sexist characters.

Sure, but it still seems to me that there's still much more objectification going on than needs to be, just for marketing purposes. Like her character (in terms of background) is just an excuse to show tits and ass (even though I kinda like tits and ass).
Disclaimer: I'm being 50% devil's advocate here and 50% unsure if it's not just sexist bullshit in disguise.
 

Chuckpebble

Member
These are trope names that are basically pulled off of TVTropes. That's just what they're called.

Mrs. Male Character and Men With Boobs seem redundant to me, so I searched TV Tropes for them, but was unable to find the first one. Here's the latter: Men With Boobs

EDIT: To be more clear on my point. I'm asking for help in defining Mrs. Male Character and how it differentiates from Men With Boobs.
 

Oxymoron

Member
Women already have equal rights. Being represented in a video game is not a right. Also, disparaging remarks like "boys club" doesn't help. The guys who work in the industry are busting their ass trying to make a living, and even that's not happening in today's struggling industry with many of them getting laid off. It's a crappy club if anything.
You're absolutely correct. Having your class of people portrayed accurately and respectfully in the media isn't a right. That's why nobody is calling for video game developers to be jailed.

It is, however, really nice to have fully fleshed out characters your can identify with in your favourite medium. And you're allowed to say it, and point out where the medium falls short.

You seem to be making some argument to the effect of "how dare she want better female characters in video games", which is really really weird!
 

Dr Dogg

Member

Hahaha if that would be the case I can image there would be blood. Kind of reminds me when I was more interested in going to the pub than writing a paper about some art movement or whatever and just basically copied a synopsis from some books. Being stupid and not thinking that my tutor would not only realise it wasn't in my own prose and that she actually owned those books to boot to see my straight up plagiarism. Needless to say I got shouted at and referred.
 
I understand what she is doing but I highly doubt she will say anything that hadn't been said before, we want solutions to this problem and I hope she give us one.
 
It doesn't matter how good or bad the videos will be, outrage will be epic anyways. Internet will not be the same.

If Anita can find it in her heart to present the topics in a non-binary, nuanced fashion (I'm talking about in-depth analyses into the NATURE behind the "damsel in distress" phenomenon, I'm willing to bet that we'll get a mature discussion here.

If she's just like "THESE CHARACTESR ARE DAMSEL IN DISTRESSES AND THATS BAD BEACUSE IT'S SEXIST K THX FOR UR MONEY LOL"......yeah.
 
You're absolutely correct. Having your class of people portrayed accurately and respectfully in the media isn't a right. That's why nobody is calling for video game developers to be jailed.

It is, however, really nice to have fully fleshed out characters your can identify with in your favourite medium. And you're allowed to say it, and point out where the medium falls short.

Agree with all this. Although I wouldn't use the words "accurately and respectfully". I'd rather just have a variety of female characters: good, bad, main bad guy, main protagonist, sexy, frumpy, and, some cannon fodder. The reason I said "not a right" was because Lime called it a right.

You seem to be making some argument to the effect of "how dare she want better female characters in video games", which is really really weird!

Didn't make that argument. You assumed too much. And that's really really weird of you d:
 

jimi_dini

Member
but was unable to find the first one. Here's the latter: Men With Boobs

OMG

linked on that site - "Real Women don't wear dresses"
real-women-dont-wear-dresses_silent-hill_5621.PNG

Guess which of these women is the tough, competent one.

...maybe the female POLICE OFFICER. (movie spoiler:
although in fact she dies
). You could follow this up with: is the police sexist? Why doesn't the police allow female police officers to wear dresses?

I think people writing such stuff seem to overanalyse too much and insert their own perceptions and prejudices into everything.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
Mrs. Male Character and Men With Boobs seem redundant to me, so I searched TV Tropes for them, but was unable to find the first one. Here's the latter: Men With Boobs

EDIT: To be more clear on my point. I'm asking for help in defining Mrs. Male Character and how it differentiates from Men With Boobs.
Well, presumably she'll define her versions of those terms whenever the videos come up.

Then she should be putting some effort into changing those names, or coming up with her own names for them. I can understand why go with them, they are the tropes after all, but they come off as sexist themselves, and as such, makes it seem like she will be sexist (like in previous videos).
Er, the tropes exist because of the marginalization of women in popular culture. Their names are supposed to be ironic or satirical.

I hope she didn't just take the examples from each one and just a made a video of them. :p
 

Platy

Member
Then she should be putting some effort into changing those names, or coming up with her own names for them. I can understand why go with them, they are the tropes after all, but they come off as sexist themselves, and as such, makes it seem like she will be sexist (like in previous videos).

EDIT: To be more clear on my point. I'm asking for help in defining Mrs. Male Character and how it differentiates from Men With Boobs.

But how would you call the fact that they put a bow on pacman head and called it Mrs Pacman ?
 

Bedlam

Member
She seems like another case of mistaking sexualization for sexism. Those two things are just not one and the same. Sexism is denying women to vote, to drive cars, job positions despite being equally qualified etc.

What she is doing is merely complaining about stereotypes and badly written characters. I am just as sick of male stereotype characters such as RE5-Chris Redfield and so on but I don't call it sexism. I call it bad and lazy writing.
 
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