This seems to be separate from Anita Sarkeesian's videos, she's not even mentioned in the article, but another take on sexism in the industry has been posted at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/lifestyle/video-game-sexism-under-attack-678689/
This one looks at the people in the industry themselves, the reasons women are excluded (or self-exclude) from the gaming industry, and takes a look at the redesign of Lara Croft and what that means for women.
Some of the experiences mentioned in the article are just unthinkable. We should be better than this.
As an aside, this whole thing started, further proving Anita's point: http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6rmic2RBw1rp5xua.png
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/lifestyle/video-game-sexism-under-attack-678689/
This one looks at the people in the industry themselves, the reasons women are excluded (or self-exclude) from the gaming industry, and takes a look at the redesign of Lara Croft and what that means for women.
Some of the experiences mentioned in the article are just unthinkable. We should be better than this.
As an aside, this whole thing started, further proving Anita's point: http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6rmic2RBw1rp5xua.png
If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.
Sign Up / Log In
The attempt to bring awareness to this topic, to whatever extent we still need, is honorable. This article, unfortunately, is very poorly written, almost incoherent, riddled with vague ideologies and incomplete statistics.
The image you post of the game created to beat up Anita is certainly a shame. A few bad apples grabbing attention at someone's expense. I'd like to offer this in it's place:
http://www.destructoid.com/a-response-to-some-arguments-in-anita-sarkeesian-s-interview-230570.phtml
.
Thanks for sharing this Travis, interesting article.
I've been struggling with this, and now I feel I should apologize. When it comes to social issues, I'm usually a step behind, and so I tend to blitzkrieg my research, without much sleep. I may or may not have a slight addiction to information (I manage an insurance office, and there is nothing but constant information overload on a daily basis, which is one of the few things I like about it), so I think I might overdo it sometimes. In this case, I've been following the rabbit hole of the subject of feminism through real life conversations, YouTube, and various interweb corners, and through sleep deprivation I may have posted my earlier comment on this thread from somewhat of a cranky disposition :).
Basically, what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry for coming off harsh, and maybe unnecessarily judgmental.
Hey, it happens! I do the same at times. But really, kudos to you for researching. Seriously. Not enough people strive to be informed about any issue.
Awesome, thanks for that scrypt!
@scrypt no need to apologize. Being judgmental is a vital part of living. It's how we differentiate the people we come in to contact with. As for your earlier response to the sexism post, I must be one of the few who felt like you do. That bringing awareness to the topic for the sake of itself does nothing to prevent it from continuing.
In all of your research, did the culture and popular mindset of the period in which these games were written come up? I ask because there were a glut of T&A films produced for the mainstream during the early 80s to early 90s. Since the media of that time was filled with the same kind of sexism, I don't think it's unrealistic to have seen it seep in to other forms of media.
That being said, however, I do agree that there is little place for it now. OTOH, if it didn't sell, football teams would have co-ed cheerleaders and the Lingerie Football League wouldn't exist, for starters.
The other half of my earlier thought about sexism in video games was this: It is probably not as prevalent as it once was. In fact, browsing the Playstation Store this morning, a large number of the new releases have not fallen prey to the pervasive sexism that has reportedly seeped in to every video game.
I am not going to defend sexism in video games or pretend it doesn't exist, but I think the issue is not as dramatic as the current discussions would lead us to believe. By cherry-picking games that promote a sexist agenda, it's easy to paint a picture of an industry chock full of misogynists and testosterone-fueled adolescent males.
Cherry picking. Perhaps. But when one looks at a systematic problem going over historic examples of ones point is a good strategy. It doesn't prove a point entirely, but social arguments are not a math proof, its just a way to convey concepts and ideas.