Last June, Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency launched a Kickstarter to fund a series of free YouTube videos about “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games“. What happened next was, sadly, all too predictable when any woman mentions the magic word feminism online. Some lovely people posted thousands of antisemitic and sexist comments on Sarkeesian’s videos, flagged them as “terrorism” in an attempt to get them taken down, defaced her Wikipedia page, made rape threats, and released a game which simulated punching Sarkeesian in the face. Ah, yes. That will convince people sexism is a thing of the past. But at the same time some gamers were being complete lunatics, other gamers were funding the Kickstarter to the tune of almost $160,000.
What happened after our last update is almost too ironic to believe. A Redditor named Optigal posted a fake tweet of Sarkeesian claiming to have bought a pair of $1,000 shoes with the Kickstarter money instead of making videos. Even though a moment of searching would show the tweet was faked, some were champing at the bit to believe Sarkeesian was a thief. Accusing a woman of frittering away money on shoes was just a nice bonus.
At the same time many were accusing her of mismanaging the money, some of her detractors started an Indiegogo campaign called “Tropes versus Men in Videogames”. They raised about $3000, and then they disappeared. Later they posted three receipts online to prove they donated the money to charities. At least one of those receipts, like the supposed shoe shopping spree, was a fake.
Here’s part of what Sarkeesian was actually buying with those voluntary donations:
OMG, shoes!
Now Sarkeesian has released the first video in the series, part one of the “Damsel in Distress” trope. The video opens with a reminder that “it’s both possible, and even necessary, to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects.” Which is a fancy way of saying you can like a game while still admitting the developers were jackasses about some parts of it. Having Princess Peach be kidnapped in 13 of the 14 Super Mario Brothers platformer games, for example, is pretty messed up. Especially when the only one in which she isn’t kidnapped, Super Mario Bros. 2, was a game not originally designed for the Mario franchise.
The video is below, and comments at YouTube are closed for sadly obvious reasons. The transcript is available here. My personal favorite takeaway from the video is this:
“In the game of patriarchy, women are not the opposing team. They’re the ball.”
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Solid video, and putting my cultural criticism cap on (I have been trained in this shit) Sarkeesian frankly does a better job of explaining this trope and its problems than most people who write on this topic. She loves video games and it shows. Too bad comments will have to be secondhand at best.
She copy pasted the wiki article on the topic. Don’t take my word for it, read it yourself: [en.wikipedia.org]
If that’s a better job than you can do, then what the hell is Uproxx paying you for?
Except, you know, she didn’t copy-paste a Wikipedia article. But thanks for playing!
i’m just shocked they haven’t switched things up and made a princess game where peach and daisy rescue mario and luigi.
Sorta.
I have to agree with this article’s assessment. The video is remarkably professional, well-worded, well-thought and exposes a bright light on what is sadly an issue in video gaming across all platforms. Super well done, and I am definitely looking to seeing the rest of this series. I for one, even as a male gamer, can definitely see the issues with female stereo-types in gaming and being able to cast a critical eye to those kind of scenarios only helps the culture.
But the whole point of Mario games is to rescue Peach
It’s not as if the rest of the game has evolved and she still keeps getting kidnapped. Basically every aspect is the same.
This lady, although well intentioned is not looking at these tropes from any perspective other than a modern feminist one. Has she considered what men get out of these themes?
It is a natural inclination for men to be the protectors and the rescuers, and games like Mario and Zelda are an outlet to express that. Not everything that is male-centric is at essence anti-female.
Part of the reason some guys got upset with this project, is because it is a example of how our modern society is increasingly scrutinizing and demonizing any thing that is masculine-centric. Some men don’t feel they should be apologetic for things that reflect a masculine sensibility. Not everything that women cant relate to is bad.
Has she considered what men get out of these themes?
Are men entitled to a having the video cater specifically to mentioning what they get out of something?
Part of the reason some guys got upset with this project, is because it is a example of how our modern society is increasingly scrutinizing and demonizing any thing that is masculine-centric.
You mean things that are masculine-centric are sometimes being criticized in the same way feminine-centric things have always been criticized?
Some men don’t feel they should be apologetic for things that reflect a masculine sensibility.
And some people don’t think that merely mentioning other perspectives exist is somehow an attack on men or a demand for an apology.
@ robopanda
It’s disingenuous to imply that the video isn’t a rebuke on male oriented themes.
(I mean the very article has “Feminist” and “Sexism” tags) The video creator didn’t focus on any other issue other then her perception of gender inequality. It is plainly clear to anyone that the spirit of her project is to shame the game industry for their perceived misogyny.
I simply query if she has stopped to think that maybe what she perceives as sexist, is simply something she isn’t the target audience for. Women deserve to be respected as gamers, but that doesn’t mean any games theme, that they don’t relate to is wrong.
I’m all for criticizing the game industry (and I even think she has some solid points) but I think her project needs to look at both perspectives (male and female) in order to see the big picture, of this issue.
The idea that men are the only gender with an inclination toward protection is pretty baseless. In fact, part of Sarkeesian’s first example is how a female hero, or “rescuer,” was turned into a powerless object. Having a female “protector” as a game’s protagonist doesn’t attack maleness or masculinity, whereas saying that women lack the drive to be more than a damsel is definitely an attack on femininity. A positive image or change for women doesn’t equal an assault on men.
I simply query if she has stopped to think that maybe what she perceives as sexist, is simply something she isn’t the target audience for.
It can’t be both?
I think her project needs to look at both perspectives (male and female) in order to see the big picture, of this issue.
This assumes men and women wouldn’t both be annoyed by the same trope, that there’s some universal, monolithic “women’s opinion” and “men’s opinion” on each trope and these two opinions are competing opposites.
@ warmbutter
Nobody implied that women cant be protectors, but the video is implying that the idea of a man rescuing or protecting a women is sexist.
The video only focuses on how the females feel about being the “damsel in distress”, with no regards for a male perspective.
There are reasons that mother nature made males bigger and stronger. One of those reasons was because we were the designated protectors of the tribe and that instinctual drive is still in us. The knight in shinning armor wasn’t just a fairytale for young girls to wait for their prince charming, it was also a fairytale for young boys to wish to be the brave strong knight that the princess wants to be saved by.
The problem is, women can now be the damsel in distress or the “knight” coming to the rescue, but if men still want to be the brave knight we are labeled as sexist and misogynistic.
I don’t think the criticism is that men are the “knights in shining armor” in games, but that women are too often used only as a damsel. I agree that young boys, at least from personal experience, want to be the “brave, strong knight.” Where the idea of equality comes in is that many women would also prefer to be the one doing the dragon slaying rather than being tied a post for the duration of the story. A desire for agency is universal across genders.
Men aren’t labeled as misogynists for wanting to be the hero, they’re labeled that if they want to be the hero while excluding women from the same role. I think she’s more pointing out that there are not enough games with a balance of roles, rather than saying that every single game ought to have a reversal of the traditional trope.
@ robopanda
Yes something can be both sexist and gender targeted, but Zelda and Mario are meant more for boys to act out their hero fantasy, more then it is meant to reinforce females as helpless. It seems like the focus on women being “damsels” is purposefully used as a means to demonize the trope. It’s not like their haven’t been female protagonist in video games for years. From Ms Pac-Man to Samus Aran, their are tons of female video-game heroes.
As for men and women sharing the same opinion on this issue. I supposed it’s possible. But since the video creator chose the “one women show” format to get her message across. The whole project comes off as biased.
But since the video creator chose the “one women show” format to get her message across. The whole project comes off as biased.
Would you dismiss a project outright if it had a “one man show” format?
@ robopanda
I think you missed my point. What I was implying is if she made the format less of a one PERSON show, and maybe had a diverse group of gamers (men and women) discussing in a round table, her message would seem less skewed and accusatory.
So, Carmelo, if a woman complained that a show hosted by a guy seemed “skewed and accusatory”, would you think that complaint is valid?
@ Dan Seitz
If the guy was talking specifically about issues he has with female oriented material, then yes.
@Dan Seitz: I respect your point of view and don’t want to be “that guy”, but come on, the show is called “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games”, should I believe there is not a skewed point of view from her? With that in mind, I still found the video very entertaining and she stablishes her point of view without being obnoxious. Read my comment below about what I think.
@Carmelo Agree with you.
As a lady: Robopanda… you get it.
“but come on, the show is called “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games”, should I believe there is not a skewed point of view from her?”
See, that’s the problem. Think about the inherent assumption in that statement; first of all, that her view is somehow off because she’s a woman, and secondly, that there’s a precise and accurate viewpoint.
If anything, women should be uniquely qualified to state how specific tropes in video games about women make them feel because, you know, they grew up as women in our society.
She’s not going after anybody, here. She’s saying what these tropes make her feel and how women may view it in their own specific context. If you find that wrong or threatening, to be blunt, the problem’s not with her.
@ Dan Seitz
The video host has every right to express how the tropes in games make her feel, and I respect her views and her presentation. However, it is wrong to imply that she speaks for all women, and it is dishonest to imply that her view isn’t strongly influenced by her gender. The title card of the video is ‘Feminist Frequency’ what does a name like that imply to you?
She doesn’t limit the commentary to how these tropes make her feel personally, she declares the tropes as sexist, matter of factually. You don’t ask for public funding to make a personal opinion video.
As Ive stated before, a lot of the things she calls “deeply sexist” are natural male instincts. And if you label something that is deeply male with a negative tag like “sexist” it is most definitely an attack. She states in the video that “these games don’t exist in a vacuum” well neither does her video. She chose to produce a video that discuses a gender based issue, but she never attempted to do so, in a way that is fair to both genders.
“See, that’s the problem. Think about the inherent assumption in that statement; first of all, that her view is somehow off because she’s a woman, and secondly, that there’s a precise and accurate viewpoint.”
If there were a way to bronze internet comments, or perhaps preserve them in amber, so that future generations could see them, I would choose this one, as it’s pretty much the perfect distillation of modern Leftist argument. You ascribed negative motivations to AFMG’s comment that simply aren’t visible from the text, all so that you could more easily dismiss them.
This is absolutely disgusting behavior; it strips the poster of his agency as his words no longer have the meaning he assigned to them, but rather whatever meaning you find convenient for them to have. As such, he simply cannot argue with you as you have defined your position as the only correct one from the get-go.
The reality is, Sarkeesian has no idea whatsoever why “The Damsel in Distress” Trope exists; she prefers to insist that women are just as physically strong as men – sexual dimorphism is a social construct, comrades! – and as such any instance of the Damsel in Distress necessarily robs women of their agency. This is wrong on two points. One – for the most part, the “story” of a game is purely ancillary, nothing more than an incentive to engage in the play of the game. Jennifer Hepler accidentally got this right in her now infamous “there should be a way to skip the gameplay and get to the story” comment – games, being necessarily an active form of entertainment, are generally very poor vehicles for the delivery of a narrative, and very rarely do any games manage to do this well (Planescape: Torment comes to mind as a notable example); point-of-fact, you can usually tell a game is going to completely suck when the developer starts going on about the story (see Mass Effect 3).
Two, she’s completely wrong about the difference between men and women. Her claim that the differences in the sexes is a social myth is completely batshit insane; sexual dimorphism is a biological fact. Men really are physically much larger and stronger than women, and have much greater levels of stamina. Most importantly, though, males have much higher levels of aggression, thanks in no small part to the much higher levels of testosterone.
The Damsel in Distress trope is a way for society to help guide young males into proper social behaviors – the young male is taught that harm to a woman (which would, of course, in reality be caused by men like him, and not the magical fire-breathing dragon) is a grave ill and that it is his duty to stop it from happening.
This, in and of itself, says nothing about the merits of women to society. It certainly could be used to claim women are inferior, but this requires additional effort by the one making such a claim. Sarkeesian avoids dealing with this rather complicated issue by simply asserting that because sexism exists, then this trope is necessary sexist in and of itself, and needs to go.
I’d argue that if you’re giving up on gaming as a medium for storytelling, you’re doing the medium a disservice. Sure, it’s not at the level of some film, television, or books right now, but games do have the potential to involve the viewer in a story in ways that other mediums can’t. Just to ramble off a couple of in-game stories that I’ve enjoyed: Spec Ops: The Line, Bastion, Braid, Bioshock. Maybe storytelling in games isn’t your cup of tea (or just isn’t there yet), but that’s not a reason to abandon that goal entirely.
Two, sexual dimorphism isn’t really a fair argument when you consider that male characters in games are not strictly defined by hypermasculine characteristics. Sure, you have your Gears of War and Borderlands, but you also have Mario (who looks like he trains for his next adventure by sitting on the couch eating meatball subs) and Link (who does become an adult sometimes, but is often portrayed instead as a young boy). Part of the narrative is typically about an underdog overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, not necessarily through brute force, but through bravery and intelligence. Even if you want to argue that women cannot be as physically strong or athletic as men, they can still exhibit the other necessary hero characteristics.
As for the purpose of the trope, what if society used it to guide all young people into the proper social behaviors – the young person is taught that harm to another is a grave ill and it’s their duty to stop it from happening. Protecting someone else won’t always take physical strength, so why not make heroes that are more easily identifiable for both genders?
That was a really good video. It was fair, concise, and informative and she definitely knows her stuff.
people gave her money to buy a stack of video games and then talk shit about them? life in the age of kickstarter is crazy. digital begging.
which reminds me, i saw a dude at a bus shelter this morning that was starting a grass roots kickstarter to get himself something to eat and maybe some dry shoes. and i was all like, sorry dude, im busy giving money to people who want to make fun of stuff i like for free.
“Remember that it’s both possible and even necessary to simultaneously enjoy media while being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects.”
Also, profiting from a project funded by people’s donations is the whole point of Kickstarter. People donate to you for a project, you do said project, people who donate enjoys project, you enjoy profit from project. And since the series is released for free, it’s fair that she gets to keep those games.
Nice video overall. I respect her opinion and I do believe the fuzz other people has made is really stupid. That said, we’re forgetting something importante here: games, as other media, are a product of their times. Surely that doesn’t mean they cannot be criticized for the way they used to portray not only women, but other subjects as well. But they also did it because in that time frame that was an acceptable (if wrong by today’s standarts) to do it so.
It is fine to point out these things, because then we can understand it and change them today, preventing to repeat the past. But I can’t help feeling she’s nitpicking some issues, like the inclusion of Peach in SMB2.
I bet that if I dared to say that there were female protagonists in games like Valis, Athena and such, I would get responses like “they all wear skimpy outfits” and such, missing the point. I don’t ignore it has happened and it keeps happening nowadays.
I’ve been playing the new Tomb Raider and so far I’m liking the new focus on Lara Croft: a female protagonist that I don’t care how it looks, but how she overcomes the challenges she’s presented with and how she reacts to that as a person (hope it doesn’t turn for the worst later on in the game).
At the end, this is about products that cater to “most” customer’s interests, not about secret agendas to objectify people. If they perceive those interests have shifted and they get a backslash in media and sales, it WILL change.
True, games are a product of their time. But, even recent games still use this trope.
@Lance Hence why I said it has to change based on how we buy games. If we get concious about what we’re buying and refuse to support negative tropes in general, it’ll keep changing.
Never gets old.
[youtube.com]
This about sums up my opinion on her. Really not a big fan.
“The video is below, and comments at YouTube are closed for sadly obvious reasons.”
The same reason she closes all the comments on her other videos – that is, she’s a dishonest, partisan hack whose idea of dialogue is “I lecture you at length about how wrong and vile you are, and you sit there and nod your head yes and tell me how right I am?”
Sarkeesian does this sort of thing all the time, and for good reason – every time some shithead on the internet swears at her, she can cry about it and be assured of acres of publicity by pathetic white knights who forget that everyone with any level of popularity online* that says something with any greater controversy than “what to have for lunch?” gets treated the same. This allows her to sweep legitimate criticisms of her work under the rug by pretending it’s all the typical G.I.F.T. nonsense. Oh, and this time, she got extra cash for it.
But you know this, since you’re doing the exact same thing with this article. You could have focused on the variety of valid criticisms, like her refusing to provide updates to donors – something that was explicitly promised on her kickstarter page – going so far as accusing anyone who even asked for an update as being a sexist asshole. Or, perhaps, her unauthorized use of copywritten material as an incentive for people to donate. Or, you could have focused on the fact that final product had no appreciable increase in quality over her earlier, presumably-didn’t-need-six-grand-to-produce, youtube vids. Or, you might have pointed out the blatant copy paste from wikipedia. Or, you could have pointed out that a lot of those games were donated to her as well, and then you could have done some homework and noticed that her observations on those games look to have also been, ahem, donated by the commenters who recommended those games.
But no, you’re going to focus on a bad photoshop and some assholes so that your readership gets the “correct” conclusion – Sarkeesian is right, and everyone against her is wrong.
*one need not even be famous; if you’ve ever played any online game with any competitive aspect, you’ve been called a slur – the longer you play, the more likely it is you’ve lost count.
Note that anonymity isn’t even required; simple distance will suffice. I’ve worked in a customer service position for the past 8 years, and I’ve been told that I should be run over, have a relative come down with every horrible disease you can imagine, come down with every horrible disease myself, hope I lose my job and have to live on the street; you name it, I’ve been slammed with it. It’s one thing to argue this shouldn’t happen; it’s another thing entirely to argue it’s tolerable so long as it doesn’t target women, at least if you’re going to argue that women are “just as strong as men.” If you want special privileges for women, you can only get it if you reinstate traditional chivalry.