Damsel in distress : feminism on LoK

[karminator98]

OK. My GF just showed me this video, yesterday : http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... 6p5AZp7r_Q and it kind of pissed me off.

Not that I think that no video games is sexist, but the thing is she don't even bother talking about Metroid, Portal nor Mirror's Edge.

But then again : what about this kind of criticism on porn games, and even more on LoK games.

Gorepete's games, for example, seems good enough (starting off as porn games), cause the main characters are strong and decided women.
MiM PUT seems to be putting peach in action, at least (hehe) but I'm not sure about the message it is sending.
I've also seen games EXTREMELY sexist (games like Cursed (http://cursedgame.wikia.com/wiki/CursedGame_Wiki), in wich your female character must choose a job between secretary or a stipper...)

What do you think about all this?

[Lucky777]

Dgaf

[napsii]

Speaking as a woman, I don't think politics have a place in video games, but I can understand the point of view that is being made when people talk about the "strong male lead, weak female supporting character." trope. The brave knight saving the princess is an age old tale, but I think not only game developers but also producers of media (film, television, comic books, etc.) are starting to invert that as the world's stance in politics starts to change. There are enough games with strong female leads to satisfy me since I don't exactly care, but it's really and honestly not surprising that so many female characters are sexualized (even though I dislike this) since the video game industry has always been male-dominated anyway.

As for porn games, it also doesn't surprise me. There's a lot of weird guys who get off to like outright misogyny and other weird fetishism, so I just try and steer clear of it. It does make me rather uncomfortable, but I sincerely hope that nobody on LOK is actually like that.

[trunks2585]

Oh damn it, this bitch again. Man I just saw that video a few hours ago. The real kicker is she's a complete and total coward afraid of real discussion. She wants to write a research paper (or do a video in this case) to speak her mind. But she disables comments, to scared to face trolls and *gasp* ligament different points of view and counter arguments.

When the first thing someone does is disable not not allow people to respond to their points of view, I write them off as idiots and cowards that aren't even confident in what they've said.

[BlueLight]

Oh damn it, this bitch again. Man I just saw that video a few hours ago. The real kicker is she's a complete and total coward afraid of real discussion. She wants to write a research paper (or do a video in this case) to speak her mind. But she disables comments, to scared to face trolls and *gasp* ligament different points of view and counter arguments.

When the first thing someone does is disable not not allow people to respond to their points of view, I write them off as idiots and cowards that aren't even confident in what they've said.

That or they don't want to deal with stupid comments that it will generate.

[GoRepeat]

Feminism is an interesting subject.... not for its actual content, but rather because no matter what you do, you are doing it wrong. Depending, of course, on which feminist you are talking to.

[BlueLight]

The thing about feminist is that I've lost a lot of respect for the group as a whole when i can only semi think of 4 that are to blame.
3 that believe were on a talk show like "the view" but not the same. They were talking about how a women chopping a husbands balls off and putting them in the blender and saying this empowering even though the reason she did this was because he wanted a divorce. I'd hope so if she was this fucking crazy! Sorry but if a man said he planned on doing something similar to his wife, any stereotypical Feminist would be up in arm. And he fact is he wanted a divorce for reason A, but he life is now endanger with her. What's next, a arm? Will he die of blood lost or organ damage?

Okay there is my rant about how feminist are evil even though most likely aren't like this. the other one i believe was because a feminist something like "you are sexist if you can't look a women without wanting sex with her." from what i understand what she said was meant in a way different then it was implied.

[OwnerOfSuccuby]

I do not see a problem

If they think so - they can thing so - they will live with this in there heads not we

She do not look like some kind of genius to me
And i even do not like how she looks like - so who cares what do she say on youtube

Listen too some body like her is like to assasinate some body with this

[TangGulf85]

I'm not sure that disabling comments in an un-moderated forum is a sign of cowardice or is in some way anti-intellectual, and I am sure that her appearance has nothing to do with the topic. I think this is largely a fair critique of the genre in general. In spite of her omission of the games mentioned above in addition to others (resident evil, tomb raider, mass affect, ect) it is fair to say that this troupe is prevalent and generally negative. And regardless of your view of women it is pretty lame storytelling. That said I don't think it makes mario or zelda bad games. It matters what or intentions and reactions are playing a DiD game or even a porn game doesn't make us a misogynist any more then playing GTA makes us a criminal or halo makes a ten foot cybernetic super soldier. That is not to say that the portrayals involved don't have psychological impacts but those impacts are not simple or predictable across the entire population. Sexism and patriarchal defensiveness like most forms of discrimination and power attitudes come from places of fear and insecurity. When men react negatively to feminism we generally are reacting out anger at some extreme anecdote like the one BlueLight mentioned and we are right to to think that case is wrong but we tend to gloss over the fact that what happened was rare but that equivalent things happen everyday to women around the world without much outcry and are even sanctioned by law or custom in some places. looking at an attractive person and wanting to have sex with them isn't wrong, but feminism as I understand it is the reaction to the twin Ideas that a man who wants to have sex with a women has a right to do so and that a women is otherwise useless.

Also, Kerminator I think you GF wants you to play less video games and spend time with her.