The short story is that Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency has started a Kickstarter to explore the stereotypes of females in video games. Or well, why not just hear it in her words?

I love playing video games but I’m regularly disappointed in the limited and limiting ways women are represented. This video project will explore, analyze and deconstruct some of the most common tropes and stereotypes of female characters in games. The series will highlight the larger recurring patterns and conventions used within the gaming industry rather than just focusing on the worst offenders. I’m going to need your help to make it happen!

The longer story is that because she is a self-proclaimed "feminist" (what this means in her case I'm really not sure, since everyone interprets this label differently when applying it to themselves) that anything she does somehow automatically becomes super controversial, and she has received rape threats and death threats and attempts to shut down this project from (primarily) male gamers. Because obviously if you disagree with feminism the way to get your point across is to tell a women she needs to be raped and murdered. (That was sarcasm, in case you missed it. This is not the correct way to express disagreement. At all.)

Personally I think that, all fears of succumbing to the feminist agenda aside (also sarcasm), projects like hers are necessary for the video game industry to truly mature. Gamers seem to love talking about the word "mature" a lot, so why do we rebel against actual maturity so much? I think that it's a good thing that she is sticking to her project, all threats aside. And whatever the case, it is ridiculous that people are fighting so hard to shut her up. Why not let her say what she has to say and if, after actually hearing it, you disagree with it, you are well within your rights to say something.

What do you guys think?

PS. As of this writing she has brought in $126,768 of her $6,000 Kickstarter goal. So things aren't completely dire. But this doesn't negate the abuse she has had to (and most likely will continue to) sustain just to get this project moving.

As of today this thread will be locked. What originally was meant to be a thread discussing the soon-to-be controversial Anita videos about female tropes in Video Games grew into something much more. We at Negative World absolutely love a good conversation and we will always encourage mature and respectful conversation. That said, the thread has had it's moments of polarization to the extreme in the past and recently. While at the moment I write this, the thread is rather calm,.. there has been a joint decision by the moderators of this site to close this particular thread down. The thread strayed way outside of the original bounds of it's intent. We have a different idea of how to frame this delicate and polarizing topic at Negative World.

For future installments of Anita's series we will either have a mod create a new official thread for it (as well as posting links to previous episodes) or we will use our already established Youtube Video thread. The latter could have easily been the original home for this thread if it wanted to. Discussion can continue as normal in the future thread but we ask to keep in mind that the topic should relate to Anita's videos and her message. Hear, analyze, and discuss that. This new location for this discussion will be established with the release of her next video. Please find patience till then.

Thank you from all of us at Negative World for understanding. ~ Negative World Moderation

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@Zero

Not that surprising. 343i is run by a woman too.

EDIT: Oh you were referencing the article. I see how it is. But that's strike 1 all the same.

Posted by

Stephen

on: 07/12/13, 20:15

Edited:

07/12/13, 20:17

Yeah the topic was the article's topic, not mine!

Posted by

Zero

on: 07/12/13, 20:25

On the way to work (15 minutes of driving):

1) Blonde/White haired woman (40s-60s) in Gold Pontiac tries to pass myself and 4 others via the shoulder at a stop light. While this is acceptable when a car is turning somewhere, and holding up the line, and the light is green, this was not the case. I have no idea what she thought she was going to do..its not a lane.

2) Next available stop light, at a gas station looking to pull out, 20s-30s black dude w/ glasses in a blue 4-door looking to pull out. He has room but just sits there, because he's on the phone (illegal here). I shake my head.

3) Another gas station, light is red, black girl teens-20s looking to come out (she is slightly poking out into the lane next to me, farther than she should be anyway, like, over/on the gutter). I thought she had her blinker off but it was indeed on. I stop before her exit (as you're not supposed to block those entrances), and a guy in a pickup stops next to me to grant her room in BOTH lanes. She has enough room to pull out while red. Light turns green, I wave her out, and she just SITS there. She is apparently texting in her lap. What the F.

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 07/14/13, 00:24

I know that you probably find this interesting data in some manner, but this thread is NOT going to turn into Mustache tells us about all of the terrible women and minorities he runs into. Take that junk elsewhere.

Posted by

Zero

on: 07/14/13, 02:31

Tropes Vs Women in Video Games, Somehow a Controversy? (+ general gender / video game discussion)


Just reporting what happens. If some white dude cuts me off, I'll be sure to report to you first.

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 07/14/13, 03:12

I guess I may have worded that oddly, but I meant general gender stuff related to video games, as opposed to only talking about Anita. I didn't mean anything related to gender OR video games. We're not going to start posting our top 10 Mario stages in here either.

Besides, Mustache making lists of women and minorities doing bad things to try to prove that they're worse at said things than white men isn't really the type of positive discussion Negative World is about.

Posted by

Zero

on: 07/14/13, 03:28

@Zero

Positive Discussion? Anita is tearing down "Men" as a whole, day in day out. Its her JOB. "N-no, she just wants women to be equal." Women are equal. "But wage stats / other countries / rape numbers / college rates." How is any of that stuff positive?

And its not "minorities." It was a handful of black people with equal parts white women. Amazingly (if you ask Internet Stereotype Machine), Asians haven't appeared anywhere on my bad driving stuff. Anecdotal?

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 07/14/13, 03:32

@Mr_Mustache

I don't see how discussing how women are portrayed in video games equates to 'tearing men down'.

Oh, and pointing out that you haven't mentioned some other minority doesn't take away from the ones you've already mentioned. That's silly.

Posted by

Shadowlink

on: 07/14/13, 03:35

Edited:

07/14/13, 03:36

Anita doesn't tear down men, women definitely aren't in an equal position no matter how much you insist that it's true because you want it to be true, and discussions on how to bring about equality are positive because they focus on positive change, even if the current realities are tough things to talk about.

And I didn't say minorities, I said women and minorities. And Rochester is only 3% Asian, apparently, so you would really, really have to stretch things to make me believe you're running into bad Asian drivers all the time, unless you live around Chinatown or something.

Posted by

Zero

on: 07/14/13, 03:38

@Shadowlink

Oh, hey Tim.

Anita says a lot of bull. And women think that, too. Self-identified "Feminists" generally aren't "Pro-Male!" as their primary role. If she was a Humanist (like me) doing this project, her tone would be totally different.

I pointed out Asians because they are stereotypically -the worst- of the driving population. I just looked it up and Rochester is only 3.1% Asian, so I suppose that could be playing a role in my experiences / observations. 43.7 White, 41.7 Black if anyone cared. 18+ Females to Males- 100:87.3.

Zero said:

women definitely aren't in an equal position no matter how much you insist that it's true because you want it to be true

Don't you want it to be true?

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 07/14/13, 03:42

Edited:

07/14/13, 03:42

Mr_Mustache said:

@Shadowlink

Oh, hey Tim.

Anita says a lot of bull. .

She probably does. I haven't bothered to invest the time into analysing her stuff, rather I'm simply reacting to what you guys are saying. (Lazy second-hand research I know, but still)

My point was that even reading your responses to here, I haven't heard of her doing anything to actively 'tear men down'. Trying to change up the portrayal of women in video games (whether you agree with her reasoning or not) is very different from 'tearing men down'.

I pointed out Asians because they are stereotypically -the worst- of the driving population. I just looked it up and Rochester is only 3.1% Asian, so I suppose that could be playing a role in my experiences / observations. 43.7 White, 41.7 Black if anyone cared. 18+ Females to Males- 100:87.3.

I know what the stereotypes are, but that doesn't take away from Zero's point about what you're doing. Just because you're not pointing out *this* minority, doesn't mean that everything is automatically cool with you pointing out *other* minorities.

I just don't see what point you're trying to make with those anecdotes.

Posted by

Shadowlink

on: 07/14/13, 03:52

No, I think we all want equality. But I've seen mountains of data that says it's still a ways off.

Whatever the case I'm not going to sit around arguing this one all night. I'm just telling you, Negative World is not a place to post lists of women and minorities doing bad things. That's not acceptable here.

I feel like that should be self-explanatory, and the reasons why should be glaringly obvious.

Posted by

Zero

on: 07/14/13, 03:55

Edited:

07/14/13, 03:56

@Shadowlink

Watch the videos. More talk later.

And maybe they aren't "minorities" to me so much as you guys. They HAPPEN to be black and they HAPPEN to be female. I already told you if some old toad cut me off and HAPPENED to be a white dude, you'd hear about it.

EDIT- Actually, theres this white dude on this message board that I frequent who seems to follow me around -- thread after thread -- and argue with every single thing I say. Its really quite peculiar.

@Zero

Alright, we'll just pretend that women can do no wrong, and men are the enemy. Lets add "fur is murder" to that list, too.

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 07/14/13, 04:50

Edited:

07/14/13, 04:51

Mr_Mustache said:

EDIT- Actually, theres this white dude on this message board that I frequent who seems to follow me around -- thread after thread -- and argue with every single thing I say. Its really quite peculiar.

I sincerely doubt that. More likely a paranoid streak is involved somewhere. Coupled with a severe lack of self-awareness.

Posted by

Shadowlink

on: 07/14/13, 06:36

Mr_Mustache said:

Alright, we'll just pretend that women can do no wrong, and men are the enemy. Lets add "fur is murder" to that list, too.

No one, including Anita, said anything remotely close to this.

Either way we don't need you making lists of all of the women (and minorities) who "wrong" you.

Posted by

Zero

on: 07/14/13, 10:40

Now women are getting hurt in the Running Of The Bulls, too! PLUS: Guy gets it in the ass

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 07/16/13, 00:26

Mr_Mustache said:

Alright, we'll just pretend that women can do no wrong, and men are the enemy. Lets add "fur is murder" to that list, too.

:|

Posted by

Kal-El814

on: 07/16/13, 00:36

Finally dug this up ...



I'm not (at all) proud that I made that tally while bored and waiting for the tow-truck. But, "it is what it is" as people with no good explanation like to say.

EDIT: Once again, this is anecdotal evidence. In other words, not evidence at all. But, indicative of a trend worth further research? Probably.

Posted by

Chocobo_Rider

on: 07/17/13, 09:56

Edited:

07/17/13, 09:58

@NinSage

But was with any research, wouldn't there need to be DIRECT OPPOSITION to this in cities all across the U.S. to say otherwise of the trend? You'd pretty much need cities where Old Men, Young Men, and Asian Men were stopping behind people constantly while Old Women and Young Women drove by thinking "what are those goons doing?"


Saw a small school bus try to go straight on red today. Didn't get a good look at the driver though. Probably a good thing since I'm not allowed to talk about my personal experiences in this thread anymore, and I wouldn't want to offend somebody by telling them what I saw.

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 07/17/13, 23:13

@Mr_Mustache Good research would need to isolate various variables to determine if there is even a real trend to begin with, it wouldn't assume a trend from a small amount of data and then require other data to disprove the trend that hasn't been proven to begin with.

In fact, Joe seems to be pointing his data out as an example of what he believes Anita has done, try to make a broader conclusion without sufficient data, which is why he disagrees with her conclusions. In accepting Joe's limited data as evidence of a larger trend, you are (through his perspective, anyway) accepting bad research, or, essentially, accepting Anita's brand of bad research as valid. Through his perspective.

I disagree, mostly because I think the pool of video games is much, much smaller than the pool of drivers, and the pool of "popular" games (that have the widest influence) is even smaller, so it doesn't require quite as much data to pinpoint trends in game design as it does to notice trends in drivers.

But that's kind of a whole other can of worms.

Posted by

Zero

on: 07/18/13, 01:38

Edited:

07/18/13, 01:39