Yesterday I had the most incredible day.
Yesterday I visited the studio of Good Game: Spawn Point, at the ABC.
Good Game: Spawn Point is a TV show about video games, and its target audience is young gamers – under 10s — kids who spend their days playing Minecraft, Smash Bros., and Mario Kart.
The show’s creator is a woman, her name is Janet Carr. She is a real hero of mine, and I’ll never forget what she said.
“The kids are so innocent in the way they love games,” she explained, as she showed me around the set, “but the thing that really amazes me is just how many girls there are gaming.
“When I speak to developers I always say, ‘you better start thinking about the games you want to make in a couple of years for teenage girls — because soon there’s going to be a whole army of them, and they’re going to be angry when they see what’s out there.’”
And then I went home and I watched the new trailer for Hitman Absolution.
No doubt you’ve seen it already – sexuality by numbers – chaste nuns, casting aside robes to reveal themselves in the most tacky way possible. Dressed in leather and stilettos, having their faces smashed in and shot by Agent 47 — a strapping bald male — grimacing as he chokes, punches and blasts his way through this sexualised horde of females.
This, I think to myself, is what those girls, who love video games in the purest way possible, have to look forward to.
They get to watch the ‘sexy’ unboxing of video games. They get to wear underwear armour that isn’t armour at all. They get to lick lollipops suggestively. They get to play beach volleyball; they get to choose which bikini to wear while doing so.
I can’t abide it. If this is what works, if this is what genuinely sells video games, I just don’t want any part of it. Is this what we want as a culture? Is this what really works. I genuinely hope not.
Yesterday I had the most incredible day, and I left with a real hope for video games as a medium — because it has this beautiful, pure, diverse audience to look forward to, to cater to — an audience that doesn’t engage with video games in the same dull, gendered way.
They’re going to be so angry.
And I hope they get angry. All of them. There’s already an army of girls playing, engaging, writing and talking about video games – and they’re about to get some new recruits.
Janet told me that in a single week, Good Game: Spawn Point receives over 17,000 letters and emails from its viewers. At least 50% of them are from girls. I sincerely hope that, by the time they’ve grown up, we’ll have something significantly more substantial for them than Nuns in stilettos and beach volleyball in bikinis.
Because if we don’t, there’ll be hell to pay. And you best believe they won’t be donning leather and bikini armour when they burn this silly little boys club to the ground.
IO interactive (the creators behind hitman) have a history of stirring controversy. In the same hitman games, they depicted a killer Sikh sect in previous games.. Call it irresponsible stories or clever marketing. I would go for the latter. The present discussion is a proof in itself.
Square Enix is changing lots of things which made Hitman the popular game it is- they changed the main voice character, the sound and music director (Jesper Kyd - ). It remains to see how gamers will welcome the new overhauled Hitman.
Good article, sexism in gaming is something that developers need to focus on considering the changing demographics and wider social acceptance of gaming on the whole.
In fact, I think game developers are generally doing quite well at providing experiences that everyone can enjoy. All my favourite games at the moment basically have nothing to do with sex or boobies (except Mass Effect 3, which portrays romance as opposed to sex, albeit a little awkwardly), and I still have way more games like this in my stack of shame than I have time to play.
As far as the trailer goes, I wouldn't say I was really offended by it.. it was more embarrassing than anything. Like they tried for the whole Grindhouse thing and failed at it. Some of the more graphic shots made me feel a bit uncomfortable though, which was more to do with violence against women than anything else.
I think that ideally, the range of experiences that gaming offers should parallel film - something for everyone. If that means having Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball in the same media as Journey then so be it, but a little less of column A and a little more of column B thankyou.
To all the "get over it" types, here are two simple observations:
1) Male characters in games can be big, small, ugly, handsome, slim, muscular, smooth, scarred, fully-covered, near-naked, masculine, or fey.
2) Female characters in games must always be conventionally sexy, with very, very few exceptions. Go on, try to think of some female game characters who aren't "hot" by any mainstream standard. I bet I can think of fifty that are before you can even name five that aren't.
Even some of the best-written games out there, with intelligent scripts and plausible relationships, still sexualise women. You don't get much smarter or more mature than Mass Effect, but Samara's idiotic cleavage still makes me cringe with embarrassment every time I see it.
This shit needs to change. If you cannot see that there is a problem here, then you are very much part of that problem.
1) Main male characters must always be either ruggedly handsome (John Marston, Agent 47) or conventionally handsome (Cloud Strife, Link). They are always muscular. I bet I can name fifty muscular lead characters before you can name five that aren't. Bonus round: I bet I can name ten that are handsome, tall, muscular, have short brown hair, and light facial hair faster than you can think of one ugly male protagonist. I'm sure at least half of the ones I name will be voiced by Nolan North.
2) True.
The knife cuts both ways, though. You brought up Mass Effect, which is a great example. Default male Shepard is based off of a freaking supermodel, Mark Vanderloo. Sure, you can make a Shepard that's ugly as sin, but they aren't putting that on the box art. Besides, have you seen Shepard's butt in that armor? SO TIGHT. Can you name five guys that you know personally that have bodies like Kaidan Alenko or Joker (y so beefy)? Maybe if you happen to be a bodybuilder or gym rat, you might be able to, but my guess is that the average person can't,
Both sides are depicted as being caricatures of the male or female form , and I do agree that more variety would be nice--not for aesthetics, but for the story.
I find it really insulting when people deny this comparison, that buff lead male characters is not the same thing. They just attempt to continue the age old lie that men cant be sexualised just as much as women.
False equivalence alarm!
http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/comic/book-13/05-the-death-of-snkrs/falseequivalence/
Yep, your stupid linking to that crappy comic doesnt prove anything. Chris has a point and you know it.
I know what this guy is trying to say (and I actually agree with some of it), but this is what this article sounded like to me:
Yesterday I had the most incredible day.
There's this neat show for kids that's made by a LADY! Her name is Janet Carr. She's a WOMAN! She has a job that you would expect a man to have. She's my hero. She's also a lady. That's the coolest! Isn't that cool?
This cool lady said kids are innocent. And then they grow up and have to play games like Hitman. Hitman is a bad game. You shoot girls in it. Why are they so sexy? Is this what *really* works. Why can't I punctuate my sentences correctly. Why is this assassin killing sexy girls who are trying to kill him? Why did the developers put sexy stripper nuns in a video game about systematically murdering people in brutal and merciless ways? That part about the girls really upsets me.
Girls don't like wearing sexy bikinis or violence. If things don't change, girls will be really mad when they grow up.
If that's what the article sounds like, then the article sounds really freaking stupid. Because it insinuates that it's either 1) not okay to shoot girls (sexy or not) or 2) it's okay to shoot girls as long as they aren't wearing anything sexy.
Kids never retain innocence, it's part of growing up. Hitman, or any other game like it is not going to brainwash teenagers by themselves(which by the way they shouldn't even be playing this), they have TV, music and film to do that for them. And if they're grown women who pick this game up, well then it's safe to say their innocence is long gone..
The sad thing is, I can see the points this guy is trying to make (with awful grammar), and I can agree with some of them. I watched the trailer thinking, "Hmm...bikini babes with guns. This is stupid, but whatever." After reading the article, I wanted to cosplay as one of the nuns and send him pics.
Oversexualization does irk me when it's utterly gratuitous. I feel it cheapens things in the same way that slutty drunk chicks make restaurants instantly less classy. But, the sexualization of the female form technically has a reason to be there if the game's demographic is teenage boys and men (who typically like both guns and boobs).
Hell, I can enjoy those kinds of games, too. I happen to really like Bayonetta in all her gun-toting, lollipop-licking, clothing-banishing glory. Would I want to play as a fat girl in a dumpy hoodie and pajama pants? Sure, if the story is good and reflects this character in a meaningful way. Do I want to play as the obese chick in a game about running around and shooting bad guys in the face? No (or YES if it's Saints Row).
Look at gamers themselves. Who do they--even ugly ones--like dressing up as? Unattractive characters or hot ones? I've encountered fat cosplayer blogs where the girls say outright that they don't want to cosplay as fat characters (even the ones with pretty faces) *because* they want to feel sexy. When girls try on clothes at the mall, they might not reach for the micro-miniskirts, but I guarantee they will strike at least one sexy pose in the mirror. Some of us happen to like sexy. I understand clamoring for better quality storytelling and less "cheap" games overall, but to cry foul to protect the innocent masses of girls that might someday join the adult gaming world is demeaning to the grown women that are already here (and like it).
You know things are bad when a comment is better than the article.
Ah, Chris. Clearly a man who doesn't get out much, judging by the comments you've been making.
Darling. you miss the point. NOWHERE in the article did it say being sexy is an egregious crime.
It was stating that there is not variety in the way in which females are depicted in games, therefore teen boys and girls are growing up with the impression that women are just tits on legs. And this is coming from a girl who resembles the kind of woman that is (over)represented in games. You know it's pathetic when a female warrior looks or poses like I do when I'm dancing at work.
And really, you should not be sending photos of yourself in revealing attire to strange men, dear...unless like me, you are being paid a lot of money for it. ;)
"You know it’s pathetic when a female warrior looks or poses like I do when I’m dancing at work."
Are you saying you look pathetic at work? I doubt that. I bet you look great and sexy. Just like the female warriors in video games. Whats wrong with sexy pixelated female warriors? Images like that have been a staple of fantasy even before video games depicted them. It doesn't particularly do anything for me, but I dont mind it. I dont think we should tone it down because of some supposed angry horde of future female gamers reacting badly to it or because of the poor vulnerable children growing up. It has a marketplace and it sells so I am all happy for it to do so. Just thinking about this article conjures up images of Helen Lovejoy "Oh wont somebody please think of the children!"
Wait for *ex addons to see them naked! Only one warning kids don't be afraid to see them naked in real life and for some reasones the game out of wine, don't miss it or you won't take them down. Prepare your pistols to act! Enjoy!
I’ve just spent a few minutes re-reading some of the comments on the gender articles of yesterday, and on some of the linked sites, and the whole thing is so incredibly... exhausting. I think Mark’s article really hit the nail on the head: the attitudes of adults today are pretty much set – the ones still up for grabs are the kids of today and tomorrow.
As someone who has a young daughter, and will soon have a son, this issue has become surprisingly personal for me.
My daughter will be tall and blonde, and if current level of cuteness is a guide (frequently remarked upon by strangers), she will be attractive too. She’s going to be encouraged to experiment with makeup and skimpy clothes long before I’ll be ready for her to do so, and she’ll be resented by the girls around her if she looks better than them. I have no doubt that (somewhat sadly) in the end, her looks will help her to get ahead... but I hope that she finds role models that can encourage her to emphasise and promote her intelligence, skills and personality.
My son – assuming he is attracted to women – will be encouraged on every channel to objectify pretty girls, and berated in real life if he chooses to do so. If he turns out anything like me, this will stunt his sexual development by infusing the entire prospect of physical intimacy with an unbelievable dose of guilt and self-hatred. I’ve struggled with this for many years, and haven’t yet managed to deal with the guilt I feel just for being a man.
Both my children will be growing up in a world struggling to deal morally with hypersexualised popular media. I hope they both emerge from the fray as well-adjusted people, and will be doing my best to help that happen.
Yes I agree that more thought needs to be put into the market and emerging markets for gamers.
I do not however think that gaming should be yet another vehicle for ramming a bastardised 'equality' down everyone's throat.
Men and women are different. Boys and girls are different. Some things they have in common, some they don't. Let's not let gaming become a playground for the indoctrination of children as that is almost as bad as the sexualisation that many have posted about previously.
Wow, what a kickass trailer. I am very much anticipating this game. Looks great.
As for this article, well you have it all wrong.
I dont think you give females any credit at all. In fact I think some of the responses here are offensive to females.
Yes Mark Serrels, our large future female gamer demographic are going to be so angry when they see Agent 47 taking on a group of fictional dangerous and sexy nuns clad in tight leather and other future video games scenes like this. Apparently all images of females from now on need to be healthy, positive, endearing role models with courage, strength of character, and dressed in long pants and bulky sweaters? Dare we make any more sexualised images of women lest we have a horde of angry gaming girls tearing down at our doors with torches and pitchforks? Yes, those precious girls – we better not make them angry.
Anger of course is a strong emotional viewpoint, it often drives people to commit violence and even sometimes drives people to kill. But I also know that often behind anger lacks logic and reason. Lots of things make people ANGRY. Homosexuality makes people angry, should we ban that because of that angry reaction? Cartoon images and documentaries on religion can also make people angry and drive them to commit murder. Extreme examples I know, but then again so is this article in reaction to a 2 minute game trailer.
Personally I think this wonderful Hitman trailer is less offensive to females than the typical image of the poor damsel in distress – weak and desperate for a man to come save her. Oh yeah you remember those games Mark – the ones you used to play as a kid? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhFV5-qbbIw. To me that is way more offensive than half a dozen nuns with big boobs in tight leather. It says to girls you are worthless and defenseless and need men to come save you.
Girls should be more offended by Donkey Kong than by t*ts and tight leather in a Hitman trailer.
“This, I think to myself, is what those girls, who love video games in the purest way possible, have to look forward to.”
Girls who love video games in the “purest way possible” wouldn’t be playing Hitman anyway. It’s all about marketing to your audiences. Did you see the levels of violence in the trailer as well? This game appeals to a market of males and females who love their shoot em up and violent games. Whatever appeals to girls in the ‘purest way possible’ will also have a marketplace and Hitman won’t be in it.
““When I speak to developers I always say, ‘you better start thinking about the games you want to make in a couple of years for teenage girls — because soon there’s going to be a whole army of them, and they’re going to be angry when they see what’s out there.”
Yes those young teenage girls, the same ones that heavily indulge in the sexualised music, tv and movie industry of today are going to be totally angry all of a sudden because of popular sexualised images in video games…
I call bull*hit.
Im all for equality. I don’t see a problem with http://www.youtube.com/user/sexyunboxing at all. I think she looks great and is having fun and some guys (or girls) may get off on that so more power to them. In fact I think they should have a sexy oiled up muscle man doing an unboxing as well so the female and gay audience can enjoy a similar thing.
Does sex scare you? Do you think we need to wrap females up in cotton wool and come to their defense like Mr Mario in his barrel dodging plumbers boots? Sex is here to stay, it feels great, looks great and it sells. Does it objectify? Can it provide bad role models for young girls? Possibly, but it all depends on your audience. If you dont like tight leather and t*ts you can always press the off button now cant you…or just be a parent and raise your children how you want them to be and control what they watch, teach them morals and not spoil it for everyone else.
I hardly doubt that there will be an angry horde of female gamers because of some bouncing boobs in a Dead or Alive video game in 5 years time Mark. If anything the marketplace should call for more sexualisation of men to even out the playing field (not that it doesn’t happen now). In the midst of this so-called powder keg of sexualised video game entertainment is hardly any cause for someone to get angry, but just relax and enjoy themselves. Embrace the pixelated boobs and groins, and tight leather and muscles…
Dust off the PS1 controller and come play a few rounds of classic Dead and Alive with me Mark.
(Ps. I hope this ok for the moderator this time, ive toned down on the sarcasm - apparently we dont like challenging viewpoints anymore?)
Clearly you haven't been paying attention at all. No one is saying there should be no sexy characters. They have been saying that there should be characters that exist as more than sex objects (or helpless plot devices). There is a big difference between creating female characters that are realistic and believable (or even merely female while still being competent and not obviously sexualized) and the complete removal of all sexy female characters from games. Apparently you have not been reading the same comments here as I have or you would have realized this. It's saddening that I even have to interpret other people's clear, precise statements to you. But there you go, now you have no excuse to spout such bollocks arguments.
It's interesting that you brought donkey kong into this... I know I surely wouldn't have if I were trying to make your point. Aside from the obvious of "kids love animals, animals aren't humans and don't have to obey human gender roles to be compelling"... did you realize that there were female members of the main, playable cast in the donkey kong series? With their own, unique and useful abilities that actually affect gameplay in a meaningful way? Yeah, girls should *definitely* be upset by one of the few games in the history of gaming that presented a non-sexualized playable female character with just as much relevance to the game and story as any of the boys. As it turns out, this is EXACTLY what we need to see more of, much to your apparent chagrin. Now, the classic version of donkey kong you linked to is something different altogether, but you actually do have a point about it also being offensive. That does not change the fact that the excessively sexualized depictions of women in nearly all video games ever are also offensive, to many women and to a good number of men as well.
It is also amazingly correct of you to note that music, movies, and TV also do the exact same thing. However you seem to think that people who are unhappy about the present state of affairs in video games aren't unhappy about the depiction in other forms of media as well. I can assure you that this is most certainly not the case. However, we seem to be discussing an article published on a website that is directly connected to gaming, not all other forms of media that could possibly exist. Naturally we are going to discuss the article and our views in the context of gaming. Be reasonable here. And has it ever occurred to you that typically speaking, your average female doesn't stop aging at 14 years old? It's funny how many men commenting on articles like this seem to think that female = preteen girl. I guess after they grow up they're not females anymore, eh?
And then you go on to confuse the argument for one of morals. No, that's really not where it was going, I have no idea where you even got that from. But let's play along and pretend it was a moral argument for a moment, and that the concern is that little girls will grow up having bad role models in video games. Do you realize that your response of raising one's child how you want and controlling what they watch and play is completely invalidated by the stance you're taking here with this article? You're saying "no, don't change anything, I like my sex and so do all my male friends, and some of the females who play video games are happy to see it too. We don't want our sexy half-naked... er, three fourths... wearing clothes only to avoid an M rating women taken away from us." You are apparently so outraged by the fact that there might be female characters, or dare I say protagonists, who are more than mere window dressings for men to ogle or a boob slider toy. The problem is there is a TINY amount of media that actually does display women as worthwhile meaningful individuals for anything other than their sexual characteristics. So you know what, there are basically no role models for young girls. And you don't want us to create them, either.
But getting back to the actual argument at hand, the problem is that there are a lot of females who enjoy playing video games, but once they reach a certain stage of development, they are basically stuck with either playing games that "real" gamers look down on, leaving gaming period, or having to put up with the inane male fantasy BS that basically completely inundates the genre. Sex certainly as hell doesn't scare me, but you know what, I would be ecstatic to see a realistically drawn and proportioned female character, wearing a realistic and sensible outfit for her occupation, who is treated like an actual human being as opposed to masturbation fuel. And if she can kick ass while doing all the above, all the better.
And you know what, oversexualization of characters in video games really is offputting for a good number of people. Especially potential girl gamers. It's sad that you think the solution is to add sexy men into the mix as well. That's just hiding cheesecake behind cheesecake. Why can't we just have reasonable female characters?
sigh...
"No one is saying there should be no sexy characters. "
Great, glad we had that sorted out then. So whats wrong with the Hitman trailer then? Oh but you are saying that some content can have sexualised female characters now can it? So what's wrong with the Hitman trailer then? Why are we picking on that? I thought we were having a big whinge about that... *rolleyes*
If you dont like it and are sick of sexualised females in video games, don't buy the bloody game mate! If females don't like it they dont have to buy the game either. YOU are the one helping to create the very market you and others on here are whinging about. Even if you and the few others on here did have any inkling of change to the marketplace, there would still be a huge market for material of this sort. I don't have a problem with pixelated boobs, I am comfortable with my sexuality and don't really care about this type of content. In fact most of the games I play don't even feature the type of content - but if it did - it wouldn't bother me.
What I have a problem with is kneejerk reactions to content like a 2 minute hitman trailer which didnt come across as over sexualised at all -, accusations that we should be afraid of some angry horde of future female gamers (Im sorry but potential fear of something like this doesnt irk me - if they dont like they can create their own market demand) and people acting like internet puritans wanting to cleanse videogames of sexual content. Oh no Personman, but some sexualised content is fine now right? If the market demand hated this stuff, then it wouldnt appear in video games. The fact that it does in vast quantities says to me there a lot of people out there who aren't afraid of their sexuality and enjoy this content. More power to them.
If there is a marketplace for reasonable female characters then great. Im sure with the rising female gamer demographic there will be a whole slew of these games and more power to them. In the meantime you can vote with your wallet if you don't like it. I see no problem with this content whatsoever and think you are all over reacting and acting like a bunch of damned puritans.
Okay, I will attempt one more time to explain, but I was quite clear the last time and you are misinterpreting or plainly ignoring a significant quantity of the text of my previous post. So if you continue to come to egregiously faulty conclusions about what I am saying this time, I give up attempting to talk to you and can only assume that you are a troll.
The problem with the Hitman trailer is that it combines violence against women, with the simultaneous hypersexualization of them. This sends bad messages about sex and violence to the people who see the trailer, and in effect fetishizes it. If you can't see why it would be a problem to fetishize violence against women, then I suggest trying harder, because it should be obvious. The fact is though that it could be a number of different trailers or games that we had this conversation about... but we're having it about the hitman trailer because mark serrels wrote an article about it, as it was a blatant, current example. There are times where sexuality has its place. Assassins, dressed as nuns, stripping , posing and strutting down the streets with a nice hip shake... this is not a good use of sexuality. This is the gaming equivalent of cheap and tacky porn being used to get young men to buy the game. While I have no particular objection to porn myself, many people do object to this sort of content. For example, a very significant proportion of females. Many women don't enjoy being treated as fetish objects, and that is exactly what this trailer treats them as.
Here's a secret - I'm not going to buy the game! I will not download a demo, and I will not pirate the game either. I will have nothing to do with this game, ever, in my lifetime. I never had any intention of buying this game. I already vote with my wallet, thank you. For similar moral objections, I stayed far, far away from the grand theft auto games and have never had anything to do with them. And The Witcher, for the trading cards. Anything else I have moral objections to? You can believe I stay the hell away from them. What I'm doing here, is commenting on why I agree with a particular opinion piece, and the many ways in which you have misinterpreted the statements of both myself and others who have commented here. Or simply read things into our statements that were never facts (such as the assumption that I help create the market I'm whining about despite commenting here, when in fact I already vote with my wallet, as explained above). Now I'll repeat from earlier - I have no personal moral objection to pixelated boobs, I'm comfortable with my sexuality, and it does not bother me at all to see sexual content in games. However, at the same time, I *do* care how it is presented and what message it sends to the people who see it. Sexuality without relevant context is, in my opinion, undesirable and a negative feature. Exploitative sexuality like we see in the hitman trailer is especially undesirable and will outright cause me to turn down a game. And games that *do* contain that sort of sexuality should be exclusively for adults, if anyone. Note that while the trailer in question has nothing to do with the content of the actual game (in theory), I am using it as a platform on which to make a statement about games in general, and my comment should be read in a more general context, rather than being all about hitman. Also, just because there is a market for content, it does not mean that it is responsible to generate it and disseminate it to the general populace. Or that you can't be cutting out a market for your game by adding such content to it. And again, it is a significant problem for the gaming industry as a whole that so many other games receive the same sort of treatment, oversexualizing every female character and turning her into a bimbo sex doll with no personality of her own, because that turns off female gamers. The problem is not just this one game. The problem is the world of gaming in general. This is just an example of the sort of things that make female gamers turn away from gaming. If game developers want girls to play their games, they're going to have to create more content that treats female characters as something other than breeding objects. That is the point that the article is trying to make.
So this isn't a kneejerk reaction to a particular game. This is a critique of the state of the gaming industry in general, using the hitman trailer as a platform to talk from and explain just why things are problematic. As to the contention that if female gamers don't like something they can create their own market demand... what? The very existence of female gamers *is* the existence of their own market demand. The problem is that game developers don't know how to respond to it, or just fail to care. There have been numerous examples of games that are very popular with female gamers. But find a game developer that knowingly uses that knowledge to create further games, and you'll find... maxis. And that's probably about it. The demand is there, it is just not being met.
So on to puritans again. If you've been reading and paying attention to what I've said so far you'll see that no, I'm not trying to cleanse video games of sexual content. And if you look back on and read some of the things others have been saying here, no one else has said that they want video games purged of all sexual content. We want, at worst, for video games to be purged of *misogynistic and sexist* content. And even some of that could possibly be lived with if it was the exception rather than the rule. Unfortunately that is not the case. Obviously the market doesn't hate this... the market is filled with young men who see T&A and that's all they care about. We live in a culture where the media has no problem whatsoever promoting sexism and misogyny until they are rampant. But that does not ever mean that it's okay that that's the case. And if you want to change that, you have to do it one step at a time. You're complaining already at that first step. The mere condemnation of its existence. If it was not the hitman trailer, it would just be another game that got this treatment from us. Say a random super hero MMO where it's literally impossible to create female characters who have humanly attainable proportions, or where you have maybe one possible costume configuration that is not incredibly revealing one way or another. Or any other of countless examples, that last one being a notably bad one. So yes, let's see some reasonable female characters. It's about time.
"The problem with the Hitman trailer is that it combines violence against women, with the simultaneous hypersexualization of them. This sends bad messages about sex and violence to the people who see the trailer, and in effect fetishizes it. If you can’t see why it would be a problem to fetishize violence against women, then I suggest trying harder, because it should be obvious"
I don't agree with that one bit. Again you're making a mountain out of a molehill and totally misconstruing the tone and objectivity of the trailer.
The 'violence against women' in the context of the Hitman trailer is an entirely ridiculous and flawed accusation. Let's not forget that:
A) Hitman is set in a fictional almost comic book world clearly not set in reality in any way, shape or form. By having the females assassins dressed in nun outfits is also a depiction of this unrealistic world.
B) The female assassins portrayed in the trailer are the antagonists or villains of the piece itself, as it is clear that Agent 47 is the hero (or anti-hero).
C) They female assassins are the ones that are instigating the violence initially - by hunting Agent 47 down.
D) the females depicted in the piece are armed to the teeth and there are several of them. Thus they are on an almost equal or superior footing to Agent 47 himself.
If the trailer instead featured Agent 47 pursuing several innocent and physically weak females and then gunning them down to death in cold blood then you would be onto something. But this is clearly not what is happening in the trailer and by ignoring this context your accusations are baseless.
I also find your accusations of "violence against women" ridicilous as if:
- Female life or harm to females, in the context of the Hitman trailer, is more valuable or precious than the lives or harm done to a group of 8 male assassins in the same scenario. Not forgetting the 5 points raised above that they are the villains and the instigators of initial violence in the piece. So you wouldnt have a problem with 8 males brutally getting gunned down, but because these villains happen to be female (and especially ones in sexy nun outfits) that's not ok - even in the context of the 5 points raised above.
I also find it disturbing how you pick on violence against women but raise no issues with violence in general or violence against men. These are also real world problems that you have conveniently brushed under the carpet, but that's ok - everyone is used to this. It's ok for men to die in droves and line the video game graveyards and desensitise our views to this, but lets not dare have any totally unrealistic comic book sexy nun assassins get brutally killed in video games in case you think it portrays violence against women or fetishizes the content in some msyogynist aims, either intended or unintended.
As for the sexualisation of the content , completely tame and unrealistic and with the context of the violence portrayed in the trailer - is unrealistic, stylised and comic book. I think well executed for the content that it is.
"We want, at worst, for video games to be purged of *misogynistic and sexist* content. And even some of that could possibly be lived with if it was the exception rather than the rule. Unfortunately that is not the case. Obviously the market doesn’t hate this… the market is filled with young men who see T&A and that’s all they care about. We live in a culture where the media has no problem whatsoever promoting sexism and misogyny until they are rampant."
Thanks, knew it all boiled down to demented feminisn 101 and a grand scheme of misogyny in the media. Tinfoil hat type stuff. Appreciate it. Nice doing business with you.
To equate what is happening in the hitman trailer down to fetishizing violence against women and depicting mysogynism is pretty bat shit I gotta tell you.
Time to get back to the slut walks...
Growing up, almost all of my friends played console & PC games regardless of gender. Then around the beginning of high school, most of the girls gave it up. Sure, some of it was due to gender role pressure--the "Girls shouldn't game" nonsense--but in retrospect, the fact that women in games had the same representational equity as Bunnies at the Playboy Mansion was a far bigger impetus to give up the hobby. I worry about the girls in the GG:SP fanbase, because I've already seen & lived through that disheartening transition when your favorite subculture suddenly demands tits or GTFO.
"The show’s creator is a woman, her name is Janet Carr."
Actually, she's the co-creator, with Junglist.
Not of Spawn Point!
I actually had this convo with Junglist already and he agrees with me!
"Is this what we want as a culture"... erm... (s)exploitation already IS part of our culture.... and has been for decades....
You don't have to like it, but others do. Yes, even girls.... even though the author seems to think that all girls are looking for "video games in the purest way possible".... That's a sexist remark in itself...
/rant
How about video game developers recognize the adult female market that exists RIGHT NOW? I'm 38 and have been playing video games since I was a kid, right along with all the rest of all you guys.
When these 10-year-old girls grow up and see sexism in games they will have a cause and bank accounts.
When they see Booth Babes willing to do sexy unboxing and bouncy castles, they'll be angry.
First off, as to Lollipop Chainsaw; Marketing aside, that game knows what it is - over-the-top silly fun. It does what it does deliberately for humor's sake.
Now, as to Hitman Absolution, and wow where to start? WHY ARE THERE BATTLE NUNS IN LEATHER?! That just... why? If you want nun assassins, DO IT! Have them walk in with body armor and hints of gear under their robes. You get a much better and more dangerous threat - you don't know what they're carrying in terms of weapons, giving you something more like an Assassin. Rather than, say, a skanky dominatrix that's merely there for sex appeal.
"And you best believe they won’t be donning leather and bikini armour when they burn this silly little boys club to the ground."
I say BRING IT ON! We'll be waiting for you, and won't go down without a fight.
There's been a dramatic rise in men with body image problems.
Videogames have contributed to that in the way all male protagonists are good looking, mid 20's, sculpted adonises.
Where are all the bleeding hearts complaining about videogames putting unrealistic expectations on the young men of today?
Fuck off with your double standards.
I just want to say I really appreciate this article. A lot of women don't speak out on the issue, mostly because all the comments would be "get back in the kitchen" or some accusation of her being a "feminazi". It's actually nice to have guys on our side for once.
I've been gaming for about four years and I started off with Half Life 2 - Sure, Alyx Vance is absolutely gorgeous and she has a wonderful figure, but she was also adequately clothed and quite frankly she kicked ass. I was thrown into gaming with such optimism because of it. I also played Beyond Good and Evil, in which the main character is also dressed practically (I don't see how some developers think it is more practical for a woman to wear latex during a gunfight - do you know how hard it is to run around in latex?!) and she was also a completely independent and strong figure.
What happened to me is the phenomenon a lot of you in the comments described. That as young girls we invest ourselves into gaming, and then the older we get, the more we start to see the problems. I tried my best to ignore the hypersexualisation when I was younger, but it is now to the point where sometimes I don't want anything to do with gaming at all. And that's such a shame. I've played a lot - from little indie games to full on FPS, but it is rare to find a mainstream game that doesn't seriously put me off any more.
I really hope the gaming industry gets it together. I remember seeing the trailer for Lollipop Chainsaw and curling up in my bed because of how disappointed I was. I loved the entire concept of the game (females kicking ass, please!) but her outfits were just plain over-the-top and her attitude in general was such a disgusting stereotype. I really don't want to stray away from gaming just because developers are still clinging onto sex as a selling point.
A lot of women act like they're okay with it, or pretend to really like it, due to the fear of backlash. A lot of men still believe that there is no sexism left to beat (on par with the same people who still think racism is over) and will respond in the rudest ways to any person, especially a woman, who feels differently.
Sorry - got a bit into that!!