photo by Matt Nemeth
The gaming industry has come under attack from critics and feminists alike in recent years due to its often-sexualized portrayal of female characters.
On Oct. 15, 2014, video game critic Anita Sarkeesian was supposed to give a speech at Utah State University, but it ended up getting canceled due to credible threats toward her and her audience that day, according to USA Today.
You read that correctly.
Sarkeesian, the founder of an online video show called “Feminist Frequency,” critiques film, television and video games through a feminist lens. She gained recognition when she started a video series called “Tropes Against Women in Video Games,” scrutinizing various video games for their poor portrayals of women. These videos are fascinating, insightful and culturally important. But most important of all, these videos are less combative and mean than an episode of “Mr. Rogers.”
There are examples of similar incidents elsewhere in the gaming community. Readers demanded that GameSpot writer and trans woman Carolyn Petit be fired roughly a year ago after a review that dared to critique the portrayal of women in “Grand Theft Auto V,” according to the website MCV. What’s mind-boggling and frustrating about this is that Petit described the game as “an imperfect, yet astounding game that has great characters and an innovative and exciting narrative structure” in the same review.
Indie game developer Zoe Quinn received horrific threats and harassments on a regular basis, which can be read more about in a New Yorker article entitled “Zoe Quinn’s Depression Quest.”
It’s crucial to understand that these issues do not represent a problem with just an extreme fringe in gaming culture; it represents a culture with deeply rooted issues. On the topic of both fictional and actual women in the gaming industry, the general atmosphere still reeks of sad, lame attempts to keep video games a boys’ club. There are silver linings in the industry, sure, but they’re only visible whenever they can brave the storm clouds of violent, coercive rhetoric and threats of violence.
The broad conversation on the portrayal of women in video games is simply nowhere near intelligent enough to be taken seriously despite troubled improvement. Criticism of how women are portrayed in games is often met with silly, incoherent objection. There is a piece called “Bayonetta 2’s ‘Over-Sexualization’ Complaint: A Perfect Example of What’s Wrong with Modern Reviews” on an online publication called “DualShockers.” I wish I didn’t have to bring attention to something so harmful to the gaming community, but from my experience talking with fellow “gamers,” this perspective is all too common.
The article is a mindless mess of drivel that critiques Arthur Gies’ review of the video game “Bayonetta 2” for the gaming website Polygon, which mostly praised the game but also harshly criticized it for sexual objectification. The main thrust of this piece was that Polygon’s review failed to be “objective,” muddled by “bias.” Some people will say an article expressing one’s opinion of a game shouldn’t include any other opinions- solely to avoid having a discussion about women. Imagine if Roger Ebert was expected not to give any bias in his film reviews. Something tells me that version of film criticism wouldn’t be taken very seriously.
Games are creative works of art with the potential to astound players with joy and moving themes and ideas. They are perfect for friendly competition and camaraderie among genders, age demographics, races and so on. I think most who identify as a “gamer” understand this; it’s just a shame those who understand how video games can cross barriers don’t also identify as a feminists in larger numbers.
What the angry members of the gaming community don’t seem to understand is that everyone accepting “feminism” doesn’t mean uniformity in opinion. From his review of the sequel, it’s clear Gies takes issue with the first game in the same regard, and I respectfully disagree. I think the character Bayonetta embraces her sexuality and takes charge in a powerful, cool way. I saw the overall atmosphere surrounding the game’s depiction of sexuality as silly fun. I still analyze these things from a skeptical, feminist perspective, but I understand nuance enough to not be taken aback by opposing interpretations.
At the end of the day, it’s healthy for gaming as a culture and medium to have women’s issues discussed. If we accept that games are art, we must also accept that they are open to interpretation and intellectual, critical debate. Making the conversation more open to new ideas, as well as new people, is essential. Collective lids being flipped over any opinion from industry critics coming from a feminist perspective tends to curb progress on this front. Driving these critics away from speech opportunities through death threats probably does as well.