Misogyny and Sexism in Gaming

Cyber feminist Anita Sarkeesian is both vilified and revered by those in the gaming industry. In 2009, she launched feministfrequency.com, a website designed to educate others about the use of tropes by developers in their gaming creations.

Anita Sarkeesian contends that there is a pervasive pattern in modern gaming as women are depicted as sexual playthings as well as victims of violence by their male counterparts.

In her web series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games launched in 2012, she points out that games like Bioshock 2 (2010) portray women not only as background decoration but as sexualized, maimed women in ‘arousing positions’. In stark contrast, she notes that there is a distinct lack of sexualization and objectification of male characters in games.

A YouTube user under the name of ‘Thunderf00t’ not only criticises Sarkeesian’s claims but also the fact that she was crowd funded through Kickstarter accumulating $158,000 in donations 2012 to make the web series. The user claims that she has only done 5 videos in 24 months which works out at $30,000 per video. ‘Thunderf00t’ admonishes her for having  her comments section switched off.

It is understandable in the aftermath of Gamergate where female gaming developers were subject to trolling and insidious, vile threats of physical and sexual violence. Cast your mind back to an earlier post where I alluded to the world of gaming as a bloodsport.

One might argue that the sexualization and objectification of women is nothing new and is something that had been around for centuries.  How do you change a stereotype that is deeply entrenched in our culture?

Iconic women like Marilyn Monroe, Madonna and Beyonce have used their sexuality to sell their movies and music and are often admired by other women for using their beauty and prowess to their advantage.

More worrying is the emerging culture of those that hide behind their online anonymity to bully and terrorize others. Personally, I think Anita Sarkeesian’s thesis is a little one-dimensional and simplified. In my view, feminism particularly cyber feminism is complex and needs some teasing out.

As recently as this week, Milo Yiannopoulos challenged Anita Sarkeesian in his latest blog post, “Debate me and I will donate $10,000 to feminist frequency or a charity of your choice”

“I have a couple of conditions. The debate will last at least an hour, and must be streamed live. No subject is off-limits. Questions must be taken by each speaker from members of the audience and from each other: there should be plenty of time for cross-examination. Questions should not be shared ahead of time. No earpieces, and no long prepared statements. Admittance is free. (I’ll cover the cost of the venue and security, if need be.) And that’s really it.”

I am not sure Anita Sarkeesian will be signing up to the debate any time soon. The fact that she has disabled her comment section on YouTube screams to me that perhaps she just wants to be left alone to get on with it.

Indie Game-The bloodsport of Independent Gaming Development

The world of gaming is a competitive sport . In the 2012 Sundance Award winning documentary Indie Game, it is a blood sport.

The movie profiles independent game developers, partners Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes and Phil Fish (of Polytron) and their struggle to get their games completed and into the indie games market. McMillen and Refenes work on their game Super Meat Boy.

The premise of the game is a simple one. Super Meat Boy the main character has no human skin. He is in pursuit of Bandage Girl, his soul mate but has to try and dodge the chainsaw blade obstacles in his quest to get to her. It is quite a romantic and sweet idea when you think about it. Bandage girl will complete Super Meat Boy by protecting his exposed flesh with her loving bandages.

 “My whole career has been about trying to find new ways to communicate with people because I desperately want to communicate with people but I don’t want the messy interaction of having to make friends and talk to people cos I probably won’t like them”

-Edmund McMillen

McMillen is a likable character. We see him propose to his girlfriend publicly at a gaming convention…obviously.

Microsoft offers McMillen and Refenes the opportunity to take part in an Xbox Live Arcade Promotion but they must finish the game in a month. Due to financial pressure they agree and it is a race against time to get Super Meat Boy finished on time.

Refenes, the other half of the partnership comes across as somebody that badly needs to learn how to relax. He clearly suffers from anxiety and this manifests through his appearance alone. Unshaven, pale, thin and a diabetic, he seems to slowly unravel as the release date of Super Meat Boy approaches. He becomes increasingly agitated and his mood becomes erratic due to stress and sleep deprivation. Yet the partnership seems to work well with McMillen as the ying to Refenes yang.

Phil Fish is the developer of Fez, a game that he has been working on for four years (since 2008) so the pressure is on. He initially receives funding for the project. However due to the lengthy development delay, the funding is pulled and he is under enormous financial pressure.

“I am so closely attached to it. It is my identity. It is Fez. I’m the guy making Fez”  

-Phil Fish

Phil Fish is as unlikeable character. He has clearly alienated a lot of people including his former partner Jason Degrout. It is evident that it was a bitter gaming break up. Phil Fish needs Degrout to sign some legal documents on the morning of  the Penny Arcade Expo in Boston to seal the final separation deal otherwise he will not be able to debut Fez at the Expo.

We see his anger escalate when there is no sign of Degrout. He goes ahead and sets up his booth anyway but his demo gets off to a disastrous start as the incomplete Fez is plagued with bugs.

Phil Fish is a controversial figure in the indie gaming world and famously tweeted his followers following the cancellation of a sequel Fez 2, “Seriously, shut the f**k up about Fez 2. It is never going to happen. You don’t deserve it.”

I don’t want to ruin the plot or give away too many spoilers. Suffice to say this documentary is fantastic and well worth a look. It gives an incredible insight into both the creative nature and the psychology of independent gaming developers. It also effectively charts the emotional investment of the artists in their creations.
Incidentally, if any of you have played both Fez and Super Meat Boy, I would love to hear from you, so feel free to comment and let me know which game you enjoyed the most!

The Personalisation of the Web- Is Game Therapy the new Play Therapy?

With online filter tools improving all the time, what we share is carefully aggregated and regurgitated to paint a picture that defines our online identity. But, what exactly motivates us when sharing personal information about ourselves on social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram etc.? Deeply rooted in the human condition is our need to socialise. What one shares online may be to showcase their skills, to generate business, to gain employment or perhaps to market themselves or their product.

On a personal level, it is interesting to pay attention to what others are posting online and more importantly why?

Is the compulsion to provide a running commentary on every aspect of your life along with the obligatory video and photo borne out of a need to feed the ego? This interferes with being present, being still and being real. Do you ever feel like saying to someone “Stop…you are missing it” and by “it”, I mean life.

Do you have a “friend” on your social networking site who seems to have it all? The close knit group of gal pals that work hard and play hard always seem to be heading off on girlie weekends or spa and shopping breaks. In their selfies, they look like they have just stepped out of the salon. How much time do you spend envying their seemingly perfect hair, body, friends and relationships and lives?

There are two sides of the argument. Some might say that the voyeuristic nature of viewing peoples’ impeccable lives can lead to a feeling of deep seated social isolation and maybe even exclusion.

On the other hand, virtual communities with shared interests have brought together those who lack confidence or are socially awkward in a non threatening way.

Game therapy is for some the new play therapy. Dr. Aleks Krotroski interviewed a number of gaming experts on her Guardian Tech Weekly show where they discussed online gaming as therapy.

One panelist who had been through a tough time describes her first encounter with games such as “Flower” and “Journey” and how she felt deeply affected in a positive way.

Another guest described his problems in relating to his girlfriend. His therapist contended that the gaming environment was good for him and his girlfriend noted that his interactions with her improved over time.

In her article “Identity in a virual world” Michelle Jana Chan says according to Nick Yee (Stanford University), who has done studies of online communities found that;

“Studies do suggest virtual environments can be a way of expressing a different side of personalities or escaping the social constraints of real life. But Yee says, even though online characters are not bound by rules, they tend to self-regulate how they look and often mirror human behavior in the real world”. 

If we look at innovators such as Aaron Schwartz, The Internet’s own Boy and Mark Zuckerberg, they share many of the same personality traits. Both are highly intelligent and creative but have had difficulties socially making connections with others in friendships and relationships.

It is certainly no accident that Zuckerberg founded Facebook. I wonder on a subconscious level, if he was trying to carve out for himself an online platform where he could establish and maintain friendships. Maybe for Schwartz, Zuckerberg and many more technological innovators the online world is less scary than the real world.