Quote from: ~RoadToTrista~ on January 07, 2014, 02:26:03 AM
And I don't think she's "Man-hating" like he said, lol
Angry Joe knows she isn't out to get men or take away their precious games - he's just pointing out how ridiculous some of the more vocal gamers actually sound. It's undeniable that Anita has taken some actions that I would like to see her apologize for (using Youtube footage without permission or proper crediting is weaksauce, especially considering how much funding she received for the video series), but that's nothing compared to the flak she's received for being the only girl who dares to voice her opinion.
Anyone mind if I borrow a soapbox for a minute? Women are typically an afterthought when it comes to game and character creation - this is completely true. Like she stated in one of her newer videos, in a cast of six characters, the five males will have distinct personalities. The sixth is known as the "group girl," and wears a bow. Most female characters are either submissive to men, waiting to be rescued as a plot object, or the plot focuses on how they find strength in a hopeless situation. It's a horrifically bland palette of portrayal.
That being said, I feel like male characters in gaming are receiving just as much sexism as the women, and maybe even in a more harmful way. IMO, the peak moment of female sexism in the gaming industry was the "Tomb Raider accident" (accidentally adding an extra digit to her breast size and deciding it was more attractive) and the spawn of similar character designs that followed suit. This was nearly two decades ago, if I remember correctly. Now, at least when it comes to purely physical aspects, females are being much more fairly depicted. Instead of adding more T&A, more designers (Western, mostly) are giving their characters youthful faces, interesting makeup designs, elaborate hair models, interesting outfits, etc. The characters may or may not be objects in the grand scheme of the plot, but at least their physical appearances are becoming less and less harmful to the image of a "sexy" female body. That's not enough, but it's a huge step in the right direction.
On the male side, characters are made "more attractive" by receiving bigger muscles, gravelly voices, and being more...well endowed (the new developers of Halo literally made Master Chief's codpiece [is that the right word for it?] twice as large without changing anything else about his armor). I can't stress enough how harmful this is to men. I may not identify as male, but for my first twenty years of existence, I was constantly bullied for my small height and frame. I've been taunted for having a higher voice than most. I've had people call me a ->-bleeped-<-got for my slightly longer than average hair. Of course, none of this bothers me now that I'm transitioning (I don't know if it bothered me much to begin with, but I was sick of hearing it by second grade), but for the smaller guys out there who aren't trans*? They're subjected to a lot of the sexism that women receive. Even though I received higher marks than most everyone in my graduating class, I was never taken seriously when placed in groups with other guys - they never saw me as a "man," so listened to nothing I had to say. Video games certainly aren't to blame, but the way they depict "real manly men" is only going to make the situation worse. It's great of Anita to take a step back and examine the industry from another perspective, as it's just as beneficial to men as it is to women. The feminist movement shows that women come in all kinds of shapes and with a variety of distinctive attributes - maybe this will lead to the assumption that men can do the same while still being "men."
/end rant. Sorry to go off like that, this has been on my mind for a while. It feels good to just get all of it out there and be done.
