Tropes vs. Women in Video Games

[Smashgoom202]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/566429325/tropes-vs-women-in-video-games

So we have someone who wants to make a documentary (well not so much a documentary as a series of videos) about the portrayal of women in video games. That's good, in my humble opinion, since I feel that gaming as a whole seems pretty biased in its portrayal of characters of certain genders and ethnicities, and most games feel a bit condescending to a certain demographic. Some people probably don't see this as "important enough to warrant it's own documentary", sort of like the Brony documentary thing, but I still feel like this documentary can only do good, even if the problem is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.

Unfortunately, I was VERY disappointed to see that not only has the YouTube video been flooded with dislikes, but the comments section has some... not so nice things to say about the project as as whole. I'm trying to be objective about it, but most of them have a rather sexist "get back in the kitchen/quit spoiling our fun" feel to them, and that's... pretty silly, IMHO. Some are more rational then others, but I STILL don't think any kind of argument is worth the amount of dislikes the video has...

The Kickstarter campaign has only 7 hours to go, so it feels pointless including it, but still, maybe it's not too late to get involved. Besides, I wanted to help raise awareness for this project to those who possibly haven't heard about it, and talk about it with other people.

Like I said, I feel this idea can only do good. What do you feel?

 

[Pokemon DP]

Oh cool, just in time to donate. A modest $25, but I'm doing my part.

Anyway, a documentary like this isn't unneeded because the general depiction of women in gaming is bloody disgraceful and I'm so sick of people insisting that sexism and sexploitation is "just part of the fun of gaming", because that's dumb. I'm sure a lot of people who believed harassment against women in the gaming community wasn't that bad may change their mind after this little episode.

 

[Scarecrow von Steuben]

I kinda think this is a silly thing to be making a documentary about, though maybe it's just because I'm not prolific enough a gamer to have been exposed to the worst of what it's talking about (which is the point of the documentary, I guess). Still, it can't hurt, and I'm all for women's rights.

I'm not surprised the Youtube hordes reacted the way they did, though. These are the same people that spammed racial slurs on Trayvon Martin memorial videos, after all.

 

[Purple Yoshi]

As a women myself, I'd just like to say this is something that is really needed. It's not like I get discriminated against (but then again, it's not like I have Xbox live or whatever), but people really need to understand this stuff in perspective.

Also, guys can be real idiots sometime.

 

[Anton]

As a women myself, I'd just like to say this is something that is really needed. It's not like I get discriminated against (but then again, it's not like I have Xbox live or whatever), but people really need to understand this stuff in perspective.

Also, guys can be real idiots sometime.

>complain about sexism
>be sexist

 

[Uniju]

guys can be real idiots

So can you if you want. We won't mind.

 

[Magikrazy]

As a women myself, I'd just like to say this is something that is really needed. It's not like I get discriminated against (but then again, it's not like I have Xbox live or whatever), but people really need to understand this stuff in perspective.

Also, guys can be real idiots sometime.

>complain about sexism
>be sexist

Don't you know? It's not sexist unless it's against women!

 

[Smashgoom202]

And image and a video that relate to this topic:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/5950-Tropes-vs-MovieBob

Really, though, I can't deny some of the arguments against her and her project have a point, but at the same time, I don't think enough of this kind of stuff exists, or rather it DOES exist but people choose not to listen to it for arbitrary reasons...

I completely understand the idea this particular woman not being qualified to speak about a topic that is, indeed, a problem with gaming, but I don't buy the idea that there is no problem at all... Even I'M a bit uncomfortable at the way some women are portrayed in AAA games. MAYBE it doesn't matter because those games aren't specifically supposed to appeal to women, or even me for that matter, but I still think that this sort of thing exists in games, regardless of who, exactly, they're supposed to appeal to, and it's still something that can be improved upon, even just a little.

That said, when I found out that this WASN'T a documentary and that it was just a video series, I did think it was ludicrous to need $6,000 to pull it off... Now she has over $150,000 so all I can say is, those videos better be well-informed, to the point, and look as amazing as possible with a budget like that!

 

[Ray Trace]

I don't like the stereotyping of women in video games. It's pretty similar to how other cultures throughout the world are stereotyped. Sure, it is sometimes good for recognizable purposes, but otherwise, it's just not right. It just shows how blissfully ignorant some people can be.

 

[Pokemon DP]

She's investing much of the spare income into bumping up security for her website (which is about feminist, racial, and homophobic issues in all mediums). For the rest of the excess, I'm not sure; probably into some other charities.

The video series isn't about oppression so much as it is about common mistakes the gaming medium makes when trying to depict women. It's a legitimate discussion that really needs to be observed more for this industry to grow as a mature medium, and considering she is an avid gamer and is a big shot on a moderate feminist website, I don't see any problem with her tackling the issue. It's... really not the most drastic of debates (which does make the vitriol leveled at her even more ridiculous since she wasn't try to stir shit about abuse or oppression or any of that), and there are worse things in life that desperately need attending to, but as a nice little discussion for the arts, it would still be great if we had more female characters who aren't just cliches or fanservice stereotypes.

 

[Scarecrow von Steuben]

And image and a video that relate to this topic:

That first one is horrific. That's just horrific. What a nightmare.