foolish steps

chirart:

Misogyny in games is everywhere and almost as old as popular games are. I love games, I work in games, I play games, games are awesome, powerful and wonderful. But the way the games industry and community treats roughly 50% of the human population is a giant festering ugly tumor, right in our favorite cultures’s face.

Considering the damage misogyny in games does to pop culture and to society at large (games are a large cultural force now), I find myself always flabbergasted at the consorted and massive efforts from gamers to keep things as disgusting as they are, whenever someone speaks up against it.

Instead of joining forces with people, who care enough to make games better for all of us and, yes, help women get a better standing in society, gamers get defensive. They play the victim, rationalize, become offensive and even resort to hostile attacks and vandalism.

This is not helping. It is generating additional damage to our culture, in fact. Whatever the aspect of games, the community or themselves it is, they get so protective about… they are completely poisoning and deforming it, by their own misguided actions defending misogyny in games.

Trigger warnings for victimization/torture/rape imagery in the example images. Please click with caution.

This is a great article dealing with common defense arguments against sexism/misogyny in video games, largely in response to the bile Anita Sarkeesian (of Feminist Frequency) has been dealing with in her video projects.

Although one also suggests not reading the comments. Because there should probably be a special punch to the face for commenters who try to rationalize/defend exactly what the article is pointing out using the exact arguments the article is breaking down.