Sexism in Video Games: Is It A Problem?

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Feminist media critic, Anita Sarkeesian, finds examples of sexism and misogyny in various forms of media. She recently gained a larger spotlight – actually the first time I heard of her, after releasing this video on YouTube and launching this Kickstarter project.

 

 

Click on the video to go to the actual Youtube site, check out her other videos if you want – just make sure you come back here. If you look at all the comments beneath the Youtube video, the sexist and misogynistic comments may disgust you greatly or slightly depending on your moral standards. Even though I don’t completely agree with her cause, I don’t agree with the inappropriately sexist and offensive comments below the video. Some of the misogynists even went as far as putting pornographic images on her Wikipedia page. When this sort of behavior is so prevalent on the internet, feminists like Anita will always have a cause.

Her Kickstarter project has earned more than enough money now for her to carry out her research so, if you have any opinions on this topic, I suggest you stay tuned to her Youtube or Kickstarter page to see what she comes up with. Although it’s quite obvious what she’s going to come up with, she’s going to find many games and point to the sexualisation of the females in them. What I don’t understand is why she needs funds for this, it’s not exactly hard to find hot girls in video games, neither is it hard to deduce why they’re hot rather than average-looking. If it is a scheme to have people sponsor her gaming needs then she is my new heroine.

The gaming industry’s main target audience are men; Men like sexualized women. The gaming industry wants to sell more games so the obvious solution is to include sexualized women in them. It’s not meant to offend women, it’s just what has to be done to make a profit. You don’t see masculinists complaining when chick flicks feature unfairly attractive guys. Well, in truth, you don’t see masculinists period.

If you think that sexism in video games is a problem or you have any other thoughts to share, please leave your comments below.

My opinions are mine alone and not necessarily shared by other writers at Technesstivity.

Demolu Dabiri

Demolu Dabiri is a freshman doing the Liberal Studies Program at New York University. His curiosity is piqued by anything even slightly technological but gaming is his forté. If you want to contact me about anything game/technology related or just say hi: Tweet me @aydabiri or find me on Facebook.

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