Seems pretty much spot-on, and not all that surprising. The whole thing is pretty pathetic in general though. Aligning oneself with a brand and vehemently defending said brand makes someone seem very gullible. On the other hand, constantly berating another brand or console definitely makes someone look as though they have nothing better to do with their time and are a vindictive, sour, loser.
I unfortunately got into the whole thing a number of years ago for perhaps a few months, but I'm quite happy it wasn't a phase that lasted particularly long, and looking back, there are a few cringe-worthy moments.
@ViperCanel @hombreg1 Most feminists don't hate men. Alot of these comments are excessive, and this is coming from someone who pretty much disagrees with the majority of Sarkeesian's points and finds her criticisms simplistic and banal.
@hombreg1 In order to do that they'd have to focus on the issue, which is the lack of women interested in programming and computer education. That's a very difficult problem to address and also a hard one to criticize since it's the women's choice not to go into those fields. It's easier to just criticize entertainment, a decades old tradition.
@CharlieSpot @Darnasian Imo the interviewee (Sarkeesian) actually ends up inadvertently objectifying women herself. She seems to display the sense that unless the women are less than attractive then they can't possibly be intellectual or display depth.
This is just exacerbating the whole "burqa" mentality and the stereotyping seen when talking about many beauty pageant contestants or models. The way she talks about it, drop-dead "unrealistic women" can't be worldly or smart. This is in and of itself offensive and narrow-minded.
@reaver23 Very well laid out thought process. The whole "burqa" mentality is an interesting one which you bring up. Reading the article again, it does seem very much as though Sarkeesian feels that in order for a woman to be a complex character, she must also be less that sexually attractive. In turn Sarkeesian is being narrow minded and absolutist.
@Arath_1 Just to respond to one of your points (they're all well laid out and legitimate btw) what you said about women not entering the industry is very true. Just recently I saw a statistic about how few women are actually in computer programming and computer science classes at most universities.
Since there are a lack of women in these classes, and these classes are generally needed prior to beginning any sort of serious video game development it makes perfect sense that there would in turn be a low number of women in the field. If one really wanted to engage women and get more of them into the industry they'd first need to address this problem.
Many girls I know look down on computers and programming though, so you're completely right in saying that it starts at the education level, and that if you really want to change things, you have to change that by changing all the young women out there's perspective.
But this is a difficult task, and it is far easier to follow the tried and true path of railing against the entertainment industry, after all this has been done for many many decades now.
@theduchess42 Well, there is no denying that sex sells, and I would make the argument that ideal physical fitness is sexy, but that's getting off the point somewhat. And no doubt Lara Croft's scantily dressed attire is rather silly considering all the perilous situations she's in, it would make more sense for her to be protected.
Once again though, and not to beat the dead horse (or however the saying goes) its a double sided thing. It makes little sense for men to be fighting a battle with swords and knives and arrows flying everywhere and be shirtless or have one useless strap of fabric coming down from their shoulder to their waist.
As for there being badass opportunities out there for women characters, well there probably are.
@Deevoshun Yeah this whole complaining about "body image" thing could go well beyond just video games. You might as well include, movies, music videos, television etc.
People like good looking people more regardless of the situation. Even straight men would rather look at an attractive man rather than an ugly man.
"Attractive" people get hired easier, make more money, etc. Delving into this topic means opening up a whole psychiatric examination of the human race - or perhaps its really not that complicated we just like whatever looks best.
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