fantastic_jackie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fantastic_jackie) wrote2011-12-19 04:08 pm
fantastic_jackie) wrote2011-12-19 04:08 pm
Entry tags:
Male Privilege & False Equivalence in Video Games/Comics
Is this... is this my journal I'm posting this on? Am I actually going to talk about "X-Class of Citizen's" Privilege? Admittedly, I'm branching out of my comfort zone for this one. I'm home sick for the day, so I need to entertain myself.
It all started with a post on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
ontd_gaming linking to this article: Nerds & Male Privilege.
The article concentrates on two particular aspects of Male Privilege: that women in video games and comics are consistently portrayed as sexual objects, and women who play video games are treated as far-from-equals in the gaming community. Both of these issues are, by and large, ignored and denied by the industry and community.
Y'all know that I changed my gamertag not too long ago. Previously, I was PatriotJackJack on X-Box Live, but I constantly received messages, both written and spoken-in-gameplay, about being a gay man. Now, I'm ThatPHDChikJust: In light of previous experience, I figured it was best to be up front about who I am. (PHD is my clan, btw. Not the degree.) In addition, I'm proud to be a girl who loves games and is fairly decent at playing them. You can probably guess the favored two pejoratives I'm called, though. Other things I've learned since "coming out" through my tag that I'm a girl:
1) My Bio's statement that I'm from Texas is an open invitation for being hit on, because Texas girls "have a reputation."
2) Top written messages received: "Are you hot?" "Send me a pic." (Note: This one has been perversely implied more than once and has become worse since we got the Kinect.) "Where's my sandwich/beer/dinner/etc?" "Hey, baby. Join my private chat."
3) Top verbal messages: Grunting sounds while teabagging my body along with statements of "Take/suck it, b****/c***! You like it, don't you?" Suggestions of rape, Descriptions of how one's large male anatomy will be used in conjunction with myself
4) Replies to above stimuli are best kept to whatever weapon I have in my hands rather than any worded responses.
Once, a jerk requested to know my level of hottness. When I didn't reply, he asked for a picture. When I still didn't reply, he sent me another message asking, "So it's like that, huh?" What followed were three incredibly vulgar, demeaning, and ignorant messages. I sent him a one word response: "Reported." He sent an additional couple messages before I finally blocked him.
Out of the games I play online, I'd say maybe 25% of them involve this issue in one form or another. - And I play with everyone muted most of the time to avoid the majority of it. - It's nice when other guys stand up. I'd say it's nice when other girls stand up, but it always degenerates into a name-calling match.
Women are hardly the only abused class of gamer, though. For instance, racial slurs are less pervasive than they used to be, but they still happen far too often. Gays are without doubt the most abused, whether directly or indirectly by all the references to so-and-so on the other team being a f****t. (Though I do agree with South Park that the term has evolved yet again beyond referring only to gays. -It's at least in transition.) Kid gamers take their share of abuse online, too. You've gotta wonder what sort of 24-yr-old finds his self-worth by verbally abusing 12-yr-olds.
It's tiring, I suppose. And expected, too. Video games are, after all, highly competitive and therefore subject to all forms of aggression. Still, it's not always the aggressive reactions that are the most offensive. I think, to an extent, the fact that many people flat out refuse to acknowledge this is even a cultural problem we have as a society is the worst part about the entire topic, because that essentially states that the status quo is perfectly natural, normal, and acceptable. The topic is also comic books, and I have to admit that one of the reasons I won't read them is because of the stereotypical comic book woman: she's all boobs and legs, and her purpose is pretty much to serve as a token female and to give sex/sexiness to the male characters and readership.
It's such a prevalent staple of our society, as well. Billboards, commercials, books, tv shows, movies... Seriously ladies, how many times a day do you roll your eyes or avert your gaze?
I don't know that I necessarily agree with the implications of calling it Male Privilege: such a term, in my opinion, implies that men -particularly white men- should feel guilty about who they are and what their societal gender has done, that they should feel that much of what they do and can accomplish has little to do with their own merits, and I will never agree with that. What I do agree with is the awareness part. Be cognizant is about all I would request, and in doing so, attempt to change your actions and the actions of others whose lives you touch.
As to the article's other part on false equivalence, someone posted a comic in one of the threads I read, and I thought it was AMAZING. Because a ripped guy without a shirt on does NOT equal a busty girl without a shirt on, no matter how many times guys repeat this ridiculous argument. I didn't want to destroy your friends pages with a massive pic though, so the comic is below the cut.
It all started with a post on
ontd_gaming linking to this article: Nerds & Male Privilege. The article concentrates on two particular aspects of Male Privilege: that women in video games and comics are consistently portrayed as sexual objects, and women who play video games are treated as far-from-equals in the gaming community. Both of these issues are, by and large, ignored and denied by the industry and community.
Male privilege – again – is about what men can expect as the default setting for society. A man isn't going to have everything about him filtered through the prism of his gender first. A man, for example, who gets a job isn't going to face with suggestions that his attractiveness or that his willingness to perform sexual favors was a factor in his being hired, nor will he be shrugged off as a "quota hire". A man isn't expected to be a representative of his sex in all things; if he fails at a job, it's not going to be extrapolated that all men are unfit for that job. A man who's strong-willed or aggressive won't be denigrated for it, nor are men socialized to "go along to get along". A man can expect to have his opinion considered, not dismissed out of hand because of his sex. When paired with a woman who's of equal status, the man can expect that most of the world will assume that he's the one in charge. And, critically, a man doesn't have to continually view the world through the lens of potential violence and sexual assault.
Now with this in mind, consider why being a girl first may be a hindrance to geek girls. A guy who plays a first person shooter – Call of Duty, Halo, Battlefield, what-have-you – online may expect a certain amount of trash talking, but he's not going to be inundated with offers for sex, threats of rape, sounds of simulated masturbation or demands that he blow the other players – but not before going to the kitchen and getting them a beer/sandwich/pizza first. Men will also not be told that they're being "too sensitive" or that "they need to toughen up" when they complain about said sexual threats.
Y'all know that I changed my gamertag not too long ago. Previously, I was PatriotJackJack on X-Box Live, but I constantly received messages, both written and spoken-in-gameplay, about being a gay man. Now, I'm ThatPHDChikJust: In light of previous experience, I figured it was best to be up front about who I am. (PHD is my clan, btw. Not the degree.) In addition, I'm proud to be a girl who loves games and is fairly decent at playing them. You can probably guess the favored two pejoratives I'm called, though. Other things I've learned since "coming out" through my tag that I'm a girl:
1) My Bio's statement that I'm from Texas is an open invitation for being hit on, because Texas girls "have a reputation."
2) Top written messages received: "Are you hot?" "Send me a pic." (Note: This one has been perversely implied more than once and has become worse since we got the Kinect.) "Where's my sandwich/beer/dinner/etc?" "Hey, baby. Join my private chat."
3) Top verbal messages: Grunting sounds while teabagging my body along with statements of "Take/suck it, b****/c***! You like it, don't you?" Suggestions of rape, Descriptions of how one's large male anatomy will be used in conjunction with myself
4) Replies to above stimuli are best kept to whatever weapon I have in my hands rather than any worded responses.
Once, a jerk requested to know my level of hottness. When I didn't reply, he asked for a picture. When I still didn't reply, he sent me another message asking, "So it's like that, huh?" What followed were three incredibly vulgar, demeaning, and ignorant messages. I sent him a one word response: "Reported." He sent an additional couple messages before I finally blocked him.
Out of the games I play online, I'd say maybe 25% of them involve this issue in one form or another. - And I play with everyone muted most of the time to avoid the majority of it. - It's nice when other guys stand up. I'd say it's nice when other girls stand up, but it always degenerates into a name-calling match.
Women are hardly the only abused class of gamer, though. For instance, racial slurs are less pervasive than they used to be, but they still happen far too often. Gays are without doubt the most abused, whether directly or indirectly by all the references to so-and-so on the other team being a f****t. (Though I do agree with South Park that the term has evolved yet again beyond referring only to gays. -It's at least in transition.) Kid gamers take their share of abuse online, too. You've gotta wonder what sort of 24-yr-old finds his self-worth by verbally abusing 12-yr-olds.
It's tiring, I suppose. And expected, too. Video games are, after all, highly competitive and therefore subject to all forms of aggression. Still, it's not always the aggressive reactions that are the most offensive. I think, to an extent, the fact that many people flat out refuse to acknowledge this is even a cultural problem we have as a society is the worst part about the entire topic, because that essentially states that the status quo is perfectly natural, normal, and acceptable. The topic is also comic books, and I have to admit that one of the reasons I won't read them is because of the stereotypical comic book woman: she's all boobs and legs, and her purpose is pretty much to serve as a token female and to give sex/sexiness to the male characters and readership.
It's such a prevalent staple of our society, as well. Billboards, commercials, books, tv shows, movies... Seriously ladies, how many times a day do you roll your eyes or avert your gaze?
I don't know that I necessarily agree with the implications of calling it Male Privilege: such a term, in my opinion, implies that men -particularly white men- should feel guilty about who they are and what their societal gender has done, that they should feel that much of what they do and can accomplish has little to do with their own merits, and I will never agree with that. What I do agree with is the awareness part. Be cognizant is about all I would request, and in doing so, attempt to change your actions and the actions of others whose lives you touch.
As to the article's other part on false equivalence, someone posted a comic in one of the threads I read, and I thought it was AMAZING. Because a ripped guy without a shirt on does NOT equal a busty girl without a shirt on, no matter how many times guys repeat this ridiculous argument. I didn't want to destroy your friends pages with a massive pic though, so the comic is below the cut.
no subject
Back in the '90s there was a trend of doing "alternate" covers of various comics featuring centerfolds, porn actresses, etc. posing in whatever skimpy costume. At one point, there were nude shots (tastefully hidden behind the counter of course). It was ridiculous. The only stuff I read then were not superhero comics: Sandman, various Star Wars titles, Anne Rice adaptations, etc.. The strip you posted is right: the superhero represents an idealization for the male fan, not eye candy for the ladies. The only ones who find superhero dudes hot are gay men and they are drawn to both the physique AND power. It's telling the kind of guys fangirls find attractive as opposed to what's in most comics and games.
no subject
I've never tried the online multiplayer matches (most especially Halo), but I've heard enough to know I'm okay with sticking to just people I know (I think I told you this before, but oh well). I know my cousin, also female and also into Halo, had a lot of trouble with people in multiplayer and rarely plays with the sound on anymore.
Personally, I have a hard time understanding why any of this is necessary at all. Is it really that funny to put down other people, other entire genders/races/other? Especially when the other party makes it clear that the 'joke' was in bad taste? *sigh*
And aaah, Shortpacked. This strip (among many others) is probably one of my favorites, if only because it's so true. to the point I want to print it out and plaster it on every available surface. (however, it must be noted that Amber's art also makes me uncomfortable. I dunno, something about it is just weird. Then again, I'm not usually into games/books/shows for the sexy. It's just not my thing)
I work in a mall, formerly the largest mall in the world. 90% of it's contents are clothing stores. It is painful walking to work every day bombarded with the message "YOU WANT TO BE SEXY RIGHT? TO GET A MAN". The Guess? place is worst for this (aside the obvious Pink and Victorias Secret places of course)