Ryan is away so this week Jocelyn is joined by James “Iyagovos” Bartholomeou of Indie Love to talk about The Sims 4, some WoW raiding and achievement hunting, as well as what is going on with the whole GamerGate hashtag. Please keep in mind that the episode was recorded Friday, before new information came to light. Enjoy!
First and foremost, I appreciate how you guys framed your analysis of the whole Gamersgate thing. I definitely understood you disagree with Sarkeesian’s videos while condemning the vitriol that’s being spewed at her. Good job. It’s a hard subject to discuss.
Both Jocelyn and James echoed the sentiment that they are OK with the roles women assume in video games. Ok, I find that sad, but I get it. Then you get defensive and argue that because Sarkeesian portrays these roles as “lesser,” you disagree and can judge her work based on a minute or two of watching. And that’s where you lose me.
You’re right, feminism has to do with giving women a choice how they’re represented and what social norms they want to subscribe to. You’re also right that Sarkeesian’s work paints current “molds,” as Jocelyn put it, in a negative light.
That being said, I would argue that Sarkeesian’s work gives voice to “molds” that currently just don’t exist on a broad scale. The reality is that a majority of female characters in games perpetuate the same “molds” that, at this point, only seem to perpetuate women as fragile, sex objects to be tended to by more capable male counterparts. Her work is trying to highlight that the molds Jocelyn and James are defending are really the ONLY molds we have. Sarkeesian could be less accusatory in her delivery for sure; however, she makes really good points which are very much worth considering.
Why do I care so much? As a 6’5″ Latino gamer and all around geek, I get to be marginalized in two ways. Typically large characters are side-kicks or the “muscle” character and aren’t portrayed as intelligent, mentally capable main characters. That really pisses me off. Also, most of the time darker skinned characters are secondary to their lighter skin counterparts. Am I always to be the support to someone else’s story? I guess I’m just happy that representations of characters I feel an affinity towards are capable, which is why I think it really sucks how women are treated in this medium.
First and foremost, I appreciate how you guys framed your analysis of the whole Gamersgate thing. I definitely understood you disagree with Sarkeesian’s videos while condemning the vitriol that’s being spewed at her. Good job. It’s a hard subject to discuss.
Both Jocelyn and James echoed the sentiment that they are OK with the roles women assume in video games. Ok, I find that sad, but I get it. Then you get defensive and argue that because Sarkeesian portrays these roles as “lesser,” you disagree and can judge her work based on a minute or two of watching. And that’s where you lose me.
You’re right, feminism has to do with giving women a choice how they’re represented and what social norms they want to subscribe to. You’re also right that Sarkeesian’s work paints current “molds,” as Jocelyn put it, in a negative light.
That being said, I would argue that Sarkeesian’s work gives voice to “molds” that currently just don’t exist on a broad scale. The reality is that a majority of female characters in games perpetuate the same “molds” that, at this point, only seem to perpetuate women as fragile, sex objects to be tended to by more capable male counterparts. Her work is trying to highlight that the molds Jocelyn and James are defending are really the ONLY molds we have. Sarkeesian could be less accusatory in her delivery for sure; however, she makes really good points which are very much worth considering.
Why do I care so much? As a 6’5″ Latino gamer and all around geek, I get to be marginalized in two ways. Typically large characters are side-kicks or the “muscle” character and aren’t portrayed as intelligent, mentally capable main characters. That really pisses me off. Also, most of the time darker skinned characters are secondary to their lighter skin counterparts. Am I always to be the support to someone else’s story? I guess I’m just happy that representations of characters I feel an affinity towards are capable, which is why I think it really sucks how women are treated in this medium.
Thanks for reading, just my two cents.