Women in Gaming- Rieko Kodama

 Today we continue Women in Gaming Month with a brief discussion on the Queen of RPGs herself, Rieko Kodama!

May 1963- May 9 2022

Women in Gaming: Roberta Williams

What better way to kick off Women in Gaming Month than with the legacy of one of gaming's greats, Roberta Williams?

Regarding Lara Croft

When you think Lara Croft, the average gamer will quickly think of the woman who can duel wield pistols, crawls around jungles and exotic locales, all while dressing rather scantily in a pair of hot pants and a tank top. It is inevitable: Lara Croft is rather pleasing to the eye, no matter how many changes you make to her design. But there are people who take issue with her specifically BECAUSE of what she does and how she looks. There are those who oppose Lara's design, saying that her design undermines her as a strong, female character. The question is: does being sexy undermine being strong?

The Women of Lunar 1

Opponents of gaming, as we as those uninvolved with our culture, like to make the claim that women's roles in gaming are limited. They claim that women can only be sex objects, damsels in distress, or pieces of background furniture. They also claim that femininity and strength in gaming are opposites; a strong female character is JUST a male with breasts. Those of us involved in gaming, however, know better. And today, I want to introduce a few female characters from that GROSSLY under appreciated game franchise, Lunar. This entry will focus exclusively on the heroines of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, but future entries may focus on the girls from Lunar 2, as well as the villains of both games.

The Butts

In an episode of Tropes vs Women in Gaming that was at least three years in the making, Anita Sarkeesian brought to light the troubling lack of diversity in female antagonists in gaming, how most of them are either sex pots or old crones, how few video games actually have a woman in the role of the main antagonist, and how too few games show female antagonists that...Wait, no, she didn't. She talked about how many female video game characters have clothing designed to showcase but not exactly show their butts.

Samus Aran's Alleged Transsexualism.

If you've been keeping up with gaming news lately, then you'd know our old pal Literally Wu, also known as Briana Wu, has come up with a wild idea: Samus Aran, one of the most famous and most important female characters in gaming, is not a woman from birth, but rather, a Male to Female Transsexual. On a recent article written on The Mary Sue, a website that caters to feminist geek interests, Wu, alongside fellow writer Ellen McGrody, made the argument that Samus Aran is a trans gender woman. Well, it wasn't so much an "argument" as it was an assertion, as an argument offers tangible proof, but I digress. Briana Wu and Ellen McGrody made the claim that Samus was trans, and they are treating this as fact. But, is it a fact?

Feminism in Gaming

If you've been following Gamergate, you'll know that part of the contention has to do with feminism in gaming. The anti-Gamergate side will tell you that Gamergate opposes ALL feminism in gaming, and seeks to become some sort of cultural gatekeeper that keeps all progressive thought out of gaming culture. The pro-Gamergate side, which I proudly ascribe myself to, claims to oppose authoritarian feminism, claiming that many "feminist" critics seek to become authoritarian figures in gaming culture, to create games with strong political agendas, and dictate how developers ought to make their games. I am not here to argue which side is correct, as I am too biased to do so objectively. But I would like to ask this: why are gamers opposed to feminism?

Revisiting Princess Peach

On August of 2013, I wrote a blog entry on Princess Peach, where I made the argument that she isn't so much an object for Mario to rescue as much as she is a fairly realistic depiction of a brave woman in a hostage situation. A link here: http://vidgameanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/08/princess-peach-versus-feminism-is.html. However, when I shared that blog with a Facebook group I've long since abandoned, I was accused of being sexist, idiotic, and cherry picking. In hindsight, I should have really known better than to share a blog entry with a Facebook group that had become little more than an echo chamber for Third Wave feminism, atheism, and champagne socialism, but hindsight is 20/20. However, a mod from that group said something that had stuck in me ever since: "I didn't find much argument." And I asked myself, did I really make an argument? Since then, I've taken many moments to read and re-read my entry, and I said to myself "I can do better." And that's what today's blog is all about: a second analysis of Princess Peach and her role in the Mario games.

My Thoughts on Jonathan McIntosh, his ilk, and Charlie Hebdo

Two days ago, I wrote a blog on Jonathan McIntosh's stance on the need for games that are "not fun". McIntosh, for those lucky enough to be unaware, is one of the writers for Feminist Frequency, an online video series that offers feminist critique of pop culture. The series has gotten some well deserved infamy for its poor research practices, it's misinformation (Krysta was not going to be the sole protagonist of Dinosaur Planet in spite of what the show claims, in Hitman the player is penalized for killing strippers, not rewarded, etc) it's plagiarism (it's been proven that the show has stolen Let's Play footage and artwork for its Tropes vs Women in Gaming series) among other claims. And I, of course, wrote about his right to say such idiocies. I may not agree with it, but he has the right to say it.

Yesterday, tragedy struck France. A group of Islamist fanatics attacked a newspaper's office, killing eleven people and injuring eleven more. Why? Because the newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, continuously runs (yes, I am using present tense) cartoons that can be seen as offensive to religious sensibilities. I have seen some of these cartoons, and in all honesty I can say I can see how anyone, be they Muslim or Christian, can be offended. I will not be pasting any images from Charlie Hebdo, because I try my best to keep this blog Safe for Work. That said, I do not approve of a cover with a cartoon of Muhammed (PBUH) saying "Either you die of laughter or you get 100 whip lashes!" Yes, I know it's in jest, but considering the realities of anti Muslim attitudes in not just France but all of Europe, I question whether the intention was to laugh at Muslims or to push buttons for the sake of pushing buttons. For those not in the know, Charlie Hebdo is a satirical French weekly newspaper,

You may be asking yourself, "what does this have to do with video games?" Well, it has a lot to do with the current cultural debate regarding video games. You have two camps: gamers who wish to play games and allow developers to develop what they want, and authoritarians that wish to limit what developers can do, all in the name of "progressiveness". You have people who complain about misogyny in gaming: they hate how female characters (allegedly) all have one of three roles (Damsel, fucktoy, background character), how they are designed with the male gaze in mind, how there's a shortage of female characters in gaming that are strong and independent, etc. These people call gaming "hostile towards women", and for that they come up with several campaigns to try and make it less so, among them being #1ReasonWhy, a Twitter campaign where several people in game developing gave the number 1 reason why there weren't many women developing games (ignoring the fact that there ARE plenty of women who not only develop games, but they are the heads of their own game companies, proving that there are no real obstacles to women getting into gaming.)

On Anita Sarkeesian and the October 24, 2014 Seattle School Shooting

So yesterday there was a school shooting in Seattle. A very sad occurrence, to be sure. When these things happen, the best thing for those who lived very far away is to send our sympathies to the victims of the shooting and their families. In times like these, what we need to do is to demonstrate our humanity and compassion, to make ourselves available to the people whose lives have been destroyed by the actions of a madman.

...

A Tale of Two Feminists

To you, my readers, I present a tale of fiction. The characters, though based on real people, are entirely fictional.

There once were two very different feminists, hereby referred to as Alice and Betty. Both girls believed in Girl Power, both girls wanted careers that were traditionally thought of as "boy's only" jobs. And both girls wanted to be involved with video games.

However, that was where the two were very different. Alice loved video games, you see, for she grew up with them. She played many, many games on her Playstation 1, her Nintendo DS, and her Playstation 2. She saved up for a Playstation 3 and bought the system herself, with her own money! Alice loved gaming above all things, and wanted to make her own game, work for a big gaming company. When she was younger, Alice read all about Rieko Kodama, and said "I wanna be like her."

Mighty Number 9- a few thoughts

In the year 2013, Keiji Inafune, director of the highly celebrated Mega Man series of games, had come out on Kickstarter announcing that he would create a new property, a spiritual successor to the Mega Man franchise. The name was Mighty Number 9, and all Mr Inafune asked for was 900 thousand dollars to help get it made. Fans of Mega Man flocked to Kickstarter and gave him his 900 grand, and then to show how much faith they had in him, they gave him another 3 million, 100 thousand dollars. Expectations were very high, but there was a slight bump in the road.

A controversy arose when a girl named Dina Abou Karam made a piece of Fan Art of the main character of Mighty Number 9, Beck, as a female. So far, no big deal, this is common in Fan Art, and it even has a name: Rule 63. (There is always a female version of a male character, and vice versa). Then, Dina made a comment, asking the makers to make Beck a female robot because, well, why not? Seriously, that was her argument, "why not?" More on that later.

Dina Abou Karam's rendition of Beck, from Mighty Number 9. Many people have called it awful, but I think it's an alright drawing. Nothing special, but alright.

So far, no big deal, just a random girl on the net posting fan art of a project she's supporting and asking, rather nicely it must be added, for some changes in aesthetics. But then, something happened. Dina got hired for the project as a community manager for Mighty Number 9. Her job? Manage the community. That means that she goes to the message board, looks at what the people are writing, and takes that to her higher ups. If there's spam, she has to delete it. If there's harassment, she has to deal with it promptly. She's basically a mod. 

And this is where the proverbial shit hit the fan. Up until that moment, Dina was the girl who kept posting fanart of Rule 63 Beck on the message boards, going on and on about "caring about women's representation in gaming". How did people respond? Well:

The Bechdel Test and Video Games

Today, I want to talk about something that a lot of people are passionate about: the female presence in gaming. Now, I know a lot of you are going to feel rather strongly about this sort of thing, so let's get a few things out of the way here: there are subjective views, and there are objective truths. A subjective view is saying that the gaming industry is misogynistic and ignores the female demographic. An objective truth is that female representation in video games is not to the level of the variety in male representation (less games featuring women are made in several genres, not as many female programmers and directors as men, etc). This is a really big deal for gaming culture, and one that needs a civilized discussion, which I know ALL sides of the spectrum are capable of doing. But today, I am not here to discuss if gaming is misogynistic, or anything similar; really, I just want to talk about the Bechdel Test in gaming.

For those that do not know what the Bechdel Test is, allow me to explain. The Test was first proposed by Alison Bechdel, the author of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, (That word is repeated solely because it is the title the author gave her work, no offence is meant), in a strip where one of her characters lays out the rules of the test, which are as follows:

1- The work needs to have two female characters
2- That have at least one conversation
3- About any topic other than a man.

My thoughts on sexism in games.

I do not follow the work of Anita Sarkeesian. I see no reason to do so. Whatever she has to say, has been said better by others, with more substantial evidence and with solutions that are actually proposed, with no need for falsifying or distorting evidence. Furthermore, it has also been said by people that actually keep the comments section on Youtube open, with ratings enabled. That said, every now and then she, along with many other feminists, says something that makes sense. And today, I want to talk about something that these people are often decrying: sexism in video games.

To be certain, there is, indeed, sexism in not just the gaming industry, but the gamer culture as well. When Anita Sarkeesian announced her video series 'Tropes vs Women', many gamers sent her death threats for daring to make a series about how video games are sexist against women, as well as asking for donations to help fund this series. No matter what position you take on the issue of women and games, this is low. It is awful, and it is not the attitude that anyone, man or woman, should have.

A lot of the time, I feel that we gamers tend to simply yell a lot to drown out the opposition. We sometimes get defensive about our favorite pass time. And when you think about it, why shouldn't we be defensive? This is a hobby that many of us have invested thousands of dollars, and millions of hours in. This is a pass time that does more than entertain us. It makes us feel like champions, like we're worth something. And suddenly, we have these people who make it clear that they have NEVER picked up a controller in their lives, come up and tell us that the games we love are sexist against women and should therefore be changed! Who are these people to come and tell us what to do, what to play, what to like?

Dickwolves and Molestia- a special blog about rape and humor

I had intended originally to leave this blog entry for tomorrow, but I found myself unable to hold pen away from paper. This morning, as I was reading my Facebook updates, reading the news and other unimportant things like that, I had seen that one of my favorite bloggers, Dr Nerdlove, had made an update. The reason I love Dr Nerdlove is because his blog offers sound, practical dating and lifestyle advice for geeks and gamers, such as myself. (Edit October 25, 2014: The preceding sentences no longer reflect how I feel about Dr Nerdlove.) Anyway, Dr Nerdlove made a blog about how Mike Krahilik, of Penny Arcade fame, had issued yet another apology for the "dickwolves" incident. The "dickwolves" incident refers to a Penny Arcade strip that Mike and his partner, Jerry Holkins, had written back in 2010. I'll leave a link here: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/8/11/.  I leave this link not to promote Penny Arcade, but for you, the reader, to see for yourself the seed that started the ruckus. The apology, however, was not at having made the comic, but at removing merchandise from their store that directly referenced the fictional species. This, understandably, has angered a few people, especially those that believe that rape jokes are cruel and offensive. Mike and Jerry responded by making this comic: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/8/13/. Again, I am not providing the direct link to promote Penny Arcade, but for you to see for yourself. Also, I believe in letting an artist's work be seen as the artist laid it out. A more expanded on response was provided at this blog entry: http://www.penny-arcade.com/2010/8/13/.

Princess Peach versus feminism- is the Princess as bad as they claim?

Feminists hate her. She's the quintessential damsel in distress. She's weak, can't fight very well, extremely girly, blonde, and wears a lot of pink. She's Princess Peach. 

And upon seeing this, the feminists reading my blog have just puked in their mouths.

We've all heard the criticisms. "Peach is anti feminist because she has no character", "Peach is the ultimate example of a weak woman." To be sure, no one can ever claim that Peach is a feminist icon. When you get down to it, Peach is a distressed damsel, someone that needs to be rescued (constantly). You can make the claim that this is harmful to women in gaming, and honestly, that's not entirely wrong. A character that is constantly getting kidnapped does seem weak, and to have her be not just a female, but also the major female character in a series that otherwise lacks them, it doesn't look good. But! We also need to take a step back and look at things from a wider perspective.