Destructoid is an independently-run gaming discussion community updated nearly every 20 minutes. Get started now by creating an avatar to post comments, upload videos, meet people, and create your own blog. Returning Dtoider? login!


all platforms pc/windows wii xbox 360 playstation 3 ds psp retro indie  
most recent
most popular
editors' picks
twitter updates
buy Dtoid gear
RSS feed



Dtoid staff
Nick Chester
Editor-in-Chief
Anthony Burch
Features Editor
Jim Sterling
Reviews Editor
Hamza Aziz
Community Mgr
Niero
Mr. Destructoid
Associate Editors
Brad Nicholson
Conrad
Zimmerman
Jonathan Holmes
Chad Concelmo
Dale North
Colette Bennett
Joseph Leray
Justin Villasenor
Samit Sarkar
Brad Rice
Ashley Davis
Dyson
Jordan Devore
Mike Ferry
Tom Fronczak
Topher Cantler
Qais Fulton
Contributors
Adam Dork
Charlie Suh
Joe Burling
Jonathan Ross

 
Podcasts
Rev on Podtoid
Chad on Retroforce GO!
Jim on The Podcastle

Elephant Software
Thomas Lackner

Destructoid is made by
ModernMethod


Tetris is keeping women in the kitchen (update)
Christina Faith Winterburn04.04.08 - 9:19 PM 87 comments

Tetris is keeping women in the kitchen (update) screenshot

Doctor Freud would love feminists because they seem to be as obsessed with penises as he was. Mighty Ponygirl over at Feminist Gamers recently wrote a piece about how Tetris is a sexist game. I wasn't sure if she was kidding when she wrote this piece but she wrote twice in the comments that she wasn't, so this must be a serious article.

Mighty Ponygirl claims that Tetris embodies everything to do with man's eternal struggle to capture women's ability to produce life. The theme of building up the pieces represents man's need to create and to have that creation adored and become immortal in the eyes of history, thus making woman's ability to produce life seem less impressive.

[Update: The Tetris post was confirmed as a joke for April Fool's Day by Mighty Ponygirl. I figured it might be but sarcasm is hard to read in text. I apologize for my rant but it is still a good topic to discuss whether video games could have hidden messages behind them. Oddworld games have a environmental message in them, so why can't other games have meanings behind them too?] 

The architectural motif: the constant building theme of Tetris, celebrates the male desire to subvert a woman’s natural life-producing abilities. Architecture is clearly an attempt by men to artificially emulate the life-giving power of the woman’s womb. Once a man has been able to create something that lasts, that gives comfort and shelter, it can be elevated to an art form — and the most mystical, beautiful accomplishment the female species has provided throughout history can be lessened and scorned.

Mighty Ponygirl also points out that the plunging of the straight piece into the slot and the blocks disappearing afterwards is metaphor for male domination over women.

But the most telling part of the game is the fact that most highly-sought after piece in the game is the “long piece.” Could anything be more phallo-centric than the plunging of the long piece into a deep cleft of the field below? After which, the rows blink and disappear — the message? Once the vaginal area has been penetrated, it is conquered, it is unnecessary — and the player who did the penetrating scores “points” and moves on to the the next field.

Look, the towers are shaped like penises!

Now you can babble on all you want to me about hidden meanings and other psycho-babble ideas inside Tetris but as far as I'm concerned Tetris just a basic puzzle game which was created by a bunch of guys living in Russia during the Communist era. They weren't trying to make any male dominating, women hating messages within their game. They just made it for their friends to play and enjoy.

What do you think? Is Tetris a metaphor for male domination over woman or is it just a simple puzzle game? 

You can read Mighty Ponygirl's entire article here and please don't post an nasty messages on her blog. You can post them here for us to read instead.



MORE IN OUR WHAAAAAAT? SECTION

Latest comment by Jayeugene |view all 87 comments
Thanks for understanding! Have a nice day...



bleep's Avatar
bleep at 04/04/2007 21:22


I agree it is totally sexist! there needs to be a V shaped piece!
Matthew Mac's Avatar
Matthew Mac at 04/04/2007 21:24

PENIS PENIS PENIS!






Sorry, couldn't resist. So anyway, first she says how buiding things is male dominance, then she says that everything disapear is male dominance? Hmmm, doesn't make too much sense to contradict your own argument. And last I checked, the male, um, PENIS, was required to give make life. Unless feminists have learned to reproduce asexually?
Matthew Mac's Avatar
Matthew Mac at 04/04/2007 21:26

I want a fucking edit button.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 04/04/2007 21:26

...you're kidding me. Games journalism and analysis can't have dropped this low.
Lodin's Avatar
Lodin at 04/04/2007 21:27

The hell? All Alexey Pajitnov ever wanted was to create a simple mathematical puzzle that challenged players to go on solving it for as long as possible. Where the hell does womens rights come into that?
Go after the idiots who turned it into Sextris at some point instead you dumb broad!
Christina Faith Winterburn's Avatar
Christina Faith Winterburn at 04/04/2007 21:28

I liked that game, Sextris. That's kinky.
To1kien's Avatar
To1kien at 04/04/2007 21:29

I guess Astroids is another male chauvinism game. Since you know, the ship looks like a V, which stands for Vagina, and it is getting pummeled by the large rocks which could either be the fists of abusive men, or balls of men that try to destroy the "purity" of the vagina ship
bleep's Avatar
bleep at 04/04/2007 21:30

can anyone provide a link to Sextris?
Nex's Avatar
Nex at 04/04/2007 21:32

The name "Might Ponygirl" makes me envision sexy, sexy centaur porn.

And then my brain shuts off and I fall off of my chair.
jimstyle's Avatar
jimstyle at 04/04/2007 21:34

While I appreciate the fact that someone is trying to look deeper into video games, giving them the same weight that we give to literature by opening criticism of the art, I think that this is quite a stretch.

Instead, let's argue the socialist model present in Pac-Man: Pac-Man, of course, represents the bourgeois. He's colored gold like money, and he is the few among the many. He goes around collecting his gold coins, and when he receives an especially large piece of money he gains the ability to destroy the proletarian society. EVIL EVIL EVIL.

Somehow, I don't think there's an underlying message to the Tetris goodness. Word.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 04/04/2007 21:37

Argh, just looked at the date at the top of the article. It's an April Fool's Day post. Just when I thought that day was over. I got fooled again over at Game|Life today since they linked an article about a school banning Pokemon because it supported evolution.

WHY WON'T THAT DAY DIE?!?
bigfatton's Avatar
bigfatton at 04/04/2007 21:37

Pong is an analog to the male-o-centric maleocracy. Bouncing a ball back and forth with paddles means that women are baby-making, roast-cooking, man-pleasing tools.
Christina Faith Winterburn's Avatar
Christina Faith Winterburn at 04/04/2007 21:44

I'm pretty sure this wasn't a joke. She states twice that it wasn't a joke, despite the date of the post.

If it was a joke article, I apologise for my rant.
Ashdate's Avatar
Ashdate at 04/04/2007 21:44

Not to take away from the April Fool's joke, but I think the writer would enjoy Tetris 2 a lot more, given that there ARE V shaped pieces in that one.

- Eddie
comradetrotskii's Avatar
comradetrotskii at 04/04/2007 21:48

If this is an April Fools joke then Kudos. If not it doesn't actually dignify a response.
ghnvt's Avatar
ghnvt at 04/04/2007 21:52

I hope it is a joke. This was created during the Communist reign, so who knows.
Ignus's Avatar
Ignus at 04/04/2007 21:59

Its god damn blocks.
Thats it.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 04/04/2007 21:59

@ Faith

I did notice two statements in the comments, which I took seriously at first, but then I took in these two statements from her:

"Everyone knows Feminists don’t have a sense of humor."

"I’m sure your mum, her mum, sisters, wives, etc would all agree that Tetris was singlehandedly the most misogynistic game to ever port to consoles."

Maybe I'm off tonight, but I'm detect hints of sarcasm from the author.
Ignus's Avatar
Ignus at 04/04/2007 22:02

Also, her tone is rather sarcastic in the comments about it being a serious article.
So I'd assume it was a joke, lets bash her nonetheless.
tcgiant's Avatar
tcgiant at 04/04/2007 22:03

That is the ugliest website ever. EVER.

If feminists make websites with music-blaring flash frontpages, then I hate feminists whole-heartedly.
MyStupidDream's Avatar
MyStupidDream at 04/04/2007 22:20

Joke or not, that's funny stuff. If it's a joke, she still had to think waaaay too hard about her blog, and it wouldn't surprise me if she believed it after she was finished. Those silly feminists.
scottus's Avatar
scottus at 04/04/2007 22:22

@tcgiant -
amen. how about a warning before we click on a link only to be greeted by obnoxiously loud barely-better-than-a-midi music?
JJ Rage's Avatar
JJ Rage at 04/04/2007 22:27

Fucking feminists.
Cory_t_'s Avatar
Cory_t_ at 04/04/2007 22:29

/slap this bitch!

That's the kind of woman that, if you ask her to make you a sandwich, not because it's her job to run to the kitchen and whip you up anything you'd like at any time you'd like it, but just because you want a goddamn sandwich and people sometimes like to do nice things for others, you'll end up with a two hour speech on how the vagina could conquer the world if the penis wouldn't keep stabbing it.

Sorry for the run-on sentence. I'm all for equality between the sexes, women should be able to do anything they damn well please, but sometimes i just want a fucking sandwich!

*walks to the kitchen*
bleep's Avatar
bleep at 04/04/2007 22:30

ask and ye shall recieve Nex
Jecrell's Avatar
Jecrell at 04/04/2007 22:31

I agree with her, there are penises, but those penises are there for love, and not for hate and oppression.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 04/04/2007 22:38

If this isn't a joke... well, did we need anymore proof that uber-feminists are batshit insane? I think not. But this does the trick. Though, I'm pretty sure that this is a joke.

E.T. was a feminist game, by the way. A shrivelled male creature falling into holes... Think about it, won't you?
l0cke's Avatar
l0cke at 04/04/2007 22:48

OMG, all Nintendo consoles use cartridges...they are all male!

Well except for the Gamecube and the Wii...

Holy shit, it all makes sense now, Nintendo was overrun by gays!
jerrt's Avatar
jerrt at 04/04/2007 22:54

i thought that picture used at the top of this post was hot. but somehow i think it would have been hotter if it had been a ps2 dual shock controller.

and yes it would have been even sexier if there was more skin [and not even necessarily the good parts of the skin, just more skin]

tetris just hated everyone. i think that alone keeps it from being a sexist game.

also sextris was kinky. [;
Teh Ted's Avatar
Teh Ted at 04/04/2007 23:01

I'm tempted to think that this is a joke, but one of my ex-girlfriends got REALLY into feminism after she dated me (go figure) and actually picked up a minor in women's studies in college. One of her position papers was that, no kidding, eating meat was an act of misogyny and indicative of male aggressiveness towards women. The arguments were along the same lines as the Tetris lines above; that we 'sexualize' our food by mainly consuming female animals, that we tend to focus on the breasts and thighs of chickens, and that our preference for milk, eggs, veal, ect., were symptoms of trying to 'destroy' the reproductive power of women.

And she really wasn't joking, my ex. Whether Mighty Ponygirl is or not.

Just remember folks, even if it SOUNDS batshit crazy, there may be someone who actually believes it. Ever hear of Scientology?
Aktrez's Avatar
Aktrez at 04/04/2007 23:08

Everyone needs to step the hell back and stop thinking so hard!!!!!! I'm sick of overanalyzing bastards who think too hard and always look for the negative.

Games = fun. Thank you... bye bye.
Kain's Avatar
Kain at 04/04/2007 23:12

Bitch, you fuckin CCCAAAAZZZYYY! Thats one crazy ass bitch!

Now that i've gotten that out of my system.... Wow... i don't know what to say. She obviously needs to get a life and stop revolving it around what stick goes into what hole. It's called nature. Deal with it.
trydizon's Avatar
trydizon at 04/04/2007 23:12

i thought tetris was a way of representing the conflict between russia and china during the 1890's...

nah.

nex, where can i find me some centaur porn? is it next to the ninja midget porn?
ceark's Avatar
ceark at 04/04/2007 23:21

some one was thinking about tetris way to hard.
Husky Hog's Avatar
Husky Hog at 04/04/2007 23:28

Fucking way to go women... way to keep yourselves down

Sorry but this article is reaching it, find something about equality or something - but god damn...
vgfreak30's Avatar
vgfreak30 at 04/04/2007 23:37

all i have to say is.....STFU NEWB
SuperDave's Avatar
SuperDave at 04/04/2007 23:51

"Tetris is keeping women in the kitchen"

Urge. to. post. Cartman. rising.....

*gives in*

I would never let a woman tell ME what to do... If she tried anything, I'd be like "HEY, get your bitch-ass back in the kitchen! And make me some PIE!!!"
heroclixer87's Avatar
heroclixer87 at 04/04/2007 23:54

Some one's reaching a bit deep, no?
dprime's Avatar
dprime at 04/04/2007 23:55

This is why no one takes feminism seriously.

THERE ARE FUCKING COUNTRIES WHERE YOU ARENT ALLOWED TO SHOW SKIN IN PUBLIC AND YOUR CLIT IS CUT OFF. GO BOTHER THEM.
splotki's Avatar
splotki at 04/04/2007 23:58

isn't the goal of tetris to keep the tetris blocks from rising up to the top? Doesn't this fundementally go against what she's saying? It tetris was about trying to build the biggest fucking tower in the world, then i'd agree.... maybe... wait, no, i still wouldn't agree. If her analogy is correct then the actual goal of tetris is the keep the penis from erecting.
doro's Avatar
doro at 04/05/2007 00:03

LOL. Chicks.
dprime's Avatar
dprime at 04/05/2007 00:03

So SimTower is actually what's sexist.
eggroll's Avatar
eggroll at 04/05/2007 00:06

^ for real? jesus thats fucking terrible
eggroll's Avatar
eggroll at 04/05/2007 00:07

wait, what the hell am i talking about
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 04/05/2007 00:13

I've always said that the line piece represents the phallus and plunging it into the gap represented sex... but then I always said it jokingly. She can't be serious, no matter how many times she says.
dprime's Avatar
dprime at 04/05/2007 00:16

So the vagina disappears after you have sex? See this is the interesting sort of thing that makes me wish I werent a virgin!
LordRegulus's Avatar
LordRegulus at 04/05/2007 00:28

Errrr...

This has been said previously, but I feel that I must point out the date on the post. Those two comments about her being serious?

"Everyone knows Feminists don’t have a sense of humor."

I'm with Necros on this one. Sarcasm Detector (TM) is off the chart here. A seemingly well-versed female gamer saying that Tetris is the most misogynistic game ever released on consoles, when Rumble Roses clearly outdoes it in every imaginable way, is just yanking your chain.

Heh heh. "Yank."
Ashen Karshe's Avatar
Ashen Karshe at 04/05/2007 00:43

I guess I'll say it, STFUAJPG!
nerpin's Avatar
nerpin at 04/05/2007 01:01

That girl could use a hot dicking.
Pangloss's Avatar
Pangloss at 04/05/2007 01:05

This article was interesting, until I realized that it was written by a woman. She could have easily spent the time it took to write that making me a sammich.
ExpertPenguin's Avatar
ExpertPenguin at 04/05/2007 01:06

Of all the sexist things in gaming, she chose TETRIS, of all things?...

Guess she's never seen Rumble Roses. Or Stretch Panic. or Tomb Raider. or DOAX...or...
Pepillou2's Avatar
Pepillou2 at 04/05/2007 01:14

pong is sexist

(tip: sticks and balls
2 sticks 1 ball?!?!)
Banj's Avatar
Banj at 04/05/2007 01:21

"Mighty Ponygirl" to me conjures images of Ralph Machio in drag... and on steroids.
Burnt Meatloaf's Avatar
Burnt Meatloaf at 04/05/2007 03:25

Sounds just like that art professor from Oxford that visited my school, and gave a two hour lecture on paintings of flags.
Mighty Ponygirl's Avatar
Mighty Ponygirl at 04/05/2007 05:38

Hi guys -- I wrote the piece. Check the date -- it was an April fool's prank. Me claiming I was serious was just in response to one of my commenters insinuating that I shouldn't be allowed to joke. I hope you aren't so easily fooled at poker.

But it is nice seeing all of the nasty anti-feminist trolls coming on over. Thanks for that!
kaoru's Avatar
kaoru at 04/05/2007 05:40

Look at the date of her post... Look at it very carefully... Maybe even read it... Think about it... Now ask yourself, was the post serious?

*sigh*
mikeohara's Avatar
mikeohara at 04/05/2007 06:06

that chick is a total jobber. I mean ... who else besides a dingbat broad would think that Tetris, TETRIS is sexist? The bitch should be bound and gagged.
GatsuTheBerserker's Avatar
GatsuTheBerserker at 04/05/2007 06:40

Even if that was an april fools prank that was quite a pitiful attempt at it. It's a subject no one will take seriously therefore you get mixed responses as well as random ones. This is quite boring, yawn with me.

Oh, and feminism is stupid. You don't need to prove yourselves to be equal if you believe it is fact. It's like a jock trying to impress a chick yet makes himself look like an ass in the process. Either way people need to relax.
lowercaseluke's Avatar
lowercaseluke at 04/05/2007 07:06

Jesus Dtoid, get a sense of humour.
Virtualgirl's Avatar
Virtualgirl at 04/05/2007 07:30

Even if it was a joke, i know someone out there probably belives it...thats the sad part. Like Aktrez said Games = Fun, you dont like it, don't play it.

As for all the nasty anit-feminis trolls, people say it, because even if you thought it was a joke, someone else probably took it seriously and is now going to boycott tetris in all its glory.

Besides, "plunging of the long piece into a deep cleft of the field below" is my favorite part. The anticipation kills me... :-)
jimstyle's Avatar
jimstyle at 04/05/2007 07:57

I find it to be funny, now that I know it's a joke. :)
Antimat3r's Avatar
Antimat3r at 04/05/2007 08:16

Wonderful joke post! I equally hate people who make long metaphors out of things that aren't meant to be.

Although, I still love Bleep's pix for Nex...AHAHAHAHHAA
PetiePalo's Avatar
PetiePalo at 04/05/2007 08:27

I wouldn't take anything serious anyone named "Mighty Ponygirl" has to say. Sexist my ass. If you want to derive anything it would be the toppling of the USA by Russia, one slow brick at a time.

Screw feminists. People need to be humanists.
Kain's Avatar
Kain at 04/05/2007 08:27

haha. damn. I'm still laughing
alexkorova's Avatar
alexkorova at 04/05/2007 08:30

"Oh, and feminism is stupid. You don't need to prove yourselves to be equal if you believe it is fact. It's like a jock trying to impress a chick yet makes himself look like an ass in the process."

Feminism isn't about proving that women are equal, feminism is about making sure woman are treated as equals.
savagesaladin's Avatar
savagesaladin at 04/05/2007 08:50

If this were true my woman would be making me a sandwich right now instead of playing Tetris DS.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 04/05/2007 09:23

Rule 34 on Tetris plskthxbye.
Omega's Avatar
Omega at 04/05/2007 09:56

And I'm sick of attention seekers like you Aktrez, GTFO.

Awesome how I can comment here freely, unlike the GGL where I get my account banned if I speak my mind.
LordRegulus's Avatar
LordRegulus at 04/05/2007 10:06

Sweet mother of God on a BICYCLE, people.

APRIL GODDAMN FOOL!!

Did Ms. Ponygirl NOT just post on OUR damn forum to tell us it was a joke? Was not every word absolutely DRIPPING WITH SARCASM? Are we really so terrified of that psychotic 0.5% of the feminist movement that we have to immediately assume that she's being serious?

Let me put it this way: the kind of woman who would say something like that would never say so in a blog because the word "blog" rhymes with "log," which is obviously a phallic symbol. That kind of person would be so intellectually ass-backwards that her words would never manage to penetrate the technological chicanery of the Interblag.

Heh heh. "Penetrate..."

Is this what gamers have become? Are we really that cynical? Christ, even I believed it for a minute before I read the date and allowed her snarky witticisms to percolate through the soiled coffee filter that is my prefrontal cortex. If we really want to be taken seriously as a community, we've got to get our heads out of our asses. Like, 4 realz.

OMGWTFBBQ.

STFUAJPG.

/rant
LordRegulus's Avatar
LordRegulus at 04/05/2007 10:13

In a related story, I got the 69th post. Therefore, subscribing to the logic of the sexually fixated gamer demographic exemplified above, I am - to use official terminology - L33t3R th4n y0ur F4C3.

j00r m0m'5 f4c3, even.
dprime's Avatar
dprime at 04/05/2007 10:16

I think the fact that everyone really thought it was serious just shows how low everyone's expectations of feminists are.
bhive01's Avatar
bhive01 at 04/05/2007 11:16

Literally.
savagesaladin's Avatar
savagesaladin at 04/05/2007 12:53

Remember the good ol days when you could punch your wife?
BakaSaka's Avatar
BakaSaka at 04/05/2007 13:10

@Mxyzptlk
Rule 34 on tetris returns three things.

WARNING!!!! NSFW!!
http://img.7chan.org/fl/src/lstb.swf
http://img.7chan.org/34/src/117584018723.jpg
http://img.7chan.org/34/src/117584007065.jpg
Minako984's Avatar
Minako984 at 04/05/2007 13:17

HA HA Well, if anyone was thinking that much about the subtext meanings of games they have issues. As an April Fool's joke... Well that's pure CLASSIC. ^^
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 04/05/2007 15:37

Good. I figured it was a gag, but I honestly wouldn't have been surprised to find that it was real.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 04/05/2007 16:35

So...I totally called that. 1UP for me.
Tempus's Avatar
Tempus at 04/05/2007 17:02

Faith, why must your posts always include some sort of feminist movement? Do you feel inadequate? It's a fucking game for fucks sake, my girlfriend loves Tetris and yes, I do beat her by millions of fucking points but she has fun. End of. Now stfuammcb (make my coffee bitch)
TheRob91's Avatar
TheRob91 at 04/05/2007 17:30

Haha, owned by Ponygirl.
LordRegulus's Avatar
LordRegulus at 04/05/2007 17:49

One more time, from the top, kids...

@Tempus:

[b]APRIL.

MUTHAF***ING.

FOOL.[/b]
LordRegulus's Avatar
LordRegulus at 04/05/2007 17:51

BBCode iz teh buzted? Hmm.

[first half of common phrase][expletive][second half]
michiyoyoshiku's Avatar
michiyoyoshiku at 04/05/2007 20:58

People sexualizing everything is getting old.

Jayeugene's Avatar
Jayeugene at 04/06/2007 00:02