surf dtoid with 
Rising (10+)
People you follow
I knew before clicking this article it was going to be redonkulous but wow. I laughed so hard when I saw Mother Brain. After that I knew how this article was going to turn out.
*golf clap*
*golf clap*
Everytime I play L4D with friends, it's my job to provoke the witch. And alot of times I see something in the distance and shoot it only to find a witch running at me. Good times.
Challenge: There are over 1 billion South Asian people in the world.
Name 5 role models in gaming from that area without including Dhalsim. Then claim women have the short end of the stick.
Name 5 role models in gaming from that area without including Dhalsim. Then claim women have the short end of the stick.
I know this is probably not true, but as the main target of a videogame would be males (at least where I live, every girl hates videogames and loves to talk about image and such, but I know the world's not like that), I would say that making female characters "Damsell's in distress" is pretty damn effective. I mean come on, if your girlfriend was captured (assuming you love her), wouldn't you fight through 8 worlds and a turtle in order to rescue her? If the girl came along with you on your quest, and instead you had to defeat the turtle just cause, would you do it? I think not, let the military do it XD (applying this to real life, Mario is cool either way)
Female role models? Theres not even a male video game role model. I don't want to be like any of the characters in the videogames I play.
A truly glorious article. I can only hope the self-righteous come out of the woodwork (or perhaps descend from their high horses) seething with furiously unnecessary anger.
Mighty Jill Off.
Didn't Holmes (or someone else, can't remember) do a piece like this a few weeks ago?
Didn't Holmes (or someone else, can't remember) do a piece like this a few weeks ago?
This was a good article, but I actually really enjoyed reading up on what spawned this. From an article that was CLEARLY satire, somebody out there got all butthurt. My favorite part is that the author of the criticizing article wrote, "Really, are you actively setting out to prove my claim that feminism is relevant to the industry and to game journalism?"
All that was accomplished in that article is showing that the author is not really all that intelligent, or at the very least, can't pick out really thickly laid on satire.
All that was accomplished in that article is showing that the author is not really all that intelligent, or at the very least, can't pick out really thickly laid on satire.
I don't get why you would create an article satirically promoting positive female role models when you could take the time and do it right. I understand you think that talking about social issues in games is a lost cause, but if we don't ever talk about those things they'll never change. I just think that you lost a chance to connect with female readers (which definitely exist) and to help out a fair cause.
Really liked the article, I empathize with female gamers. A lot of people out there that are hard to tolerate.
Glad to see the game Primal Rage getting some attention, I miss that game.
Glad to see the game Primal Rage getting some attention, I miss that game.
Non of these women are women but monsters. The best women in video games are really just female monsters?
OH BOY, my heroes.
:p
OH BOY, my heroes.
:p
Also this makes the whole issue sadder honestly... but meh. I don't think much of it when I try and play and I know you're having your fun.
Ashley:
The article was about more than social discussion being a lost cause (I certainly don't think it is, I just don't think we DESERVE to talk about social issues while satire and humor is still being lumped in with serious problems). Another thing I wanted to do with this article was point out that, when it comes to female role models, writers always trot out the same ones -- Samus, Alyx and Jade. There's very little else.
That can be seen an indictment of the lack of imagination on the part of writers, or the lack of good female characters in games. I'd say there's a little of both going on. With this article, I didn't WANT to do a serious look at female role models because it's almost as done to death as "best breasts in games." I want to see if I could apply these role model characteristics to some of the most out-there characters I could think of.
Turns out, you can pretty much make ANYTHING mean ANYTHING if you twist it enough times ... which in turn points out how stupid it is to see certain blogs taking satirical articles out of context -- all you gotta do is hammer the pieces until they fit and you can accuse a person of anything that fits your agenda, just like you can make Mother Brain sound like a role model.
The article was about more than social discussion being a lost cause (I certainly don't think it is, I just don't think we DESERVE to talk about social issues while satire and humor is still being lumped in with serious problems). Another thing I wanted to do with this article was point out that, when it comes to female role models, writers always trot out the same ones -- Samus, Alyx and Jade. There's very little else.
That can be seen an indictment of the lack of imagination on the part of writers, or the lack of good female characters in games. I'd say there's a little of both going on. With this article, I didn't WANT to do a serious look at female role models because it's almost as done to death as "best breasts in games." I want to see if I could apply these role model characteristics to some of the most out-there characters I could think of.
Turns out, you can pretty much make ANYTHING mean ANYTHING if you twist it enough times ... which in turn points out how stupid it is to see certain blogs taking satirical articles out of context -- all you gotta do is hammer the pieces until they fit and you can accuse a person of anything that fits your agenda, just like you can make Mother Brain sound like a role model.
Jim:
I understand that completely. It's quite obvious and stands with good precedent that satire like this can in fact bring about conversation just as a serious look at the topic can. My true issue stems from the creative process that fails to create anything of value for women's issues, not the journalism that surrounds it. In many ways though, this is certainly a hundred times better than an article about the best breasts or anything like that.
I just will thank you for calling out other people for creating a misogynistic environment, and making sure Destructoid does not fall into that territory.
I understand that completely. It's quite obvious and stands with good precedent that satire like this can in fact bring about conversation just as a serious look at the topic can. My true issue stems from the creative process that fails to create anything of value for women's issues, not the journalism that surrounds it. In many ways though, this is certainly a hundred times better than an article about the best breasts or anything like that.
I just will thank you for calling out other people for creating a misogynistic environment, and making sure Destructoid does not fall into that territory.
I like how Jim managed to work the non-word "heteronormative" into the article. It's been a while. n_n
Justice from the guilty gear series would've been a great addition.
1. She was the commander of the gears.
2. She has a hot daughter.
3.Pure badass.
1. She was the commander of the gears.
2. She has a hot daughter.
3.Pure badass.
No mention on Kerrigan,
No mention of sisters of battle.
nothing even remotely attachable to.
Even men don't want to be mother brain or Virtigo or the completely useless witch. Half of them cant even be called human let alone a woman.
No mention of sisters of battle.
nothing even remotely attachable to.
Even men don't want to be mother brain or Virtigo or the completely useless witch. Half of them cant even be called human let alone a woman.
NOSTALGIA! Vertigo was my favorite character in Primal Rage. :D I always thought the whole "Goddess of insanity" thing was pretty radass.
Great list, Jim. I did indeed lol.
Great list, Jim. I did indeed lol.
Great job,Jim. Your list managed to make this list from PlayStation University look like a joke by comparisson. Well, okay, it was already a joke but I mean that it looks like a joke within a joke, rendering it meta-humor somehow, I suppose.
If I can be serious for a moment, an endeavor I may yet fail at spectacularly but I'll try anyway, what I would rather see instead of more of the usual role-model lists or hand-wringing about why there aren't more of them, maybe someone can do an article on what could be called the Rowling-Whedon/Takahashi-Moore Paradox which happens when the most successful women writers in any field focus their stories almost entirely on men and boys while the best that roles that they give to women and girls are major supporting characters, leaving it up to their male contemporaries to write the best strong female characters out there.
Couldn't Harry Potter have been Harriet Potter? Was there a reason why InuYasha could actually be a girl rather than just look a lot like one? Would it have been so detrimental to the success of Twilight if the Vampire versus Werewolf conflict had also been a Battle of the Sexes...okay. The were-wolves would probably have to wear more sheep's clothing to pass muster in the teen-to-young adult market and Bella struggling with other kinds of urges might make a good portion of the audience squirm in a way they don't like but then again, that might just draw in enough boys and men to offset the loss. Take those kinds of questions but apply them to the videogame writing field.
Another list that I'd like to see would be Best Immodestly Dressed Characters,featuring members of whatever gender configurations or species (ideally ones who wear clothing to begin with) that gaming has to offer. If a person misses some of the best characters in games because they can't get past what they wear, then part of the problem lies with that person.
If I can be serious for a moment, an endeavor I may yet fail at spectacularly but I'll try anyway, what I would rather see instead of more of the usual role-model lists or hand-wringing about why there aren't more of them, maybe someone can do an article on what could be called the Rowling-Whedon/Takahashi-Moore Paradox which happens when the most successful women writers in any field focus their stories almost entirely on men and boys while the best that roles that they give to women and girls are major supporting characters, leaving it up to their male contemporaries to write the best strong female characters out there.
Couldn't Harry Potter have been Harriet Potter? Was there a reason why InuYasha could actually be a girl rather than just look a lot like one? Would it have been so detrimental to the success of Twilight if the Vampire versus Werewolf conflict had also been a Battle of the Sexes...okay. The were-wolves would probably have to wear more sheep's clothing to pass muster in the teen-to-young adult market and Bella struggling with other kinds of urges might make a good portion of the audience squirm in a way they don't like but then again, that might just draw in enough boys and men to offset the loss. Take those kinds of questions but apply them to the videogame writing field.
Another list that I'd like to see would be Best Immodestly Dressed Characters,featuring members of whatever gender configurations or species (ideally ones who wear clothing to begin with) that gaming has to offer. If a person misses some of the best characters in games because they can't get past what they wear, then part of the problem lies with that person.
@ Hawaiian_spawn: re; "Even men don't want to be...the completely useless witch."
Good point. As a man, I'd much rather be a useful witch. Thanks for sharing!
Good point. As a man, I'd much rather be a useful witch. Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, the beserker was only in gears one, and referenced in gears 2. So putting gears of war series is inaccurate, as it never appeared in gears 2.
The whole idea of Samus being a good, non-objectifying female character is bullshit anyway. When the game rewards you for your skill by showing the female lead in increasing states of undress, you're seriously looking in the wrong place for a non-objectified character that isn't just aimed at boys to fap over - even if you are fapping over what's usually hidden by armour.
follow
