I Know Why the Caged Nerd Sings

These past few weeks have been extremely interesting ones for people who follow the culture around videogames. First, there was the Hitman: Absolution trailer. Then, there was the orgy of misogyny and violence that was E3, which was followed by the cyber-attack on Anita Sarkeesian’s “Tropes vs Women in Video Games” Kickstarter project. All of these events (as well as the Tentacle Bento debacle), underscore a pretty big problem when it comes to gaming culture and women.

[auragenz]

Thankfully this girl he targeted had the luxury of a healthy support structure to limit his "repressed nerd-rage" from going any further - many girls do not. Just appalling.

[Warj]

This was a very well written article. Heartfelt while still steeped in logic. Definitely worth a read.

[Veneno]

Good article. After working years in the gaming industry I see alot of truth in this. Im a guy that is very respectful to women and the other guys at the office would hate mefor talking to the women at the office as real women rather than"that super cool chick that likes games so we gotta treat her as a total dude"" woman.

It was so obvious that all these guys have struck out with girls time and time again because they cant get over the fact that a normal person can be into nerdy culture yet be a "normal" person. Their view of women is completely messed up.

Nerds do infact need to get outof the cage and see what other things in life canbe good.

[Hicken]

Nice article. Since most of it is a story, I have no problems, but I do disagree with this statement:

"Generally, the people who make, enjoy, and market games have no clue how to be respectful of women, and, in some cases, openly detest them."

I think that's as much of a stereotype as the one that says girls are only into games for their boyfriends, or that they only play casual games, etc. There is some truth- for some individuals- in ALL stereotypes, but it's never as common as it seems.

Rather, I think part of the... animosity? that women might face is less about out and out dislike of women, and more a feeling of encroachment into a "man's sanctuary." Not that it's a good mentality to have(Men only, that is), but I think both sides need to understand where the other is coming from.

[mrprice33]

I had trouble forming that sentence and getting it to say exactly what I wanted without making it too wordy. The backlash that Anita Sarkeesian got for her kickstarter demonstrates to me that there is a large portion of gamers who don't respect women. The marketing and design of games like Lollipop Chainsaw and others demonstrate a lack of respect, as well. The "openly detest" line is probably over the top, I agree, but there is a nastiness to some of the backlash that is a bit too venomous to pass off as anything else. But thanks for the comment.

[Hicken]

I don't think the marketing and design of Lollipop Chainsaw shows any less respect for women than the same things in Gears show for men.

Juliette is a stereotype; I don't think that, at any point, she is an attempt at portraying all women, any more than Duke Nukem attempts to portray all men.

Therein, I believe, lies the true problem: a male character is just a male character, but ANY female character is suddenly a representation of all women. In this respect, even the debate ABOUT sexism is being sexist, because there's not even the first attempt at calling out what could be offensive MALE characters. The focus is entirely on the FEMALE experience, and seeks to make its point even at the expense of common sense or logic. The recent incident with Lara Croft is one such situation: people cried "foul" over the potential that she might have been raped... in a situation where, in real life, she might have been raped.

Not to say that there aren't times when the complaints aren't justified, but I think the occasions when it's just an attempt to grab attention are more numerous. Rather than striving for equality in gaming, it's as if these people want superiority.

[mrprice33]

She's definitely not an attempt to portray all women, but there's a fine line between "stereotype" and "exploitation without a point." I'd argue that LC falls on the "exploitation without a point" side of this debate.

But it's a good debate to have.