Critique #4: Video Games

“...turning  a human being into a thing is almost always the first step toward justifying violence against that person.”

“...The body language of girls is usually passive, vulnerable, and very different from the body language of boys and men.  Women are often shown in very silly poses, whereas men are generally afforded dignity and strength, even as children.”

The power of technology is constantly increasing and so is animation and graphics of video games. Video game characters are starting to become more realistic and more detailed, given gamers a higher quality experience when playing them. However, this is not exactly a good thing, because video games have a history of sexualizing and objectifying women. A popular game that came out recently is Red Dead Redemption II, which is a western action adventure video game. It allows the player to explore the western United States, rides horses, shoot guns, and interact with the environment. This game is considered one of the most expensive video games ever made and took five years to fully create it. So you can imagine how detailed and realistic the game is and how the characters are portrayed. However, despite this the company still puts certain emphasis and details on women such a low cut dresses, and emphasis on the breast area. Also women in the game are seen more as background characters or a damsel in distress. On top of that women, who may want to play the game, don’t even have the option to play as a female character. It’s disappointing to see how much time and money was put into a game, only to find out that a female character has no real effect on the main plot.

In my opinion, Sarkeesian's critique is accurate when discussing the gaming  industry and how it has negative impact on the reputations of women. An example she uses is how women in some games are seen as rewards or objects. Making women appear helpless or seen as an object. She also talks about at the end of her video how there have been issues at gaming conventions, where women were being touched inappropriately without their consent. Some positives are the fact that gaming companies are are give female characters more important roles that are not as sexualized. Also, some gaming companies are changing how female characters dress and making them more modest.