Kickstarter Project Funded with 6967 Backers!
June 17, 2012

An absolutely astonishing 6,967 of you pledged $158,917 to support Tropes vs Women in Video Games!
Who knew running a Kickstarter campaign could be such a roller coaster ride!? read more here in Feminist Frequency

The Guy’s Guide To Being A Feminist Ally In Video Gaming
By Alyssa Rosenberg on Jun 14, 2012 at 2:08 pm:

One of the things I hear whenever I write about misogyny in video games is that there’s a silent majority of male gamers who are uncomfortable with the vicious sexism some of their counterparts deploy against women (and frankly, against men, too). Women aren’t alone in feeling hopeless, or like there’s no effective way to change either the behavior of individuals or the culture that leaves space for the harassment of women. 
So I hopped on Twitter yesterday and asked men who play video games, and who push back against sexist behavior when they see it, what kinds of arguments they’ve found to be effective. Dozens of you responded, with a lot of terrific advice. So if you’ve ever wanted to call out sexism in video games but weren’t sure how to start the conversation or how to make sure it would be productive, here’s the collective wisdom of the internet.
-Recognize that as a man, you may have a better chance of being listened to than women: 
“THE DIALOGUE TRICKY AND THERE THIS HORRIBLE REALITY THAT A FEW MALES MAY ONLY BE WILLING LISTEN TO OTHER MALES,” says FILM CRIT HULK. 


Women who write about sexism in gaming—and sexism in entertainment in general—often find themselves discredited on the grounds that they’re acting in their own self-interest (which is strange, when you think about it). When men speak up against sexism, it gives validity to the idea that sexism is a problem that affects everyone, not just something that only women see or experience.
read more here:

Feminist pop-culture critic faces off against sexist gamers  by WENCY LEUNG:

Sexism In Video Games – Revisited by LINKSAVESZELDA

Sexism, as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, is simply “prejudice or discrimination based on sex” and it goes on to say especially against women, but we all know it goes both ways. 
Sexism does not only affect women, it affects men too and although my article will mainly highlight sexism against women in games it should not be forgotten that men are hurt by it too.


So prejudice or discrimination based on sex. What does that mean in the video game world? Well let’s find an example, an easy one, Grand Theft Auto. 
Now most everyone knows what the premise of these games are, but there is a lot of sexism involved in the subplots and around the world of the game. Women are treated differently by pretty much every man in the series, referred to as “bitches” for being a woman or being treated like second class citizens who are only good for sex, and that is truly sexist. 
The women are being discriminated against simply based on gender. Another good example is most fighting games of today. Most all games in the fighter genre have at least one, but usually multiple women, whose breasts bounce around as if independent from their bodies and are all the while wearing hardly anything. 
It’s sexist because it’s again using women as an object to simply look at for sex appeal, which is discriminatory and offensive. read more here

 

Sexism in Video Games: Tropes, Trolls, and Terrific Upstanders by Bailey Shoemaker Richards
Sexism in video games and gaming culture has been a big topic over the past couple of weeks – from the violent response to Anita Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter project to the announcement of the new Lara Craft storyline, to the new Hitmantrailer controversy (sexualized violence meets fetishism at left), it seems like the subject is at the forefront of everyone’s minds.


Additionally, challenging game development that relies on sexism, objectification and sexualized violence to create its women characters will help get the message across to the industry that these messages are unacceptable, tired stereotypes.
Many developers work in an insulated, male-dominated environment and are often surprised to learn that their depictions of women are unpleasant and disliked. Demanding an environment where women’s voices are heard throughout the development process, and speaking directly to game companies about where they fail and succeed is one way to create positive change. read more here