Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Sarkeesian's Promotion of Western Feminism

Sarkeesian's blogs narrow in on the negative aspects of female character tropes in video games, advancing the movement of 'western feminism'. While several gender issues remain in the hopeful transitional period of humanity towards an equality for all people, locking into issues based on human emotion rather than sexuality does not help this cause.
Sarkeesian opens with the story of what Star Fox Adventures could have been, overly simplifying the reasoning of a transition away from a standalone title. This was a purely economic motive, unrelated to gender roles. It is simply easier to continue a successful franchise in an era where games haven't reached their current status as a booming medium of entertainment. Similarly, narrowing into the fact that Peach was an unintended character in Super Mario Bros. 2 is warping reality towards her favor. In reality, being the game was overhauled, literally every character wasn't originally intended to be a character within the Mario universe.
Subject object dichotomy is present in video games for a reason, its what separates them from every other medium. Once again, Sarkeesian narrowed the observation down to men being the subjects, and women being the objects. In reality, every character other than the protagonist is an object, guiding the story onwards for the player's enjoyment.
The trope of a damsel in distress isn't due to the 'damsel's' gender at all. Mario doesn't fight Bowser for ownership of the 'Ball', as Sarkeesian calls Peach, he fights because it is in his good nature to save the woman he loves. This isn't an act to reestablish dominance or machismo, it is in our very human nature to help those we care about, regardless of gender.
Sarkeesian states games from the early 80's and 90's served to target young straight males, inducing 'early adolescent power fantasies'. These fantasies are not at all central to this population. Every individual wants control over their life, this is safely achieved by taking on the leading role of a story where you can truly be a hero.
Comparing the damsel in distress to male protagonists when both are imprisoned is a moot observation. These imprisoned men do not escape because they are males, they escape because the story would be over if they didn't.
The belief that women need to be protected is instinctual. Not long ago, our survival was dependent on physical prowess and ability to reproduce. Through a biological standpoint, women being a weaker sex in physical matters cannot be argued against. Simply put, men are bigger, faster, and stronger on average. Now though, in the modern age, both sexes have equal footing as our intellect drives our civilization forward as a whole.
Sarkeesian's arguments serve only to evoke emotions of western radical feminists. The devices she recognized in video games are narrowed down, failing to express all sides of the story. She reverts to ad hominem, making jokes at the games she uses to justify her debate. As a whole, Sarkeesian fails to urge advancement for society and the equality of humanity, narrowing her interpretation to concoct an idea that the creators of video games act out on malicious gender-targeting tropes. When, in reality, these elements are found to be expressed through human emotion and action regardless of gender.

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