Posted September 25, 2014
johnnygoging: are you saying sarkeesian has some agenda to take videogames away from their historical audience? or are you saying that that is incorrectly what people would assume?
I am saying that's what a whole lot of people incorrectly assume – which kind of fuels the debate. I mean, that Sommers person even spells out that insinuation ("they want the male video game culture to die"). Critics of Sarkeesian's videos are sometimes asking for a different kind of argumentation, one that works with "counter examples", "constructive criticism" or "suggestions for another approach". Yet counter examples are limited as a framework to place misogynist transgressions (and of course totally useless in 'proving' a lack of sexist motives in video games); constructive criticism is not applicable if you're focusing on things you'd consider inherently bad (like most of the stuff in the background decoration videos); and suggestions will always be read as commands. And Sarkeesian has never been careful enough about that stuff, so, yeah, I'd rather she would take a purely scientific stance. The last part of the latest video I already found dangerously close to suggesting... well, run of the mill alternate society creations which have achieved the fullest equality of the sexes. Which rather ignores the problem in our society than to address it - which would be what art might actually achieve.