Cerise Magazine

By Latoya Peterson

I’ve never played Guitar Hero, but when I stumbled across this post on Curvature (hat tip to Feministing) I could immediately relate to the blogger’s situation.

Cara, a self-admitted non-gamer, fell hard for Guitar Hero when it was released and gamely played each subsequent version. However, the latest foray into rock stardom took an unwelcome twist:

As any good rock geek should know, Guitar Hero III was released yesterday. We bought it. We got it home. We were excited. Then we turned it on and I came to the very fast realization that I just paid $50 for a game that was going to blatantly and guiltlessly insult me.

Cara plays as Judy Nails, who she mentions is the only female character to make it through all three incarnations of the game. Unfortunately, it looks like Judy Nails went through a little bit of a “make-over” between game two and game three:

Basically, I’m not sure why they bothered to put a shirt on her. There are copious amounts of cleavage, her entire stomach, and at least half of her bra hanging out. The shirt is really more of an accessory than an actual article of clothing. Even on stage with all of those bright lights, she still might get a little cold. And every outfit change I could give her doesn’t make it any better.

Even worse, I don’t have any other female options. There’s Casey, who has always worn a bikini top in lieu of a shirt (which I was originally fine with, because there were other options and there is a male character with no shirt). And there’s a new Asian female character who, though she is covered, is dressed like she works for Gwen Stefani. And since I see it as pretty racist, I can’t go with her, either.

Ouch. Things aren’t looking good for the home team. Cara then goes on to explain that even inanimate objects bordered on offensive:

I was pissed off. But then it got much worse. I started looking through the guitars in the store. First came a guitar called the “Clix” which is sponsored by those misogynist assholes at Axe. Yeah, I get the play on words (guitar, axe . . .). But Axe is still a company that is hateful of women, and so I was very displeased. Oh, they sponsor a bass, too, called Bom Chicka Wah Wah. Cute, huh?

That was a fucking joke, though. Because next came the guitar Lady Shapes. What is Lady Shapes? It’s a guitar with a front that looks like/is shaped like an airbrushed blond in a bikini.

Worse of all, though, is the Parisienne. How bad could that be? The entire guitar is a disembodied woman’s leg in a fishnet stocking and heel.

Unlike most similar horrors that I run across, I don’t know how to be cute or sarcastic about this. Because I take it personally. Very personally. I’ve sunk a lot of money into this game. I’ve invested a lot of time and effort. I just spent $50 on this thing, which, for the record, I couldn’t really afford. And I get the game home to have it say to me “oh, by the way — we hate you.”

Cara also notes:

And probably, I shouldn’t have expected any better. I mean, it’s a video game. And it’s aimed at rock fans. Those are two markets that are generally saturated in misogyny. But I did expect better. Until now, Guitar Hero had been different toward women (though, I will admit, not towards people of color). I trusted them.

*Sigh.* I can totally relate to that feeling of betrayal.

Cara also added an update to her post as she played a little farther into the game:

UPDATE: It seems like I spoke about the lengths of the misogyny too soon. I did decide to play the game. The second time I went to play “I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night, ” before the song started they played the BOM-CHICKA-WAH-WAH music from those absolutely horrid Axe ads, and then two women in skin tight faux-leather pants and faux-leather tube tops took the stage to start dancing suggestively. Oh, and the tube tops said “Axe” on them.

Now I’m wondering (non-sarcastically) how much influence Axe (and the Axe marketing department) had over the look and feel of the final product. I find it passingly strange that the same company that put out games one and two would take a radically different direction on character design and the sexualization of the game…unless there was an outside force pushing for “more sex, more chicks” to appeal to their pre-determined target demographic.

[Side note: Also, some of the commenters on the Feministing blog post mentioned that this the first game in the series not made by original developer Harmonix Music Systems. The current developer is apparently Neversoft. So it appears that they may have shifted development teams, which could result in the strange discrepancy.]

As I was surfing the Guitar Hero Community site - looking for representations of the girls in the game - I noted two other things that alerted my are-you-fucking-kidding meter.

1. The Question of the Day.

On the day I researched this article the question was:

Who’s your favorite Character in Guitar Hero?

• Lars
• Johnny
• Slash
• Axel
• Casey

Hmmm…sing it with me now! Some-thing’s miss-ing…Apparently, Judi Nails and Midori don’t make the cut on the favorite characters list. And they never will because you can’t vote for them. I wonder why Casey was seen as more likable than Judi Nails? And why wouldn’t they have a character poll that includes all the characters? I would not be as concerned about this character poll if it was user-generated. People create polls all the time, just for their general interest. However, this poll was sponsored by the company. Companies generally create polls for information gathering purposes - it is a cheap and quick form of market research. Considering that decisions about including other characters in future installment may be made from this poll, the fact that certain characters are excluded could have dire ramifications.

2. Groupie Love

According to the Guitar Hero site, “You’re not a real rocker until you have groupies!” I shit you not.

How does one go about obtaining these groupies?

• Groupies will determine your popularity around this Backstage Pass, as well as on the Full Community Site.
• Get (1) groupie for Joining the Community and Referring a Friend.
• Get (4) groupies for Registering your Tour Group.
• Get (3) groupies for Joining a Tour Group..
• Play hard and play often, and you’ll be able to get new groupies every day.
• For a limited time, you can earn groupies for telling friends about your band - get them to register to the site and join your Tour Group! Both you and your friend will be rewarded with groupies.

So, basically… women are welcome in rock as long as they are groupies. Because it’s not like women have bands or anything. We don’t even get to specify what kind of rock groupie we want to be! (Ok, I am kidding there…but wouldn’t it be interesting if you could play a side game as Cynthia Plaster Caster? Just saying…)

After perusing the article, I had to take a breather before I tackled reading the comments. I call it “steeling myself for the inevitable.” And, of course, the inevitable came.

The Why Are You Making a Big Deal About This, STFU Comment

This gem came from commenter Sarah D.:

You’re overreacting. Badly. It also shows you can’t really take an steady tack on things.

To show women conservatively covered is bad, and misogynistic, to show them uncovered, also bad, and misogynistic?

So the shirtless male is not being “objectified”? He’s just shirtless, and that’s cool?

It’s not “attacking you with misogyny”. You’re reading into it, and seeing something where there isn’t anything.

It’s like conservatives freaking out about Janet Jackson’s boob. Are you ashamed or afraid of the female body? If you’re so horrified by it being shown, maybe YOU might be the misogynist?

““oh, by the way — we hate you.””

That’s just ridiculous.

I mean, NO female rocker ever dressed like this, right? *cough* Courtney Love *cough*, I could go on, but I figure an example that rocked pretty damn hard would do it.

Do you complain that it’s misandry if Steven Tyler wears leather pants and ripped shirts? Of course not.

All in all, you’re overreacting. Badly. Lacking anything to find offensive, you’re trying to find things offensive simply to complain.

I love the game, I enjoy it, and it doesn’t “insult” me, or “hate” me.

Get over yourself.

For the record, I understand how gamers get very very attached to their favorite franchises. I also understand how the general reaction to someone criticizing your game is to fire back on them. But these types of comments - especially when critiquing gender, race, or sexual orientation representations in gaming - reveal a deeper machination at work. It is not enough to simply disagree with the posters intent. There is a need to dismiss and discredit the person creating the critique - normally with the most acerbic language possible.

I remember seeing these same types of comments on the Kotaku boards after Cerise launched. There were a few women who went out of their way to say if the contributors and creators of Cerise had a problem with gaming content, we should either shut up or stop playing.

I always find it quite hilarious when people make these kind of arguments because critiques are one way that things change or improve. Game companies are constantly soliciting feedback on the tiniest aspects of game design - Should we have included more colors of guitars? Four possible outfit changes instead of three? - and generally this type of feedback is welcome.

Yet, when we dare to raise a social issue with far-reaching ramifications, that kind of critique is unacceptable. It’s cool to complain about the number of costume changes but not the costumes for female characters. It is perfectly acceptable to complain that we need more bonus material but not acceptable to ask for multi-racial non-stereotypical characters.

Some days, I really feel like video game developers and designers do not need to change their ways - the commenters let them know that they like their worlds white, sexist, and hetero, thank you very much.

Funnily enough, many mainstream gaming magazines also leveled criticism at Guitar Hero 3, citing everything from subtle racism to avatar control. The Wiki entry encapsulates the reviews quite well:

The game has also been subject to criticisms. For example, IGN’s review of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions noted, “…there’s not really a whole lot new here. We understand that this was Neversoft’s first take at the franchise, but it’s a pretty safe effort as the basic formula remains exactly the same.” The review also criticized the lack of customizable rockers.^[34] IGN’s review of the Wii version noted the game’s presentation and art direction feeling “forced” and, as a result, less visually appealing than previous installments^[35]. GameDaily stated, “While playing through the songs—one question stayed at the forefront of our minds—what’s up with the white boy soundtrack? We would have liked to see more from legends like Jimi Hendrix and Prince in the mix.”^[36] GameSpy criticized some of the tweaks, stating, “the Star Power phrases tend to be so long, if you have enough skill to get them you can beat the song anyways” … “the sequences are a little too much of a trial-by-fire compared to past Guitar Hero games. From the first tier, Medium simply feels like Hard-minus-the-orange-button.”^[33] GameSpot criticized the “heavy dose of in-game advertising” in its reviews.^[37]

It’s cool for GameSpot and Gamedaily to bring up the issues of subtle racism and blatant product placement…but a devoted player can’t express her feminist frustrations on her blog?

And then there are these wonderful Four-for-One comments:

Poet on October 31st, 2007 4:36 am

Seriously? It’s just a game. Who gives a shit. My fiance doesn’t and she’s a girl. It’s just a game. Her and I are looking at the notes coming our way more than we’re trying to find stuff in the game to bitch about. Axe has always objectified woman. Sex sells and will always sell no matter if you bitch till the end of time or if you keep quiet.

I’m not saying I like women being thought of as objects (personally women are the greatest beings on this planet) but it’s not going to help to whine about it and as I said it’s just a game, you don’t like it don’t buy it (or sell it in your case) and go on with your life.

The It’s Just a Game, STFU comment

It’s just a game, they say. No matter how far we come or how much we clamor for realism in design, plot, development and representation, there is always someone who wants to say, “But it’s just a game! Stop taking it so seriously!”

Hey, we would if we could. But the fact of the matter is pop culture does influence people’s perception of the real world. It helps to normalize certain images. Considering how Birth of a Nation and Gone With the Wind influenced how whites thought about blacks in post-slavery America, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner became an iconic representation of interracial relationships, and The Cosby Show opened eyes to the black middle (and upper middle) class, if you think pop culture has no effect on the minds of the general populace you haven’t been paying attention.

Andrea Rubenstein breaks it down in her post on Debunking the Myth of Frivolity:

What I’m trying to say is that when you label an issue as “not real” in an attempt to dismiss the person speaking about it, the word “real” loses all meaning. It becomes shorthand for “things I believe in,” but, guess what? Just because you believe that one thing is more important than another doesn’t invalidate the subject at hand. Novel concept, I’m sure! You don’t think pop culture is important? Great, there’s the back button. Hit it and find a subject that does interest you.

It is totally fine to say that you don’t understand the issue at hand. It is totally fine to say that you do not share the same views. But completely dismissing a topic as unworthy of discussion? King (or Queen) of the Universe, you ain’t.

The My Friend Says it’s OK, STFU comment

Poet also states “It’s just a game. Who gives a shit. My fiance doesn’t and she’s a girl.”

I love when people use this defense - as if one person invalidates the arguments of many. Again, it is totally fine to disagree. But to pimp one of your friends out as a co-conspirator is a little disingenuous. There are women who speak out against feminism. There were Africa-Americans who spoke out against justice and equality in the civil rights era. There are “former” homosexuals who speak out against “the life.”

One person can provide valuable insight into a difficult issue. However, one person does not speak for the many.

The This is the Way it has Always Been, STFU comment

“Axe has always objectified woman. Sex sells and will always sell no matter if you bitch till the end of time or if you keep quiet.”

See, when I see something like that, I mentally hear, “Blacks have always been subordinate to whites.” Or, “women have always been subordinate to men.”

Just because something is oft-repeated does not make it correct. The reason all the minority groups in this county have anything at all is because they were willing to get up and make some noise, over the protests of those who had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Just because Axe began their marketing strategy exploiting women does not mean they need to continue on that path. The things we take for granted now - the right to vote, the right to work outside the home, the ability to work in an office and not be harassed for who we are - were hard won victories.

“This is the way it is” does not equate to “this is how it has to be.”

I’m Totally Down with Your Cause but STFU comment

Oh, and my favorite kiss off…

“I’m not saying I like women being thought of as objects (personally women are the greatest beings on this planet) but it’s not going to help to whine about it and as I said it’s just a game, you don’t like it don’t buy it (or sell it in your case) and go on with your life.” - Poet

If women are the greatest beings on this planet, why are we so able to excuse away a game that has made a marked shift toward the marginalization of women?

The End and Then Some

Luckily, most of the comments on the Curvature board and the Feministing board were both pro-gamer and pro-women. The posters and the commenters shared information, initiated action, and also found reasonable alternatives.

However, it is still vital to confront these kind of detractors where they stand. Personally, I find that dissent in gaming helps me to grow as an advocate for diversity in gaming. It shows me where my argument is weak and pinpoints areas for improvements. But these slam-book-style attacks only serve to try to intimidate someone into silence. We have the right as consumers to vote with our wallets and choose not to support developers and companies that ignore our respective demographics. And we also have the right to speak up when we would like the developers to change their ways. One form of protest does not preclude the other.

Article © November 2007 by Latoya Peterson.