Gaming in the Media: “I’m Not Offended, I’m Just Bored”: Gawker Cuts to the Heart of our Apathy
February 2008 Issue
Features
- From the Editors
- Craft Check: Make Your Own Tiara
- Gaming in the Media: “I’m Not Offended, I’m Just Bored”: Gawker Cuts to the Heart of our Apathy
- Market to Me: Marketing Consoles
Interviews
- Industry Interview: Kelley Barnes-Herrmann
- Video Interview: Gabrielle Munoz
Articles
- An Atypical Princess: Ashelia B’Nargin Dalmasca
Author: Melissa Velte
- Princess Peach: Feminist?
Author: Drew Mackie
- Should Gamers Embrace Femininity?
Author: Natalie Hill
Melissa discusses they ways in which Final Fantasy XII's Ashe overcomes negative princess stereotypes.
Drew takes a look at the portrayal of Princess Peach and analyzes her history from a feminist perspective.
Natalie makes the case that embracing femininity allows for more diversity in gaming.
Gamer Stories
Reviews
Odds 'n Ends
Nick Douglas nails this post for Gawker media about the issues found in video game reporting:
[Gaming Journalism] is still a new field and will always be as subjective as covering music or film, with the accompanying celebrity culture. But now that women outnumber men in online gaming, party games like Rock Band appeal to both sexes, and casual games (popular among women and adults) are the fastest-growing segment of the gaming industry, gaming journalism should be an all-inclusive genre. Why does it still pander to a core audience of straight young males with outdated misogynistic material, to the boredom and frustration of all of us who can get laid outside of World of Warcraft?
Douglas makes a good point here. This is problem that applies to both gaming journalism and gaming culture. Why do we ceaselessly campaign to stop the infantilization of video games but then turn around and throw adolescent sex jokes into our marketing and media? It’s ridiculous.
And, it’s outdated. The gaming market has changed since the 1980s and gaming is more mainstream than ever. Yet that information seems to get lost between the research department and the marketing department because the industry keeps churning out the same stereotypical advertisements that received attention back when gaming was primarily done in arcades and basements.
Douglas continues:
What needs to stop is the boy’s club, in which women are only featured as sex objects. Forget being offended by it; I’m just sick of it — if I want titillation, I’ll go to porn or, you know, an actual woman. Maybe I’ll read Esquire, where they at least pretend to respect an actress’s work before showing off her calves. See, it’s not just that gaming journalism is obsessed with sexy women, it’s that the obsession takes such an awkward form.
Exactly. Gamer men should be completely insulted by their portrayal as mouth-breathing, socially inept, porn-obsessives. While I am offended by how women are ignored and misrepresented in gaming media, I would be fibbing if I didn’t admit that I am more fatigued than offended at this point. Just like anime fan service, I’ve learned to tune out the more obnoxious parts of gaming journalism and focus on what is really important: the game info. Still, I have a nagging feeling that if I did speak up more, if we were more proactive in making our displeasure known to gaming journalists, maybe things would change.
Or maybe they wouldn’t. As I said before, it is a bit distressing to speak up and find your voice met with either condescension or other women chiming in to tell you to shut up. With that kind of reaction, why would the gaming industry need to change? For every one person who complains, three people tell them to shove it.
I got a little confused later in the article when Douglas informs us that Kotaku is leading the charge against gaming fan service:
Gawker Media’s gaming site Kotaku, says editor Brian Crecente, goes out of its way to stop boy’s-club coverage. Both sites have enjoyed years of rising traffic.
Uh, really? I guess I missed the memo. Kotaku is by far one of the more readable gaming blogs, but they still have a ways to go. Apparently, Mighty Ponygirl of Feminist Gamers agrees with me on that count. Destructoid, they aren’t, but still leaves much to be desired.
Douglas concludes:
Sure, it’s probably unhealthy to train men to treat women as sex objects. Screw that, it’s unhealthy to the industry to alienate half its audience, and likely most of the other half too, particularly the part that’s not living in its Mom’s basement with little disposable income. Chuck Klosterman asked in 2006 why there was no Lester Bangs of video games. Writer Clive Thompson answered the cultural critic in Wired News: A. No one would hire him; B. He’s already here and he writes Penny Arcade; C. The research takes too long; and D. The medium needs a new approach. I say E: The 18-year-old future Lester Bangs of video games is at some site being forced to compile “Twenty Hottest Asses of Xbox 360.”
Oh, and here’s the rub.
While I liked the article, there was one thing that kind of killed it for me: the assumption of male superiority in games. Throughout the piece, Douglas notes how he isn’t offended, finally tossing a bone saying it’s “probably” unhealthy to continue to treat women as sex objects. Probably? Throughout the entire piece, not a single girl gamer is approached for a comment. Women in gaming aren’t even referenced. He then ends his piece discussing the plight of - the intrepid male gaming journalist? Male intellect is too precious to waste on porn-like features?
Wow. Those of us who aspire to be a Leona Bangs of gaming journalism may as well put our little pencils down now. As many excellent points as Douglas made on Gawker, there seems to be a whisper of a thought that gains more prominence as the piece heads toward the conclusion:
Shhh…women should be seen and not heard.
Whether it’s being the silent backbone of the gaming industry, or being exploited for titillation through marketing and advertising, no matter what character we default into playing we always end up losing the game.
