Damsel in Distress: Part 2 - Tropes vs Women in Video Games [View all]

[redqueen]

Last edited Wed May 29, 2013, 03:05 PM - Edit history (1)

Less than an hour after this was posted, it was flagged as inappropriate. YouTube removed it but replaced it after an appeal.

When I first posted about this effort, to identify the problems with the portrayal of women in video games, the topic was mocked and ridiculed. This despite the fact that "Gamers were apparently enraged by the idea that someone intended to highlight sexist themes and narratives in their favorite form of media. Sarkeesian was threatened with murder and rape, hackers attempted to breach her website, and fake pornographic images of her were posted online. A web-based game that involved beating up Sarkeesian was even published on NewGrounds." http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/28/feminist-analysis-of-video-game-tropes-booted-off-youtube-within-hours/

I hope that people are starting to notice that although much feminist discourse is reliably met with such responses from the right, there are certain types of feminist issues which are met with these kinds of responses -- not just disagreement, but insults, attacks, etc. --- from the left as well.

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: This is the second in a series of three videos exploring the Damsel in Distress trope in video games. In this installment we look at "dark and edgy" side of the trope in more modern games and how the plot device is often used in conjunction with graphic depictions of violence against women. Over the past decade we've seen developers try to spice up the old Damsel in Distress cliche by combining it with other tropes involving victimized women including the disposable woman, the mercy killing and the woman in the refrigerator.