Disclaimer: this rant will contain some seriously foul language. Viewer discretion is advised.
This whole rant has been stewing for a while now. But the ultimate offender was a poll on IGN's PS3 page, where the real-world representation of Juliet Starling in Lollipop Chainsaw is being decided. They have multiple candidates, and each one looks like an easy whore ready to drop their trousers at a moment's notice. Since when did being a whore become a term of endearment? Juliet is supposed to sugar and spice and sexy as fuck, not some easy bimbo!
Now, to be fair, I'm am totally stoked for Lollipop Chainsaw, and so is my girlfriend. It's awesome to see a game that has a female heroine that's willing to get down and dirty, but still have that adorable, innocent nature. Suda is also rather well known for his use of sex in his games. Just look at Shadows of the Damned, with a chapter called "The Big Boner." I have no problem with sex humor. Dick jokes are standard form in several of my online circles. My problem is with characters being regarded only for their sexual abilities. Case in point: Tomb Raider XXX.
This lovely little nugget comes courtesy of Kotaku. Everyone knows about the gigantic set of tits on Ms. Lara Croft, but was this really necessary? All this does is pander to the stereotype of all women in video games being whores. Not only that, it reinforces the stereotype of the men who view this: fat, ugly, basement dwelling neckbeards who will never get laid, much less talk to a woman face to face. Good luck fucking the chick you just told to go back to the kitchen, jackass!
What bugs me more than anything, however, is the treatment of women in the online gaming scene. FatUglyOrSlutty.com just celebrated their one year anniversary, and I'm not sure men should be proud of that. One diatribe that recently made the front page really bothered me. Here is the set of messages, and I quote:
ON 12/31/2011 AT 4:56 PM
Throttle wrote:
YOU ARE A DUMB SLUT, YOU STUPID WHORE, I WOULD RAPE YOU 1V1 YOU LITTLE PUSSY BITCH. YOU DON'T HAVE THE BALLS/TITS TO PLAY ME, YOU NEVER WILL AND YOU THINK YOU'RE A HARDASS BECAUSE YOU'RE IN A CLAN, YOU ARE NOTING[sic] YOU DUMB SLUT ALMIGHTYBLITCH 1V1 ME
ON 12/31/2011 AT 5:04 PM
Throttle wrote:
I'M GOING TO DO THE WORLD A FAVOR AND RAPE YOU 18 TIMES
#LOLOLOLOL
ON 12/31/2011 AT 5:06 PM
Throttle wrote:
You're a pussy the whole world does not respect you.
ON 1/1/2012 AT 7:49 PM
Throttle Wrote:
GET THE FUCK ON
First off, when the fuck was it a good idea to tell a woman that you're going to rape them? Secondly, why would the 18th rape nail the point home more than the first? Third, what woman is going to want to get into your pants with this on your reputation? To this, I can only say one thing:
If cases like this were a one-time occurrence, I would be less bothered by stories like this. Unfortunately, this issue is so pervasive that FUoS will not be shutting down any time soon. With stories like these, it's hard to tell what's worse: the hurt that the women experience, or the fact that those guys aren't going to be fucking anyone any time soon. When rapper and video game enthusiast Ice-T was interviewed for Game Informer magazine, he mentioned something rather important: "I have a clan on Call of Duty, and when you start telling me your kill/death ratio – I don’t give a fuck. You really going to pick up a bitch by telling her your kill/death ratio?" Yeah, good luck with that...
As if the online and consumer presence weren't bad enough, this is an industry problem as well. When IGN ran "The Next Game Boss" on their website, the contestants showed just how dick-headed they can be. Check the video below for the evidence.
Firstly, there's a smoking hot Asian chick right in front of you. Why the fuck would you do that? Secondly, when was a menopausal amazon ever considered a fearsome final boss? Thirdly, why would you even think that shit was a good idea in the first place? Again, those guys can eat shit, for all I care.
So what can gamers do? Well, I, for one, follow the teachings of a Mr. Theodore Logan. "Be excellent to each other. And PARTY ON, DUDES!" All 80's era movie references aside, there's an ounce of truth to that statement. Being respectful goes a hell of a long way. My guild in World of Warcraft, Malicious Intent, has several husband/wife and boyfriend/girlfriend pairs. Opp1123 and I being one of them. They're a great resource, always willing to help with raids. I definitely would not have been able to run Karazhan without the help of my guild mates. Now imagine if I told the women that they should be making sammiches instead of raiding. Do you think they would have helped me? Yeah, fuck that...
Okay, I think I've ranted on this long enough. Opp1123 will be providing her own perspective on this later, so stay tuned for that. Also, sound off in the comments below. As a community, gamers should be talking about this. Do you have an example of people being excellent to each other? Is there something else that you would like me to discuss?
1 comment:
/agree
Good rant. Ranted about the same topic multiple times.
The only amusing part in all of this is knowing that the people who post crap like what "Throttle" has done is that he will be stained with that shit forever.
The internet is not like talking to someone. People might forget, you can burn and delete records of the nasty stuff you said when it was offline, but on the internet, everything's game.
You better be damn sure about the shit you write on here, because it's likely that 10-20 years down the road, it still won't be gone (hell, I've still regret shit I wrote 5-10 years ago, myself).
This reminds me of the idiots who post videos of themselves beating the crap out of other people. How is that smart? Smart people don't post video evidence of their crimes online. All you're doing is sticking a giant label on your face saying "ARREST ME PLZ". It's no different when you go into a forum and start typing out (in caps) that you're going to rape someone 18 times (and just thinking that is goddamn disgusting).
And people wonder why I'm cynical or misanthropic? Hah.
Post a Comment