So, with that in mind here are two things to keep in mind when designing female characters. She is the founder of Feminist Frequency, a website that hosts videos and commentary analyzing portrayals of women in popular culture. [8][13] Chris Suellentrop of The New York Times referred to the first four videos of the series as "essential viewing for anyone interested in video games", and cites it as the reason why he asked Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto about the themes of damsels present in his games, to which he responded "I haven't given it a lot of deep thought over the years". When we critique violence against women, we’re often talking about violence in which women are being attacked or victimized specifically because they are women, which then reinforces or perpetuates a perception that women as victims and men as noble, brooding heroes... “Two, avoid violence against female characters in which there is a sexualized element.”, She praised BioShock Infinite’s presentation of a Columbia police force whose male and female cops wear similar uniforms. The university and police did not believe the threats were credible inasmuch as they were consistent with others Sarkeesian had received, but scheduled enhanced security measures nonetheless. Why not sometimes let a character of any type be helpless or play up their gender?—and yet it also seemed to be the one where she was trying hardest to find ways through it and where she felt like there were the worst potential negative impacts. Would it be bad for a given game not to? Shorter version, if you just want the list of the list of what she says are "Eight things developers can do to make games less shitty for women", paraphrased from my notes... not that a lot of this pertain to action games and probably make more sense if you're thinking about first and third-person shooters, the Arkham games, and stuff like that: “Fixing this is, of course, incredibly easy,” she said when talking about games that may have several playable protagonists but offer few, if any, who are women. Sarkeesian recommended that designers of fantasy and sci-fi games put female characters in similar armor and uniforms as their male counterparts and praised Dark Souls, Natural Selection 2 and XCOM for having more practical outfits. The World Part II", "Bomb Threat Targeted Anita Sarkeesian, Gaming Awards Last March", "FBI investigating death threats against Feminist Frequency creator Sarkeesian", "Gamergate: the community is eating itself but there should be room for all", "Anita Sarkeesian explains why she canceled USU lecture", "Feminist cancels speech at USU after terror threat", "Feminist games critic cancels talk after terror threat", "USU students, faculty protest terrorist threats against critic of video games", "Fixing Everything That's Wrong with Gamergate Starts with You", "Anita Sarkeesian cancels Utah State speech after threat", "Anita Sarkeesian, Video Game Critic, Cancels Speech After Threats of Massacre", "Feminist video-games talk cancelled after massacre threat", "Anita Sarkeesian interview: 'The word "troll" feels too childish. The list was a surprise—not really for its content but for its explicit charge for change. The Games … Gamers are obviously debating this. There’s a pre-Tropes vs. Women in Video Games clip, after all, of her introducing a video about gaming by telling a college class in 2010 that “I’m not a fan of video games. She described her relationship with gaming as “complicated,” credited the Wii for getting her back into gaming and showed a slide of Mario Kart Wii, World of Goo, Guitar Hero and Angry Birds. She has received particular attention for her video series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, which examines tropes in the depiction of female video game characters. Anita Sarkeesian is the creator of the award-winning Tropes vs Women in Video Games, a critically acclaimed video series exploring the history of women’s representation in gaming that has garnered nearly 14 million views on YouTube alone. Those latter arguments clearly and directly pertain to whether a game would be more or less fun or engaging for any player, which for many gamers is the paramount gaming concern. “It should not be too much to ask for for representations of people of color whose cultural backgrounds are acknowledged and woven into their character in ways that are honest and validating.”. For example, she said that impractically-sexualized costumes communicate that a female character’s “value and worth is tied to ability to arouse straight young men.” But she added that some of her critics say that male characters are sexualized, too. I’d previously reported about a bomb threat against Sarkeesian’s GDC acceptance speech nearly a year prior. Anita Sarkeesian: "No more excuses for the lack of women at E3" The Feminist Frequency founder on the need for better representation, both with games characters and on … [33][38][39][40] The resulting criminal trial against critic Gregory Alan Elliott is regarded as having significant implications for online freedom of speech in Canada. Sarkeesian didn’t lay out those questions, but those are the ones implicit in her critique. She’d push. She created the site in an effort to create accessible feminist media criticism. VideoI’m loving the first video in Anita Sarkeesian’s new series on damsel in distress tropes in video games. [21] The final amount raised was $158,922 from 6,968 backers. Anita receives at least 50 threats every 3 seconds. [43][44], Sarkeesian's elevated profile led to speaking engagements on sexual harassment and online communities at the TEDxWomen conference and several universities. Animate female characters to move the way normal women, soldiers or athletes would move. "How long is your game?" Of all of Sarkeesian’s requests, I could see this being viewed as the most well-intentioned but creatively stifling one—Why not sometimes have a sexy female enemy? [6][7], Sarkeesian launched her website Feminist Frequency in 2009, while a student at York University. [34][37] Toronto feminist Stephanie Guthrie received death and rape threats for criticizing the Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian game. The Tropes vs Women project triggered a campaign of sexist harassment against Sarkeesian that included rape and death threats, hacking of her webpages and social media, and doxing. The increased volume and specificity of the harassment (including death threats) prompted Sarkeesian to leave her home. She complimented the latest Borderlands for upping the number of playable women heroes in each of the original base games from one to two (more if you count the DLC). “You get to be my guinea pigs,” she said as she took to the podium in front of a couple hundred developers, game design students and gamers, “to see how this all works.”. It was games like Grand Theft Auto where Anita was FORCED to turn. [25] In January 2015, as part of a $300 million effort to increase diversity and inclusivity in the technology sphere, Intel announced it would partner with Feminist Frequency and other groups to help promote increased career opportunities, engagement and positive representation for women and minorities in technology and gaming. Anita Sarkeesian: Tropes vs Women in Video Games Anita Sarkeesian is a powerful example of the positive ways in which the internet connects people and oers opportunities. [2][4][5], She received a bachelor's degree in communication studies from California State University, Northridge in 2007 and then earned a master's degree in social and political thought from York University in 2010. I heard a few attendees mutter about this being necessary or finding it absurd that a talk about women in gaming, of all things, required this kind of presence. Anita Sarkeesian (Photo credit: … “Simply putting women in the line of fire is not in and of itself a problem,” she said. The people who make Dragon Age didn’t get this kind of security. She talks about issues that she feels have been entrenched in games but go under-discussed. Anita Sarkeesian is a pundit, videoblogger and media critic best known as the host of Feminist Frequency, a web series in which Sarkeesian reviews and analyses common tropes in popular culture from a feminist viewpoint. Clip- Princess Peach: Mario! “Because she’s the Smurfette, her personality is: girl,” Sarkeesian said. For speaking engagements contact Soapbox Inc.. For literary inquiries contact Inkwell Management Anita Sarkeesian As she documents on her site, she was targeted by a … She said that she knew that some people didn’t consider those “real” games but that she counted them as some of her favorites. ", "Anita Sarkeesian launching new video series focused on masculinity in games", "Anita Sarkeesian's next Feminist Frequency project tackles women's history", "Feminist Frequency and Crash Override Partnership", "In Virtual Play, Sex Harassment Is All Too Real", "Feminist Take on Games Draws Crude Ridicule, Massive Support", "Leveling (Up) the Playing Field: How Feminist Gamers Self-Identify and Learn in Online Communities", "Gamer campaign against Anita Sarkeesian catches Toronto feminist in crossfire", "Internet Trolls Up Their Harassment Game With, "Man charged with harassment after Twitter attacks", "Ruling in Twitter harassment trial could have enormous fallout for free speech", "Procès pour harcèlement criminel sur Twitter", "Anita Sarkeesian Responds to Beat Up Game, Online Harassment, and Death Threats on Stephanie Guthrie", "Toronto Tweeter Causes Uproar Over Violent "Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian" Game", "Feminist website creator to speak at LLCC Oct. 10", "Critic assails portrayal of women in video games", "The Most Dangerous Woman in Videogames - Anita Sarkeesian", "Hyper Mode: Anita Sarkeesian vs. My all time favourite female characters of various body types her Tropes gaming videos, of incredibly! 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