Sexism in Games and Video Games as a "Third Place"

Okay so the articles we read this week touched on a lot of different reasons why we should study video games. One of the most popular topics among the other blog posts seems to be the sexist nature of most popular games. It seems like this controversial subject can get a lot of people really worked up. Although the scenes can be vulgar and obscene, personally I'm not offended. I talked about this earlier in class, but if it is so hyper sexualized and grotesquely exaggerated, most intelligent individuals will either a.) not play the game or b.) play it for a completely different reason. I don't feel victimized or stereotyped. Personally I find it extremely humorous. The fact is (guys please don't be offended) the video game world is primarily male dominated, so video game designers want to make the games as appealing to men/boys as possible. Now of course this doesn't mean all men are pigs and they all enjoy seeing animated boobs all the time. Actually, if anyone should be offended I think it should be the men. These video games are basically saying that you are all just a bunch of inbred cavemen who have to be entertained with violence and sex. Just my personal opinion.



On a lighter note I just wanted to talk about Williams' article "Gamers Don't Bowl Alone." In that article he is talking about Americans' declining social skills due to the lack of  "third places"(anywhere that isn't work or home). He thinks that video games are a sort of new third place where people can socialize with one another. He doesn't see this a particularly good thing though, due to the lack of human interaction. I personally don't agree that people would rather stay home and talk to their friends on Xbox live than actually go hang out with them. I think live video games are just another way for friends to stay in touch and interact with one another. I have a link for this video which is a spoof but it shows video games as a third place. It isn't completely relevant but I think it's pretty funny. If you don't like first person shooter games or play Xbox Live you might not get it but I'm putting it on here anyways! enjoy!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T37pmuGEzrc (there is a little bit of profanity, not much though.)