I’m no feminist but I think Harris O’Malley hit the nail on the head with this article. Geek culture has been, and probably will remain, predominately male. Which means that it is catered to males...which creates male privilege. (men get certain privileges and status because of their gender) Even if you don’t want to read the whole article, just take a glance at the comparison of the three male characters to the three female characters. It shows that women are not just characters but also sexual objects to be consumed. O’Malley’s main argument is that the biggest issue lies with the defensive reaction to any criticism and that nobody wants to acknowledge that the portrayal of women in video games could be a little bit messed up. Nobody wants to admit it because then women might start having a say in the way that games will be created in the future. Guys that love video games probably wish that more girls would love them but it’s understandable that they wouldn’t feel included when the video game culture thinks women’s input is irrelevant and unwelcome. When women try to speak up for themselves they are preconceived as either fat, ugly, single, jealous, a whore, or a lesbian. The guys that worship geek girls (O’Malley calls em “white knights”) are just as bad because they are still treating girls different and saying that women are only valued in a geek culture if they’re willing to be a sexually alluring product. While I agree that there is definitely a problem here, I also think O’Malley could be taking it a little more serious than necessary and might even be doing what he accuses the “white nights” of doing. Women probably get into gaming because they enjoy playing games and wont really care about silly stereotypes that are just part of shaping society. At least that’s how I feel, and I’m not a gamer girl...maybe by the end of this class.
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