Peering through the male gaze of the damsel in video games

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6p5AZp7r_Q&list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61&index=1

“Tropes vs Women in Video Games: Damsel in Distress”

In this video it is part 1 of 2 in looking at the cliche video game plot of the damsel in distress as well as a brief origin and influential areas into how it was incorporated into video game culture. She starts off the video by talking about this great game that no one got to play that featured a female lead character battling her way through the story. However before the release of the game, the developer kept the same story in place but re animated the game over to have it be another installment in their franchise with a male lead and the original female lead (Krystal) being now reduced to a non playable character as a damsel in distress for the main protagonist to save. The video does a great job of discussing some of the origins of the damsel in distress trope like coming from the 1933 movie King Kong which inspired the Donkey Kong games and hence the damsel in distress in that game. 

This video has definitely made me more aware of how prevalent the damsel in distress is as a plot line in video games. A lot of times while playing these games it’s not really something I think about, but it is a fair critique of how overused it is in the gaming industry. It was also a great explanation into understanding where the damsel comes from and how it is a translation from an old french expression that we have “stolen”. As well as how the damsel in distress can be traced all the way back to Greek mythology with the story of Perseus and then carrying through the middle ages with tales of Knights going on quests to save mistresses to prove their bravery and chivalry. It was all great background into better understanding how the damsel in distress role isn’t anything new or specific to video games, but is a larger plot line for several different mediums of pop culture throughout human history.

This video was another great explanation into the “male gaze” aspect of video games and plot lines that was also outlined in Robin James’ article from this week about how the “male gaze” is in film, this shows how it is in video games. It shows it, by how female characters in popular games such as Super Mario Bros. are not playable but are instead the target or object by male protagonists for saving which for all these types of games portrays to, as she says in the video, the male power fantasy. Which comes back to how video game plots are told through the eyes of male audiences and oftentimes reduce female characters down to nothing more than objects/desires to their male counterparts and male players.

The Hunger Games Movie

                                                  The Hunger Games Movie vs the Book by Feminist Frequency

The video I chose to watch had to do with the hunger games and its comparison of the movie and the book. As Hunger Games first movie was released in May 2012 which contained a fresh, dynamic, young female protagonist. The video talked about the differences in the movie from the book and how women can lead successful films, just like the lead of the Hunger Games movie. Anita Sarkeesian who is the producer of Feminist frequency and also made this video, states that there were two big concerns with the book and the movie, which was violence and sexualization, but it appears that the movie chose to limit these violations. Also, she goes further describing the protagonist of the movie and other characters as well. Anita states that Katniss is a very young protagonist female character that appears in an American movie and she states that she hasn’t been such a thing in the last years. Anita also mentions the race had played a big role on how the protagonist was chosen, she states that the protagonist was mentioned to be a straight black hair and white skin girl, and no other girls were allowed or couldn’t audition, especially women of color couldn’t even make it to the auditions. Anita closes the video expressing that the movie was showed multiple events happenings, multiple expressions, emotions feelings that you could actually understand but in the movie, there was no attempt to humanize the career tribute.

In my opinion, I would say that in the first sight the Hunger Games look like they idealize the women, and treat her as a hero, but is that really the reason? Because Katniss it is treated and shown as a her just because she refuses to follow the traditions of femininity or the roles of a women. Even though there is a fact that in this movie the female is the Hero, it looks like, though, as it is shown the femininity as weak and sometimes even dangerous. While watching the movie a while ago, it looks like Katniss acts in a manly manner doing heroic things, and the movie puts her into a feminine position but is she that chooses not to act as such. Because to be a hero you obviously need to obtain weapons, to fight and to protect, which are masculine actions.  In addition, Katniss as a female that she is needs to dress up very well to obtain sponsors and this is not something expressing or showing her own gender identity or what other choices she wants to make.

Anita also mentions how there are some scenes in the movie where it is shown a man dressing a feminine way to show that times have changed but at the same time it doesn’t look like it.

What I want to say is that the character’s sex of the protagonist is made clear in the movie, but the gender is kind of in the air. Thinking about this I could see a lot of stereotypes on how the female is supposed to wear dresses and to behave in a feminine manner and not considering their feelings or choices and just pointing fingers when it is not likable. Connecting it to the gender sex and sexuality the movie contains to some stereotypes that affect these concepts and not are really open to the public to understand, but tend to be more hidden from the audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AilblBXlWU

Tropes vs Women

Watch all 6 videos

This series of six videos explain six common tropes regarding women. This series is aimed at Hollywood films, television series, video games, and comics though they are found elsewhere as well. The first trope is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, a "bubbly shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach brooding, soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures"-Nathan Rabi. The second is about Women in Refrigerators. This trope was coined by Gail Simon and features female superheroes who have been depowered, raped, or cut up and put in the refrigerator. Third is the Smurfette Principle. This is the tendency for works of fiction to have only 1 female amongst an ensemble of men, despite the fact that roughly half the human population is female. Next came the Evil Demon Seductress. This one is pretty self-explanatory, a female demon, vampire, alien, etc. uses her sexuality to seduce, manipulate, kill, and sometimes eat men by luring them into her evil web. The Fifth is the Mystical Pregnancy. This dates back to the bible. Characters are reduced to their biological functions. This is also called reproductive terrorism or torture porn. The last, and very destructive is Straw Feminist. This trope involves the distorted view of feminism, an exaggerated character is created and filled with misrepresentations, oversimplifications, and stereotypes to make it easy to discredit feminism.

I loved The Avengers, but think about how the women are portrayed.

For me, these videos were eye-opening. I can say I had noticed some of these things before but never knew they were used as often as they are. A common thread for most of them is the women are highly sexualized and objectified. The exception was the straw feminist, who is portrayed as more masculine and pushy, unattractive, often fanatical. The biggest danger of these is their overuse. They paint women in a bad light, they perpetuate stereotypes, and they encourage disrespect and mistrust of women. These attitudes and beliefs make it harder for women to achieve equality. They make us look like either dumb, shallow, helpless creatures, or evil and crazy. These messages are found everywhere on social media, in advertising, in literature. When I really started to think about it, the examples are staggering.

No better example than the cover of a men's magazine.

The information in these videos ties in nicely with other materials we have explored. I feel these tropes also fit in with the video for this module on African American women and sexuality. I think they are portrayed often as part of the Evil Demon Seductress trope. While not always a demon or vampire, they are portrayed as using their sexuality in a manipulative way. This series also mentions the Bechdel Test as part of the Smurfette Syndrome trope. The concept of the Male Gaze is also prevalent in these tropes. Women are objectified, they are a muse, and if they resist and fight to be more, they are crazy.  

Succubus Sexy and Entertaining; Incubus... Terrifying and Rapey

The Evil Demon Seductress is a trope described by the YouTube channel Feminist Frequency as “Supernatural creature (i.e. demon, robot, alien, vampire) disguised as a sexy human female.” Commentator Anita Sarkeesian continues to give a large list of examples within the film industry in which this trope can be found. Popular examples included characters such as Jennifer Check (played by Megan Fox) from Jennifer’s Body (2009) and Mystique (played by Rebecca Romijn) from X2 (2003). It sounds harmless in that the characters make for good entertainment, but Sarkeesian identifies the underlying misogynist stereotype behind it which is that women primarily use their sexuality to manipulate, trick, and control men. She continues to add that this may give women the impression that their only social power is their sexuality.

The trope can be seen all throughout popular culture, but the video focuses on the film industry. Returning to the examples provided, we can see Jennifer from Jennifer’s Body (2009) is a cheerleader (an already hypersexualized trope) possessed by a succubus. For those unaware of what a succubus is, they are in, in demon mythology, female demons which seduce and have sex with men. In the case of the 2009 horror flick, they are killed as well. The succubus lures men in with her sexuality to ultimately kill them. There’s a perfect scene where this is portrayed, in which Jennifer lures a football player into the woods, seduces him, but they stop due to all the creatures in the wood staring at them. Jennifer realizes she’s lost his attention, and unzips her shirt to reveal that she is wearing nothing underneath. Whilst he has her attention once more, and ends up turning into her succubus form and kills him. This same theme repeats with her other victims. The next example used was Mystique from the movie franchise based off the Marvel comic series X-Men. The movie specifically named was X2: X-Men United (2003).  There is a scene in the movie where Mystique seduces a security guard. She brings him over a couple of beers, which are drugged, and eventually she lures him into the bathroom, where he finishes his beer and he becomes unconscious, and from there she can complete the mission, injecting him with iron.

There are many more examples of The Evil Demon Seductress, for example the POV horror anthology V/H/S (2012) includes a segment in which a vampire-like female  demon devours two men. Sarkeesian notes that this trope is popular in that it gives into objectifying females. This is appealing to the male audiences. It is not, however, rare to see this role switched, in which a male would seduce a female and ultimately kill her, but rare for it to be a male supernatural being unless we’re speaking of examples like The Incubus (1982). Most of the time, the sexual circumstances are depicted as rape instead of something seemingly consensual (aside from being murdered, of course), found in horror such as Rosemary’s Baby (1968).  Honestly, other than Rosemary’s Baby (1968) male incubus-like horror is not as popular. Interesting to note that the popularity of the evil demon seductress trope is contingent on the women being the offender, otherwise it would be a disturbing supernatural rape scene instead of a sexy woman seducing a man. Neither are positive things.

Module 6 - Hunger Games

This video comes out approaching the way women's sexuality is displayed in the film, The Hunger Games. Contrary to other female lead movies, this film approaches women and the way their sexuality is displayed extremely well. She also points out that Katniss is not symbolized as a female sex symbol, but rather, a leader. Like mentioned in this video, the female lead is actually displayed very respectfully, not extremely sexually like other female lead movies. While sexuality seems to be the main focus of this video, I did notice that she talked a lot about the limitations of race, ethnicity, and skin tone for the female lead role, which also ties to this weeks learning. the role calls for a woman with dark hair and olive skin, but the casting call strictly asked for Caucasian females. In comparison to the book, the film does a great job of showing compassion with the lead role, as it comes off much stronger in the movie than it does in the book.

Module 6 - Feminist Frequency

Feminist Frequency - "Glee, GQ and the Sexualization of Young Girls"

I chose to watch this video because I watched Glee throughout middle school and high school, so I was most intrigued by it. In this video, the woman is discussing a cover of GQ featuring some characters of Glee. The actresses on the cover and throughout the spread are seen in a school setting, wearing little clothing, and basically portraying the "school girl" fantasy. The woman, Anita, talks about how in the show Glee the females are portrayed as high school students so it is inappropriate to have them displayed as sex symbols. 

I don't think this video really influenced my thinking a lot. The topic of the sexualization of women has been very prominent lately and I already have my own opinions on the topic. I absorbed her opinions and I can definitely see where she's coming from, but I also see the other side of the argument. These actors and actresses are not their Glee characters outside of the show. They are adults and if they do not think it is inappropriate to do this photo shoot, that's their right. If the actresses are not uncomfortable and do not feel sexualized, then they should be free to do what they want.

Feminism and Tropes

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is described as a supporting character brought into a story only to rejuvenate a fallen hero. The phrase was first used by Nathan Rabin a film critic to describe the role written to help the straight, white, male character loosen up and enjoy life. The job of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is solely to support the uplifting of the males life. Most often, men are portrayed as great protectors, creators, and heroes. 

This is all perpetuates the the myth that women are caregivers and enforces the myth of women being a muse for the tortured male. Falling under the theory of liberal feminism, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl displays unequal representation of women in media and popular culture. If women were the heroes, having a male supporting character would be the opposite of what is portrayed in mass media. The symbolic representation of women under this trope, is that as people they are only in existence to support, encourage, and fix males.

Most romantic comedies contain the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. Her convenience makes a great story, but it takes away from women’s depth and complexity as individuals. It is consistent to the subservient yet romantic role women play throughout most of mass media. Books, movies, and television shows contain the idea that a woman’s purpose is to be a passive entity.

Strategic Butt Coverings - Tropes vs Women in Video Games

For our last blog post, I’m going to tackle Module 6's blog prompt which was to watch a video from the Feminist Frequency YouTube channel and discuss the feminist theory involved with the video. This video tackles the ways in which designers of games often employ camera angles and clothing choices as tools to deliberately sexualize and objectify female protagonists of third-person games. The video uses the game Tomb Raider as an example of this. This game is presented from a third person perspective where the main character, Lara Crofts butt is right in the center of the screen. Her sexualized clothing and the position of the camera orientation present a tremendous amount of emphasis on that part of her body. In Tomb Raider: Underworld Lara Croft is almost in nothing but her underwear.  In Batman: Arkham city, Cat-woman wears an unbelievably tight bodysuit, and has a dramatic his swing that also emphasis her butt. On the other hand, in these video games you could spend hours trying to get a glimpse of the male characters butts. They often have long coats on, capes, and camera angles that just do not allow you to get the right angle. The way women's bodies are depicted are significantly different than how the men’s bodies are depicted in games. The emphasis on female butts communicates to players that this is what is important. That this female character is a sexual object designed for players to look at and enjoy. When I thought back to the games I have played I realized how true this is. The female characters in games are so demandingly sexualized is horrible.

Cave Girl

For Module 11, I went to The Digital Comic Museum and read the comic  "Cave Girl" Issue #12. In this issue, Cave Girl, an archaeologist, had her work disrupted when a group of skull heads attack her and fellow archaeologist, Luke. Using clubs and rocks Cave Girl defeats the group of skull heads, leading a female to save the campsite.

Though it is refreshing to see a female singlehandedly take the lead, the comic reverts back to sexism almost immediately. By first look, this "hero" is seen in a short zebra dress, and of course as very large "curves", along with a huge pink flower in her hair - to further emphasize it is a female lead. But the sexism doesn't stop with just the looks.  On the first page, Cave Girl is seen thanking her partner, Luke, and attributing her knowledge to him, as if she could not complete her job without him. In fact, it wasn't until Luke was hurt that Cave Girl got the "strength" to save the day, and there was disbelief in the village after she took down a group of skull heads to save the day.

Even in a comic where a female is the lead there is the connotation that a girl must rely on the man for her brains, and must be in love with her male partner. And aside from the looks and love, there is also lust being shoved down the readers throat. Cave Girl's sexuality is seen from the beginning, all the way to the end, which forces us to believe the writer is using her as a sexual object, rather than believing a strong women can save the day.

Syndicating Feminism in Assassin's Creed

Successful, violent video game franchises aren't generally known for their feminist leanings, and the Assassin's Creed titles are no exception, until now... maybe. This video reviews Ubisoft's newest installment, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, released in October 2015, which features some distinct differences from its predecessors. Most notably, it has two protagonists, one of which is a woman. Twins Jacob and Evie Frye fight to free London's oppressed working class from the clutches of evil businessman and Templar (Assassin arch-nemesis group) leader, Crawford Starrick. The storyline is pretty standard for any Assassin's game, but includes far more female characters than ever before. Sarkeesian notes that the expansive franchise has received criticism in the past for its lack of playable ladies (save for a tie-in game released mainly on handheld platforms that followed a female pirate), and Syndicate seeks to remedy the situation. 

The Frye twins are first presented together and it is made clear that they are equals, but as the game progresses, Jacob's plotline takes center stage. For side-quests players can choose to play as Evie or Jacob, but if they lean toward the latter, they only interact with Evie sometimes, though her story and character are far more compelling than her brother's. Many of Evie's quests see her cleaning up arrogant, brutish Jacob's messes. This is disappointing because a female character as well-realized as Evie is rare in the gaming world. She is never sexualized or objectified, is appropriately dressed for killing people and scaling buildings, and doesn't seem like a male character who was gender-swapped at the last second. 

Other than Evie, there are several female characters within the world, from rival Blighter gang leaders to Queen Victoria. One of the Frye's close associates, Ned, is a trans man. The prostitutes seen on street corners, used as cover for male protagonists in previous games, are completely absent from Syndicate. While the game is wonderfully gender-inclusive, it fails miserably where race is concerned. Henry Green, and Indian assassin with whom Evie has a romantic subplot, is the only recurring character of color in the entire game.

Evie and a Templar leader, pre-battle

I really loved this video because it echoes all of the feelings I had while playing Syndicate, which I finished last week. It was an especially enjoyable video because all of my friends who play video games are guys who aren't particularly interested in hearing me dissect the game's gender politics, so it was nice to hear my own thoughts vocalized. I attended San Diego Comic-Con last summer and ended up at the Assassin's Creed panel, even though I'd never played a game from the franchise before. I left the panel SO excited to play Syndicate because I'd be able to play a super-violent video game as a girl!!!! 

I've been a gamer since second grade and a feminist since I was born, so the lack of playable, or even humanized, female characters in the gaming world has never gone unnoticed by me. As I got older and became able to purchase rated-M games, I found that I liked my games as bloody as could be. This meant loving GTA V for car chases and shootouts, but not loving the first-person POV lap dances at strip clubs. Even playing Assassin's Creed II post-SDCC, I was disappointed to find literally one recurring female character... and she eventually seduced the protagonist. 

When I played Syndicate, I played as Evie whenever possible. Because of this, I didn't really notice that Jacob's story took up so much more of the game than his sister's, but I definitely see it now. I did notice, to my delight, that there were women everywhere throughout this game's 19th-century London, and they were all treated like competent human beings! To my disappointment, I also quickly noticed how white the game was. But despite its shortcomings, Sarkeesian and I both agree that Syndicate is a big feminist step in the right direction.

The Protrayal of Women in Video Games

In this video by Feminist Frequency discusses the role women characters have in video games. For the most part, Feminist Frequency says, women characters have the role of the damsel in distress or “passive victims”. Princess Peach, for instance, in the Mario Bros. game plays that role. They’re generally very feminine, attractive and princess-like. Rather than playing the role of the savior or the hero the characters are usually portrayed as submissive, weak and helpless. It’s the male characters who are the hero who save the female. Also, often times the female character is fought over and “a prize to be won” by the male characters. It’s almost as if she’s a ball in a game which is passed back and forth. She does point out that even if the female character starts out strong they will often become weak, particularly it their femininity becomes apparent.

Even though it’s just a game and really just for fun there is a social impact. These games are very popular and played around the world and they give a backward impression of women. The female characters are always the helpless victims that need to be saved. They also empower men by reducing women as helpless victims. This, I think, sends a message that women are not equal and need to be protected and shielded. These games also portray men as the subjects and women as objects and this only further exacerbates the different expectations society has of men and women.

Bayonetta Subway Advertisements in Japan

 This video discusses the sexuality involving the popular game Bayonetta in Japan. The entirety of the game is extremely sexual, involving pornographic poses, sexual innuendos, and a highly sexual themed outfit including a skin tight black leatherette with a cutout open back to have some skin showing, and high heels strapped with a gun, but the sexuality of just the game alone is not what this video is centered around. The video actually is more about discussing how this game was marketed. The marketing company presented two six foot banners that included the Bayonetta logo and a rectangular space that had small cards with a lipstick kiss on the front and Bayonetta’s strapped foot on the inside. The point of the cards, were that they were to be removed as people walked by. Each card that was removed revealed the sexual character Bayonetta lying on her stomach naked underneath, covered only by her long hair. This marketing strategy was very controversial because it encouraged passers by to literally “strip” Bayonetta naked in a subway station. 

This was also controversial because people believed it glorified the sexual assault that women faced in Japan in subway stations. The video states in 2008 there were over 2000 groping in subway stations in Japan and that 64% of women reported being groped on subway trains. Japan had to go as far as making women only passenger cars because of the assault and then the Bayonetta marketing team has a banner that is encouraging sexual assault behavior. I really thought this video made a great point how often times popular culture can make a mockery out of women in our society. The underlying reason why this marketing ad for Bayonetta was so concerning was because of the abuse that Japanese women are actually facing in the subway stations and this ad glorified that. I think many times games, movies, and television make a mockery out of real life situations that women face.