He Asked About Misogyny in Street Fighter, and the Game’s Caretakers Didn’t Dodge
Then came the questions, including one from Matt Parker, a professor who wanted to talk about misogyny (his word) and Street Fighter. I missed jotting down the very start of the question, but, from memory, I recall him asking why the intro animation for Cammy in Street Fighter IV began with a focus on the female fighter's behind. He noted that there was no such animation focusing on male characters' crotches.
The designers focused on a woman's ass.
They hate women. Case
closed.
And then Parker went on, the rest of which I can relay to you pretty much verbatim. Here's Parker in the Q&A, addressing the panelists. He's just asked about the focused shot in Street Fighter IV on Cammy's butt and is now asking about the way people act in streaming web videos that broadcast competitive Street Fighter matches:
Now Capcom is expected to take responsibility for what Street Fighter players have said somewhere on the Internet. The derp is strong in this one.
Seth Killian, Capcom: Japan's a very different place [laughter from the crowd] Set your cultural wayback dial to, like, maybe '50s?"
Looks like this event was a real gathering of liberal morons.
Charles Pratt, Practice panel moderator: "It's also worth nothing, though that this there is the same problem in StarCraft, which is guys in big metal suits versus gold aliens versus space bugs. And there's still this weird misogyny and weird divide.
So weird we can't even define or describe it!
After the panel session ended, I talked to Parker. He lamented to me that even at Sarah Lawrence University, which is 70% female, he hasn't been able to get even five women to sign up for a gaming class he was teaching. He's worried about women feeling alienated from gaming.
What? Don't we always hear about how women are 50 % of gamers if not more? What's happening here is a certain feminist tactic: when something negative occurs women are painted as helpless victims who need immediate assistance, but when something positive occurs they are painted as strong and independent überwomen, victoriously crushing the inferior manfools under their heels.
I’m Tired of Being a “Woman in Games.” I’m a Person.
It's just that I'm shocked that grade-school concepts like "diversity is constructive" and "treat human beings equitably" are concepts that somehow still need championing, still need arguing for.
These are stupid ideas, which is why they didn't emerge until circa 1960 and will probably disappear before the century is half over.
I mean, really? I have to explain many times that the convergence of varied perspectives makes creating things-–like video games-–more fruitful? Or more simply: You think boys' clubs are better than spaces where everyone gets equal respect regardless of their gender? What're you, five?
I'm not sure if anyone has ever explained just how video games become better when women, gays and non-Asian minorities are involved. Does this apply to movies too? Would Citizen Kane have been greatly improved if a committee of women, gays, and NAMs had participated in writing and directing it?
Sorry, do I sound a little hostile? [...] Whoa. Ugh. Sorry, I'm being confrontational again. I'm just really, really fatigued.
See, I've been a games journalist for a number of years now...
A journalist she says! This is how I would expect a girl in her early teens to write on her blog account. Stream-of-consciousness blather about feelings.
I hear myself described as "one of the most prominent female gaming journalists", or as a "feminist writer." [...] Obviously I'm concerned about gender inequity and prejudice in the gaming space or I wouldn't have spent words to get us here. I've written a lot about sex stuff, too. [...] Every time I open my mouth to talk about sexism, I am presumed to be speaking only "as a woman", and for all women. I'm not. [...] I'm tired of being a "woman in games."
"I write all these articles about feminism and gender issues and sex and these guys mistakenly think I'm some kind of feminist writer! It keeps happening!"
And yet I can't even say that—"stop making a big deal out of my gender"—because the war against sexism in the video game space isn't nearly won.
Much like the war on terror, the war on drugs and the war on inequality. I wonder if there's some kind of pattern there.
Gaming has been, forgive me, a predominantly nerdy shut-in white guy pastime for so long that people seem scared to discuss all the ways gaming could and should be a place where everyone needs to be acknowledged and invited, as creators and players and writers.
Anyone can play, develop, or write about video games. It has never been easier. But as usual feminists can't do jack shit without emotional support and affirmative action. They expect to be "invited" and "acknowledged" just because they've got vaginas, and not because they've actually accomplished something.
Really? How old are you? When are we going to grow up, as a culture? When am I going to stop being embarrassed to have devoted my entire life to this?
Is Roger Ebert embarrassed about his profession because of IMDB forum users?
We're supposed to be civil adults, not sociopathic internet ragers who are systematically destroying any chance games might have of growing and of being taken seriously.
