"EXCLUSIVE SCOOP: Women didn't like the ripped up female torso statue!"

Investigative journalism at its finest.

Would have been better without pictures.

Can we get another member of the Bomb Crew, who's preferably a voice of reason, and not an obnoxious libtard to write an article about "sexist" matters for once? Maybe if someone like Alex took a crack at it, people wouldn't be so up in arms.

Actually, I just want someone competent to tackle this.

@Jumbs:

You're a gem. Thank you so much.

"The story featured my own opinion on the subject, as do most pieces of content on Giant Bomb."

Yeah, hey dude I thought you were a News Editor not a Opinion Editor, for someone who's been in the business as long as they have, you would know you don't put opinion in news pieces, unless you're into tabloid trash which if that's the case more power to you I guess.

You know just assumed Giant Bomb was better then E!...

I deeply believe that all people should be treated equally. My problem with this controversy is that from my perspective, when I saw the statue, it wasn't representing any actual human. The arguments that it is demeaning towards women (which I happen to mostly agree with on certain points) seem to imply that there is a level of sexual attraction to this inanimate object that is missing most of the features that identify it as being human. For me, it represents something in a video game. It's not a woman or a man it's just an object. This sentiment ties in very directly to most of the arguments made against it, many people say it objectifies women. This would be true in my eyes if there was an association to an actual woman but like I said, it's not anything except a piece of plastic. It's hard for me to explain my point of view here because I realize it sounds like I'm being contradictory but the easiest way to break it down is to say: My first reaction wasn't physical/sexual attraction, nor was it that this was even a person. It was just something I ignored because I didn't find it interesting or funny or beautiful to look at. Which is the same reaction I would expect from myself if it had been a male torso.

So patrick gives us the view of 8 hot girls. Not really going to say anything. But Rideee the wave of 1000's of incoming comments either defending or bashing something. Rideeee the riptide!

What I wanna know is how long before he gets one of these in a mail bag.

@RustySpoon said:

I find it mind-boggling that there are people arguing in these comments that there is something inherently wrong with being progressive.

Define progressive.

@Darji said:

@flufflogic said:

@TopCat88 said:

Seriously, another article on this! Patrick. You contribute a huge amount of great stuff to this site, across all forms of content. But this sexism angle has got to be toned down. There is nothing sexist about this figurine. Yes it's a little crass and obvious and cheap but it's not sexist. At all. It just isn't.

I'm a male and perhaps I don't get it. Maybe I'm lucky or ignorant about these issues, although I'm not trying to be.

A reduction in opportunities for woman in the gaming industry would be a bad thing and could be ruled as sexism and I'm sure there are genuine examples of sexism in the video game world from time to time. Please report or write about them, inform us and add to the debate. It's clearly an important issue for you and so it should be.

This is a piece of marketing, aimed at young males. I bet it works too. It may alienate some of the audience but I'm sure that was a calculated decision. There are many examples of marketing aimed at women too. Hunky men, etc. Sex sells...it isn't sexism.

If you don't see the sexism of having an anorexic, augmented bikini girl that's been reduced to a sliced up torso as a "collector's edition" centrepiece, there is no help for you. It's sad, because as some of the commenters point out, the game has multiple strong female characters; of course, one was famously lacking underwear in the original, so I guess we should have seen this coming.

It cheapens gaming, and as a result gamers, to have this crap. This is worse than, say, Sims nude/"real hair" patches and the Skyrim mod scene. It's a whole new level of crass.

Why because you think a DEAD SLICED UP Torso is in any form sexy and that people will only buy it because it is a sexy? Again it is a homage at all these horror B Movie trash zombie flicks. It is not a political statement.

But yeah you guys also would screams SEXSIM if its some nude woman tortured woman painting that is seen by the whole world. No wait that is art.....

It is a shallow attempt to sell more copies of their game to boys. I agree that it's daft. It is not sexist. Sexist is hating women, not hiring or promoting a woman because of gender or giving a woman a lower salary. A collectible statue of a woman (dismembered, naked, alive, dead or otherwise) isn't sexist. It is distasteful.

Great article @patrickklepek !

If we expect anything to change in this industry then we need people like Patrick to be loud about stuff like this. Waving it off like so many people here suggest we should only leads to an environment where people feel safe spouting casual sexism.

It baffles me that even when a bunch of women deep in the gaming industry (how can you get any more hardcore into games than that?) say "Yes this is problematic" people still insist it isn't. At what point does reason and logic fail a person so much that they are looking straight at the source and keep stamping their feet and turning their head screaming "No no no I still don't see it no no no!" At what point do the rest of us see these people and realize that their actions are just as dangerous as the one they are denying happened?

If we can successfully craft and environment that is caustic to sexism and misogyny (and homophobia and transphobia and racism and etc) then, at the very least, we can drive the people pushing it forward to duck down and avoid being vocal. I for one would like to continue having hobby that isn't immediately thought of as a cultural cesspool.

This Dead Island mess is my least favorite story of 2013 already. I'm so fucking sick of hearing about this.

ill read this article later, but in the mean time, here is a helpful twitter account for everyone to check up on

https://twitter.com/AvoidComments

Yes the statue was in poor taste. Yes the company apologized for it but was a lesson learned from it?Hopefully Deep Silver's PR department and others the gaming industry took notice and learned a lesson here on what is not acceptable. Only then can the game industry mature and move forward from situations like this.

@CastleD said:

@OneManX: But the place where I think this article could use some help is, provide the counter arguement,

Most public figures, especially men, would never come out and give a counter argument and risk losing their jobs and ruining their careers. Not just with this statue thing, any type of male/female issue.

Have you paid much attention to the Republican "forced transvaginal ultrasounds for all sluts and while we're at it let's redefine rape" Party lately?

@Nation764: Don't call him a hipster. Remember when he said he was drinking PBR before it was a hipster drink? He's obviously far from that.

@EarlessShrimp said:

It definitely takes a certain type of person to find it entertaining. Is that where your point arises from the poor taste? The fact that there would only be a minority of people who would be okay with it? I mean, I don't think people are going to prominently display most of their swag. I'm thinking they probably have a room or closet or special area set aside from that. I had a book case where I kept all this stuff so it could have been buried at the back. However, right now it seems like they thought of a really clever scheme to market the game, not because they actually wanted to sell the statue, but because they wanted to stir up controversy and have people talking about this game much more than they really should be. That, if it is true, is essentially why I think it's in poor taste.

Yeah. I think they expected to stir up controversy with "look at how extreme and outrageous this torso is". They had to know it was in poor taste to begin with. But they obviously didn't expect this level of backlash about the ladytorso (which is now a real word). In a "be careful with you wish for" sort of way, the marketing campaign has been an overwhelming success.

First, bravo Anna Kipkis for writing possibly the most balanced and relevant reaction.

Second, as expected most of these are very one sided, sometimes petty, sometimes irrelevant responses. Most of them miss the issue. There's also a great big heap of insults, attempts at shaming and demeaning the people that enjoy games. Infantile necrophiliacs, I suppose we are.

There's also some misunderstanding of feminism, equality and social issues.

There are wrongs to be righted in this world, faced by people of any gender, but this isn't it. It simply isn't. You have the right to broadcast your opinion. But I fully reject it.

This is probably all I'll say, because it seems that arguing is mostly useless, and everyone will stick to their guns.

But if anyone tries to tie this to sexism, patriarchy, rape culture, societal discrimination of women and systematic oppression, they have already lost the voice of reason. They are simply not worth responding to.

Klepek's closing statement from a previous article on games industry sexism is exceptionally relevant.

"I’m a guy, I’ve never had to deal with any of these problems. But I’m willing to admit where there’s smoke, there’s probably fire, and listening is helpful, informative. If you don’t want to listen, you don’t have to. No one is forcing you. Just stop shouting down others who want to."

inb4 Patrick makes a follow-up article and singles out another member of the community.

@BlastProcessing said:

At least Patrick didn't quote himself this time. Still, this progressive, Kotaku-esque clickbait shit needs to stop, It's a horrible statue made in bad taste, nothing to cry about.

I'm guessing you're a guy, who hasn't delt with sexism. You shouldn't dismiss things you have no experience with.

@DazzHardy said:

It kind of saddens me that people think that not talking about these things is the best way to get them to stop. Simply ignoring the problems won't make them go away. This is one of those cases were it needs to be talked about often enough and as publicly as possible so that people understand why it's not a great idea to do dumb stuff like this. When it's been talked to death, that's when I think we'll start seeing it not come up so often, and thus not need to be spoken of so much.

No one is ignoring the problem. Yes there is sexcism yes there is sexcism regarding both genders. And yes there is certainly sexism in every media which includes games as well. But this has nothing to do with it. Not one thing on this statue is objectifying woman. It is just a tool used by extreme fems and nothing more.

@asantosbr said:

Good video to counter balance Patrick and these 8 girls opinion:

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/9noiop/annoyed-gamer-zombie-bikini-bash

Nice to see there's still some rationality left in this world.

wow. some truly appalling responses. good job demonstrating why we need more articles like this. maybe of we beat you neanderthals over the head with this enough you might take it as a hint that there is a real problem with sexism.

I love how hyperbolic some of them get. I especially enjoyed the one who compared the rape and murder of a real woman to this piece of plastic. What I never understand about these sorts of people is why they claim to strive for equality but pretty much the only thing you ever see them whine about is how unfairly women are treated.

Patrick, can you drop this crap and stick a little closer to games, please? I think it's pretty clear by now that your opinions on this stuff don't really jive with much of the community or even much of the staff.

@RustySpoon said:

I find it mind-boggling that there are people arguing in these comments that there is something inherently wrong with being progressive.

The problem is is that it's not progressive. This is the same moralist, dogmatic stuff you see from traditional conservatives. It still maintains the core nature of both gender roles from 100 years ago. This is not progressivism, this is Victorian hand-wringing.

The replies are coming in so fast that I'm having a hard time keeping up, and some are just so thoroughly deluded that it would take an entire refutation of several points (the myth of a 'wage gap', the demonization of sexuality, etc). But I can tell you, this is not progressivism. The outrage and condemnation perfectly undermines the stated goals of people who actually are progressives.

@Keres said:

@CastleD said:

@OneManX: But the place where I think this article could use some help is, provide the counter arguement,

Most public figures, especially men, would never come out and give a counter argument and risk losing their jobs and ruining their careers. Not just with this statue thing, any type of male/female issue.

Have you paid much attention to the Republican "forced transvaginal ultrasounds for all sluts and while we're at it let's redefine rape" Party lately?

Why no, but how is this relevant to anything? Republican Party bought up Deep Silver while no one was looking?

@WolfHazard: He's awful.

I'm very split on this article.

In one respect, yes, I agree with what @patrickklepek is saying with this article. I agree that modern feminism is misunderstood, and the fact that women are treated differently & sexualized is a blight on the modern gaming community. I agree that Deep Silver's PR department made a mistake with this statue, and the marketing behind it was a poor choice. Yes, I completely agree that this is a discussion that needs to happen, and it should be brought to the public's attention.

At the same time, we've already had the discussion on this topic in previous articles - even within the past month or so. I also think it's safe to say that we mostly share the same opinion. The problem comes when everyone in the article is saying "this is deplorable, this was a mistake, this is disgusting and a step back for women everywhere." Okay, sure. Again, I agree with the notion, but the way this is preseted seems fairly biased and, frankly, unprofessional.

With the lack of even one contrasting opinion, it feels like the equivalent of a political attack ad. All this needs is a simple person or two saying "it's just a statue. If you don't support it, don't buy it" for me to think "okay, this is slightly more balanced."

Lastly, I don't think Giant Bomb is the place that needs this discussion again. As I've previously stated, I think that a lot of us already share the same opinion on the subject matter. Maybe I'm mistaken in thinking we don't need multiple articles about this, but I'd rather see more articles dedicated to things that truly affect public opinion. People who support vs. oppose the notion that video games enact gun violence, for example. This is something that the general public will care about more than a statue that you could buy or not buy for a game you've maybe already played.

Anyways, this has at least led to a lot of (potentially) productive discussion =) Thanks for the article, Patrick - hopefully we all get something out of it.

@Kill: @Kill said:

When Patrick first joined Giant Bomb, he repeatedly said in his articles that he would not talk about his personal political beliefs as he did not feel they were necessary in his writing. As time went on, he started to plug his favourite political podcasts, put his liberal slant on news stories which did not require it, dropped his political opinions on the Bombcast when they wasn't asked for, and now he is actively seeking out some kind of validation for his own moral slant in the form of this article.

Look, I love Giant Bomb and I think Patrick is a great writer. However, this is nothing more than a "ha, told you so" to the community and an ego stroking by a man who believes only his political views should be noted on this site. He could at least have sought out a more balanced view of the situation. After the first three women said largely the same thing and no other viewpoint was represented, I could not help but picture that characteristic Patrick smirk behind all this.

I know this is a ramble, but I feel the other Giant Bomb guys do a great job of concealing their political ideologies. I have no idea who Brad, Jeff, Ryan or Vinny vote for. I could certainly guess, but it definitely isn't as clear as the liberal, Democrat voting, Reddit-reading klaxon of Klepek and his incessant need to spin gaming news a particular way. I find it distasteful, even if I agree with him on issues like this. It's a bit gross on a site which was founded on being impartial and fun.

Just my tl;dr opinion.

Agreed 100%. The other guys tried to keep it a light and fun video game site. No idea why Klepek thinks his views and opinions are so important that he needs to constantly share them with us.

@Xeirus said:

@BlastProcessing said:

At least Patrick didn't quote himself this time. Still, this progressive, Kotaku-esque clickbait shit needs to stop, It's a horrible statue made in bad taste, nothing to cry about.

I'm guessing you're a guy, who hasn't delt with sexism. You shouldn't dismiss things you have no experience with.

This is an ignorant, biased, insulting statement.

@Abendlaender said:

Oh yay, I'm guessing me trying to post something sensible (well, I TRIED) was pretty stupid seeing how this will soon be flooded by Patrick haters, actual sexists and people who don't understand this article. Awesome.

Yeah, posting in these seems pointless as the EXTREMELY LOUD AND STUPID groups of Patrick haters and sexists and often both flood these comment sections...the human race is so sad. I was always proud to be a part of the Giant Bomb community and I still am but every time one of these wonderful articles is written the vocal minority crashes the party and makes me just not want to be here anymore...even if I know it's not the voice of the many...

So what horrible PR nightmare will Saints Row the Fourth get with their new owner?

@TopCat88 said:

@Darji said:

@flufflogic said:

@TopCat88 said:

Seriously, another article on this! Patrick. You contribute a huge amount of great stuff to this site, across all forms of content. But this sexism angle has got to be toned down. There is nothing sexist about this figurine. Yes it's a little crass and obvious and cheap but it's not sexist. At all. It just isn't.

I'm a male and perhaps I don't get it. Maybe I'm lucky or ignorant about these issues, although I'm not trying to be.

A reduction in opportunities for woman in the gaming industry would be a bad thing and could be ruled as sexism and I'm sure there are genuine examples of sexism in the video game world from time to time. Please report or write about them, inform us and add to the debate. It's clearly an important issue for you and so it should be.

This is a piece of marketing, aimed at young males. I bet it works too. It may alienate some of the audience but I'm sure that was a calculated decision. There are many examples of marketing aimed at women too. Hunky men, etc. Sex sells...it isn't sexism.

If you don't see the sexism of having an anorexic, augmented bikini girl that's been reduced to a sliced up torso as a "collector's edition" centrepiece, there is no help for you. It's sad, because as some of the commenters point out, the game has multiple strong female characters; of course, one was famously lacking underwear in the original, so I guess we should have seen this coming.

It cheapens gaming, and as a result gamers, to have this crap. This is worse than, say, Sims nude/"real hair" patches and the Skyrim mod scene. It's a whole new level of crass.

Why because you think a DEAD SLICED UP Torso is in any form sexy and that people will only buy it because it is a sexy? Again it is a homage at all these horror B Movie trash zombie flicks. It is not a political statement.

But yeah you guys also would screams SEXSIM if its some nude woman tortured woman painting that is seen by the whole world. No wait that is art.....

It is a shallow attempt to sell more copies of their game to boys. I agree that it's daft. It is not sexist. Sexist is hating women, not hiring or promoting a woman because of gender or giving a woman a lower salary. A collectible statue of a woman (dismembered, naked, alive, dead or otherwise) isn't sexist. It is distasteful.

Exactly. Nothing about this statue screams sexist it just screams distasteful and stupid. But, like conspiracy theorist, people will always find a way to call something a conspiracy (or in this case, sexist)

This just screams "I needed justification for my outrage so I gathered up a handful of women's responses and regurgitated it on my LiveJour- I mean Giantbomb's front page."

@anyprophet said:

wow. some truly appalling responses. good job demonstrating why we need more articles like this. maybe of we beat you neanderthals over the head with this enough you might take it as a hint that there is a real problem with sexism.

What an insulting, demeaning post.

Lol the anonymous one was Leigh Alexander wasn't it?

I don't see why this is a feminist issue, more of a stupid marketing issue.

@alibson: Seriously, what the fuck is happening to this place. It's a shitty statue, get over it holy shit.

@triple07 said:

I don't see why this is a feminist issue, more of a stupid marketing issue.

It a bit of both really.

I read the article in full and took the time to read most of the comments up to about 150.

I'll preface by saying I've hated on Patrick in the past. I'll continue to do so, when I feel it's deserved. That's my right to my opinion and expression.

Now's not one of those times.

You went out of your way to actually speak to women in the industry on a growing topic. They were all indeed on the same side, but they all approached it differently, and with valid reasons. They all had their own explanations as to why this thing is shitty, and posited their positions frankly and with meaningful purpose. They were not aggrandizing; they were not soap-boxing (most of them); they were just sharing perspective. Each point felt valid to me, with maybe minor quibbles here and there, but for the most part, I felt any of these thoughts could have justified not putting this bust out. That probably speaks to how shitty the damn thing is. It really is indefensible from all sides.

Like you, Patrick, I knew the thing was bad, but I didn't know how to express it. In your last article you misappropriated women and equality for the sake of attacking an argument, when it was better to concede to it so as to use that as proof, just as one of the women in this article had.

Your ignorance and malformed opinion is generally why I shit on you so much. Your opinion is "sexism is bad" and your reasoning is "women are different", and then you go and use that as if you're championing women's rights. All I've wanted is for you to do your job as a journalist and get the opinions from people who've had the time to form them or are in the best position to. I get that you want to share your opinion, but you don't have to have an opinion on everything. It's OK to admit that you don't know everything about something. That's a valid opinion and position.

What really bums me out is all the people who posted immediately, without reading the piece, just so they could shit on you blind. This is a good piece, because it's researched, and it grabs from those in the thick of it. Some people are willing to dismiss this on the notion that it's contentious and they don't want that in their entertainment (being this website). I sympathize, but this is the one that you people should read, that you should take the time to look at and think on.

No offense, but your other articles on this similar topic, Patrick, were trash. I've stated my reasons why in those articles, so I won't go into it again, but people are justified in their disdain for these types of pieces, because they have been so juvenile and "college-level" in the past.

That's why I urge everyone who is shitting on this article to at least actually give it a read. This one has the counterpoints to your arguments. This one comes from intelligent people in the mix.

This one is better.

White Knight article to the rescuuuuuuuuuuuue!

Look forward to Patrick's follow-up on how many comments this got. See ya when the next DOA game comes out. So transparent.

I love this site, but I usually don't read the comments here. Today I thought you know what, Patrick said he's going to be watching the comments for a half hour, maybe there'll be some interesting discussion.

I am going back to not reading the comments here. Most of the first page seems to be "lol sexism doesn't real" and "fucking Patrick how dare he produce content." If this is the level of discussion on what I consider to be one of the most progressive and interesting video game websites in the world then I despair to think what the wider community is like.

Patrick I think you are pissing on a bonfire but I salute you for sticking to your principles and assembling thoughtful, interesting pieces like this. I will continue reading and enjoying them but there is no discussion here worth participating in.

The sensationalism is strong with this one.

@TopCat88 said:

@Darji said:

@flufflogic said:

@TopCat88 said:

Seriously, another article on this! Patrick. You contribute a huge amount of great stuff to this site, across all forms of content. But this sexism angle has got to be toned down. There is nothing sexist about this figurine. Yes it's a little crass and obvious and cheap but it's not sexist. At all. It just isn't.

I'm a male and perhaps I don't get it. Maybe I'm lucky or ignorant about these issues, although I'm not trying to be.

A reduction in opportunities for woman in the gaming industry would be a bad thing and could be ruled as sexism and I'm sure there are genuine examples of sexism in the video game world from time to time. Please report or write about them, inform us and add to the debate. It's clearly an important issue for you and so it should be.

This is a piece of marketing, aimed at young males. I bet it works too. It may alienate some of the audience but I'm sure that was a calculated decision. There are many examples of marketing aimed at women too. Hunky men, etc. Sex sells...it isn't sexism.

If you don't see the sexism of having an anorexic, augmented bikini girl that's been reduced to a sliced up torso as a "collector's edition" centrepiece, there is no help for you. It's sad, because as some of the commenters point out, the game has multiple strong female characters; of course, one was famously lacking underwear in the original, so I guess we should have seen this coming.

It cheapens gaming, and as a result gamers, to have this crap. This is worse than, say, Sims nude/"real hair" patches and the Skyrim mod scene. It's a whole new level of crass.

Why because you think a DEAD SLICED UP Torso is in any form sexy and that people will only buy it because it is a sexy? Again it is a homage at all these horror B Movie trash zombie flicks. It is not a political statement.

But yeah you guys also would screams SEXSIM if its some nude woman tortured woman painting that is seen by the whole world. No wait that is art.....

It is a shallow attempt to sell more copies of their game to boys. I agree that it's daft. It is not sexist. Sexist is hating women, not hiring or promoting a woman because of gender or giving a woman a lower salary. A collectible statue of a woman (dismembered, naked, alive, dead or otherwise) isn't sexist. It is distasteful.

Yeah Ok we can agree that it is stupid. Personally I think it is a great idea to sell such a "trashy" like game. But of course I can accept it when people say its distasteful.

inb4 Patrick makes a follow-up article and singles out another member of the community.

@Jumbs: If you think murdering hundreds of 'male characters' in video games is the same issue as objectifying women to market a video game, I don't know what to say.

I agree, you had no counter-argument. It's interesting how with the wave of a hand you brushed off the endless murder of male characters in video games as if it meant nothing.

You don't see the hypocrisy at all? That these same people talking about "violence against women" will kill male characters in video games with a big smile on their face, that violence is used as a marketing tool to sell games, and almost all that violence is against male characters? It's not just this statue. This has happened a lot lately.

Hey, what if we dropped the debate about this plastic statue (which the creators withdrew and apologized for already) and started talking about the important stuff instead?

There is a problem with the gaming community and women for sure, but we should tackle the heart of the issue -- being thousands of women misstreated daily by things like office bullying and sexual harassments -- not sit around and talk about this torso because that is the easy thing to do

Patrick you have the power of being able to reach out to a lot of people every day, let them know what's really going on out there, start a facebook group... whatever. It feels like you're using this torso issue to generate klicks, if you REALLY wanted to do something about the problem, trust me, there are better ways.

This article was interesting. Thanks to all involved.

It's not just a woman's issue, but a human issue. As a guy I can only comment on my perspective, and I agree with the anonymous poster (who I wish I could send a thank-you card to). Even though I can't understand exactly what women feel, I can trust that they are intelligent humans and that what they feel is valid, even if I'm not seeing it. I trust scientists that the atom exists, even though I've never seen one.