I agree that there are more important things to discuss like the #1 issue on this article, namely the treatment of real people. That's what needs to be focused on, not fictional people in games.
However, sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. are not *fixed* in the Western world. Yes, we are better than we were concerning these issues than we were at the turn of the century, or during the Civil Rights movement, but there are still problems being faced today by minority groups, including women. The majority of people cannot decide a problem is fixed for the minority group. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. When the United States Congress has a panel concerning birth control and not one woman is on that panel, that is a problem to me. When a person at a university does a study into affirmative action and finds that white participants are against it and favor a meritocracy instead, until they are told that a meritocracy would benefit a minority group (in this case Asian Americans) and then they are suddenly for it, then that's a problem. From the article:
Samson raises the idea that white perception of "group threat" from Asians influences ideas about admissions criteria -- suggesting that they are something other than pure in their embrace of meritocratic approaches.
That shows me that a lot of people still have a lack of understanding and empathy about these issues. I can look at my state voting to allow marriage between gay and lesbian couples and say "See, it's fixed! We're not homophobic anymore." but that's ridiculous. I have no idea what those couples face on a daily basis at work or in their daily lives, so while there may be a sizable change in public perception and acceptance as evidenced by the voter turnout, that doesn't mean they still don't face bigots on a daily basis. And with my own personal experiences, I know that there is still a long way to go where acceptance of GBLT people are concerned, even with huge steps being made.
I agree that there are places that need this attention more. Women in other countries are mutilated and butchered, just for being women. In India, girl babies are aborted at an alarming rate because boy babies are valued so highly. The Taliban will shoot girls just because they have the audacity to go to school. Girls are forced to marry at far to young of an age by their families and by tribal councils, and some may even die due to abuse or other horrific events. The sad thing is, this isn't in one place or in a certain culture, its many places, many cultures. These issues should be addressed first and foremost by the global community. I don't think anyone in their right mind would argue that these are not the most important issues facing women today. Arguing about a video game pales in comparison, that's just common sense.
On the flip side, wanting cool female characters in games and talking about that online doesn't mean that anyone is neglecting or ignoring these more serious issues. Coming in and saying "there are more important things to talk about, this is a waste of time" as if no one is aware of these other important factors is a bit condescending to me since I am well aware of other issues. As a women I read a lot about women's issues in my own country as well as in other countries. I am in a line of work where I think I can, in my own way, help with some of these issues, not on a global scale, but in my own hometown with things like domestic violence cases, protective orders, etc, for both women and men. My point being, you can talk about a small issue and still be fully cognizant of a larger picture and of where a problem lies on a hierarchy. These are tiny things, even nit picky things. That doesn't mean that they automatically don't matter at all.
Of course, in my opinion, there are way too many threads and way too many complaints and articles at this point. It's really gone over a line and people are getting caught up trying to find even one "bad" thing in a game or character, and not looking at a larger picture. Is the game a satire, how are all of the characters portrayed, what is the overall message of the game, is the choice made for artistic reasons or reasons that smack of generating controversy? These are all things to consider before calling something out for a perceived affront. My hope is that the wheat will be separated from the chaff and we get to more concentrated discussions of a higher quality sooner rather than later. Otherwise it's all just noise and the conversation is easily lost.
Log in to comment