In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Category: Popular Culture

Leia Organa: Undercelebrated badass

Leia Organa often gets the fuzzy end of the lollipop where the casual Star Wars fandom is concerned. Most attention focuses on the cinnamon-roll hairdo and/or the bronze bikini. In honor of last night’s release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Nicki Salcedo gives Leia her due, celebrating her uncelebrated badassitude. (And providing me with my new rough-day mantra: Was your home planet just destroyed? Then pull it together, young Jedi.)

REVIEW: Half-Life 2 (2004)

When’s the last time in a videogame you met a black male character that’s elderly, educated, disabled… and with loving family, no less? That’s just one of the many ways Half-Life 2, a game still popular to this day, has set the bar for the industry in the years since its release. If you’re a gamer, you’ll like today’s episode – but if you’re not, check out why the games industry isn’t a totally lost cause…

FEMINIST GAME REVIEWS
“HALF-LIFE 2” (2004)

OVERVIEW ► released in Q4 2004, “Half-Life 2” depicts a future where faceless aliens have subjugated Earth, installing a dictator to monitor humanity. the game is a sequel to the original “Half-Life”, released to critical acclaim in 1997 for bringing realistic characters and settings to gaming. upon release, “Half-Life 2” was universally acclaimed for its advances in graphics, AI and physics, as well as its complex, lifelike characters. the hero, Dr. Freeman, is the opposite of a typical beefcake hero. the game depicts him as an MIT physicist, forced to fight to inspire hope. this unusually ordinary hero is backed by a varied supporting cast, collaborating despite their differences to fight back against oppression. ultimately, “Half-Life 2” focuses on ordinary people, in contrast to today’s generic military shooters about manly men and their manly guns.

VISIBILITY ► whilst the first “Half-Life” was renowned for its realism, it was oddly devoid of women characters, though it did have one token black dude. surprisingly, the sequel raises the bar in this regard. Freeman’s closest ally is Alyx, an educated multiracial woman with a talent for tech. Dr. Vance is her dad, the one black character from the first game, now depicted as a disabled Harvard grad leading the Resistance’s research. also aiding the Resistance is Dr. Mossman, a woman scientist who manages to be an important character (despite not having a boyfriend). the human citizens of City 17 are an equally varied lot. they hail from a range of backgrounds, as should be expected of a modern populace. though the game features both minority and female characters, it portrays them as essential contributors, not helpless victims to be rescued.

AGENCY ► Dr. Freeman may be the central hero, but he is no lone-wolf saviour. the supporting cast also have roles in shaping the plot and saving Earth. Dr. Mossman is one of the game’s more visible female characters. complex in her motives, she plays both sides in a gamble for Earth’s survival. Freeman’s ally Alyx also defies stereotypes of girls as helpless damsels. her first appearance involves saving the hero from police in pursuit. Alyx’s rapport with her dad is noteworthy as well. the game depicts how their relationship motivates her to keep fighting for the Resistance. Alyx’s dad is a gaming rarity, being an elderly, educated and disabled man of colour. that he spends half the game in captivity is disappointing. nonetheless, most minor characters have an active role in saving their world, even the ragtag rebels who rise up in revolt during the game.

PROGRESS ► though praised for its immersive characters and storytelling, the game failed to immediately persuade rival studios to adopt a similar approach. the later games of the era favoured macho, cinematic approaches where muscly, clichéd supermen save the world, with women oddly absent. in recent years though, more studios have begun recognising the importance of having characters who look like the gamers buying games. the developers of “Half-Life 2” continue to (slowly) develop games under this philosophy, as evidenced by characters in titles like “Left 4 Dead”. even after more than a decade, “Half-Life 2” remains relevant, as fans persist in creating new modifications to update and improve the game. the pivotal question now is whether future videogames will try to surpass the high bar set by “Half-Life 2” and its forward-looking developers.

The first instalment of this review series began with 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order. With this second instalment, we backtracked a decade earlier to 2004, to the birth of technology that now powers today’s most popular games. Our plan had been to then review other titles over those intervening 10 years, to demonstrate how much – or little – has changed in the industry since then.

What we’ve discovered, though, is that playing a new game for each new episode is frankly inefficient. To quote a developer diary we recently wrote on the topic…

…covering a new game in each video is extraordinarily resource-intensive. Putting 8 to 12 hours into a game for the sake of one video is asking a lot, and whilst the economics may work for YouTubers like Angry Joe with established audiences, it’s not a sustainable model for beginning YouTubers.

So we’ll likely do a limited four episodes for this season, and then switch up the format for the next season to focus on feminist playthrough commentary – one chapter from the game per video.

If we do this, we’ll adapt the vlog design we used in our recent Q&A videos, repurposing it for commentary. Yes, the content of those videos was bad, but the purpose of the videos was to stress test our vlog design and workflow, under real-world conditions – and both held up well, so we can apply them to a better purpose next semester.

Anyway, if you’ve no patience for dev diary rambling, basically we’re deciding between critiquing feminism in either Mass Effect 3 or Deus Ex: Human Revolution for next semester’s videos. If you have an opinion on which game we should do, sound off in the comments.

We’ll post the next instalment of this series in a few weeks. (Hint: Strogg.) Meanwhile, for those of you with friends who only care for carnage in gaming, here’s something to whet their appetites…

REVIEW: The New Order (2014)

After months in development hell, the first instalment of our feminist game review series has arrived! Was it worth the wait, and work? We hope so, but we ask you to judge – after all, we’ll be uploading stuff like this for the next few months, and we’d prefer it not suck. Just be forewarned this first episode involves Nazism, robots, ableist prejudice and Jewish mysticism, with a large helping of assault rifles…

FEMINIST GAME REVIEWS
“WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER” (2014)

OVERVIEW ► released in Q1 2014, “Wolfenstein: The New Order” portrays an alternate timeline where Nazis won WW2, resulting in a global Nazi empire. upon its release, the game received widespread acclaim not only for its polished gameplay, but also the depth of its narrative and characters. unlike most WW2 games that ignore the role of Nazism and racism, “The New Order” frankly portrays Nazi ideology and its human impact. whilst the hero, B.J., may resemble a typical beefcake male, he works alongside characters from different backgrounds, races and genders. this unexpectedly varied cast helps “The New Order” to engage with themes rarely seen in videogames, such as racism, ableism and anti-Semitism. in an industry often criticised for lazy ideas, “The New Order” shows how giving visibility to traditionally ignored groups can improve gaming.

VISIBILITY ► whilst a white, male hero might not seem too inspired, B.J.’s reaction to Jewish artefacts and Hebrew indicate he too is Jewish, a rarity in games. B.J.’s closest ally is Anya. far from being a sex object, Anya is a former PhD student who becomes a vital part of the underground resistance. female villains such as Nazi officer Frau are also depicted, though the game thankfully avoids the trope of “bad girls” as sexualised seductresses. less depicted are people of colour, due to the game’s Nazi setting. still, such characters have moments that help to individualise their identities. the game also engages with ableism, through the depiction of characters with disabilities and the impact of Nazism on their lives as a result. such characters aren’t window dressing or helpless victims to be rescued. rather, they take significant and active roles in shaping the narrative.

AGENCY ► the game’s narrative revolves around B.J., but his success depends on his allies, most of whom get ample time to shine despite their circumstances. B.J.’s friend Caroline commands the resistance. despite being paraplegic and female, she is depicted as skilled in leading her group to victories. Caroline later uses advanced tech to augment her mobility. but the game makes sure to demonstrate she is as capable before upgrading as after. people of colour are also depicted, albeit with less agency. one character is an African ex-soldier, yet spends half his time literally sitting around. unlike most WW2 games, religion is central to “The New Order”. B.J. realises the Nazis won WW2 by stealing technology from an ancient Jewish sect. though Jews as hoarders of power is an old stereotype, “The New Order” engages it in ways that actually help to humanise its Jewish characters.

PROGRESS ► whilst it excels in depicting characters from different backgrounds, “The New Order” is far from the first game to bring depth to its narrative. “Half-Life 2” from 2004 is one recognisable influence, depicting a dystopia where people from all walks of life must cooperate to resist genocide. “The New Order” makes clear its characters are more than mere tokenism. the game’s ending suggests they will be central to future sequels. the game is also part of a broader trend in gaming today, of including characters with whom women and minority gamers can relate and identify. this marriage of gameplay with compelling narrative is one reason “The New Order” has received over 45 nominations and awards since release. in the end, “The New Order” demonstrates how studios can benefit from having more empowering female and minority roles in their games.

Generally, if a game offers strong commentary on certain issues, we’ll focus more on those strengths than on its flaws. For “Wolfenstein: The New Order”, for instance, we could have criticised the lack of LGBT representation, but since it does a damn fine job with addressing racism and ableism, we focused on those issues instead.

(On the other hand, if a game had no strengths, we wouldn’t hesitate to shred it for failing in every regard, including the LGBT regard.)

For those interested in the behind-the-scenes, we wrote on Tumblr about project decisions we made along the way, driven by YouTube’s hostility as a space for women in general and feminism in particular. For those wondering how that hostility drove our design, here are some relevant bits…

…we knew that despite gaming being a statistically female-dominated hobby… Straight White Boys™ still consider gaming to be their domain… The most common attack levelled at gamer girls who critique games is that girls aren’t “real” gamers – they’re filthy casuals, not hardcore fanatics with the encyclopaedic knowledge of gaming and technology that men enjoy, and thus any insight gamer girls have to offer is illegitimate…

For personal credibility, we made the decision to *not* have an onscreen persona that could be attacked – thus forcing critics to attack us over substance, not style… we don’t do facecams, which means critics have no angle to attack our hair, makeup or other inconsequentialities…

For gaming credibility, we played our games at their highest default difficulties… If you’re female and thinking of delving into YouTube’s gaming sphere, consider doing the same. In fact, we consider this important enough that we developed a companion series, SLOW MOTION KILLS, for the sole purpose of showing off leftover footage demonstrating our gaming prowess…

Oh, right – this review series has a companion series, for haters who question our gamer-ness. To show how elite we are, we crammed all the kills from our footage into a slow-motion montage of French music and bullet ballets. If your younger brother’s sole interest in games is in the carnage, rest assured we’ve covered his needs…

Meanwhile, look out for our next instalment in a few weeks. If you’re curious as to which title we’ll cover next, here’s a hint: crowbar.

Monday morning mood lifter: The best defense

It’s a gray, drizzly Monday morning in Birmingham, Alabama, and I’m grumpy because I stayed up last night reading a book because I was hoping it would get better, and it never did, and I’m perfectly happy to accept a degree of sleep deprivation if it’s for a book that’s actually good, but this is just out of line, but you know what? This weekend, a kid in St. Andrews, Scotland, took down a bigoted street preacher in “the most Scottish way possible.”

So what went wrong for the slut-shamers?

When a teen is gang-raped and photos of her rape distributed online, the normal human response should be indignation toward her attackers – not toward the victim, for allegedly being a slut who enticed all the boys. Sadly civilisation has a long way to go, but even in the last couple of years, the cultural climate has grown more conspicuously hostile for misogynists who fancy themselves arbiters of women’s sexual worth. Something has changed – but what?

Dragon Con followup: Female heroes and femininity

On Saturday, I sat on a panel in the American Sci-fi Classics track at Dragon Con, talking about female heroes in classic sci-fi. One question from the audience stuck out to me as being insufficiently addressed in the time we had available, so: Young woman in the front row, stage left, ’bout three seats from the end, if you’ve followed me here (which is totally cool and appreciated), here’s the answer you deserve.

Question: Seeing as how “femininity” is really just a social construct, don’t we need to see more heroines who eschew traditional signifiers of femininity?