TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome to the fifth episode of Sex-Positive Gamer.
Today your usual sex educators are playing Portal 2, whilst answering your questions.
So, whilst we were gaming around last week…
…we received a serious question, on social issues.
The question was how much rape culture influences gaming, and real life.
Here’s the email we got.
“Hello, I want you guys to answer this question.”
“I always hear feminists claiming videogames have too much sexism, and violence against women.”
“The term for this is rape culture, I believe.”
“But why call it rape culture, unless it actually causes rape in real life?”
“Have scientists actually proven sexist videogames lead to more actual rape of women?”
Well, the short answer is yes, rape culture does lead to more rape…
…and this includes rape culture in gaming.
But a longer answer would likely be more useful.
First, let’s define rape culture.
Basically, it’s a culture where people condone, excuse or even encourage sexual violence.
An example of rape culture is the belief that women wearing provocative clothing…
…are asking to be raped, because wearing something sexy supposedly means they want it.
The presence of rape culture is a concern for violence prevention experts…
…because it’s considered a risk factor for sexual assault.
Studies as far back as 1981, by the University of Manitoba and UCLA…
…find men who believe rape culture beliefs are more likely to commit rape themselves.
The most basic belief, that women exist for men’s pleasure, is the primary reason given…
…by 70 percent of rapists for their actions, according to a 2013 UN study.
The media, including videogames, are a major source of such beliefs…
…with higher exposure to sexist media linked with higher support of rape culture.
This can happen in two ways.
The first is if the game itself promotes rape culture.
One study from 2009, by USC, found that only 15 percent of game characters are female…
…many of whom exist mainly to please men, through their clothing or sexual relationships.
The second way games can promote rape culture is if gamers who play online…
…encourage such beliefs amongst other gamers.
Online gaming is famously hostile to women.
Two-thirds of female gamers report being targeted with rape threats and harassment…
…by male gamers using sexually violent language, including “bitch, slut and whore”.
Exposure to sexist language is linked with not only greater support of rape culture…
…but also greater acceptance of sexist behaviour, including rape.
Ultimately, penalties for online harassment, along with better female representation in games…
…would go a long way toward reforming today’s culture of gaming.
After all, girl gamers are consumers.
They spend money, and make up 48 percent of the gaming population.
They would most likely appreciate meaningful efforts to protect everyone from aspiring rapists.
Rape culture does lead to more rape, and this includes rape culture in gaming.
Well, we’re almost out of footage from today’s game.
If you have other questions, post a comment on Feministe or message our Tumblr.
Till next time…
…farewell.
We’re moving quickly to finish the last couple episodes of the vlog by October’s end, as promised last time, so we can move on. Luckily by now we’ve hit our stride, and doing these episodes isn’t as nerve-wracking as it was in the beginning. When we first began, just getting our microphone to record the same way twice was hit-or-miss, and editing every word to have the same volume was a weeks-consuming task.
On the flip side, the number of feminists or even women with such skills probably isn’t anywhere near the number of blokes – Freddie Wong, XboxAhoy, etc – who do this stuff for a living. The barriers to women who want to exist on YouTube without getting rape threats are well–documented, and the fact that we’re increasing the number of feminists with the skills to make equally polished content keeps us going, even when our content isn’t nearly as popular as that of more established YouTubers.
Even so, having such skills is one thing. Spreading them to the rest of the feminist vlogosphere is another story, and we haven’t the faintest idea of the best way to go about that. It’s something we’ll contemplate as we transition from this project to the next – most likely we’ll split up temporarily, and Echo will blog more for Feministe whilst we work on a series on media depictions of guns. It’ll be an interesting time.
Anyway, the next episode will be on female characters, a topic with a pretty large body of research behind it. Comment if you have questions, and till next time, farewell!