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Category Archives: Gender Cultism
Obscuring the Male Gaze
I have been meaning to make this post for ages now (pretty much ever since Ragnell put out her first call for subs for the feminist carnival), but unfortunately it has come at a time where I’m freaking out over my last minute arrangements. This will, in fact, be my last real post for a while (more details to follow in my actual last post for a while).
When Ragnell put up what she thought was a fairly neutral image of Diana (that’s Wonder Woman, the Amazon warrior for justice and peace and stuff, for those of you not in the know) reading. I looked at it and “perfect example of the male gaze” is what stared right back at me. Me – thinking nothing of making such a comment on a blog by a woman who waxes poetically about the colour yellow and what it means when used in a Green Lantern comic – well, let’s just say I was surprised that pretty much none of her regulars agreed with me. At all. Even Ragnell herself wasn’t fully on board with my interpretation.
And that got me thinking: Have we become so desensitized to female sexuality that it reads as “neutral” to us when not in an obvious setting? Continue reading
Ultimate Utopia, Indeed
When Squaresoft meets fans with video skills you get… Ultimate Utopia…?
So, OS.CB reader darth sidhe pointed me in the direction of a fan-made flash movie of a live action RPG. It’s actually a pretty well done production and many parts of it I was nodding my head and saying, “Yep, that always happens to me!” Now, let me make it clear right off the bat: I liked this movie. I thought it was a fun, funny, and well-done piece.
But I am nothing if not a feminist interested in the intersection of gender and video games, and so it logically follows that when watching this, even through my enjoyment, I spotted areas that were problematic in terms of gender representation (the racial representation didn’t sit right with me, either, but that’s not really my area of expertise). And me, being the obsessive blogger I am (packing for Japan? taking care of last minute arrangements for school? never!), wanted to blog on it. So, watch the flash movie then come back and read what I have to say about it (I command thee!). Continue reading
Posted in Gender Cultism, Popular Culture, Teh Funnay, The Evil -ism's, Video Games
23 Comments
Game of Hearts
In honor of this oh-so-wonderful holiday that has been making single people miserable since time immemorial, I’ve written a short story called “Game of Hearts”. It’s based on this post from the feminist LJ community. Enjoy the hoiday, and please … Continue reading
An Open Letter to Geeky Guys (Non-geeks may learn something, too):
Listen, I’m really glad that some of you are into the whole gender deconstruction thing. I think it’s great that you don’t want to just oogle the pixeled female bits. Really. But, guys? It’s not so cute when all your ‘deconstruction’ does is reaffirm women’s position as Second Class Geeks.
What am I talking about? Well, you can find examples on it all over the net. You can find one on this blog, addressed to your gaming cousins. For a more recent, and in-depth example, let’s take I Enjoy Playing a Girl from the latest Escapist issue. Continue reading
Posted in Gender Caste, Gender Cultism, Privilege, The Evil -ism's, Video Games
30 Comments
Attractiveness, Disabilities, and Feminism
There is a post on feminist_rage today on a topic I haven’t read about before: the intersection of ablism, sexism, and attractiveness. LiveJournal user mahlia miles writes about being a conventionally attractive woman using a wheelchair, faced with chivalry and … Continue reading
Posted in Gender Cultism, Gender issues, The Evil -ism's
4 Comments
Feminism in 10 Things I Hate About You
I recently watched 10 Things I Hate About You for like the fourth time. A modern remake of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, it is a love story that follows a senior in high school, her younger sister, and the various men who become entangled in their lives. I admit I have a soft spot for cheesy romantic comedies and there’s something about 10 Things that really resonates with me. Maybe it’s because I can relate to Kat, the protagonist.
You see, Kat is a feminist. A staunch one, at that. She’s an intelligent, witty, strong-willed woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, even if it gets her tossed out of her English class on a regular basis. And yet, even as I applaud her character, I am troubled by the way she (and her feminism) was represented. As always with these things, I’m putting a spoiler warning up for those who haven’t seen the movie yet. Continue reading
Posted in Feminism, Gender Cultism, Media and journalism, The Evil -ism's
6 Comments
All we want for the holidays…
December tis the season to be consuming. We all love gifts but, more than that, companies love selling them to us. There is likely a gift guide for everyone, their families, and even their pets of choice out there. Enter HUB magazine’s “Holiday Gift Guide” edition. Continue reading
Posted in Gender Cultism, Technology
2 Comments
Build, Order, Whine [My Voodoo, Part 1]
So, I ordered myself a Voodoo laptop today. After a frustrating website experience, I decided to write up a series on how my Voodoo weathers the next few years. Seeing as I just ordered it, and therefore cannot write about the machine itself, I decided to make this an introduction/rant about the website.
As soon as I get it (which, given that I’m going to be in Miami for the next two months, better be a month after it arrives), I’m going to write a First Impressions post on it, and then I’ll update things whenever a new problem crops up. Because you know problems are gonna come up. Continue reading
Posted in Companies Behaving Badly, Computers, For "her", Gender Cultism, My Voodoo, Personal, Series
6 Comments
Empowerment Through Lipstick?
Cosmetic ad from Feministe Feministe has just reinforced how much I never want ads on my blog. I had the dubious pleasure of seeing this ad on the side of the blog; one of the three from blogads that Feministe … Continue reading
Posted in Advertising, Gender Cultism
3 Comments
GQ's "Men" of the Year
One of the guys?
In my first installment of my Girls & Game Ads series, I commented on a disturbing phenomenon in the portrayal of men versus women:
Another thing evident in this particular line-up is something I’ve noticed as another feature of video game advertising: images of women tend to have the large boobs as a focus (either by showing lots of skin or by having skin-tight costumes), while images of men tend to focus on the face, or show a heavily armoured (or clothed) man. While there are obviously exceptions to this (armoured/small breasted women, scantily-clothed men, etc), I posit that this dichotomy is one that is typical in advertisements for the gaming industry.
Enter GQ and its “Man of the Year” winners. With AOL News’ tagline Aniston Joins the Guys one would expect the cover to show a confident, strong Aniston with a focus on her head/face. But GQ, unfortunately, has chosen to take the same approach to the portrayal of men and women as I described above. Continue reading