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nuclear waste aerobics

F/Finland. Art blog. I draw a webcomic and lurk in a fandom or two!
If you have a question, check out FAQ tag first

comic
portfolio maarialaurinen.com
twitter @maariamph
e-mail maaria.laurinen@gmail.com

tags
#FAQ #phantomland #original works #fanart

Posts tagged feminism

Aug 1 '13

jm-henry said: “I don’t like how you’ve made Chie so weak and helpless" If that grinds your gears, imagine how game devs must feel. My point was that you’re contradicting yourself. Your attitude about “weak" females in gaming can be easily applied to your own work.

This is the last time I reply to your nonsense and only because I’m personally invested in my comic and won’t tolerate that kind of nonsense about it

I’m not contradicting myself.

The “weak" female character I have a beef with is the type who only exists to be a trophy for the male protagonist, to motivate his heroic quest and/or to be won as a reward (= usually the “damsel in distress"). It’s not cool because it reduces the woman into a passive item that has no independence, no agency, she can’t make choices, her life literally revolves around The Man and depends on his actions instead of her own. We’ve been force-feeding these gender roles to people for centuries - that men exist to do shit, and women exist to complement those men - and while it may have turned more subtle over the years (thanks to feminism), it won’t end until there’s a conscious effort to end it (with feminism). Thus we need female protagonists who fight their own battles. They’re still less common than the damsels, and that’s a problem.

That said, Chie does not match the description. She’s not a prop in Jon’s story because the story is about her. Granted she did get in trouble once and got saved by Jon, but it’s not romanticized. It’s not presented as a cute little bonding moment for the characters - it’s the opposite. Jon hates it and finds it unacceptable from Chie’s part that she failed to protect herself; she’s expected to grow a pair and not be a burden. Which she then strives to achieve.

Jul 31 '13
Ehhh I really don’t feel like replying but I guess I can’t ignore such a long message either….
• You’ve never been uncomfortable with female characters? Good for you.
• Female sidekicks and love interests can be cool characters per se, but it doesn’t...

Ehhh I really don’t feel like replying but I guess I can’t ignore such a long message either….

  • You’ve never been uncomfortable with female characters? Good for you.
  • Female sidekicks and love interests can be cool characters per se, but it doesn’t negate the alarming lack of female protagonists. Your examples are the same handful that’s brought up in every conversation - games with female-only protags still make up only 3%. So yes, we need more female heroes and stories told from a female POV. Here’s one reason why they matter. Granted Japanese games have a slightly better track record on this, but they’re guilty of some skeevy crap as well.
  • Chie is not white. Yes, she’s a timid rookie dealing with dangerous people. I don’t see a problem here.
  • What’s slut-shaming got to do with any of this? I have nothing against ladies wearing sexy outfits as long as it’s consistent with their personality. It makes sense for Isabela (Dragon Age II) and Bayonetta who are both promiscuous and sexually assertive characters. The problem here is that a rough estimate of 90% of female characters do dress in revealing outfits, and they do that FOR NO REASON other than the designer wanting something to masturbate to. And then the camera will be programmed to zoom up the character’s ass without her awareness. Yippie-fucking-doodle-doo that sure feels empowering

So no, I can’t say that I agree with most of your points ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

EDIT: lots of edits, sorry. I just got out of bed and am struggling with my English agghh

Jul 15 '13

Haha I lost some followers after the rant

That’s too bad - while I intend to dedicate this blog mostly to my drawings, if you annoy me enough I WILL shed my gentle facade and out comes a vicious demonic ~tumblr feminist~ who won’t shut up until I’ve gotten my point across. Just a heads up

image

Thing is, not only do I play a lot, I will likely work in the videogame industry in the future which means I’m gonna run first-hand into a lot of bullshit that needs to be addressed and fought against. So yes these issues will be increasingly important to me the further I proceed on that path.

Jul 15 '13
SIGH… This is why I told you to educate yourself because your argument is depressingly ignorant. How did you manage to miss every single media controversy we’ve had about sexism in videogames during the past couple years? Here, here, here. Giant...

SIGH… This is why I told you to educate yourself because your argument is depressingly ignorant. How did you manage to miss every single media controversy we’ve had about sexism in videogames during the past couple years? Here, here, here. Giant fuck-ups like these pop up at least once a month.

Riddle me this: why is the newest Alien game not about Ripley (the main character of the movies!!!) but you play some random space marines instead?

That’s because the story must always, always, ALWAYS be about some generic straight-white-cisguy-with-brown-hair while women and minorities, if they’re lucky enough to exist, are reduced into two-dimensional props on the sidelines. According to videogames, that’s what I am and that’s what I’ll ever be as a woman; I’m a passive piece of ass whose purpose is mostly to get kidnapped and then offer my genitals to the hero who rescues me. According to videogames, I’m not an actual person with hopes or dreams or ambitions - I only exist to be pretty.

There are exceptions, I know. Don’t bother bringing those up. We’re talking a handful of games that have female or minority protagonists. Like 2%. That’s not enough. We’re a lot more than 2% of the population.

My point here is that, more often than not, videogames don’t acknowledge my gender as CAPABLE OF BEING A WORTHWHILE PROTAGONIST. Developers won’t even put female characters on the box art in fear of losing sales. That’s pretty fucking offensive. All I want is a game about a WOMAN who is a shining star of her own story; a well-written woman who GETS SHIT DONE. Preferably a minority woman while we’re at it? Make it a game about a fat black bisexual transwoman in a wheelchair who hunts werewolves. That would be PRETTY INTERESTING. I feel good as a woman when I see awesome women on the screen. I deserve to have that feeling.

This state of affairs is not a conspiracy though, and I’m not implying it is; very few people out there make a conscious effort to shit on women and minorities. The idea of being inclusive and fair simply doesn’t cross their minds because mainstream culture is garbage and does nothing to encourage that. That’s why we need to spread awareness, and we need to complain more, vote with our wallets, and yes, GET ANGRY when we’re offended.

Sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc etc, none of that bullshit will ever end if we don’t talk about it. I’m not going to speak gently or tiptoe around an issue that concerns myself, and I don’t care if my anger makes you uncomfortable.

Over and out

Jul 15 '13

jm-henry said: It… isn’t? Why the persecution complex?
jm-henry said: Besides, we have much larger problems in the world than who does/ doesn’t show up in videogames. It’s just silly to me :/

image

Starving African children are an awful thing but, surprisingly, they do not negate the gender inequality that I witness and experience

You’re telling me women aren’t marginalised in games? Sexism is over huh? Don’t be that guy. You are making an ass of yourself

You’re a good person, I know you’re better than this. Do me a favor and educate yourself on the subject pretty please. I’m not gonna bother spelling out sexism and white male privilege to every guy I come across

Jul 15 '13

jm-henry said: This is awesome, but can’t we all just enjoy games without doing the whole “gender war" thing? :(

“gender war”

image

as in “oh your gender is constantly being marginalised in videogames? why is that a problem to you?”