I would like to share my words on this article, as I strongly support equality within the field that I am in. If you support this matter, I strongly encourage to let your voice be heard!
Gaming Misrepresentation of Women Hits Reality
Throughout history, discrimination on women on different fields in the workforce or in the general public has existed… And now, this matter of issue has risen within the game industry as well. In my chosen article “Misogyny, Sexism, And Why RPS Isn’t Shutting Up” by Rock, Paper, Shotgun the issue of misrepresentation of women within the game industry is discussed and pointed out by John Walker. I agree with Walker as to why this issue needs to end, and to take action in its own sense by letting our voice be heard versus acknowledging the issue and remaining silent.
Like Walker, I love equality. I like it when people are treated equally, and I especially love it when people are happy. No one wants to be looked down upon just because of their gender or their sexual orientation. You are who you are and you are who you want to be, and it is not right to be mistreated just because you are being yourself. I am not trying to give the illusion of speaking up for women because I think that I am superior because of my gender and that my voice will be heard more than theirs, but what I am doing is speaking up with them and others who are already in for the same cause.
I know women are strong and can handle their own. I know this for a fact because I was raised by my eldest half-sister who instilled in me the common sense of life through teachings and experience. From this not so normal experience being raised by a sister who acted like a father, a mother, an elder sibling who sometimes acted as a friend or sometimes seemed like an enemy, I learned that men are no better than women and women are no better than men (equal). From personal experience, I have come across women who are smart, strong, career and success driven as well as the opposite of that, just like any other human being. As people, failing and succeeding, making mistakes and improving is natural. So why is it that women are represented to be lesser in the game industry? And presented in a way deeming to their gender in a way seeming to be acceptable in society as “nothing wrong” like shown in a video from the 4th of April by Machinima featuring two women in skimpy attire while being spanked and electrocuted as they play a game, then showing their red ass cheeks for the shows ending (Now deleted due to copy right and taken out by Machinima after outcry). And as mentioned in the article is an article by Complex Tech’s “The 40 Hottest Women in Tech” where only “the hottest” women are presented in pictures with bikini tops on. In other words, you not only need to be smart and be successful in your field, but you also have to have a nice breast or a pretty face if you are a female while on the other hand, male are praised by their personal achievements rather than their looks.
As stated, while the first is an example of what would be unacceptable, the second example would be dismissed but both are equally as powerful as the other in sending the same message: “This is a ‘Boys Club’ and you are only here to entertain us.” They both send the same hostility in misrepresenting women: That they are only there because they are hot, not because they succeeded their field. While women are represented in a humorous way in a game such as Dragon’s Crow, that humor should not be taken into reality. In games, genders as well as animals and creatures are equally represented in a way to be humorous, but that is the intention within the game, so it should remain in the game. While I can find enormously huge breasted girls and enormously muscular guys with tiny heads in games funny, I do not find it funny when I see a comment such as, “I busted my ass to get a promotion. First response to it happening was that I only got it because I have nice tits.” As a man, of course, you have to let a fellow woman know that she only got it because she has nice boobs so we can feel more superior. It is our duty to make the other gender feel lesser! No, that is not the correct way to think, but whether you know it or not, some discriminate without knowing it. Some people just do not understand why something would be wrong.
While there are those who intimidate others to keep their superiority whether it be sex oriented or money related, there are those like myself who wants to push positivity. Others only intimidate because they want to stay in power, or to feel as they are in power to feel superior. This is basic animal instinct, more the less human instinct. To be able to lead, you need to be able to show strength and power so others will follow. Although this is true, this doesn’t necessarily mean be sexist, racist, or anything else within that matter. What harm can treating everyone equally do? After all, we are all human beings.
Raising awareness on this issue and letting your voice be heard instead of acknowledging the issue but not doing anything about it would help in supporting gender equality. Women should not be represented in a way deeming to their gender. As people, they need to be treated as equally as men and men as equally as women. The need to spread the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong is a must, so that people understand why something would be right or why something would be wrong. It is easy to believe that only “hot” women in bikini tops can be successful, because it is the only thing you see. Why is it that you have to be a hot woman to be put in the successful list? Only in the ‘Boys Club’ as it is one of their ways to reiterate that they are superior because of their gender and to show that they are in control. Respecting women as equal to men, and presenting them as another human being for their achievements through hard work is the correct way to pursue. This will help to gender mistreatment develop further and cease way to thinking that it is acceptable in the future and future generation. What we dedicate ourselves to accomplish is our choice, and we succeed not because we are male nor female, but because of our persistence in pursuing that choice.
-George Mallari
