If you haven’t heard about the Tropes Vs Women Kickstarter, you should really read this article. Regardless of one’s opinions on Anita Sarkeesian’s gender-studies analysis of pop culture, the response to her project from far too many internet denizens (before the inspiring counter-volley from others) was appalling.
Male gamers and geeks struggle to overcome generations-old stigmas about our relationships with women and our ability to be grown men. Female gamers fight to be taken as the serious participants and co-players they are. And now we have a vocal flock of hateful man-children pretty much reminding the rest of the world how far we have to go.
So, you know, thanks guys. Real credit to the team.
I recognize Sarkeesian’s study might raise some knee-jerk hackles. With broadly accusatory topics like “The Sexy Sidekick,” “The Man With Boobs,” and “The Fighting F#@k Toy,” her study is easily dismissed as simple vitriol. And after having read some of her Tropes Vs Women series it’s understandable why a (male) audience might feel as if they or the things they love are under attack. Reducing a pantheon of oft-beloved characters to simplistic caricatures (and implying that creators, and by extension their audiences, really see their heroines this way) is bound to stir outrage.
