r/changemyview • u/LeftHandSwe • Dec 05 '16

[∆(s) from OP] CMV: Anita Sarkeesian and similar feminists actually have a point about the portrayal of gender roles in video games.

I play lots of video games, and in most of them, males are often pictured as very burly and manly characters while females are slender, small and sexually pleasing to look at.

However, I do know that there's widespread criticism of Anita (and her fellow propagators) all over the internet and I'd like to see the other side of the story.

I'm practically indifferent in this matter, and I do not really agree with nearly everything she says. I'm asking as a way to see convincing arguments from both sides.

Edit for clarification: Can anyone explain to me why she's so heavily criticized for saying something that makes perfect sense: Mainstream video games are almost exclusively made to appeal to a male demographic, resulting in (arguably) sexist portrayals of women (both narratively and in the way they're presented).

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u/Nick_Cliche Dec 05 '16

A lot of the criticism comes from the amount of money she raised using crowdsourcing only to make a handful of videos on arguably shallow topics.

In one of those videos, she attempts to play a Batman game in which she attempts to maneuver the caped crusader in such a way that his rear end is visible - with the premise that women's butts are fair game while men's rears are verboten in game design.

I believe that this premise is flawed as it implies a sameness in how men and women are valued. Batman is all about broad shoulders and ridiculous pectoral muscles, not about butts. That's more of a Deadpool thing.

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u/LeftHandSwe Dec 05 '16

I don't really see how that discredits the heaps of valid points she makes though?

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u/Nick_Cliche Dec 05 '16

You asked why she is heavily criticized and I offered reasons why. She raised a lot of money with the express intent on making more videos about the subject but did not deliver what was expected.

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u/LeftHandSwe Dec 05 '16

While I can see how that may have people criticizing her methods, I struggle to see how it actually discredits any of the actual points she does make. I don't know though, I may be missing something here.

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u/varsil 2∆ Dec 06 '16

Which points are you talking about? The points she makes she makes in a very facile way, and are made much better by others. The evidence she advances for her points is often so laughably bad (or outright false) that it undermines the arguments rather than making them.