Too Many Dicks - Video Games

This remix was inspired by Sloane's "Star Trek Dance Floor" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deQuFc3BP74

It is no secret that most video games star overly muscular men often carrying big swords, guns, baseball bats, chainsaws and other phallic weaponry. Many of these games normalize a macho masculinity and glorify war and the military. They especially celebrate grotesque displays of violence. Few popular games provide any opportunity for creative non-violent forms of conflict resolution and with the ever growing graphic technology, the blood and gore seem to look more and more real. And now with first person shooter games, players can really experience the destruction and gore up close and personal.

Not only are these games dominated by male characters but even the few women characters who get staring roles are replicating the overly patriarchal, violent, macho behaviour all wrapped up in a hyper sexualized body. Not surprisingly the vast majority of game producers, designers and writers are men.

To put it simply, there are too many dicks on the dancefloor!

***Note: there are two games in this video that I offer as improvements of the more traditional games I'm critiquing. A clip of Portal appears during the line "Easy to Fix" and it is a game of non violent conflict resolution where the protagonist is a woman although you hardly see her during the game. On the lyric "Not Enough Sisters" there is an image of the protagonist from Mirror's Edge which stars a woman in a dystopian future who is not hypersexualized.

www.FeministFrequency.com

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List of games in order of appearance:

Halo 3
Assassin's Creed 2
Alien vs. Predator
Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty 4
Modern Warfare 2
Soul Caliber Broken Destiny
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Bayonetta
Call of Duty 4
Devil May Cry 4
Resident Evil 5
Halo 3
Postal 2
Halo 3
Grand Theft Auto IV
Lego Universe
Army of Two
GTA IV: Princess Robot Bubblegum
Assassin's Creed
GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead 2
Bayonetta
Soul Caliber 4
Prince of Persia
Perfect Dark Zero
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Star Trek Online
Splinter Cell Conviction
Call of Duty 4
Dead Rising 2
Tekken 6
Portal
DJ Hero
XMen Origins: Wolverine
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Modern Warfare 2
Heavenly Sword
Dead Rising 2 Multiplayer
Star Wars: The Old Republic
GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
DJ Hero
Vampire Rain
Mirror's Edge
Wolfenstein
Bio Shock 2
Gears of War 2
Uncharted 2
Tekken 6
Dead Rising 2
Grand Theft Auto IV
GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Devil May Cry 4
Left 4 Dead 2

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Video Games
• Halo 3
• Assassin's Creed 2
• Modern Warfare 2
• Call of Duty 4
• Soul Caliber Broken Destiny
• Battlefield Bad Company 2
• Bayonetta
• Grand Theft Auto
• Army of Two
• Soul Caliber
• Bio Shock
• Mirror's Edge
• Portal
• Gears of War
• Uncharted
• Left 4 Dead

[GeneralX404]

Also why is Faith from Mirror's Edge in this video? She isn't over sexualized and is often able to avoid physical violence by outmaneuvering her pursuers, unless you want her to stop in front of the agents of the totalitarian state who are trying to kill her on sight and try to explain to them why they are in the wrong and suggest to them an alternate course of action.

[feministfrequency]

@GeneralX404 Read the NOTES section.

[Hitmann11]

What is the game at 0:27 (Anime Girl) and at 0:49 (on the bridge) ?

Thanks

[feministfrequency]

@Hitmann11 GTA IV: Princess Robot Bubblegum and XMen Origins: Wolverine

[Woolagaroo13]

Hilarious video. I find it interesting that among all the images of the macho male characters and phallic weaponry, the clip the from Portal is of the protagonist entering portals (yonnic imagery perhaps?)

[feministfrequency]

@Woolagaroo13 Read the notes section.

[sstonesful]

I think you make a really good point about sexism in video games. Despite growing numbers of female gamers, the gaming industry is still geared towards men. I recently read an interesting article on the topic, which addresses male privelage in geek culture and media. It's a good read for anyone concerned about sexist portrayals of women in games.

You can find the article "Nerds and Male Privelage" and its follow-up on kotaku.com.

[stickmeister0]

@drew335533 Not to mention the character you are with the majority of the time is none other than Alyx Vance, who is the strongest female character to ever appear in video games. Not sexualized, not even barely.

Other games containing strong female protagonists include Metroid, (up until Other M) Maya from Ace Attorney, Faith from Mirror's Edge and Meryll from Metal Gear Solid.

If you ever need examples on strong female protagonists from films, watch any Ghibli film. Any.

[DoctorPayne666]

I agree with the hyper-sexualization of women being a problem in games nowadays, and I'm a guy. I mean, a lot of games have women in fucking chain-mail bikinis, e.g. World of Warcraft. That's just pandering to the masses.

However, don't overlook the genuinely beautiful but tastefully dressed female heroines, such as Hilde from Soul Calibur IV, and any female character from Dark Souls. You'll find that they wear proper armor (although they must still crusade violently against beasties)

[CalypsoEclipse]

I fucking love the part that says "it ain't no good if it's too much wood" and these men are holding up CHAINSAWS! Bwahhahaha my guy friend pointed that out and we were both cracking up. So clever! XD

[YourDarkAccomplice]

@drew335533 - Exactly. But it's an unfortunate coincidence cause there aren't enough female role models not being sexually exploited in video games. It's like my thoughts on Disney's The Frog Princess. Sure it was pure coincidence that she was a frog the whole time, but even as a Caucasian, I feel it was a pity we didn't see enough of her as a person. When I first played Portal I was shocked it was a girl cause her breasts weren't exaggerated or popping out. She was a normal human being! xD

[LittleBlackDragon]

Awww...but I like the Devil May Cry Series...and Nero and Dante are really good-looking! and I'm a girl...I agree that Kyrie was too much of a pushover in DMC4, though.  And I see your point.

It would be nice to have more prominent female characters outside of RPGs (I play mostly RPGs where you can be either gender), besides Laura Croft and Samus. (Nothing against them, but still...)

I mean, seriously, the gaming population is getting older and more women are joining it.

[RaymondoPerson]

@kitchyteam94 people find Other M really sexist and well, I've read some pretty good arguments for that.

[DHMunroe]

(cont) What sticks out most to me because I literally finished the game yesterday is Gears of War 3 which I play specifically because I like the violence. Played co-op with the husband & during the last stint, I played a female gear named Anya. All of the female gears wear the exact same armor their male counterparts wear & hold their own in battle. Maybe I'm easily satisfied & can't see what's wrong w/ it, but I was pleased when I saw this. :)

[DHMunroe]

So much to say on this, not enough space. I agree but also disagree. I will mention though that as a female, the fact that you think big weapons, gore, and violence are masculine and machismo screams "gender normatives" & I don't dig it. I love games where it's just me, my weapons, & a horde of baddies. Alternatively, I also enjoy puzzle games that make you use brains instead of brawn. They're two different genres though. There's a time & place for everything.

[kitchyteam94]

What about metroid? The latest game had a different feeling than the previous. Samus was portrayed with a macho side, but she was also given a softer side.