feminist frequency
Latest
The award-winning Feminist Frequency is shutting down after 14 years
Feminist Frequency announced today that it’s shutting down. The nonprofit, founded in 2009 by Executive Director Anita Sarkeesian as an outlet for media criticism of video games and other pop culture, expanded through the years to include podcasts, gaming resources, and an Online Harassment Hotline. Although the organization’s industry resources will remain on its website indefinitely, the hotline will close at the end of September, and the remainder of Feminist Frequency will wind down by the end of 2023.
Expect two new series from Feminist Frequency in 2015
Controversial games critic and YouTube star Anita Sarkeesian has outlined plans to launch two new web series in 2015, while continuing to produce her popular Feminist Frequency videos. According to the report (.pdf), Sarkeesian's non-profit organization (also named "Feminist Frequency") has plans for two new productions, a "video series examining the representations of men and masculinity in video games" and a "miniseries presenting examples of positive female characters in video games." No further details on either series are mentioned, but the report does state that Sarkeesian and her colleagues will continue their work as vocal advocates for gender equality in virtual culture. These burgeoning plans follow a successful year for Feminist Frequency in which the group attracted over $400,000 in donations and Sarkessian's efforts were featured in media outlets ranging from Joystiq to the New York Times. She even appeared on one of the final episodes of The Colbert Report to discuss her work and her many, many online detractors. [Image: Feminist Frequency]
Men detail male gamers' privilege on new Feminist Frequency
Hoping to hear from the other side of the gender aisle, Anita Sarkeesian has turned over the latest episode of her controversial Feminist Frequency video blog to a few dozen men who explain all the little, unspoken positives that come along with having a pronounced Y chromosome in the world of video games. [Image: Feminist Frequency]
Anita Sarkeesian speech canceled following threats, safety concerns
Feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian has canceled an appearance at Utah State University following death threats where the institution could not implement stronger safety controls. "Sarkeesian was informed that, in accordance with the State of Utah law regarding the carrying of firearms, if a person has a valid concealed firearm permit and is carrying a weapon, they are permitted to have it at the venue," according to a USU statement.
Anita Sarkeesian dissects the hoaxes, campaigns against her
Anita Sarkeesian is in a special position. Not only does she publicly and academically dissect video games from a feminist perspective, but she is able to transfer that magnifying glass onto herself, since her work has made her a well-known figure within the industry. In a talk at XOXO in Portland, Sarkeesian breaks down the violent response to her Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series. As the Joystiq comments section will attest, the Tropes vs. Women videos incite heightened emotions from seemingly long-time gaming fans – emotions including anger, disgust and outrage at any attempt to point out that video games have historically been marketed toward a heterosexual male audience, even while the gaming consumer base has shifted to include more diverse voices. As she discusses, these reactions are even more extreme when directed at Sarkeesian personally, ranging from fake Twitter accounts and fabricated speeches, to death and rape threats that include her home address alongside violent imagery.
Tropes vs Women further examines misogynist decoration in games
In the second part of Anita Sarkeesian's examination of women as decoration in games, the Feminist Frequency founder examines games in which female characters exist purely as sexual objects to advance the plot. Brief scenes of sexual assault in Metro 2033 and BioShock, for example, offer no discernable gameplay benefit and seemingly exist purely to paint certain male characters as a predatory evil. [Image: Tropes Vs Women]
New 'Tropes vs. Women' discusses the dark side of decoration
Feminist Frequency founder Anita Sarkeesian has launched the first video in her "Women as Background Decoration" series, dissecting how women are portrayed as non-playable sex objects in video games and the real-world effects these images have on players. Women as Background Decoration is the second series in Sarkeesian's Tropes vs. Women video campaign, which raised $158,922 on Kickstarter in 2012. In part one, Sarkeesian breaks down how women are hyper-sexualized and transformed into objects in many games, allowing players to use, abuse and dispose of female sex workers as if they were things, rather than people. She covers series such as Grand Theft Auto, Fable, Fallout, Sleeping Dogs, Watch Dogs, Hitman, Red Dead Redemption, Duke Nukem, Dishonored and The Godfather. "These games systematize sexuality in ways that dehumanize women, essentially turning them into vending machines dispensing sex, along with other goods and services. Their worth as characters is measured entirely in terms of what they can give to the player .... When men are depicted using female NPCs as tools or commodities, their actions are portrayed as part of what makes them powerful, which is by extension part of what makes the player then feel powerful."
Damsel in Distress: Part 3 of Tropes series discusses 'dude in distress'
The third installment of Anita Sarkeesian's Damsel in Distress video series explores the "dude in distress" mechanic, the use of ironic sexism in retro-inspired games and wraps up with a look at games that subvert the damsel in distress idea. Sarkeesian notes that games featuring female heroes saving male counterparts – the dude in distress – are rare, with only 4 percent of games placing a woman in a leading role. Even then, the damsel in distress trope perpetuates a longstanding notion that women are inherently helpless and need saving, but the few dudes in distress don't negatively impact society's view of men, since there is no preconceived belief that men are powerless to save themselves because of their gender, she says. This is the final Damsel in Distress video, and the first completed video mini-series in Sarkeesian's Tropes Vs. Women in Video Games project. Tropes was funded via Kickstarter, raising $159,000 of a $6,000 goal, and expanding the series to 12 videos. Next up, according to the Kickstarter, is a section called "The Fighting F#@k Toy." Sarkeesian prefaces each of her videos with the same guiding principle: "It is both possible (and even necessary) to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects." Note that it doesn't say, "while also violently cussing out people who disagree with your views." Please, enjoy your critical analyses.
