Was this article poorly written and very incoherent or am I crazy?
Also, this author is clearly a bitchy cunt with no sense of direction. There is no clear thesis, she is a rambling loon, and her links are to Amazon. Thanks for including a hyperlink to the Amazon sales page of Max Payne, you plebeian.
Sorry...this article is worse than feminism pop trash. And a lot of feminism trash is predicated on fancy linguistics and incoherent ramblings that could be summed up in a single paragraph using common language. This article could be summed up in one sentence, but is one long winded fart. Err...I mean queef.
Not only do I think she has no point, but she writes like a bitch. Double whammy.
You could make a legit argument that gaming portrays a falsely masculine archetype...and I bet there are great articles out there on the topic. If she has a journal degree...she should consider a career change.
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Re: Masculinity in Video Games
Just the fact that she has enough free time to respond to every single comment on the post is alarming.
Also to look at her other blog entries:
Playing without playfulness? The problems with tabletop gaming culture
Are indie games failing to live up to their potential? How much originality is there in the indie games scene?
This is what’s wrong with fictional gender-neutral societies in videogames.
HURRRRRR
Her own description of herself in her very first article:
Mariel Hurd is a console-shunning queer feminist with too much time on her hands. She likes to fill it with wargaming, RPGs and forming unpopular opinions.
Sure sounds like someone is that awkward person at the party no one talks to because her opinions are retarded.
I say there needs to be an influx of dudebro games.
PS not knocking on gears of war in your article about dudebro gaming being badz... Girl you must be trollan.
The main problem I see with her article is that the thesis has promise, but her supporting arguments are absurd. Yes, we have seen games recently move from a fat plumber, to a grizzled detective, to hyper-muscled killing machines... but her main complaint is that she finds lots of muscles unattractive.
You could make the case that the popularity of video games has made male youth much more sedentary and apathetic to the real world, so the young male lives out their masculine hegemonic fantasies through digital entertainment instead of sports, etc. Also, the increasing gender-neutrality of society could be causing a subconscious movement back to more traditionally masculine ideals. But then again, how do you explain Angry Birds? Deep inside, do we all strive to commit swineicide via corpulent chickens?
The truth is hegemonic masculinity in fiction, regardless of medium, has existed for not a few decades, but THOUSANDS OF YEARS. The original angsty Max Payne was a glitch in the Matrix, not an example of it. Remember Arnold Swarzenegger in the 80's? John Wayne before him? Horatio Hornblower? King Arthur? FUCKING HERCULES, SON OF ZEUS? All of these are exaggerated depictions of masculine fantasy, and all predate the modern trend back towards masculine fiction.
Then again, she would have to pick up a book or pay attention in 6th grade English to understand any of this.
"In gender studies, hegemonic masculinity refers to the belief in the existence of a culturally normative ideal of male behavior. Hegemonic masculinity posits that society strongly encourages men to embody this kind of masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity is said to be marked by a tendency for the male to dominate other males and subordinate females."
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Re: Masculinity in Video Games
Quote:
Originally Posted by Professor S
"In gender studies, hegemonic masculinity refers to the belief in the existence of a culturally normative ideal of male behavior. Hegemonic masculinity posits that society strongly encourages men to embody this kind of masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity is said to be marked by a tendency for the male to dominate other males and subordinate females."
No. More like a stereotype. Like...all males fart and itch their balls, and think women should be in the kitchen.
Hegemony is a legitimate construct/theory but it doesn't hold a ton of weight per se because like much of sociology and gender studies...it is based on intangibles. Kind of like Freudian Psychology which was discredited eons ago for the more popular biological or cognitive approach.
I think Prof S touched on the main point...which is that male games are anything but hegemonic. Most male gamers are still perceived as "live in mom's basement" types. You do have an anomaly of college frat boys playing Madden and Gears of War...but that has to be a minority compared to the plague of males playing World of Warcraft, Pokemon, Nintendo Wii, Halo, etc. You know, the string bean guys with broken glasses that are taped back together. Who have lots of acne and their voice cracks when they talk. Gaming is still stereotypically played by male losers, and you could have a much more fruitful discussion on that point instead of this fake article.
Here is my beef and my guess as to why this article is such an incoherent mess. This article was written like a Gender Studies piece and not a gaming piece. There are burgeoning and cutting-edge areas in communications and sociology dealing with the impact of gaming and technology on people. In order to tackle this subject you need to be educated on it, and clearly this author is not.
Masculinity isn't just how you dress, how big your muscles are, etc. It's more about your actions...so even in a game as vapid as Gears of War; I don't buy any argument or social commentary on masculinity. Whereas Mario's premise is that Peach is in the kitchen baking a cake and Bowser kidnaps her....so the only male in the Mushroom Kingdom needs to run through levels filled with phallic objects and save the princess. Except I'm smart enough to believe that Mario is not misogynistic.
But the man saving woman theme pops up in a lot of games.
Anyway....I still think this lady is way out of her element. Just because she has a Gender Study's degree and happens to play video games does not qualify her to say anything of gaming itself. This is a poorly written, trite article.
Re: Masculinity in Video Games
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