Dissecting Smite #1: Oversexualization, Stereotyping, Double-Standards, and Other Misogyny in Smite :: Page 16

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wrote:

With regards to Sources:

You're making claims, the onus is on you to provide valid and neutral sources for your all of your claims, which you haven't done IMO. You've provided an invalid source for Rape culture and multiple invalid / bias sources for internalized sexism. Nothing on how sexualisation causes real-world sexism, neither in the context of video games or a wider context. But let me explain why these sources aren't to be trusted/used:

Wikipedia isn't a source to use generally due to edit wars. And citing feminist sites is problematic if you're trying to present facts rather than ideology. Protip: The best place to get E-journals from Academics is websites like JSTOR, Dawnsonera and the University of Cambridge/Oxford Press websites. They tend to be of a high quality, although that doesn't mean they're perfect or unbias either. But it's a much better place to start.

Dude. You are full of ****ing ****. Literally. I posted a perfectly credible source. That has a compilation of multiple studies. It has over 3 pages of sources from PhD's and the studies they did. None of the studies were complex and having read through it, I found nothing wrong with it. You have come back with absolute worthless ****. You cannot simply say "it's flawed". Go find the ****ing proof.

You have come in here, made up a ton of ****...You never give proof and just bash people with your ****ing ignorance....

What's the point in Sub finding a more credible source? So you can claim that all 20+ of the PhD's and all their peers made tons of mistakes that invalidate their research? Dude you're full of ****.

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Just out of curiosity I made a survey to see what the numbers look like on this...

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GCCBXYW

Lets see what people think

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wrote:

Just out of curiosity I made a survey to see what the numbers look like on this...

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GCCBXYW

Lets see what people think

i humored it and voted but votes are not how you deturmen who is right or wrong.

very simply put we aren't the masses, we are more like a small group who by discussion try to figure out what is the best solution, maybe the best solution for the masses.

effectively it's a kind of liberal way of doing it, have people who don't follow the masses blindly and hopefully are smart discuss this to come to the conclusions.

never forget dawngate and never forgive EA. Freia will hunt them for eternity.

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Damn, I've got a lot to say. Give me some black coffee and an hour.

edit::

First of all -

This problem is bigger than Smite. It is ingrained into society - the sexualization of women and the fact that that sexuality specifically has to be for heterosexual men. By combating the little problems in the grander picture (i.e. Smite), we're moving forward. By ignoring them we're ignoring the issue as a whole and

The sexualization of men - i.e. Magic Mike, etc, is a moot point. Men aren't overtly sexualized for women. Men are overtly sexualized for men. And when I say this, it's not in a 'omg totally gay' way. It's in a 'due to the patriarchial views of society supported by men and upheld by men, men generally sexualize themselves in a way that makes them feel more powerful, more muscular.'

The first magazine is targeted at men. Hypersexualized, right? Abs, shirtless, the whole kablooey. The second is targeted more generally, though mostly at women. Regular guy in a regular t shirt that will cook you food. The biggest sexualizers of men are men. Is that to say women don't do it? No. But women don't view men the same way men view men.

And I want to take this time to veer away from the topic of Smite exlusively because I know I'm going to get angry messages about 'I've never done that! You're stereotyping me because I'm a man!' I never said you did. I said the male dominated and driven society does. This isn't personal - it's much bigger than you.

Missrepresentation is a great documentary on Netflix on the representation of women in media. I think it would do you a lot of good to watch it and I urge you to do so.

By disregarding Smite's problematic character designs, you're disregarding the opportunity to make a change.

I'm super cold and also super sleepy, so I'll add more tomorrow. But I urge you all to do more research into how rampant oversexualization of women is - and how our own sexuality is taken away from us to be used as a bargaining chip for capitalistic gains. But more than anything, I want you to look at what I've said and either say a) I'm going to disagree with her and bring up valid points I have researched and lived or b) totally agree with her and be happy someone is describing what I feel. This isn't a personal attack and if you take it as one as a man it's because you've completely missed my entire point.

If the blatant double standards of Smite is on your mind less than Ao Kuang's build, you should probably ask yourself why the bombardment of unrealistic standards set on women aren't very important to you.

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wrote:

Just out of curiosity I made a survey to see what the numbers look like on this...

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GCCBXYW

Lets see what people think

Of course, gathering the general consensus still doesn't mean you have found the better answer. There's usually always validity in both opinions.

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wrote:

Damn, I've got a lot to say. Give me some black coffee and an hour.

What the hell is this Sarkeesian ********?

Really? Patriarchy? Capitalistic gains?

I'll ****ing tell you why the "blatant double standards of Smite" aren't on our mind as much as what to build Ao Kuang, because some of us JUST WANT TO PLAY THE ******** GAME.

Your post is condescending, pretentious, and filled with fourth wave Feminist Theory, and if you actually think you're going to persuade anyone you're right with your "patriarchy" ********, you're absolutely wrong.

I apologize up front for the harshness, but I have a very strong opinion about feminists in video games.

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wrote:

No. I haven't looked at YOUR source yet, which if you'd read my reply directly to you you'd already know. I was debunking SUBS sources. I've already told you this, read it:

wrote:

The fact that it's written by people with a PHD is an irrelevant appeal to authority. Academics can always be wrong, regardless of their background. Plenty of articles - and I mean plenty - go through the peer review process and remain weak. That is because the process itself is fundamentally flawed in a number of ways.

As I said, I'll discuss it tomorrow. I'm still tackling Sub's massive post.

You clearly have your stance on this. But attacking me personally does nothing for your argument. The onus is not on me to find proof that video games do or don't cause sexism - because I am not the one claiming they do. I repeat - The burden of proof is not on me in this instance because I am not the one making unfounded links between pixels and real-world sexism.

"What the point in sub finding a more credible source" implies that you think the current sources AREN'T credible yourself. The fact that you just asked what the point is of having credible and neutral sources to back up your claims is baffling. Regardless of academic qualification, they can absolutely be wrong. If you knew the first thing about academia, you'd know that there are hundreds of debates across thousands of topics. That is because academics frequently contend each other and their interpretations. PHD students are not a magical exception to this rule.

You really need to look up the appeal to authority fallacy. Infact, I've done it for you:
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Appeal_to_authority.html - 'Argument from authority (also known as appeal to authority) is a fallacy of defective induction, where it is argued that a statement is correct because the statement is made by a person or source that is commonly regarded as authoritative.'

Most importantly: 'The fallacy only arises when it is claimed or implied that the authority is infallible in principle and can hence be exempted from criticism.'

See also: http://www.logicalfallacies.info/relevance/appeals/appeal-to-authority/ [largely on the informal use]

http://www.logicallyfallacious.com/index.php/logical-fallacies/21-appeal-to-authority 'According to person 1, Y is true.
Therefore, Y is true.'

You're stating that the study is sound because it was published by a high-end college/university and was written by PHD students. That is an appeal to authority.

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wrote:

This problem is bigger than Smite. It is ingrained into society - the sexualization of women and the fact that that sexuality specifically has to be for heterosexual men. By combating the little problems in the grander picture (i.e. Smite), we're moving forward. By ignoring them we're ignoring the issue as a whole

It's only a problem if you think sexuality itself is a problem. Humans are sexual creatures. We always have been. There is nothing implicitly wrong in representing either gender as sexually attractive. In a society of agency, it is absolutely fair game to present men and women however you please.

wrote:

The sexualization of men - i.e. Magic Mike, etc, is a moot point. Men aren't overtly sexualized for women. Men are overtly sexualized for men. And when I say this, it's not in a 'omg totally gay' way. It's in a 'due to the patriarchial views of society supported by men and upheld by men, men generally sexualize themselves in a way that makes them feel more powerful, more muscular.'

Patriarchy has never been proven, and is a radical feminist theory. Your ideology is not evidence. Magic mike is a story about a highly attractive male stripper with his shirt off. If you honestly think that some heterosexual women would not find a physically active male stripper sexually alluring, I don't know what to tell you. Gay men compose around 5% of the global demographic. Women compose around 50%, and around 5% may be gay. The target audience is not gay men - it is straight women who compose a much larger portion of any given culture.

By your own logic - Women also tend to sexualise themselves in a way that makes them feel more powerful, more alluring and more attractive. Literally look at female culture - make-up, diets and womens magazines promising you secrets on becoming attractive. And there's nothing wrong with that. Men and women are allowed to fantasize about their looks as much as they wish.

wrote:

Fair assessment. There's obviously exceptions to the rule, but generally I believe you are correct on this statement.

wrote:

The biggest sexualizers of men are men. Is that to say women don't do it? No. But women don't view men the same way men view men.

Citation needed. You just made a massive leap based on two magazines. Men don't view women the same way women view women, either. What's your point? Some women view men sexually. Some men view women sexually. Most CAN view the opposite gender sexually, but by no means do they do so exclusively.

wrote:

And I want to take this time to veer away from the topic of Smite exlusively because I know I'm going to get angry messages about 'I've never done that! You're stereotyping me because I'm a man!' I never said you did. I said the male dominated and driven society does. This isn't personal - it's much bigger than you.

I'd rather discuss smite - which we still haven't discussed at all. No Western society is "male dominated." Demographically women and men compose around 50% of the world gender. Society and culture are not male dominated either. They were - to some extent - a century ago. By now though? Absolutely not. That is third-wave Feminist theory, but it is just that, a theory.

wrote:

Missrepresentation is a great documentary on Netflix on the representation of women in media. I think it would do you a lot of good to watch it and I urge you to do so.

By disregarding Smite's problematic character designs, you're disregarding the opportunity to make a change.

Women, men, gay, straight, various ethnicities, various religious groups have all and continue to all be mis-represented both in the media and otherwise. This is not a problem exclusive to women, or to any one race, sexuality or religious creed.

These designs are often sexual. Why is that a problem? They're pixels. It has no real-world implication, not when its done to males or females. And this isn't about Smite becoming a revolutionary political game. It is a MOBA. Your politics are not relevant here, in a game.

wrote:

I'm super cold and also super sleepy, so I'll add more tomorrow. But I urge you all to do more research into how rampant oversexualization of women is - and how our own sexuality is taken away from us to be used as a bargaining chip for capitalistic gains. But more than anything, I want you to look at what I've said and either say a) I'm going to disagree with her and bring up valid points I have researched and lived or b) totally agree with her and be happy someone is describing what I feel. This isn't a personal attack and if you take it as one as a man it's because you've completely missed my entire point.

By all means, I GET HOW you've come to your conclusions. I do not think they're valid. You've made way to many leaps > patriarchy with no definitive proof > male dominated culture/society with no definitive proof > men over-sexualise both men and women with no definitive proof.

But I do understand why you're concerned about OVER-sexualisation. But the fact of the matter is that over-sexualisation is not arbitrary - it is subjective. I don't think Apollo is over-sexualised, because in context he was frequently a sexual [also bi-sexual] deity. He could actually be way more sexual and the lore would still fit. The same can be said for most male and female deities. In context it is appropriate.

wrote:

If the blatant double standards of Smite is on your mind less than Ao Kuang's build, you should probably ask yourself why the bombardment of unrealistic standards set on women aren't very important to you.

It's probably because gamers come to game, not to think about representation of women or men. That doesn't make them evil. Same can be said for Hi-rez. There ARE double-standards in Smite models > that doesn't mean the Goddesses should be dressed in a less sexual manner. It simply means that any sexual male God should also be dressed in a sexual manner.

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Chiulin, it's our turn now. In regards to this: https://www.msu.edu/~pengwei/Mou&Peng_gender%20and%20racial%20stereotype.pdf

I'm not going to dissect every page for now - that isn't necessary to prove its bias and flaws, as they're repeated throughout. I'll be focusing on P. 923 as its the first problematic page.

P. 923 is where the issues begin.

' In mass media, compared to female characters, male characters appear more frequently, talk significantly more, and engage in noted behaviors more, such as achieving and showing leadership (Thompson & Zerbinos, 1995")' The source: Thompson, T. L., & Zerbinos, E. (1995). Gender
roles in animated cartoons: Has the picture changed in 20 years? Sex Roles, 32, 651-673.

The Sex roles journal can be located here: http://www.springer.com/psychology/personality+%26+social+psychology/journal/11199

Look at the Recently published top mentioned articles for Sex Roles. they are filled with feminist rhetoric. This is NOT a neutral journal on sexual representation.
'Boys Can Be Anything”: Effect of Barbie Play on Girls’ Career Cognitions'
'A Linguistic Comparison of Letters of Recommendation for Male and Female Chemistry and Biochemistry Job Applicants'
'My Eyes Are Up Here: The Nature of the Objectifying Gaze Toward Women'

This is also a citation from 1995. We're in 2014. Society and culture can rapidly change in just one year, let alone 19. You cannot use an old study to claim the current state of the world. Even IF the study was valid - which it is impossible to prove as there is no way the authors went across every culture and assessed every mass-media through a neutral lens, it STILL wouldn't be valid today. This is a repeated error this journal has made. They haven't provided a direct citation, which is an IMMEDIATE warning sign. You normally direct the reader to 1-2 pages of relevant material linked to a quote. This author has not done that for their citations.

Next citation - 'Omi, M. (1989). In living color: Race and American culture. In I. Angus & S. Jhally (Eds.), Cultural politics in contemporary America (pp. 111-122). London: Routledge.
Sadly this work is not on the Routledge website - Nor does it come up on our extensive university search system. It's a chapter within a physical book [http://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Politics-Contemporary-America-Angus/dp/0415900107]

But there's still the same to be said. There was no direct citation provided. This was written in 1988. But what I can read, as can you, is the intro on Amazon. Lets go through it's problems.

'violence against women intensifies - feminist theory - citation needed.
and response by right-wing fundamentalists
and left-wing feminists is to unite to remove the images of
pornography from the iconography of our culture.' citation needed - Page 1.

'In contemporary culture the media have become central to the
constitution of social identity - Feminist theory - citation needed. - Page 2
'We also identify and construct ourselves as social beings
through the mediation of images' Feminist theory - citation needed. - Page 2

Are we beginning to see a trend?

Feminist theory - no citations - the book was written in 1988 not 1989 which is dated - no direct citations in either your source or theirs.

Lets continue. ' For instance, women are usually perceived as subordinate and passive dependent to men, with sexual relationships as central in life.' Source: Cantor, M. G. (1987). Popular culture and the
portrayal of women: Content and control. In B. B. Hess & M. M. Ferree (Eds.), Analyzing gender: A handbook of social science research (pp. 190-214). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

I again can't locate the source. But a quick google search is incredibly telling - it's been cited in 'Theory on Gender: Feminism On Theory', 'Quality and Quantity, reconstructing feminist methodology', [That one is on springer, the source for the Sex roles E-journal.] 'Dilemmas of Femininity: Gender and the Social Construction of Sexual Imagery.'

The list literally goes on. It's quite clearly either Feminist itself or fits the Feminist narrative. Again, also written years ago. Again, I can guarantee they did not assess every media outlet from 1987 and prior, nor have they assessed any modern media.

I'm leaving it there, purely because it's the exact same problems cropping up repeatedly; I don't need to repeat them ad nauseum. If you have any specific parts you want me to dissect, give me a bell. Overall your study cites sources from years ago in a discussion on modern culture and society, Does not cite correctly or use direct quotes, has a VERY clear Feminist bias through it's citations which themselves do not cite correctly and have a clear Feminist bias.

And I'm just an undergraduate History student, so I'm barely scratching the surface by highlighting the flaws in academic conventions. If I can highlight the volume of bias, anybody can.

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So you are saying that Feminist opinions and research don't matter because they are bias?

I guess a person of any race can't make anything that has anything to do with racism then because they are clearly bias!

I guess gay people and straight people can't argue why gay couples should/should not be allowed to get married because they are clearly bias!

I am a feminist so guess I should just stop posting on any forum ever because clearly I'm bias!

I have to bring this up because I see this way to often:

People don't know the meaning of being a "Feminist".

It means:
Somebody who publicly supports the social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.

Sources:

I see people all the time confuse feminists with "somebody who hates men" or "somebody who things that woman are superior to men" (for the lack of a better word, a so called "Feme-nazi"). All feminists want is for woman to be treated equal to men. Not better, not worse.

Sorry, this might be a bit of topic.
But I really hade to let this out because it drives me insane whenever I say that I'm a feminist and people respond with "OMG! How could you betray your own gender!".

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Dissecting Smite #1: Oversexualization, Stereotyping, Double-Standards, and Other Misogyny in Smite

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