Theescapist 019.Pdf

Enjoy these articles and more in this ‘90s and thinking how exotic and new what experience the player is seeking: week’s The Escapist. these films, shows and comic books “fun and adventures” or “serious and were. Only in retrospect did I realize that realistic.” Cheers, I had been watching anime since I was a Girl Power, our issue on women and child! Casey Gatti gaming, has gone on to be the most- read issue in the magazine to date, and One difference, however, between those To the Editor: I loved your article by letters and response continue to trickle shows and shows such as Pokemon, Yu- John Tynes “The View From Here.” I was in. The often controversial topic of Gi Oh or Sailor Moon is that the shows in beginning to think that I was the only women gamers and the attitudes toward the early ‘80s were never billed as person who thought this way, Nintendo them provides fodder for interesting Japanese, while the Japanese status of just doesn’t do anything for me debate. modern anime seems to be one of their anymore. The article made me laugh and big selling points. gave me a sense of not being alone in Not being ones to keep away from this world. So thank you guys! stirring the pot for too long, we are To the Editor: In the 11/11/05 “Otaku” Timothy Kleinert covering another contentious topic this issue of The Escapist, Shannon Drake John Vanderpool week: griefers. We invited several of our discusses the rise of Japanese culture in To the Editor: Sorry, but the article, writers to express thoughts on and the US, particularly the rise of anime and “The View from Here” was a bit too one- To The Editor: I am writing in response experiences with griefers and they had manga. sided if you ask me. I’m American and to Bonnie Ruberg’s excellent article in plenty to say. Dave Thomas contributed sometimes prefer games that are simple Girl Power. Her ideas and conclusions a piece on the greatest griefer in the While I agree that this movement has and fun than heavily realistic and online about female monsters were very realm of games – you have to read it to definitely come into its own over the last driven. With the success of the DS in fascinating. understand. Jim Rossignol stepped up five to 10 years, I wanted to point out America, it shows that gamers still care with a look at some of the greatest acts that this movement has been a long time about games that are inventive, abstract At one point in the article, Ms. Ruberg of grief in EVE Online, including an coming. Starting in the late ‘70s, but and (most importantly) simple. Most of asks: “So what route is left for truly infamous heist of over $10,000 of real- especially in the early to mid ‘80s, the those console titles come from Japan empowered female characters?” With world cash. And Mark Wallace told us of American mainstream saw the unless you venture out into the Mac/PC regards to this question, I would like to the day The Grid disappeared in Second introduction of a number of Japanese shareware market. My tastes for gaming point-out the recently released title Life. anime (Speed Racer, Robotech, Voltron, are a melting pot of genres and do not Gunstar Super Heroes for the Gameboy Thundercats, etc.) and other anime- weigh to one or the other. I play Advance. This game allows you to play inspired cartoons (Transformers, Go- everything from Metal Gear to Animal through as one of two protagonists, the bots, He-man, etc.). I remember Crossing. In the end, it truly depends on creatively named “Red” and “Blue,” on “discovering” anime and manga in the any of one three difficulty settings, the only showing skin is her face; she is another example of male dominance); or any “distinctively feminine traits,” yet I hence creating six possible paths simply androgynous. in Red we have the female lead that a do not doubt that my concepts of said through the game. I had finished the female could look up to: She is not a sex traits are a result of the culture I have game on easy and normal with both So, we have an androgynous female object, does not require saving and is grown up in. Finally, I believe that it characters before I bothered to flip heroine, which can be perceived in one equal to her male counterpart, at times would be impossible to give a character through the manual, at which point I of two ways: either the artist/developer even coming to his aid. distinct gender-specific traits without discovered that Red was, in fact, a has exerted control over Red’s femininity sexualizing them to some extent. woman (based on that last sentence it is and robbed her of it (assuming said However, there is another aspect to Red pretty obvious that I had always believed person is male this could be taken as yet that I have not yet mentioned: her Either way, when I play through the her to be male). I would like to put aside personality. Remember that I mistook game as Red now, I am aware that she the obvious discussion about my own Red for a male simply due to my own is in fact a she, and that does not gender-related prejudices and expectations of how men and women change anything. Except give me even expectations for a moment and consider look and behave in videogames. Red’s more respect for Treasure as a the character Red in light of the above- personality matches her color: she is developer. mentioned article. fiery, aggressive and passionate. She believes in what she is doing and is Jason Begy Ms. Ruberg outlines three possibilities for furious towards her opposition. Yet this female videogame characters in survival personality is equally androgynous, as it To the Editor: I would like to discuss a horror (I feel these categories can be is not distinctly male nor female. So the letter sent in by Jason Begy in response applied to any genre): damsels, heroines question remains: Has she been robbed to my own article, “Women Monsters and and monsters. In Gunstar Super Heroes, of her gender identity by having no Monstrous Women.” Red is clearly a heroine. However, she is distinctively female qualities, or is she quite different from the types of heroines the long sought-after respectable, Dear Jason: I think the overarching the author describes (sex objects meant powerful heroine? question you’re asking (i.e. whether to be subordinate to the male player). As gender neutrality is better than stated above, I would still believe Red to I am inclined to believe the latter, for a sexualized gender identity) is an be male had I not read the game’s few reasons. For one, she has many of important one, and your description of manual. It is not that Red has a distinctly the traits that, from what I have read, Gunstar Super Heroes’ “Red” offers an male appearance, but rather, she is un- women look for in a playable interesting example. feminized. Her clothes fit but are not character. Secondly, I believe that any tight, her breasts are unnoticeable, and sense of “gender identity” is largely It certainly seems that Red, as a woman culturally-imposed. Red does not have who is never labeled as such in game, is able to sidestep many of the complicated sex is, in effect, the same as hiding her reflects not just on female characters but gender roles discussed in “Women identity, or denying her of it all together. male characters as well, and, second, Monsters.” She is a strong, capable that maybe sexualizing isn’t bad. To heroine. At the same time, she avoids You mention that Red has positive, remove the sex around a woman is the possibility of becoming a victim of “masculine” traits, which women often literally to take away her sex. What we sadism and voyeurism on the part of seek out in a constructive female need to consider is how we can combine players since, for the most part, they do character. Yet, I would argue that not the power of a woman like Red, and the not realize they are playing/controlling a only do we need to keep in mind the sexual identity that prevails in so many woman. In these ways, she may seem to precarious foundation of our other female characters - how, in fact, set a positive model for female understandings of “masculine” and the one can be made to feed off the characters, ones who do not need to be “feminine” - as you note - but also our other. This, in my opinion, had only been monstrous in order to maintain respect understandings of “positive” and accomplished by those women who and avoid objectification. And as a fellow “negative,” “powerful” and “weak.” simultaneously inspire terror and redhead, I can certain empathize with a attraction: namely, female monsters. fellow “fiery,” “passionate” woman. Perhaps women do not need to take on manly qualities in order to become Bonnie Ruberg However, I would personally disagree worthwhile. Assimilation, in my opinion, with the concept of androgyny as ideal in is not the ideal. We shouldn’t have to representing women. It is, perhaps, the ignore the fact that women are different safest route, but it also circumvents the than men. Of course, this isn’t meant as issue.

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