GTA V banned from Target Australia

[BumblebeeCody*]

I was getting madder and madder the more I was reading in this thread.

Me too.

Everything Hex said is true. We, true feminists, are not about men hating. In fact, feminism at it's core is about equality. That's it. We just want to be equal to you guys. All across the board, too- we want to be equal with everything, from equal pay, to getting respect (everywhere- form in the workplace, to in the home, to in-game).

Please, guys, do not hate us a whole. It is very easy for us female gamers to hate y'all as a whole, but we don't. So many of you harass us in-game, and even on our youtubes or facebook pages. But we don't hate y'all as a whole. We don't call you all "neckbeards". So please, please do not lump all us feminists together.

There are so many , MANY problems to even begin even talk about that I'd have to make an entire forum just for it. It goes into so many related topics like: 
Video games are art - video games are art, therefore subjective, therefore criticism is holds no bearing on the product. By this I mean, whether you find the game/person/entity offensive or not is your opinion to free express. However it doesn't give you the right to alter forms of art to your liking. The world doesn't work like there. If we alter art, then we may as well delete the rape scene from or put trousers over Michael Angelos David since his dick is hanging out(See The Simpsons episode "Itchy and Scratchy and Marge").
Men in the minority - Those that do harass are in the minority.
Male sexism/challenging masculinity - When sexism is in effect, both parties are hurt. When females are told that "they can't do this", or "This is for(generally) for boys", not only do females get hurt by the statement but men also. For when a female steps into the scene and destroys a male scene, men feel less "masculine". Trust, even I had this mentality "Oh man I got beaten by a girl". Then instant rage. That being said I was about 5 so... yeah. Some people can't accept that women can achieve and even be better than males in certain areas. Because of this, a lot of men feel challenge and lash out. They'll dismiss the hard work a female puts in to get to where she is(see the working world/male and female jealously/how boys and girls are told to be a certain way from a young age etc). 
People only care about the extremes - In the case of feminism. People look at this crazy woman and assume that this is what feminism is about. When it's not. The same can be said for Mens Rights but you look on Reddit and the Mens Rights section is a cesspool of shit. That's not what the idea is. That's the stupidity of the extreme and people giving it attention. 
All [insert group] are the same - This something I hate a lot. The assumption that one person represents an entire group of think they know that group because they are part of said group. For example a female blogger that says why Dragons Crowns boobs are shameful to women. Why Bayonetta is sexist. Why Killer is Dead is misogynistic. This goes under the assumption that as a women you wouldn't and shouldn't be able to enjoy this. That no female will find these games fun. When based on my own friends personal experiences and how they feel, that it's not the case. You can find plenty of personal experiences made on females interacting with these games and not having problem. It's to assume that everyone within the [human category] is the same. The same can be said for all black people being offended and using terms to say how all black people feel. As said as it sounds, you'd be surprised by how diverse so many people are. 

but I am a neckbeard...

Really, I find it a shame more than anything else both for the obvious and the fact that it hinders games themselves.

Really, I wish this just wasn't a thing.

It brings in such a level of smugness that I find to be a problem. It's the way that people praise Ellie and Tess in The Last of Us or Alyx Vance in Half-life yet shun Bayonetta because she's a bad representation of women. It means we have less thought of creativity put into media and instead are giving praise to "gritty, hard hitting characters because....well because". While Bayonetta, Lara Croft, Zero Suit Samus can be shunned because they're awesome character but have a level of sex appeal, humour, sillyness, flair, upbeat attitude, charming,  that the others don't. As I said before, it's an inadvertent way of shaming good looking women. "You can't be good looking AND kick arse". 

Do we have to throw Anita Sarkeesian into the conversation very time something like this comes up now? That shit's getting really tired.

As much as I think Anita is generally uneducated about what she's talking, she managed to get an important issue into the spotlight which I can't fault her for. There's nothing wrong in wanting to make media more inclusive to all types of people which, at her core, I think Anita was going for. However her delivery of the some videos is so off the mark she really is just losing what her initial point was. Anita is a very key important person in this. 

I'm not going to dissect her videos but the second video posted is already a perfect example of why she is wrong in cases. 
Something I firmly believe in is "Content is everything". Context context context. The video starts with Anita using the clip of a man (from Dragon Age) saying "Grab and whore and have a good time".

Context is everything:
1) If you actually play Dragon Age: Origins you'll know that Vaughan Kendells is massive dick. He's someone that is mean, vile, rude, looks down on people and will trample on anyone with no remorse. He has no sympathy or affection for others. He is the definition of an arsehole. 
2) The scene in which he says that statement isn't a one-off he says this kind of shit frequently.
3) he generally think nothing of women in general and is infact, a serial rapist. 
4) Watch the entire scene? 

I say context is everything because:
You have to look at what the meaning of the scene before using it out of context to form a point. It's because of Anitas use of random clips that it give the illusion that this is how games are.
In the case of Dragon Age: Origin, the character was written that way. He is dislikeable and that was the writers intention (Keep in mind that one of the main writers for Dragon Age: Origins is Jennifer Hepler). 
It's also worth pointing out that not decent human being actually find these types of actions and saying good. You don't have male "gamers" saying "yeah I see no problem with this". People generally hate this type of offensiveness. I personally hate the things that he says because it's disgusting. You will not find any decent male saying they agree with what he said. 
Lastly you have to remember this is story telling and a work of fiction. It doesn't make a statement to real life human beings. In the same way an actor doesn't generally believe in what the villain says. You have to seperate what fiction from reality which Anita doesn't do. 

There's so much more but only 5 seconds in and you can see why I can't find Anita worthy of her cause. She has point yet isn't able to get that point across. As I said, 'context is everything'. 

Personally I think it's videos like this which set the gaming industry back. It's the same as "why we can't have nice things". We can't have a sexy English 500 year old witch summon demon frogs from her hair because it's apparently sexist. We can't have Watch_Dogs showing domestic violence because people like Anita dismiss them as sideshow attractions to which us male gamer have a wanking session over. We can't talk about the discussion of implied rape because then it's another point to add to feminist lists. 
It sets us back because we aren't allowed to have games talking and tackling very much serious issues. If it's not about serious issues like domestic violence then we can't have the carefree fun of Bayonetta because then that's sexist, despite the fact many females have written articles on Bayonetta being empowering more than anything.

As I said before, there's nothing wrong with Anita Sarkessian as it's her opinion and I have to give her a lot of respect for making these video and raising an important issue. Not only that but, while I disagree with her(not all the time), there are those men and females that praise the videos for being able to speak out for them. Finally giving a group that hates the tropes a voice, which again, is something I can respect. She has given a group a voice. This forum alone has shown that it's important to certain members which just adds to why these videos discussing these tropes develops us as a people. We get better games, gaming becomes more inclusive and can be enjoyed by many.
However she should study more in-depth into she's talking about first. Gaming isn't as linear as Anita makes it out to be. I rarely see any mention of games outside of the obvious ones like Assassins Creed. Howabout praising female fighters(Chun-li, Asuka Kazama)? Just saying it'd be nice to really see Anita reach out in games and genre because she's on the right tracks.
Anita isn't out to take out video games away.

 What I'm not saying is that she's entirely wrong or that she should stop because, it's her opinion and she's open to free express it. However on the other end it's the men who make the situation worse by not understanding what the opposition says. "Some bitch on YouTube is criticising my gaming hobby, fuck her". Down vote. Rather than going "well what is the point of the video and does it work? Are the points valid? What evidence is there to backup the claims". Obviously that's never going to happen what with dickhead movements like GamerGate being around but yeah. This goes for argument in general. Understanding the opposition is a better way of counter arguing or even changing your mind. 

As a male I'll never understand that feeling, but if it's giving people the courage to talk about this, then more power to her. It's not something for people to give up on, but to be absorbed and developed on.
As I said at the beginning, it doesn't benefit either side.

Edit: Wow WTF happened?