Lupingosei
Banned
https://areomagazine.com/2018/08/30/feminist-frequency-and-the-truth-about-video-games/
There are some interesting topics in this article. For example the research part.
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And then he mentions ResetEra (no, not really, but he brings up a very important point)
It is an interesting article and it is funny to see how he has to walk on eggshells because he knows what would happen, if he would criticize them too much.
But at one point he is wrong
The ultimate goal is to make games like Grand Theft Auto to go away. Look at Dead or Alive, Doom or the articles about Senran Kagura. The want those games to go away, which will lead to the backlash against the whole movement even from people not involved with Gamergate or similar movements.
There are some interesting topics in this article. For example the research part.
That’s a great suggestion, except it’s not clear that Feminist Frequency is aware that this research does not always support their larger narrative.
Activist groups selectively citing research is hardly an issue unique to Feminist Frequency. Anti-media advocacy groups have always historically distorted and exaggerated the evidence for the impact of media on behavior.
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Many films and essays that highlight the supposed oppressive evils of the entertainment industry do so by failing to inform viewers or readers of research that might provoke a more nuanced rather than alarmist view.
To be fair, Feminist Frequency typically endorses a more cautious view of media effects than some. For instance, in the second installment of Tropes vs Women, Sarkeesian explicitly rejects a “monkey see/monkey do” vision of media effects (which, by contrast, appears to be the version of media effects endorsed by the AAP and APA.) However, she does speak to media as having a “powerful cultivation effect” on cultural attitudes and opinions such as on issues related to sexism and violence toward women.
This can, at times, feel a bit like having one’s cake and eating it too. Linking violent video games to violence in society can feel like a simplified, rubbish belief, but it’s one that can be tested. Indeed, the very fact it has been proven untrue, has led to significant changes in how our society has come to view video game violence, with increasingly greater reluctance to blame mass shootings and other violence on games. But focusing on difficult to measure attitudes and beliefs, particularly when tied to historical culture, tends to produce great talking points, but less clear data.
Demonstrating cultivation from playing video games has specifically not fared well. One recent study found that playing militaristic games did not, in fact, cultivate militaristic attitudes. Research by the same group found that playing video games with potentially sexist content did not result in sexist attitudes among gamers three years later. One Italian study initially suggested playing Grand Theft Auto might be associated with decreased empathy for women among players, but a reanalysis of this data, conducted by psychologist Brent Donnellan and myself, revealed the conclusions to have been flawed, with little actual evidence for cultivation beliefs. Another study suggested that exposure to Grand Theft Auto might actually reduce rape myth acceptance in players. None of this is to suggest that the evidence either for or against effects is unequivocal. Some studies do suggest cultivation beliefs, although debate regarding the methodological validity of many studies both for and against cultivation continues. In a follow up to our reanalysis of the Italian study, we discuss some of the evidence both for and against effects. But presenting cultivation effects as an established truth rather than a point of debate is deeply misleading.
And then he mentions ResetEra (no, not really, but he brings up a very important point)
Activist groups often seem to have an unavoidable urge to overplay their hands, to lurch from good-faith appeals to our better natures into hyperbolic claims of urgency, and an inability to acknowledge a win and celebrate it. In failing to remain balanced, advocacy efforts can often implode under their most extreme voices and give credibility to the very backlashes they warn of.
It is an interesting article and it is funny to see how he has to walk on eggshells because he knows what would happen, if he would criticize them too much.
But at one point he is wrong
Failing to do so can make a good cause seem like a grinding stream of criticism, increasingly focused on pickier critiques and more rigid goals. Or, put another way, Feminist Frequency were right to call for more strong female characters, but the world is big enough for both Horizon Zero Dawn and Grand Theft Auto.
The ultimate goal is to make games like Grand Theft Auto to go away. Look at Dead or Alive, Doom or the articles about Senran Kagura. The want those games to go away, which will lead to the backlash against the whole movement even from people not involved with Gamergate or similar movements.
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