I am not a gamer. In fact, I can confidently say that the video I've most played is Galaga during lunch at the Pizza Hut across the street from my high school. For $2.50 I could buy a slice of pepperoni pizza, a 12oz can of Coke and play Galaga as long as I could stretch my $0.25 out. It's an understatement to say gaming has changed dramatically since my short lived Galaga days. I am not completely unaware of what's out there, but I am definitely not experienced. I tried my hand a couple of times at playing Tomb Raider when it first came out, but was easily frustrated at my lack of coordination and manipulation of the hand controller (is that what it's called?). But I readily remember my fascination with seeing a game like Tomb Raider with a femme fatale like Lara Croft. From a female perspective, I can only slightly relate to Schleiner's "Lara as Positive Role Model" because I had never heard of a game whose primary character was a woman: Intelligent, Boobalicious Glamazon with Weapons...what's not to like? It would be kick ass to be a deadly woman of Lara's proportions, but it's still rather unrealistic. Both Rehak and Schleiner make a clear case for Lara's conception as that of the heterosexual male fantasy.
"Male fans, however, find in Croft's semiotic territory fertile ground to extend their fetishistic involvement. Croft's followers are eager to sexualize her through the creation of erotic pictures and paratexts...'The absence of any romantic or sexual intrigue within the game narrative potentially leaves her sexuality open to conjectural appropriation on the part of the players"(pg 170)
Seriously. We have seen an ever so slightly recurring role of women as "objects" as opposed to women as "subjects" in our readings and discussions of the digital world. Our discussion in Thursday's class reiterates that point bc of the patriarchal society we live in. Rehak pointed out that of the women out there that enjoy gaming, Tomb Raider is not on the top of their list. Why? Because Lara was designed for men by men. Everything about Lara poises her as an object of desire - for men. From her unrealistic anatomical make-up to the gamers ability to "control" her. I'm not trying to say that men are pigs and they shouldn't enjoy Lara. Do what you gotta do. But I'm no extreme feminist either. Lara is a fantasy. Her fan base and the extremes they go through to build up her complex backstory and dress their girlfriends in Lara-esque style is remarkable. Not to mention the game plug-in and patch work to create "Nude Raider". "The digital star is the location on which fantasies of desire and control are projected; they embody the fears, desires, and excess of our culture in the form of obnoxiously sexualized female stars." (pg 171).
I guess I never considered how Lara Croft could be so idolized, fandomized and fantasized about, but I think alot of that has to do with the fact that I cannot be counted as one that belongs to the gaming community. However, after reading Rehak's article, I was a bit in awe to the extremes by which fans of an avatar would go to have their Lara widely appropriated and realized. It doesn't surprise me that Lara lives in the realm of the male pornographic fantasy. I guess men will get their jollies however they can.
I played Millipede and Ms. Pacman for hours and used my allowance to help feed my habit.
ReplyDeleteFinally my sister and I got a Colecovision when I was about 10. I would play PacMan, Frogger, Pitfall, and Donkey Kong until my parents made me stop.
When I was 21 my roommate in college rented the original Super Mario Bro's for my birthday and I stayed up for 15 hours straight playing it.
My sister never was a video game girl and now that we are adults she has the Wii system and she still isn't into it.
I LOVE the challenge of games and still like trying to figure out how to get the highest score.
Do you think that gamers would create a she-hero to be everything that their nerdette counterparts aren't? It was stated in the "Nerd" article that the female version of a nerd is a white whale of a woman who really doesn't have much attraction at all, she doesn't get much exercise and basically does everything that a nerd does except she is female. In a sense, would Lara be the opposite of a nerd?
ReplyDeleteLike you, I was definitly in awe of the extremes of Lara Croft's fans have gone to. Reading Mapping the Bit Girl made me think about my past gaming experiences like you, im not much of a gamer, but when I was little i remember playing Street Fighter on my Sup Nintendo, and thinking why are there only 2 girls I can choose from in the game compared to the 15 guys i can choose from. Thinking back to this game, I see how far the gaming community has come and I guess making one main woman avatar in a game sparked the interest in many...men. Why has this not happened with woman gamers? Why have woman gamers not been so infatuated with a male avatar...like...Mario! ha just kidding...but really...The thought did cross my mind while reading your blog, and Mapping the bit girl. Great Blog Dena!
ReplyDeleteI think the reason that there is no male avatar that women are infatuated with is because men aren't as interesting to look at. Not that we don't like looking at men, but for the most part women are always checking out other women probably as often as men are checking out other women. I know I can't speak for everyone, but this seems to be true in my circle of friends.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I looked at Schleiner's article, I basically came to the same conclusion. It seems that the objectification of Lara, through game design concessions and intent, outweighs the role of Lara as a positive role model for all players.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is good to see a female character as the player character in a game, Lara is positioned as little more than a puppet with no depth in the manufactured personality. It becomes nearly impossible to actually relate to the character of Lara Croft as anything more than an object because her representation is always front and center. From what I gathered, the game doesn't really use visuals or dialog to make the player feel like they're a part of Lara's psyche or actions.
I have evaluated your blog and comments (where applicable). My comments on this week's assignment can be found at: http://academicsandbox.com/DTC475blog/?p=75
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty of male avatars that women lust over, but they aren't in fighting games...do a search for final fantasy guys.
ReplyDelete