RapeLay: A Video Game Too Horrific to Believe

I'm a gamer. As a gamer, I understand that some, no, most video games are not exactly real. In some games you are from the future and dressed in huge suits of armor as you go around shooting others, in some games you ride dinosaurs called Yoshi and try to defeat the big, bad turtle guy named Bowser, in others you steal cars, shoot people, and get the cops called on you. Games are not real. Yet even so, that doesn't mean that any subject matter for a game is acceptable. What am I talking about? I am talking about this: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/30/japan.video.game.rape/index.html?hpt=C2. A video game in which the main object is to rape and sexually assault women. Yes, that's right, there is a video game about rape. A new agent to normalize sexual violence and dominance over women.

Now, while it has been taken off of store shelves everywhere (thanks to women's groups, by the way), that doesn't mean that it is not still obtainable. As the CNN article shows, the video game has been found downloadable online. The two people interviewed in this CNN video suggest that it is not that big of a deal, after all, we allow shooters, where the main objective is to kill. Besides, it's just a game. A form of escapism, really. I want to urge that it is NOT ok and the fact that we would even think this is ok is also NOT ok. Even if a video game is just a form of escapism, that does not mean that it doesn't say anything in our society. If these types of video games are allowed, doesn't that let people in our society think that this issue isn't really a big deal? Rape is a big deal. We cannot let people play games where it belittles the very harmful and real effects of rape. Also, we cannot let people play a game that degrades women in such a way and reinforces sexual violence and male dominance.

Let's look for a minute at first person shooter games. I would argue that in most of the shooter games you are killing aliens or zombies, and that there is a need for survival that requires this killing. I believe this is completely different than a game that focuses on raping a girl for "revenge." Also, just because video games are often used as escapism for most does not mean that everyone will understand that these behaviors are unacceptable. Also, by allowing people to carry out these behaviors, even in a fake setting, does that not reinforce these behaviors and thoughts? Now lets look at how tech savvy children are becoming. Don't think for a minute that a ten year old isn't capable of finding, downloading, and playing this game. Children are often the tech-savvy ones, meaning they are also the ones who can find these types of things pretty easily online (on purpose or not). A child that young does not need to see these types of games. It is, no doubt, exceptionally hard for someone at that age to understand the difference between what is acceptable in the game world and what is acceptable in the real world. Even if allowing rape in video games does not mean we allow it in our culture, it still means we are getting one step closer to allowing it.

By allowing such graphic and terrible portrayals of rape, we are becoming more and more desensitized to it. Rape is not a fun activity; it is not a game. Rape is harmful and we should never, NEVER allow it to be construed as otherwise, even in a seemingly harmless game.

Schools: The Gender Police

Today is personal story day.

Story:

In middle school I had a friend named Matt. Matt was a nice kid, kind of annoying at times to the teachers. Many thought he had the outward signs of being gay. I always argued with them about this because I didn't believe that being feminine is equivalent to being gay. (I still don't, but he did later come out.) One day, Matt wore hair clips to school. He liked his hair clips, and, to be honest, they weren't hurting anyone. The principal, however, apparently disagreed. Upon seeing the hair clips, he immediately demanded that Matt take them out. Matt refused on grounds that it wasn't breaking any school rules. The principal said that it was breaking the rule that also stated that hats could not be worn (yet he did not do anything to the girls with hair clips). This was clearly a blatant case of policing gender. In fact, it bothered the principal to the extent that he actually ripped the hair clips out of Matt's hair.

End story.

A few months back, a friend had posted a news article on her facebook wall. In the news article, the school had placed a new rule that boys could not have long hair because it was distracting and evocative of a rock star (or something along those lines). A preschooler, however, who had long hair was actually suspended from preschool because his hair violated the new rule. Again, I find this to be a form of policing gender. It also made me think of my two boy cousins who have longer hair.

Why is it that schools have such authority in gendering our children? I understand if they are wearing offensive shirts or something completely inappropriate. But why do they get to decide how long a child's hair should be? I think schools are wonderful places for children to socialize and learn, but I don't like that schools hinder the children's forms of expression. I also don't like that they have so much authority over a child's life.

From my feminist perspective, I think that these ways of making children fit into specific gender categories and policing their ways of dressing, acting, etc. is a harmful process. We are constantly telling children that they should be comfortable with who they are, that they should have good self-esteem, and be confident. Yet while we are telling them these messages, our actions belie our words. We tell them that they should be comfortable with who they are, yet we are constantly trying to change them so that they will fit into these different categories. In my opinion, we need to stop confusing these children and we need to stop stifling their self-expression.

But these are just my thoughts; what are yours?