Current Events > Vice: In Early GameFAQs, the Subtext Was Often Sexism

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https://www.vice.com/en/article/935eka/in-early-gamefaqs-the-subtext-was-often-sexism

Sadly, nostalgia often proves to be the gilded coat of paint that conceals less pleasant truths underneath. Time and time again, as I looked at character guides for RPGs or fighting game FAQs and movelists, I found a recurring motif: people being really weird about women characters in these old guides. It's little things, really. Comments about their appearanceor more commonly their sexual attractivenessthat aren't there for male characters. Notes that women characters often made it into a guide author's party because they're hot rather than because they were actually useful from a gameplay perspective. Individually, they may seem minor, but they stack up over time, and once you see one and are really aware of it, you will start to notice them everywhere. I think one of my favorites was one FAQ writer describing a woman character as being "beautiful and strong and she hasn't been given huge bosoms or anything to make her more appealing to shallow people," a statement so heavy with irony that I don't even know where to begin to discuss it. A build guide for Unlimited SaGa implies, for lack of better phrasing, the author receiving an imaginary face slap every time they comment on the weight or age of playable women. There's a "Female-only challenge" guide for the GBA Fire Emblem that the male characters make the game too easy: "Don't use them, and you'll have yourself a REAL challenge!" None of these examples are exactly four-alarm fires; they're microaggressions, as many things of this type usually are. It's not that any one example is usually anything more than off-putting, but seeing them happen repeatedly really starts to grate, at best, and at worst has the potential to be strongly upsetting.

A foundational Marxist theorist, Louis Althusser, describes a process called interpellation, where the structures in our culture "hail" us to identify ourselves relative to them. This is a simplification of a larger and more complex idea, obviously, but in many ways that's what this onslaught of microaggressive or objectifying comments and statements is doing. Surrounded by messaging that connects "women are sexy objects" with "we're talking to you, Gamers" means players are being told "Hey -- understand yourself as a gamer in relation to this framing." It doesn't necessarily presuppose that the person being hailed will agree, but it does mean that the boundaries of the discussion have been set before that person even gets a proverbial word in. FAQs like those found at GameFAQs are fan creations: made by players, for other players. It would be really easy to blame these weird, objectifying comments and asides on individuals or small groups, i.e. "well, these players are just being weird" or "what can you expect from video game culture?" The question we need to ask ourselves, though, is: what's building that culture in the first place? It's not like the idea "women are objects to be possessed/are there for your gratification" came from outer space on a meteor like a sci-fi virus. The answer is that a specific type of masculine identity has been sold to players (male or not) for decades; it's built into the marketing of games and the construction of an ideal consumer by the industry itself.

The takeaway here is clear: none of the weird sexualizing comments I saw in these old FAQs was somehow new or novel behavior, but rather just another form of a cultural shift that had been over a decade in the making at that point and which is continuing on in new and different forms and angles today. This is why the urge to say "well, this is all in the past" does serious potential harm: it lets us pretend that people nowadays are fine, it was just the old ways and/or the old people that were bad. What's the difference between a FAQ writer running down how hot the only playable woman in a fighting game cast is and a gacha game player's use of the cringe-inducing "waifu"? My intention here isn't to beat you about the head and shoulders with the "gamer men are evil!" stick. I do think, however, that it's important we confront these troublesome bits of our history rather than pretend they didn't happen. I think it says something that thinking back on my college days in the 90s, I legitimately do not remember noticing or even thinking about the sorts of things I found in FAQs coming back to them in 2020. It's not that they weren't there, but that at the time I likely didn't have the awareness or the skills to notice them and see them for what they were. All of this definitely makes me wonder, though: if you're in your late teens or early 20s now, what are you going to see coming back to look at this content 20-30 years from now? What will you notice then that you maybe aren't seeing now, just like what happened to me with these FAQs? Will we have learned from this recurring cycle of mistakes and problems?

Article had more characters than this site allows so didn't quote entire thing.



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still is

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@sballen

Were you aware of this?

Choco posted...

still is

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Always has been

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https://www.vice.com/en/contributor/todd-harper

Wonder if they are a current or former user.

If a CEman, definitely would be sjw type.

Choco posted...

still is

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the games themselves are sexist, often made by sexist devs or devs catering to sexist players

Of course the only playable woman in a fighting game is going to be attractive
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Choco posted...

still is

Article actually says something like that.

This is why the urge to say "well, this is all in the past" does serious potential harm: it lets us pretend that people nowadays are fine, it was just the old ways and/or the old people that were bad.

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the 1.2% female population here is mistreated, that's fair to say

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Lebronwon posted...

Article actually says something like that.

This is why the urge to say "well, this is all in the past" does serious potential harm: it lets us pretend that people nowadays are fine, it was just the old ways and/or the old people that were bad.

What if his next article is all about vegy posts! :O

lol

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Gamefaqs is rampant with sexist males you say? Well I never!

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Oh shit we famous
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lol, what a joke.

Ah that picture will never lose mileage.

Anyhoo, I skimmed some of my old guides and didn't really find much in my own work at least that falls under this.

Then again I guess any publicity is good publicity for a site like us.

That said, the article itself seems like it's six years too late at this revelation, when gamers rose up and declared themselves every bit as toxic as they were suspected of being.

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Dear Vice,

Get fucked.



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Lebronwon posted...

A build guide for Unlimited SaGa implies, for lack of better phrasing, the author receiving an imaginary face slap every time they comment on the weight or age of playable women

I'm sorry, but this made me laugh.

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Vice sucks ass

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Choco posted...

still is

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Shadowplay posted...

A build guide for Unlimited SaGa implies, for lack of better phrasing, the author receiving an imaginary face slap every time they comment on the weight or age of playable women

@im_biggy

SLAP

As an aside I find it really irritating when guide authors add too much "personality." A little color here and there is fine, but I'm here for information and would prefer it if I didn't have to wade through your terrible jokes.

The only thorough Bayo 2 collectible guide I could find is like 50% garbage intermingled with actual information. Terrible guide, and somebody should make another without all the bull shit.

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Jabodie posted...

The only thorough Bayo 2 collectible guide I could find is like 50% garbage intermingled with actual information. Terrible guide, and somebody should make another without all the bull shit.

Oh it can't be that ba--

*reads the introduction*

Never mind.

Y'know whenever I worry about too much levity and color commentary in my guides, I can just go back to this one and feel better about myself.

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I mean, lots of people here and gamers in general are still sexists.

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darkphoenix181 posted...

@im_biggy

SLAP

Honestly, looking at the guide itself, that article was misleading. Apparently in that game, a character's weight is relevant to how you build them. The slap thing just looks like a little joke regarding how unclassy it is to comment on a woman's weight. What's more, it was only mentioned in reference to one character:
https://saga.fandom.com/wiki/Laura


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Shadowplay posted...

Honestly, looking at the guide itself, that article was misleading. Apparently in that game, a character's weight is relevant to how you build them. The slap thing just looks like a little joke regarding how unclassy it is to comment on a woman's weight. What's more, it was only mentioned in reference to one character:
https://saga.fandom.com/wiki/Laura

Did you just call Laura fat?

*SLAP

CyricZ posted...

Oh it can't be that ba--

*reads the introduction*

Never mind.

Y'know whenever I worry about too much levity and color commentary in my guides, I can just go back to this one and feel better about myself.

Lol "terrible" is a bit harsh since all the information there is correct and complete. But man...

And some jokes here and there can be nice, especially if it's a full walk through. But this one was annoying me yesterday lol.

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Smashingpmkns posted...

Oh shit we famous

Not really, it's just Vice.

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CyricZ posted...

Oh it can't be that ba--

*reads the introduction*

Never mind.

Y'know whenever I worry about too much levity and color commentary in my guides, I can just go back to this one and feel better about myself.

That guide reads as if presented by every awful Youtuber. I'm surprised we didn't get a "it's ya boi" in there.

TheSavageDragon posted...

That guide reads as if presented by every awful Youtuber. I'm surprised we didn't get a "it's ya boi" in there.

When I look at it, for some reason it reminds me of those movies where Adam Sandler does a dumb voice through the whole thing.

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Lebronwon posted...

A foundational Marxist theorist

lmao

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Jabodie posted...

As an aside I find it really irritating when guide authors add too much "personality." A little color here and there is fine, but I'm here for information and would prefer it if I didn't have to wade through your terrible jokes.

The only thorough Bayo 2 collectible guide I could find is like 50% garbage intermingled with actual information. Terrible guide, and somebody should make another without all the bull shit.

I just read the intro and I had to cringe out of there <_< I couldn't handle it lol

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NeonOctopus posted...

I just read the intro and I had to cringe out of there <_< I couldn't handle it lol

It would've been okay if it was just the intro, but every single paragraph is like that. I'm going to look at his other FAQs for funsies.

EDIT: Surprisingly his Mega Man 10 Mega Buster Boss FAQ is only cringe in the intro. But that intro has enough cringe for an entire guide. He calls his critics "bitches and hoebags"

Did they expected enlightened literature when reading a videogame guide written by some teenager in his spare time?

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Lmao I'm glad people agree with me on that example at least.

TheSavageDragon posted...

It would've been okay if it was just the intro, but every single paragraph is like that. I'm going to look at his other FAQs for funsies.

As you can imagine, I was basically running through levels as quickly as possible and checking to pick up stuff I missed. And every time I looked I was greeted with some stupid shit to read lol.

TheSavageDragon posted...

But that intro has enough cringe for an entire guide. He calls his critics "b****es and hoebags"

If that's the case I'm a proud bitch/hoebag.

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This article has to be satire.

I was reading a sticky for a game and noticed how that humor would not be accepted today

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darkprince45 posted...

I was reading a sticky for a game and noticed how that humor would not be accepted today

what sticky?

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Gamefaqs needs to respect women.

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I mean going by Vegy and NeonOctopus it's not even subtext
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Remove the early part

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How dumb the whole fucking internet was sexist and still is

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A lot of those guides in the past were written by teenagers. Of course they'll be edgy, cringe and hormonal. Why did the author expect different?

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Bio1590 posted...

I mean going by Vegy and NeonOctopus it's not even subtext

Me and @Vegy respect da FUCK out of women!

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It was a silent hill sticky iirc

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Between Saxon, Ishan Howard, that guy rynning for whatever in florida I think Gfaqs is becoming the trashy reddit

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