However, I felt the need to get in touch with Anita Sarkeesian and her team via their website contact box.
This is what I wrote. If I am replied to I shall post it here as well.
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Hello Anita and team Feminist Frequency!
I am a fairly recent viewer of the channel.
Admittedly, having had seen some of the earlier material, I had dismissed it as being at the needlessly radical end of feminism, which does nothing to promote equality in any real terms. I now see that I have been mistaken, mainly due to not having viewed enough.
I particularly enjoy the current series- Tropes VS Women in Video Games. I am an avid gamer myself and have been since age 5 when I first switched on a SNES. Video games have always been a form of escapism for me in the same way as a novel. I agree that however beloved a game or franchise is, it should not be immune from criticism- indeed, criticism is an important part of any media. I fully agree that too many modern games are far too obsessed with violence and being "dark", "edgy", and "gritty". Despite there being more female central characters in video games than ever- the industry is not representing women fairly or correctly, and this needs to be addressed; both by external criticism and by change from within from more female game developers. I cannot understand all of these gaming trolls who think that your videos will somehow "be takin' their vidya away". Anything that serves to improve and diversify videogaming, as well as making it more accessible and enjoyable to more people ought to be celebrated.
I have a small piece of constructive criticism, particularly for Anita Sarkeesian. Anita, your criticisms of the industry and the wrongs it does to women in gaming are right on the money- the "Ms Male character" the "girls in refrigerators" and "damsel in distress" are all harmful and detrimental to attitudes towards women in a wider sense. However, when it comes to newer, more progressive games, they are glossed over quickly or largely ignored in your videos. Instead, you focus on what games of the past have gotten wrong. It's important to balance criticisms with good examples that already exist. I love that you mentioned Beyond Good and Evil, and rightly described it as a very positive game in it's representation of women- but you never went into any depth as to WHY that is. Why Jade is an excellent character. Why the plot is very gender friendly whilst still having that darker edge to it.
Constructive criticism has to somehow suggest how a wrong can be made right, or ways in which something can actively be improved. Without that, it is seen as plain criticism at best; complaining at worst.
I have not forgotten the excellent concept "The Last Princess"- the game that you and team FemFreq coined as a woman-centric game with an empowered female lead character. I would buy this game in a heartbeat, as it sounds fantastic. In fact- why doesn't FemFreq enter talks with a studio to get this game made? If you were actively involved as design consultants then the game would set a standard for gaming attitudes. This was not only a sweeping away of harmful tropes and clichés; but a way to bypass them and actively address the issues in a very real sense.
At the very least however, I would really love to see parts of the series with a more positive spin. As well as informing and raising awareness of what developers are doing wrong; I would say it's as important (maybe even more so) to raise awareness on what they're doing RIGHT.
Sincerely yours,
Scott Smillie.
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