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Responses - Accusations
Computer games have been accused of encouraging real world violence and
degrading women through violent and/or sexual content. Are these
accusations accurate?
These are pervasive accusations
scattered throughout the relevant resources. Such accusations deserve
to be taken seriously as they are major impediments to the widespread acceptance
of computer games among all sections of Australian society. This
Web page does not take a stand either way, but simply presents some relevant
facts and possible arguments both for and against each accusation for the
consideration of policy makers.
ViolenceDegradation
of women
- Violence
With the exception of Strip
Poker, every one of the 13 computer games reviewed as relevant
resources for this Web site contains at least a small amount of violence.
Accusations of dangerous levels of violence within computer games are most
common within
Government,
newspaper,
journal,
and unpublished resources.
Arguments that SUPPORT
the continued existence of these types of games include:
* The violence in
computer games is not real. In other words, if you cause your character
to commit an act of violence in a computer game, you cannot be prosecuted
for that act in a court of law in the real world. Conversely, if
your character has violence inflicted upon him or her, the perpetrator
cannot be brought to justice in the real world. See Murphy,
2000.
* Art reflects life.
Violence is present in real life. Computer games, as legitimate artistic
expressions, are fully entitled to contain depictions of violence.
See Russo and Toyama, 2001 and Hyper,
2000.
* None of the 13
games (including Strip Poker) has
ever been recommended for play by children (i.e. under 13 year olds) by
any Australian, UK,
or USA censorship authority. Those
specifically recommended for adults only by one or more of these authorities
are: Harvester,
Phantasmagoria,
Phantasmagoria
2, Point of View, Strip
Poker, Tender Loving Care,
and Voyeur. Just as some movies
are only meant for adults or older teenagers, so too are some computer
games.
* Harvester
treads numerous "grey areas" in justifications for the infliction of violence,
for example that much of the violence is directed against people who only
have existence within a computer generated virtual reality world.
In other worlds, it closely explores the issue of the context in which
the violent acts are committed.
* Indeed, violence
often has a context and than thus be considered justifiable in many instances
such as in self-defence (e.g. Phantasmagoria
and Point of View), or in the defence
of others (e.g. Doom, Duke
Nukem 3D, and Night Trap).
* Many contain optional
internal censorship features for the benefit of younger players
and squeamish adults.
* Many academic
studies have shown that players of violent computer games do not become
more aggressive in real life. See also Durkin
(1995), Durkin (1999), Hayes
(2001), and Pottinger (1999).
Arguments that REJECT
the continued existence of these types of games include:
* Art need not reflect
real life. Real life is often too grim and distressing for many people,
especially innocent and impressionable children. Such people need
brighter and gentler themes in their entertainment. This argument
is particularly favoured by Young Media Australia.
But see also Heins, 2001.
* The interactive
nature of computer games considerably blurs the line that separates fantasy
from reality. As a result, game players are likely to become psychologically
disturbed by the violence contained within these products. Senate
Committee publications are particularly prominent in promoting this
view.
* One game, Custer's
Revenge, presents violence entirely in a way that cannot be even
remotely justified by any civilised line of thought.
* Three games - Custer's
Revenge, Doom, and Duke
Nukem 3D have the infliction of violence as their dominant aim
and primary activity expected of the player's character.
* As the extensive
discussion below attests, many computer games contain violence against
women.
* Optional
internal censorship features are insufficient for effective child supervision.
Furthermore, most adults do not possess the technical competency to adequately
regulate their children's access to violent computer games. This
argument is another particularly favoured by Young Media Australia.
* Some academic
studies have shown that players of violent computer games become more
aggressive in real life. See also Chapman,
2000 and Turner, 1993.
ViolenceDegradation
of women
- Degradation
of women
While the accusations raised
in this category are pervasive throughout the relevant resources (e.g.
all instances of Senate Committee and Hansard
literature), it is very difficult to discover the exact reasons behind
such beliefs. It is unfailingly assumed that the reader fully understands
and sympathises with what is meant by vague phrases such as
Chapman
(2000) or Dietz's (1998) "violence
against women". Furthermore, such accusations are allowed to pass
unchallenged by all other authors.
To break this unwarranted
silence, this section examines both sides of the argument as perceptively
as possible. Many of the arguments that these games do in fact degrade
women are derived from this Web site author's careful "reading between
the lines" of the relevant literature and his observations on Western culture.
Opposing arguments are largely derived from the Web site author's personal
game playing experiences . In the absence of other evidence and genuine
debate on these issues, such extreme and perhaps provocative measures were
necessary in order for the readers of this page to fully understand this
vital, but often neglected area of opposition to computer games.
Out of the 13 games reviewed
as relevant resources for this Web site, 12 depict women in some way (all
except Doom).
a) Through violence:
* Out of those 12
games, 11 depict violence of any type to female characters (all apart from
Strip
Poker).
* In games where
violence against female characters is shown, 6 titles either depict, refer
to, or strongly suggest sexual or attempted sexual violence ( The
11th Hour,
Custer's Revenge,
Duke
Nukem 3D, Phantasmagoria,
Point
of View, and Voyeur ) ...
or 7 if one counts the alleged sexualised violence in Dream
Web.
Arguments that such depictions
DO NOT degrade women include:
* The violence in
computer games is not real. In other words, if you cause your character
to commit an act of violence in a computer game, you cannot be prosecuted
for that act in a court of law in the real world. Conversely, if
your character has violence inflicted upon him or her, the perpetrator
cannot be brought to justice in the real world. See Murphy,
2000.
* Every game that
depicts violence against women also depicts violence against men.
The violence against men is often significantly more severe and/or frequent
than the violence against women (especially in The
11th Hour, Dream Web, Duke
Nukem 3D, Harvester, and Point
of View). The one game on the computer games resources page
that does not depict women in any way, Doom,
depicts frequent gory violence against men.
* Female characters,
including those at least partly under the control of the player, can also
inflict violence. In other words, many of these women are strong,
capable, and far from helpless. Prominent examples may be seen in
The
11th Hour, Harvester,
Phantasmagoria,
Phantasmagoria
2,
Point of View, and Tender
Loving Care. In all these cases, women attack (and often
kill) men for either good (e.g. defence of self or others) or evil (e.g.
out of selfishness or maliciousness) reasons.
* The games that
depict or suggest sexual violence in any way are merely reflecting real
life where such actions do occur. With the exception of the highly
unpopular, obscure, and never imitated Custer's
Revenge video game, sexual violence is unfailingly presented in
a highly negative way - as something to be strongly opposed. Voyeur,
and, in particular,
Point of View,
engage in valuable social commentary in regard to the causes and consequences
of such violence. It is far better to confront this serious problem
in society than to ignore it.
* A large percentage
of women in these controversial computer games have strong and complex
personalities, often driving the storylines through their own actions.
Often, they are the most important characters in a particular game.
As such, they must be subject to a similar risk of danger/violence compared
to male characters in similar central roles. Some major examples
include
The 11th Hour, both Phantasmagoria
games, Point of View, and Tender
Loving Care.
* Women both design
and play controversial computer games (e.g.
the Phantasmagoria games).
As such, it is unlikely that too much, if any, female degradation will
be depicted.
* Some women in most
Western countries are employed by the armed or police forces where gun
usage is often expected as is occasional physical combat. Thus, women
can capably inflict violence in the real world. It is only reasonable
to expect that computer games reflect this fact.
* Some women (and
men) in real life do become genuine victims of violence in situations where
they find themselves physically and/or emotionally unable to cope in some
way. This is an unfortunate and regrettable part of life, but, as
art reflects life, it is only natural that some computer games characters
will be depicted in this way (e.g. Duke
Nukem 3D, Harvester,
Night
Trap).
Arguments that such depictions
DO degrade women include:
* Women should retain
their traditional feminine mystique. An important component of this
requirement is that they act in a significantly different manner to that
expected of men. In particular, they should refrain from all acts
of violence and expect men to come to their aid if violence is being inflicted
upon them. These rules apply as much to the fictional world of computer
games as they do to real life. A woman inflicting violence in any
way for any reason degrades herself from her refined feminine state.
* A woman who has
sexual violence inflicted upon her is degraded because she must somehow
have carelessly brought such misfortune upon herself by "asking for it",
or because she did not arrange for a friendly man to come to her aid to
stop such violence.
* All real-world
and fictional women, without exception, are physically and emotionally
the inferiors of men. They are always gentle, kind, and considerate
to all people. Under no circumstances do women ever inflict violence
upon others or seriously provoke others to inflict violence upon them.
Thus, to inflict violence upon these extremely fragile creatures is an
evil and despicable act in every case. Women must therefore be vigorously
protected from all sorts of harm. They cannot be expected to be strong,
confident, capable, resilient, or self-reliant. In fact, it is usually
best they participate in the world as little as possible and remain sheltered
at home raising children, cooking, cleaning, and pleasing the men in their
lives.
* All women can never
recover from any type of violence and remain weak, cowering victims for
the rest of their lives if they receive violence. For computer games
not to reflect this fact is to deny reality and make violence against women
acceptable through not showing this inevitable lasting impact.
b) Through non-violent sexual situations (including nudity):
* Out of those 12
games, 10 depict non-violent sexual situations involving women (all except
Custer's
Revenge and Duke Nukem 3D)...or
9 if one counts the depiction that banned Dream
Web to be sexualised violence.
* Within these 12
games, 6 depict female breast nudity, whether of actual women or computer
generated women (namely Custer's Revenge,
Dream
Web, Phantasmagoria,
Phantasmagoria
2, Strip Poker, and Tender
Loving Care). There are no instances of full frontal nudity
apart from Strip Poker.
* All of the 12 games
apart from Custer's Revenge depict
women wearing either lingerie or sleepwear at least once.
Arguments that such depictions
DO NOT degrade women include:
* Art reflects all
aspects and instances of real life. In the real world, very few,
if any, women remain fully clothed in modest day wear all day and all night,
regardless of what they are doing. At some stage, yes, they will
only be wearing lingerie or sleepwear (of varying degrees of modesty),
or they may be naked. In fact, they may even be engaged in some form
of sexual activity (see Hamrick, 1998).
* Many men are also
depicted in a sexual way. While these occasions almost always do
not involve genital nudity (as in Custer's
Revenge), they cannot be described as modest either. Classic
examples include Phantasmagoria 2,
Point
of View, Tender Loving Care,
and Voyeur.
* Many women in computer
games have significant control over their occasions and means of sexual
gratification to the extent that they dictate all or most of the terms
for sex rather than their male partners. Some important examples
include
Phantasmagoria 2, Point
of View, Tender Loving Care,
and Voyeur.
* A large percentage
of women in these controversial computer games have strong and complex
personalities, often driving the storylines through their own actions.
Thus, it is very hard to see them as sex objects. Some major examples
include
The 11th Hour, both Phantasmagoria
games, Point of View, and Tender
Loving Care.
* Women both design
and play controversial computer games (e.g.
the Phantasmagoria games).
As such, it is unlikely that too much, if any, female degradation will
be depicted.
* These games are
not pornography. Most discussions of female degradation relate to
pornography and their arguments cannot be reasonably transferred over to
computer games.
Arguments that such depictions
DO degrade women include:
* All men and teenaged
boys are heavily driven by lustful desires and see women as merely sex
objects existing for the sole reason of male sexual gratification.
Sexual depictions of women in computer games adds considerably to this
pervasive view and increases the risk to females of unwanted, even violent,
sexual advances.
* Women can only
succeed in their aims if they give in to male sexual desires. This
fact is particularly distressing to most women as they have little or no
sex drives of their own and would prefer to avoid sex altogether.
* Female nudity,
or at least scanty clothing, encourages male players to see women as vulnerable,
weak, and inferior to men.
Accusations that computer
games degrade women provide the best example of the role of moral
crisis and moral panic (see also Lumby,
1997) in censorship. Here we can see a clash of two value systems:
one very modern, progressive, pro-individual freedom, and even revolutionary;
and the other cautious, conservative, protectionist, and very traditional.
Many people actually hold a combination of both views and therein lies
the root of the conflict. In an age of rapid social and economic
change and growing uncertainty, individuals often tend to simultaneously
both embrace and reject progress. Fear and distrust of the future
can readily lead to the censorship of entertainment products. Whether
or not such censorship is truly necessary is a matter for policy makers
to decide.
Please see the Stakeholders
page for further information on the groups that hold these views.
ViolenceDegradation
of women