A Respectful Critique of Anita Sarkeesian’s Tropes Versus Women in Video Games (Repost)
A (Respectful) Critique of Anita Sarkeesian’s Tropes Versus Women in Video Games Anita Sarkeesian’s YouTube video series entitled Tropes Versus Women in Video Games takes a feminist approach to critique video games and their various representations of women. Episodes discuss topics such as the damsel-in-distress trope, the sexualization of women, and positive female role models in video games. Sarkeesian’s ideas are thought-provoking but fail to capture the full context of several video games and franchises, making many of her arguments incomplete. Some examples include her discourses on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , the Super Mario franchise, and Hitman: Absolution. In her discussion on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , Sarkeesian points to how Sheik becomes a damsel only minutes after revealing her true identity, Zelda. She states, “However, as soon as she [Sheik] transforms back into her more stereotypically feminine form of Pri...