Rebuttal: Tropes vs. Women

If you haven’t heard of the Tropes vs. Women web series by Anita Sarkeesian, yet, let me fill you in. 

On June 16, 2012, Anita Sarkeesian Kickstarter page was successfully funded so she may begin a web series called “Tropes vs. Women”. Her goal was to “explore five common and recurring stereotypes of female characters in video games.” 

On March 7, 2013, Anita Sarkeesian release part 1 of “Damsels in Distress” on her blog, Feminist Frequency. 

Although I have my own thoughts about her web series, on March 10, 2013, JJ McCullogh of Filibuster Cartoons, published a well-educated response - or rebuttal, as he calls it - to Anita Sarkeesian’s lackluster and highly ignorant web series. 

Be sure to check out his response and let me know what you think of it!

Emulators, Piracy, and Copyright Infringement

So, people on the interwebs have been chatting about - and somewhat in uproar about - an article written by Erik Kain, a contributor for Forbes.com.

The original article has been modified since its original publishing, however, you can view it here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/01/27/new-super-nintendo-game-nightmare-busters-isnt-exactly-new/

Originally, the author included a link to an emulator where you could play Nightmare Busters, a previously unreleased SNES game. This caused the Internet to get upset and call the author an advocate for piracy. This is where I have a few thoughts & facts to share…

Is using an emulator copyright infringement or piracy? Well, it’s certainly both copyright infringement and piracy as the websites hosting the game files did not have permission to do so from the publishers or developers, therefore the game was reproduced and accessed without consent.

That point I won’t argue. It’s pretty obvious emulators are an act of piracy.

However, it should be noted that originally, the author thought the developers had produced the game to the website as the game was unreleased and the website had subscription services. Yet, he was still called an advocate for piracy - even after he updated his post, explained himself, and removed the link. I think his onslaught of verbal abuse is unnecessary. The author meant no harm and clearly corrected his errors. So, seriously, grow the fuck up and leave him alone.

Also, in regards to the game being available on an emulator prior to it’s release - what harm was it doing? When you buy used games, download pirated film/games, etc, you are harming the production team by not purchasing the product. In this case, the product was not available for purchase. For this reason, I don’t think there was any harm caused. If anything, the emulator caused the game to be popular enough that a cartridge is being produced. Hello! Free marketing/advertisement!

After defending the article and the author, I must admit one sentence really irked me… The author stated he was “not sure how many people still have Super Nintendos” and it irritated me. As a collector of retro gaming consoles and games, I found this statement highly ignorant. If you don’t know anything about the topic you’re reporting on, don’t make assumptions. Report on the facts you know. Plain & simple.

So, those are my thoughts… Feel free to share your thoughts, too! :)

Update!

So, it’s been a while since I’ve been here!

I removed a bunch of posts, and this is going to be more of a blog, rather than be cluttered with memes. 

Since I was last here, a lot has changed. 

I have a new job. 

I started working as a Game Support rep for a video game studio in London in July. There were 4 of us hired - 3 girls and 1 guy. The guy has been transferred to a different position, though. Also, we have been transitioning from game support reps to sales reps, instead. 

I used to love my job. The job description we applied to said we’d have catered meals, free snacks and beverages, a registered massage therapist, full health benefits, and be in a great office. During the interview, we were told we would not be in the same office since it was too small for all of us. When we were finally hired, we were moved into an office smaller than my home office. We were given a snack basket the first week, and told we would have weekly meetings to stay updated. We didn’t have weekly meetings, and the snack basket was never replenished. We do not get any of the perks the rest of the company gets, and we recently discovered we do not get health benefits, either. 

When asked why, they showed full transparency and said they need us to be as profitable as possible, therefore we need to have as low of operating costs as possible. That is fully understandable, and I appreciate their transparency, but I wish that had been communicated to us prior to accepting the job offer. 

I left a job that has 100% benefits with a $500 deductible, 50% off my services, a 20 minute commute (instead of 70 min), and paid $2500 more annually. 

I feel like I’ve been lied to and the company misrepresented themselves. I understand that from a financial point of view, they need us to be profitable, but I fail to understand how having us in a separate office where they must pay additional rent is financially logical. 

The job is so stressful, too. When I applied, it sounded like my ideal job in my dream industry. I’ve always wanted to work in the gaming industry, and with my customer service background, this position seemed perfect. However, I was unaware I’d be an undervalued telemarketer. Which, really, is what I am. 

Customer service has always been my forte because I enjoy solving problems and getting to know the players. However, this new direction just makes our players hate us, and in turn, we become very stressed. In fact, one of my co-workers regularly goes home to cry. 

They have also imposed a monthly goal which does not seem obtainable. We did not have any previous trends, either, so I am not entirely sure where this goal amount came from. I feel as though it was plucked from thin air, to be honest. We were told if we did not meet the goal by the end of the month, we would be having a “difficult conversation”, which to us meant one or more of us would be fired. So, when our boss came for a visit, I asked if that’s what that meant. He said we would not be surprised if we do lose our jobs. He said we would have a conversation and some sort of plan to improve our sales prior to terminating our employment. He also said if we were to close this department because it was not profitable, he would try to use us to fill existing positions within the company first. If we did not meet any available positions, he would be more than happy to provide us with a glowing recommendation to go to another studio. 

Sadly, I have trouble believing that because just recently they fired a QA rep who had no idea she was being fired. She said she came into work one day and they sat her down and fired her. So, it scares me that they’d do the same thing to us. 

Anyways, that’s my summary for the past few months. Hopefully I will be more active! :D

Q:I don't have the space in an ask box to truly tell you how what I think about you. In short; You are a strong woman with the intelligence and compassion to go farther than your dreams can take you. Your life holds great things for you. I hope you get all that you wish for and more. You are more important to the people who love you than you realize and the people you love are fortunate beyond reason.

Anonymous

With such beautiful words, I think it is I who is fortunate.

Blood Down My Arm…

I have a friend who has recently confided in me that he cuts because of some ongoing issues he has. I try to help him as much as I possibly can. I’ve helped find him a crisis line he can call, and local support services for counselling (at his request). I’ve also told him I will always be there for him and he can call me at any time of the day.

The difficult part is seeing his scars. Seeing the thin, small, red lines of the fresh cuts makes me want to cut SO badly. Especially with everything I’ve gone through and the nightmares I’ve been having.

My conflict is this: do I stop being his friend because his cuts are triggering me? Or do I still let him lean on me and help him, knowing it will probably lead me to cut? I’ve been leaning towards the latter because he has nobody else and I know I can control my cutting more … but I just don’t know.

I haven’t cut in almost three years. I still had coping mechanisms that caused pain, but I haven’t seen blood in almost three years.

I just don’t know if I can keep going without cutting … but I know that if I tell him I can no longer talk to him about things like that, then I risk him seriously hurting himself…

… so complicated :(