C*nt (the Game): Gynophobia and Misogyny

Warning: Some of the linked content and possibly some words in this post are not safe for work (NSFW, in case you didn't know).

"Cunt is an offensive, but humorous, action game about sex and sexually-transmitted diseases" according to the description (NSFW) on The Indie game Database. The game opens with an image from Newgrounds, which I believe is the publisher. It was developed by Komix Games. Next, a disclaimer flashes onscreen, stating that if you can't "deal" with graphic images of male and female genitalia, you are advised, "don't play this fucking game". After that, there are instructions on how to control your character. It helpfully tells you that "shooting vaginal openings will cause cunt damage".

Cunt (NSFW) is a shallow and boring shoot-'em-up game in which you, a disembodied penis and set of balls, shoot at a monstrous amalgamation of a vulva, a big bald head, what appears to be a mop of thick pubic hair, and a pair of eyes. The vulva creature looks like an old, bald moustached man with a vaginal opening for a mouth. Round, spherical creatures with teeth and fangs sprout from the vulva-sphere and swarm towards your penis-ship. I'll call these creatures "chompers" because I don't know exactly what they are. The chompers are the "sexually-transmitted diseases" from game description. When the penis shoots balls of goop (semen?) at the vagina, the result is, as advertised, bloody cunt damage. Shooting the chompers destroys them. If the chompers get too close to the penis, they get sucked into the urethral opening through which the penis-ship fires its semen. If too many chompers get inside the penis, the penis explodes, ending the game. According to a commenter on the game's Indie Game Database entry there are special attacks, however I could not stand to play long enough to reach the point at which I could get, or figure out how to use, special attacks.

I am not going to post screen shots of Cunt here, because whilst I am perfectly capable of viewing graphic images of male and female genitalia, I am not okay with the imagery in Cunt. If you want to see screen shots, you can look here and here (both are NSFW).

Let's take a look at the themes and subtext raised by the imagery in this game. Both the ship and the enemy are objectified and disembodied. The aggressor is the monstrous, disease-infested vulva, that spews forth hostile creatures with sharp fangs. The penis-ship is the agent in the game; the vulva-sphere doesn't actually move, though the chompers do. The penis manoeuvres around the disease-ridden vulva-sphere, shooting semen in an effort to annihilate it. The vagina is an existential threat to the penis, so the object of the game is the destruction of the vagina by the penis. This disturbing imagery screams "gynophobia".

Cunt is a violent and extreme manifestation of an irrational male fear of and revulsion towards women and women's bodies. These days, manifestations of such gynophobia and misogyny are in the form of "jokes" -- that the vagina is disgusting, that it's gross, that it's smelly, that it's diseased/dirty, and that it's weird-looking or ugly. People can brush Cunt off as simply willfully offensive, and nothing more, or that it's just a joke, rather than gynophobia, but let's put Cunt in context.

Feminist Gamers points out (NSFW links and images):

Men have traditionally feared the vagina, going back centuries. There are some tribes that do actually believe that when a man has vaginal intercourse with a woman that she will actually “steal” his manliness through her vagina, and that he must go out and replenish himself afterwards. In our society, the “fear” of the vagina is no more sophisticated: the very object that the male could not wait to penetrate and ejaculate into will become a source of entrapment when the woman attached to it declares that she is pregnant.

Cunt could be seen as an iteration of the vagina dentata myth in folklore, wherein men had an underlying dread of women and of sexual intercourse due to fears of castration, impotence, and weakness, and they expressed these fears through cautionary tales, warning against sex with strange women. The tales portray female sexuality as dangerous, predatory, alien, and all-consuming. In the case of Cunt, the teeth in the vagina dentata myth have been replaced with chompers in the game. In Cunt, the teeth aren't actually attached to the vulva as they are in the myth; the chompers fly out and attack the penis and if they get close enough, infiltrate it and infect it.

What could possibly possess anyone to create such a game? Evidently, and also a little disturbingly, it didn't actually require much thought to get the designer's creative gears turning for the concept of Cunt. Said Edmund McMillen, co-creator of the game in a recent interview:

When I designed the theme for the C word I just kinda opened that part of my brain and let whatever was there to come out. I didn't censor or overthink what came out, I just drew it. I tend to write and design around things I find interesting, and stuff I find interesting tends to be weird, stuff that most people don't talk about.

I find genitals interesting. I think it's funny and also strange that we all have them, yet seeing them is somehow weird.. it was fun to play around with. And it's what came out when I sat down, so I did it. That's it. No other deep meaningful reason, and I wasn't just trying to be crude or offensive. If I wanted to shock and offend I'm sure I could have come up with something much worse. It's just what it is.

In other words, the idea of a diseased vagina, which a penis must destroy, just flowed from his mind in a torrent of artistic inspiration and creativity. That this inspiration emerged from his brain effortlessly, without trying, shows just how entrenched hatred for women is in our society.

He states that the things he finds interesting are things "that most people don't talk about." Imagery of the vagina/woman as a threat to the existence of the penis/man? That's called misogyny, and people do talk about it. The fact that he can say that "most people don't talk about" the themes evoked by the imagery in his game reveals that he is speaking from a position of male privilege. He can choose to be blind to misogyny because hatred towards women doesn't affect his existence or identity.

Apparently, the idea that everyone has genitals, is "funny" and "strange" to the creator. Genitals look "weird" to him. In his game, McMillen depicts the vagina as a monstrous, alien creature. It's not meant to be identified with, it's meant to be destroyed. Rendering the vagina as the Other subjugates, stigmatises, and subordinates women to the alien and unknowable. Relegating women, women's bodies, and the feminine to the mysterious and enigmatic is nothing new in society, but Cunt is an example of this phenomenon in gaming culture.

That such misogyny exists in within gaming culture is unfortunately not surprising either. In an effort to find out whether Cunt was hosted on Newgrounds, I did a search for "cunt" on the website. The results were unsettling. There was all manner content that showed utter hatred and contempt towards women and women's bodies, including an animated movie called Dirty Cunt in which "a boy sniffs a girls vagina and then raps about how stinky and dirty it is." There were many more misogynistic submissions to the website in the search results. And those are just amateurs.

However, Edmund McMillen is not just some basement coder or armchair designer. McMillan had a hand in the early development of current Xbox 360 indie darling, Braid, and he co-created the critically praised indie game, Gish. He is a professional game designer (or he has professional aspirations) and he not only thought that Cunt was a good idea, but he thought gamers would play it. Though it is a basic shooting game, Cunt has polish. Not only did people play it, but McMillen was lauded for Cunt:

Were you happy with the response for the game?

I was honestly blown away by it. I really thought people would just write it off or get mad. Somehow it turned into something "punk", and was accepted by the "scene". Too bad the gameplay was lacking. If I knew it was going to get such a positive response I would have designed something more innovative and new for the gameplay.

The reception Cunt got amongst gamers shows how accepted, established, and insidious misogyny is in gaming culture. Cunt is not an isolated case. The Feminist Gamers post linked earlier not only talks about Cunt, but also a concept for a game that "parodies" Guitar Hero -- Vagina Hero (possibly NSFW). Typing "cunt" into the search engine of the Newgrounds website will retrieve even more examples.

Rather than push the boundaries of thematic creativity and erotic expression, Cunt reinforces and perpetuates the culture of misogyny in gaming.

EDIT - 21 September 2008: I was talking with oliemoon, and she raised a good point that I didn't cover earlier. The title of the game is Cunt. This fact is quite telling. 'Cunt' is one of the most offensive, derogatory, and hateful epithets used to describe a woman in the English language. Whilst 'cunt' can be used to refer to a man, its most common usage in society is to disparage, degrade, abuse, and insult women. 'Cunt' is not a respectful term for a vulva. Furthermore, its general use in society is to describe a woman, but reduces her to a  mere body part -- she's not a person, she's a cunt. 'Cunt' is  considered so offensive a word, that its use is taboo in everyday public conversation in the English-speaking world. This adds weight to my conclusion that Cunt is a misogynistic game.

 

Comments

[Thomas]

Good post. I saw this on RPS, and just wasn't quite willing to click through to play it. Doesn't sound like I missed much.

On a side note, your writing has sharpened considerably since you started here, I think. This was very well-written.

[Cb]

the connection between this and the rise of a stronger female presence in games is frightening. Not that 0 girls would play this game, but really? is it appropriate at all?

I see where you dissect his intentions, but i agree this is more of a symptom, rather than the problem itself.

He made a dirty game for dirty people, and he must have underestimated his audience; which is bad.

until a much stronger female influence is made in the industry, this sort of attitude will stay acceptable.
And when that happens, things might come full circle; which, if every point is given a counter-point it will make games a much stronger medium. Rather than just a soapbox for bad ideas.

[Abdi]

Wow, what a great read. You made an analysis that from almost a sociological standpoint. It was a very good read, and i can almost agree with you. But somehow i believe we people create our own divisions. White and blacks, hispanics among themselves, europeans, etc. Then we have the neverending battle of the sexes. I believe this game is created by a sick person that is being rewarded with more sick people. We dont know in what context people like this where born and what ideas they grew up. I agree on how you label him, but games like this are what continues to plant dirty seeds in our minds.

Society has a thing with sex that its just absurd. Sex is the #1 word that sells alot. That why we see girls being posted to lure the sick and to feast the eye. Theres so much we can say about this. But i believe personally more than the battle of the sexes its more about the problem of overboarding the sex.

[Brinstar]

@ Thomas: I wasn't particularly keen to play it, but I was a little curious. It's a fairly vile game, have to say.

Thanks for the compliment. =)

@ Cb: I'm not sure what connection you're making between misogynistic games like this and the rise in number of women gamers.

I do agree that until people within the industry and society at large stop tolerating misogyny, nothing will change. The problem is that misogyny so acceptable that change is a continuing struggle.

@ Abdi: The most insidious and damaging forms of bigotry and divisions within society are not consciously formed. I don't think most people set out to "create" divisions amongst themselves. It's normalised, meaning it is a part of society and culture.

I completely disagree with your assertion that games like this "plant dirty seeds in our minds." This game reinforces misogyny that already exists in our culture. It is not the cause of misogyny and bigotry. It is a reflection of normative misogynistic socialisation within society. McMillen may have expressed deep-seated misogynistic thought patterns, however this isn't a case of a uniquely "sick" person. This case is extreme, sure, however the misogyny and sexism that this game stems from is so entrenched in our culture that without examination much of it is easy to miss.

Your assertion that pictures of women are "being posted to lure the sick and to feast the eye" focuses on entirely the wrong issue. The problem isn't the pictures of women.The problem is that it is acceptable for men to objectify women. Furthermore, the problem is that it is entirely okay to hold women to oppressive and misogynistic standards of sexual behaviour and ideals. The fact that you believe that men are corrupted by pictures of women is a great example of the normalised sexism and misogyny that is unfortunately a part of society and culture.

The so-called "battle of the sexes" is not caused by the over-saturation of sex in the media and in society, which is what I believe you were trying to say. That's far too simplistic an explanation for an incredibly complex problem. This "battle" you speak of isn't a battle at all. It's the continued oppression of women by institutionalised social structures -- the patriarchy.

[Small person in the corner]

I reeeeeally think you should play more of the game, specifically getting the previously mentioned power-ups, as they humiliate the male genitalia in several ways. Not to mention in the games instruction manual (which I'm assuming you didn't read) the game specifically tells the player to collect the power ups to "appear cool in front of strangers."

I'm going to assume you're not going to play the game again, so let me tell you what they do:

Essentially all the powerups are steroids, or drugs of some kind, and taking them warps your penis into horrible and ugly ships. It's a kind of body-horror thing, as this isn't like seeing your ship in Galaga morph into a new one, but a part of your body (essentially). Not to mention that they're usually bigger than your normal penis ship (aside from the steroids which makes your penis incredibly short and gives you intensely grotesque testicles).

Yes, it's still about a penis ship shooting at a vagina monster, but the inclusion of using cheap male-enhancement, the pressures around the drugs and the "humiliation" of using the normal ship when the drugs run out changes things quite a bit. You can't say it's just about male fear of sex with women, but also about male pressure to preform sexual intercourse.

I'd highly suggest you learn more about what you're talking about before making broad readings of a work, especially when it concerns the delicate political structure of feminism.

[Brinstar]

Yes, it's still about a penis ship shooting at a vagina monster,

As you admitted yourself, my analysis isn't invalidated or changed in any way by the fact that the penis-ship can be physically warped by performance-enhancing drugs. The goal is still the destruction of the vagina by the penis.

...the inclusion of using cheap male-enhancement, the pressures around the drugs and the "humiliation" of using the normal ship when the drugs run out changes things quite a bit.

Actually, no it doesn't. Please don't derail the topic by making it about teh mens and male issues. This post wasn't about problematic representations of male sexuality and males' bodies in Cunt. This post was about problematic representations of female sexuality and women's bodies in Cunt.

Women have been historically marginalised, othered, oppressed, and subjugated in more extreme and egregious ways that males have not, which makes the imagery in the game far more damaging to women than any creator-included self-deprecatory social commentary about male pressure to perform sexually.

You can't say it's just about male fear of sex with women, but also about male pressure to preform sexual intercourse.

Again, this post wasn't about males' bodies and how damaging the imagery is to men. It was about womens' bodies and how damaging it is to women.

I'd highly suggest you learn more about what you're talking about before making broad readings of a work, especially when it concerns the delicate political structure of feminism.

I think you will find that feminism is about women, not men. My post was written from a feminist perspective.

[Schmerdro]

"Apparently, the idea that everyone has genitals, is "funny" and "strange" to the creator. Genitals look "weird" to him." - Brinstar

Actually no. He said that seeing our genitals is weird but we all have them. So I have a penis, I know what it looks like, but if I see another penis I am weird-ed out. You misunderstood Mr. McMillen but, then again, Mr. McMillen said a load of bs that doesn't make much sense. For example, if a guy saw a vagina for the first time, he would obviously be weird-ed out... or if he saw a penis that looks very different than his own.

Anyway, that was a very good read... sad as it may be. Misogynists just need to watch some lesbian porn :)

[Cromage]

Feminism was never "just" about women. Men were always affected one way or another. Talking about the male aspects of the game isn't really "derailing" the topic if we want to be fair to truth.

Also, I believe the quote from the creator:

"I think it's funny and also strange that we all have them, yet seeing them is somehow weird"

Is a comment concerning peoples' attitudes about genitals, not that genitals themselves are funny and strange.

[leafdot]

But shouldn't the context of the representation (that is, the cock is seen as grotesque and horrific too?) affect how you read the vagina imagery? I'm not saying this game is some kind of revolutionary or healthy statement about gender relations, or that there isn't a great deal of misogyny in the gaming community - sure there is - but isn't it possible to read this game as being more generally about overall genital anxiety? Or, maybe it's just how the creator explained it: some weird stuff he was drawing once and turned into an admittedly "shallow" shooter.

Ever read Naked Lunch? Lotta grotesque penis/ass stuff going on in there, but I don't think Burroughs was trying to make a specifically anti-cock/ass point. (Though there may have been some of that, sure.) And when Diane Arbus took a photo of a woman's sad and naked body, was she being misogynistic?

I dunno. Most people that are making things aren't making manifestos.

[Brinstar]

@ Schmerdro, Cromage: The imagery in the game seems to belie the creators words about seeing others' genitals. It's not merely that the fact that everyone has them is "weird", because of how he and his co-creator portrays the vagina and the penis.

@ Cromage: I am not disputing the fact that stereotyping in the media and in society is harmful to men. However, this post was about the imagery of the vagina depicted in the game. It's not about the penis. As I said to Small Person in the Corner, the depiction of genitalia in this game is far more damaging to women than to men, when put into the historical context of the inequality that women have suffered for centuries.

Regarding feminism and men: I don't think a single feminist would disagree with the point that men are stereotyped and depicted in harmful ways in the media. However, feminism is a discourse which examines gender differences from the perspective of equal rights for women, women's rights, and women's interests -- it is not primarily about men.

If you read the title at the top of the page there, the post was called "C*nt: Gynophobia and Misogyny". To repeat myself yet again, the post isn't about the depiction of the penis in the game. It was an analysis of how the vagina was depicted in the game, how this type of imagery and misogyny is not new, and how it is a symptom of the sexism that exists in society as a whole. So, yes, it actually is derailing the topic of the blog post if you want to talk about the penis.

@leafdot: How male genitalia is depicted in the game takes nothing away from the misogynistic themes. If one was completely unaware of the historical context of how the vagina has been depicted, the history of misogynistic imagery in the media, and the history of oppression of women, then yes, one could probably see the game as generalised sexual anxiety.

I didn't say that the creator of this game set out with the purpose to be misogynistic. That's actually a huge part of the problem. Much of the misogyny, sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, ableism, transphobia, fat phobia, and other kinds of oppression that occurs in the world is not a result of conscious effort, which just makes it all the more depressing.

[Casey Sillito]

"I think you will find that feminism is about women, not men."

An odd statement, considering you talk about men a LOT in this post. On the other hand, you don't talk about women so much as you talk about their genitalia, which seems a little reductive.

However, it would explain why, although you acknowledge that the titular "cunt" is made to look like a man (bald head, mustache), you conveniently omit that detail as you go on to insist that it unambiguously represents women. Wouldn't the seeming contradiction of a male vagina monster suggest some more complex symbolism to be explored. Perhaps he feels that males who fear vagina's really fear themselves - their own inability to commit or get close to another person. Thank goodness the feminist perspective allows us to ignore that detail and keep everything simple.

For that matter, perhaps the fact that these images tumbled out of the creator's brain are a reflection of his concern about the "gynophobia" that he sees in the world around him? In other words, why are you the only one who can have a healthy obsession with vagina dentata? Why can't this be a tragedy? Certainly, the "cunt" is monstrous, but it facial features can also be seen as an attempt to humanize it. Many stories have been written about misunderstood monsters. The "cunt" never actually hurts anybody. It is merely the host of harmful STD's (I'm not aware of any feminist doctrine that lauds STD's). Why can't this story be a tragedy? Why can't the protagonist be an anti-hero. You're tacit assumption that this game encourages mysogyny is just as hollow as similar assertions that GTA:San Andreas encourages gang violence or that The Godfather encourages organized crime.

[Pai]

We're going to have to start sending posters to Feminsm 101 if they keep going at this rate...

The game has a cute lil chibi penis, fighting a bug-ridden, hideous old man-faced vulva. And some people seriously don't see anything blatantly skewed and misogynistic there? Please.

[oliemoon]

@Schmerdo
Misogynists just need to watch some lesbian porn :)

Umm...no. Wtf? Most lesbian porn is created by men, for men, featuring straight women having sex with each other in service of the male gaze. In short, most lesbian porn is incredibly misogynistic.

As to why you seem to think that watching media that traditionally devalues and degrades women for the sexual enjoyment of men is a good exercise for someone who hates women to learn to respect and value them...well, that is beyond me.

[Brinstar]

@ Casey Sillito: You're correct. In the post I do talk about males and the greater context of the history of oppression and othering of women and women's bodies. Just because I am writing from a feminist perspective and talking about men, doesn't mean that it's somehow contradictory to talk about how damaging misogyny and sexism is to women. The patriarchy is a set of institutionalised power structures that oppress women. It's impossible to talk about feminism without addressing that, however, I as I said earlier, "feminism is a discourse which examines gender differences from the perspective of equal rights for women, women's rights, and women's interests -- it is not primarily about men." It's about how power structures controlled by men affect and oppresss women.

Re: Your critique of my analysis. You're certainly free to read whatever themes you would like into the imagery in the game, just as I have done with my own analysis. You're also free, as you have done so, to question my analysis of the text. However, I stand by my analysis.

Reading all of those "deeper" themes about males and male sexual issues into the text doesn't diminish, detract from, or negate the harm of misogynistic imagery. Again, I'm repeating myself here: this post wasn't focused on the male perspective, how the game addresses male sexual problems, or how potentially problematic the imagery in the game is for men. Again, just because I don't talk about the imagery from a male perspective or talk about male issues, doesn't take away any of the impact of the misogynistic imagery. When put into a wider socio-historical context, the damage to women is more harmful.

Re: Your assertion that I believe the game causes misogyny. What I actually wrote was that the game "shows how accepted, established, and insidious misogyny is in gaming culture." In other words, the game is an example of a wider culture of sexism and mysogyny that exists in society. The game reinforces misogyny that's already there in society. The game is a symptom, not a cause.

[oliemoon]

@Casey Sillito
perhaps the fact that these images tumbled out of the creator's brain are a reflection of his concern about the "gynophobia" that he sees in the world around him?

Perhaps. But his commentary certainly didn't suggest that reading of the imagery in this game. Btw, you don't need to put gynophobia in quotes. It's an actual word, yanno.

In other words, why are you the only one who can have a healthy obsession with vagina dentata?

Dude.

Creating a game wherein your only purpose is to violently destroy a hideous vulva monster? That's an unhealthy vagina dentata obsession.

Critiquing said misogynistic game and analyzing it from a historical perspective? Not unhealthy obsession with the myth of the vagina dentata, or an obsession at all really.

I mean, I know there's a fine distinction between the two, but it behooves you to recognize it.

Many stories have been written about misunderstood monsters. The "cunt" never actually hurts anybody. It is merely the host of harmful STD's (I'm not aware of any feminist doctrine that lauds STD's). Why can't this story be a tragedy? Why can't the protagonist be an anti-hero.

Um. This game has no story. There is nothing in the game that suggests that the vagina monster is actually a sympathetic creature with which the penis ship must reconcile. The game consists of penis ships blowing up a vagina monster. That's it. That's why this story isn't a tragedy--it isn't a story at all. It's just wanton destruction of a violent, disgusting vulva at the hands(?) of your penis protagonist.

Also, that only vaginas are seen as the host for STDs is entirely problematic as well. Penises can be carriers of STDs too, fyi.

[Dare 3000]

Is there misogyny in the world? yes.
Is this game a serious example of it, because of a villain vagina? no.

The impulse to emphasize the "violent, disgusting, monstrous" image of the vagina to make a point about misogyny is as shallow as making an argument that Resident Evil 5 is racist or GTA glorifies crime or Space Invaders is xenophobic.

I think the game developer wanted to make a genitalia related game, and he did. It was a 50/50 shot about who was gonna be the villain, and the penis makes a better spaceship. I don't think this represents a serious undercurrent of anti-women-ism in gaming. If the penis were the villain, the masculists would be upset.

Ok, to anticipate a response: "feminism is a way more prevalent and serious problem. men are privileged. nothing you say matters." this tactic disqualifies whatever a man says, but we should strive for a dialog that is inclusive of all genders and sees things from all perspectives, or else we're being sexist, and isn't that what we all want to avoid in the first place?

[Brinstar]

@ Dare 3000:

Is there misogyny in the world? yes. Is this game a serious example of it, because of a villain vagina? no.

I disagree on your second point.

The impulse to emphasize the "violent, disgusting, monstrous" image of the vagina to make a point about misogyny is as shallow as making an argument that Resident Evil 5 is racist or GTA glorifies crime or Space Invaders is xenophobic.

Firstly, it's not an "impulse" to critically examine, deconstruct, and analyse the media which we all consume. Videogames will forever be an immature medium, never developing to the degree to which literature, film, and music have and continue to develop, unless we gamers start to look at it with a critical eye.

The reason I emphasised it is because I was analysing the imagery from a feminist perspective, and yes I believe that imagery is misogynistic. That you think it's a shallow argument belies your privilege, but you're free to have your own opinion.

Secondly, Resident Evil 5 contains racially-charged imagery that is considered racist when you consider the wider historical context of colonialization and oppression that people of colour have suffered through at the hands of whites for hundreds of years.

Your point about Space Invaders seems to be a little facetious. The game's simple graphics and premise make it difficult to draw out themes of cultural and ethnic xenophobia. Whereas Cunt contains graphics whereby it is far easier to draw out what this game says about culture and society.

I think the game developer wanted to make a genitalia related game, and he did. It was a 50/50 shot about who was gonna be the villain, and the penis makes a better spaceship.

Try unpacking your ingrained cultural assumptions and ideologies. Why does the penis make a better space ship? Why does the penis have agency in this game? Why does it make more sense for the penis to be pro-active and the vagina a passive disease-carrier? If you think about those themes, and think about how male and female sexuality is viewed in society, you'll probably find a lot of parallels. Those parallels and assumptions should be questioned and challenged.

I don't think this represents a serious undercurrent of anti-women-ism in gaming.

I think it does. This is just one example of the sexist and misogynistic portrayals of women and women's bodies in games.

If the penis were the villain, the masculists would be upset.

As I am not a masculinist and as masculinist discourse is not an area I have much knowledge of, I can neither agree not disagree.

Ok, to anticipate a response: "feminism is a way more prevalent and serious problem. men are privileged. nothing you say matters." this tactic disqualifies whatever a man says, but we should strive for a dialog that is inclusive of all genders and sees things from all perspectives, or else we're being sexist, and isn't that what we all want to avoid in the first place?

Men are privileged, but I've never stated that men's perspectivess on sexism don't matter. However, because men belong to the privileged group, they do not get to define what sexism is or is not. For a definition of male privilege, please see this article.

Re: Your notion that I am being sexist if I don't look at things from a male perspective, too. Again, this post was written to deconstruct the problematic, misogynistic imagery from a feminist perspective. It's not a post about why the imagery of the penis is bad for men. I'm actually getting a little tired of repeating this over and over. For anyone who is complaining about me being "unfair" or "sexist against men" because I didn't write about the why penis imagery in the game is bad for men, please go read this article, this article, and this article.

[Auberon]

The responses you are getting to this essay demonstrate how uneducated people on the web and in the gamer community can be. Come on guys you can do a little better than this! The fact that the game is titled what it is should be igniting your indignant sparks on behalf of women everywhere, much less the subject matter.

Now on to the main topic, I do not know if I am sold on an underlying streak of misogyny in the gaming industry at large. I have not seen it, or am admittedly unaware of the magnitude you claim here, unless you are talking about the sexual nature in which most women seem to be portrayed in games. I understand that point, as it is shoved down our throats with every fighting/action game that comes from Namco and many other publishers. That is objectification. As far as my personal opinions go I am wary of throwing around the term misogyny without being clear on what people mean by it. I understand it to mean hatred of women. I do not like the way it has been parlayed into a catch all word when describing mens sexist behavior toward women, because I do not subscribe to the camp that says that all poor behavior such as objectification stems from a hatred of women.

I am confused about the violence toward women angle in regards to the industry, and the "hating" of women in the game culture. Could you expand your opinion on that to be a little clearer? Perhaps I have not been aware of it, but comparing the gaming media to many other forms of media, yes the women are sex objects regrettably but no where else do you find as many men engaged in the role of the "ass kicking woman" as frequently as in the gaming culture. I cant think of a single game I have played in which women in general are portrayed in a negative light, something that would elicit hatred.

I am also curious as to your thoughts on the effects that this particular game's imagery has on the person who is playing it. Do you think it has any, and if so how does a crude cartoon representation of disembodied anamorphic genitalia drive those points home (beyond the obvious repeated violence of a penis verses a vagina)? Do you think the people who would play the game would even realize what message that imagery is sending?

This game in particular is horrible, and there is no room to be defending it.

[Brinstar]

@ Auberon:

As far as my personal opinions go I am wary of throwing around the term misogyny without being clear on what people mean by it. I understand it to mean hatred of women. I do not like the way it has been parlayed into a catch all word when describing mens sexist behavior toward women, because I do not subscribe to the camp that says that all poor behavior such as objectification stems from a hatred of women. I am confused about the violence toward women angle in regards to the industry, and the "hating" of women in the game culture. Could you expand your opinion on that to be a little clearer?

The dictionary definition of misogyny is, as you said, "hatred of women" however I'm using a looser definition of the term, where misogyny is a generalised negative attitude towards women. In my opinion, Cunt portrays women and women's bodies in a negative way, so I call it misogynistic. In my opinion, the extent of this negativity is so strong/pronounced that it is akin to hatred.

Just because a creation is misogynistic doesn't necessarily mean that its creator(s) hate women. Men can have wonderful and positive relationships with women, yet their behaviour can still be misogynistic. When I talk about sexism and misogyny, I tend to separate the actions/behaviour from the person. Someone can objectify a woman and make misogynistic comments, and that behaviour is sexist, however it doesn't necessarily follow that this person hates women.There's a really great explanation of this, in terms of racism, in this video.

Perhaps I have not been aware of it, but comparing the gaming media to many other forms of media, yes the women are sex objects regrettably but no where else do you find as many men engaged in the role of the "ass kicking woman" as frequently as in the gaming culture. I cant think of a single game I have played in which women in general are portrayed in a negative light, something that would elicit hatred.

There's a difference between how women and men are potrayed in games. Men are typically idealised, women are typically objectified -- even if they do kick ass and are in strong roles. For more on the difference, please check out this article. There may be positive elements to the portrayal of these ass-kicking women in games, but that doesn't cancel out the negative ways that they are potrayed in overall. I think there are few games in which creators intentionally depict women negatively, or in which creators actively hate women and create games that show this intent. I do think that there is are a lot of negative messages and attitudes about women that people carry around with them, and because they aren't aware of it, this kind of misogyny manifests itself in games like Cunt.

I am also curious as to your thoughts on the effects that this particular game's imagery has on the person who is playing it. Do you think it has any, and if so how does a crude cartoon representation of disembodied anamorphic genitalia drive those points home (beyond the obvious repeated violence of a penis verses a vagina)? Do you think the people who would play the game would even realize what message that imagery is sending? This game in particular is horrible, and there is no room to be defending it.

I think games like this reinforce sexism, which I touch upon below. I don't think this game will make players hate women or that it's the cause of sexism. I think it's a manifestation of sexism, however. Unless players look at the game critically and explore the themes that are raised by imagery, I don't think they will see it as anything more than a really juvenile and stupid shooting game.

I think the game reinforces the idea that women's sexual organs are strange, weird, ugly, and alien. Just look at the increase in labiaplasties for proof that society, women in included, have been raised with the idea that vulvas are gross and disgusting, and that they should look a certain way or else they are freaks.

The game reinforces the idea that the penis is an aggressive entity, and we can see this in society at large. For example, rape has long been used as a tool of war, to intimidate, humiliate, and degrade women, to render them powerless. The preponderance of rape jokes in gaming culture is a manifestation of the idea that the penis is something to be used to dominate and assert superiority.

[tekanji]

Wow, Brinstar, it only took 4 comments (not including yours) for someone to invoke the “What About the Mens?” Phallusy. I think that might be a record or something.

Seriously, though, for those of you going on and on about how men should be included in this post (and, apparently, every conversation that deals with feminist issues), stop derailing the damn thread and spend some time reading the Feminism 101 FAQ. The What’s wrong with saying that things happen to men, too? entry is particularly relevant.

[dare3000]

okey-dokey, I got three replies to make:
@ tekanji
"Wow, Brinstar, it only took 4 comments..."

Being new to this site, I didn't realize there were rules restricting the terms of the debate (a good rhetorical technique). Bravo for devoting an entire post to it, but that doesn't inspire respect from any objective standpoint.

@ Auberon
"The responses you are getting to this essay demonstrate how uneducated people on the web and in the gamer community can be. Come on guys you can do a little better than this! The fact that the game is titled what it is should be igniting your indignant sparks on behalf of women everywhere, much less the subject matter."

I think your response shows how arrogant and rude ppl on the net can be. If you're going to say someone is uneducated, in my book you better spend some time backing that up (which you don’t), or else you're a dick. (which you are, hahaha… irony)

“The fact that the game is titled what it is should be igniting your indignant sparks on behalf of women everywhere, much less the subject matter.”

Flimsy. To say the name alone should ignite indignation is the same as saying the name “GTA” should let us know the game glorifies crime. Making some connection between the name and some broader stance made by ….. whoever…. is flimsy. Would the game be any less offensive if it were called “Vagina”? (I happen to think so, as Cunt already comes with negative connotations and you want that for a villain)

"This game in particular is horrible, and there is no room to be defending it."

I agree, it's a horrible game, from a gaming standpoint. I'm still not convinced it makes the broader points the author claims it does, even so "while I may disagree with what you say I'll DEFEND to the death your right to say it." ya dig?

and finally @ Brinstar
"I disagree on your second point."

That's cool, but realize that if simply the act of villianizing something or someone is making a broader, HATEFUL, point about that group, then video games (along with other media) are very very hateful of many many groups (which I believe is an absurd position to take).

“Firstly, it's not an "impulse" to critically examine, deconstruct, and analyze the media which we all consume.”

The impulse to which I was referring wasn’t the impulse to examine and all that. I was referring to the impulse to use language that accentuates what you see as the negative portrayal of the vagina, while glossing over the portrayal of the penis. It’s an abject rejection of objectivity, but as I read more I don’t think that’s what you’re going for anyway (the fem POV, right?). There’s no law saying you have to be objective when you blog, say what you wish.

“Resident Evil 5 contains racially-charged imagery that is considered racist when you consider…”

Pretty shallow. You say RE5 is racist WHEN you consider a history that has nothing to do with the game. Using that same logic I can claim Ryu dragon uppercutting Chun Li is misogynistic and racist “when you consider the treatment of the Chinese by Japan in year …” and “when you consider the violence against women in the world”. The fact is YOU have to make connections where there aren’t very strong links. Your arguments are only as strong as your links, and links can be made almost ANYWHERE with ANYTHING but they won’t always be strong. My point about Space Invaders is precisely that it’s weak. And it’s similar to your argument in that regard. Connections can be made (when you consider the history in this world of treating outsiders with suspicion and hostility). The very title “Space Invaders” contains the themes of outsiders (space) and invasion (invaders). Invasions are unwelcome. Why can’t it be called “Space Visitors”. This game reinforces the notion that outsides are threats, unwelcome, to be met with force not understanding. Old weak graphics and lack of story don’t eliminate the implied themes… Pretty silly huh? That’s my point.

My whole beef was “This ain’t objective”. Your response is mostly “So what?” and I accept that. Now it’s like I’m getting a glimpse at your (probably widely shared) opinion. And I think you bring up an important issue in general, I just happen to think the connections you try to make are weak.

[Brinstar]

@dare3000:

Being new to this site, I didn't realize there were rules restricting the terms of the debate (a good rhetorical technique). Bravo for devoting an entire post to it, but that doesn't inspire respect from any objective standpoint.

I'll forgive your ignorance about interacting in a feminist space. One of the things that never fails to occur when non-feminists (mostly men) try to debate with feminists is frequently men will cry, "What about the men!" when in fact the topic is not men, men's issues, or men's bodies. That is the case here. If you can read the subtitle of this post, it's "Gynophobia and Misogyny". No where does it indicate that this post is written from a position privileging the male point of view. The reason you and the other men commenting on this post are up in arms is that it's extremely odd that the male point of view is not privileged, which is actually male privilege in action. I would advise you to check out the links in my previous comments and the Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog for a basic introduction to feminist thought and discourse. Specifically, please look at the sections on privilege.

Flimsy. To say the name alone should ignite indignation is the same as saying the name “GTA” should let us know the game glorifies crime. Making some connection between the name and some broader stance made by ….. whoever…. is flimsy. Would the game be any less offensive if it were called “Vagina”? (I happen to think so, as Cunt already comes with negative connotations and you want that for a villain)

The name alone does and should ignite indignation. 'Cunt' is a strongly loaded word within the broader context of society. It is entirely appropriate to look at the name and how the word is used in our culture. I don't think the game would be less offensive if it were called "Vagina" because there would still be the extreme, violent misogynistic imagery in the game.

"I disagree on your second point."

That's cool, but realize that if simply the act of villianizing something or someone is making a broader, HATEFUL, point about that group, then video games (along with other media) are very very hateful of many many groups (which I believe is an absurd position to take).

I still disagree with you. Videogames portray many groups in extremely negative ways, which does reflect a huge degree of intolerance and negative stereotyping in society at large.

The impulse to which I was referring wasn’t the impulse to examine and all that. I was referring to the impulse to use language that accentuates what you see as the negative portrayal of the vagina, while glossing over the portrayal of the penis. It’s an abject rejection of objectivity, but as I read more I don’t think that’s what you’re going for anyway (the fem POV, right?). There’s no law saying you have to be objective when you blog, say what you wish.

The fact that you consider the fact that I write this post from a feminist perspective, in your words "glossing over" the portrayal of the penis again shows your male privilege. If you want to write about the male perspective and the male point of view and the portrayal of the poor, abused penis in this game, you're certainly free to do so in male-oriented spaces (which are far more numerous and abundant, since the vast majority of spaces privilege men) of your own creation.

“Resident Evil 5 contains racially-charged imagery that is considered racist when you consider…”

Pretty shallow. You say RE5 is racist WHEN you consider a history that has nothing to do with the game.
...

My whole beef was “This ain’t objective”. Your response is mostly “So what?” and I accept that. Now it’s like I’m getting a glimpse at your (probably widely shared) opinion. And I think you bring up an important issue in general, I just happen to think the connections you try to make are weak.

History has everything to do with cultural products such as videogames, art, music, film, and literature. Cultural products are not created in a vacuum. People are products of the culture in which they inhabit. People are products of history and society. People have very basic assumptions and ideologies that they use to make sense of the world, and these come through in whatever they create. A lot of these cultural and ideological assumption are not immediately obvious without some examination because they are so ingrained and taken-for-granted. You cannot say that a person is not influenced at all by the society and culture in which they are raised and interact in. In turn, it's just silly to assert that cultural products are not somehow influenced by history, society, and culture through the people that create them. Your opinion that connecting cultural products to historical context is weak, is extremely short-sighted and completely overlooks the fact that every single person in society is influenced by their socio-historical environment, and this in turn is reflected in the media they create.

[dare3000]

It's been a real education.

I appreciate the time, care, and respect you take in responding to me.

I'll do some reading (starting with the wordpress blog).

[Dante]

Hmmn, I've just been reading up on the reaction to this and I worry that you're gifting this game with far more significance than it deserves. The fact that the designer is tangentially associated with a few semi successful indie titles does not make him representative of the industry as a whole, much less men as a whole.

Let's face it, this man has gotten exactly what he wanted, attention through controversy. Like many internet denizens before him he's simply yelled the most offensive things he can think of at the top of his voice in the hope of gaining some brief moment of celebrity from it.

Such people are best ignored, outrage, while the natural reaction, only feeds their sense of importance.

[Dante]

@ Brinstar

I fear you may have misinterpretated the initial reference to grotesque usage of the male genitalia by the game. It's not so much a cry of "What about the men!" as a suggestion that the specific offensive depiction of female genitalia was part of a wider trend of grotesque imagery as a whole.

Incidentally, I have never considered the epithet 'cunt' to be specifically directed at either gender, in fact I've seen it applied to men far more often myself. Of course, many terms for male genitalia are considered taboo also, as to why 'cunt' is considered the zenith of swearing, well I'll leave you to speculate on that, but I've always been firmly in the 'it's just a word' camp, it's the feeling behind it that matters.

[Norm]

This is tangential to the primary topic of the post but I thought it might be interesting to the author and your readers anyway.

One has to be careful when taking ancient, historic myths and applying modern sensibilities to them. Myths like the dentata would be better described as taboos because of the role they played in society. Ancient tribal groups needed to regulate the actions of their members, whether it was keeping people from defecating in drinking water supplies, eating poisoned mushrooms, or, in the case of dentata-like myths, procreating in ways that are disadvantageous to the group. Anthropologists have hundreds of examples of cultural taboos that were derived from real world problems that needed to be solved. In ancient tribes and clans that lacked a code of laws or other form of authority the most effective way to regulate behavior was through myth, faith, taboo and habit.

In this way, the origin of most dentata myths was almost certainly to regulate sexual behavior within the tribe. Men who believed that sex was dangerous were less likely to sire more children than were strictly necessary for the tribe's survival. If they thought foreign women were dangerous it decreased the odds of mixing with other competing tribes (a common theme in both early humanity and other clan based animals, such as lion prides.) It's possible that dentata myths also acted as a guard against rape. In this way, "fear" of the female anatomy was used to control behavior.

Over time, the meaning behind the taboos was lost though the stories themselves survived. Eventually they may have morphed into misogynist or gynophobic rhetoric used to dehumanize women but they certainly didn't start out that way. Taking them out of their historical context and treating the myths as a deep-seated form of irrational male fear and hatred is an oversimplification of the issue itself, I think.

That said, I agree with the rest of the post! As a professional game developer myself I appreciate what you're doing in trying to drag the industry (kicking and screaming if necessary) out of the ridiculous portrayals of women and into the modern world.

[Brinstar]

@ Dante: I didn't say that McMillen is representative of the industry as a whole (I work in the videogame industry and he definitely doesn't represent me!), nor for men as a whole. I said that McMillen's work is symptomatic of the culture of misogyny and the culture of rape that pervades society.

I did post this with the understanding that, if linked by a big game blog, it would probably garner far more attention to McMillen than he would have otherwise received had no one talked about it. The problem with the idea that one should ignore offensive and deeply wrong subject matter like Cunt is that ignoring a problem doesn't do anything to make it go away. If no one ever mentioned that an issue was troubling or offensive, how could one possibly hope to effect any social change? At least by talking about it, I know that the over 2000 people (so far) who have read this post realise that there are deeply problematic and misogynistic games out there. Moreover, by specifically outlining what is wrong about Cunt, it's possible that some people now have a different perspective on the imagery behind this game -- a perspective they may not have been exposed to, had no one talked about it. Yes, it may feed McMillen's ego, however analysing problematic imagery in the media also also raises awareness of these issues. Education and awareness raising is one part of enacting cultural change, and boy does the games industry need to change.

On the issue of the response to Cunt being a depiction of grotesque genitalia in general: I agree that the penis is portrayed as misshapen and deformed and that all of the imagrey in the game is grotesque. I've already stated my reasons for focusing on the depiction of the vulva and the penis's acts of destruction (rape, basically) towards it.

I disagree with you on the usage of the word 'cunt'. Meaning does matter. It may be equally or more used against men than women, but at its root, the meaning and impact of the word 'cunt' is based upon the degradation and dehumanisation of women and women's bodies. For a man to be compared to a woman in that way is one of the harshest insults. This misogyny is the same reason why men with get offended by being told they [do some activity] "like a girl" -- it's because women are seen as lesser beings than men and that's why its insulting.

@ Norm: That's a good point. Thank you for that insight.

I work in the videogame industry as well, and stuff like this frustrates me to no end, because I know game developers are capable of truly inspired concepts, rather than just thoughtless and willfull offensiveness. Cunt is just utter trash and does nothing to further the medium.