Tagline: Tropes vs. Women in Video Games presents Anita Sarkeesian's critique of the video game industry’s portrayals of women. They’ve also made her the subject of much online controversy. We recently spoke with Sarkeesian about her work and critical theories.

Interview by Matt Helgeson

Q: How did you come up with the idea for Tropes vs. Women in Games?

A: There was a series I did called Tropes vs. Women that was in 2011. It was primarily TV and movies. Then the next year I decided to do Tropes vs. Women in Video Games. I wanted to do one specifically about video games because there were more tropes I wanted to cover. I’ve always liked games, but I’ve always had a very contentious relationship with them. I played a lot of games as a kid, and as I got older I sort of was in and out of liking video games because I felt it’s a really hostile terrain for women. When I got to grad school I was still playing games, but I wouldn’t call myself a gamer because I bought into that myth about gaming being Grand Theft Auto, God of War, or Call of Duty. You had to play these macho posturing games and that’s what it means to be a gamer. So even though I was playing Plants vs. Zombies, Spore, Donkey Kong Country Returns, de Blob, and Katamari, I didn’t really think myself as a gamer, which is kind of ridiculous. It was really the Wii that brought me back into it, like, “Wait a second, I am playing games. These are legit. I can call myself a gamer because I am playing games.” I think the Wii did a lot for making gaming more accessible to a wider audience.

Q: Talk about some of those games you mentioned, whether it’s Call of Duty or God of War. Have you ever found enjoyment in those games, or do you find them too alienating?

A: It depends on the game. There are games that I play because it’s my job to play them, because I’m getting footage; I’m doing research. There are some of those games that I wouldn’t normally have played, and I actually enjoy them in various ways. One of the big pieces of the work that I do is to help people understand that you can be both critical and love a game or any piece of media at the same time. I think that most people actually have that kind of relationship with the media, especially if you come from a marginalized community. Because media isn’t made for us, there’s always going to be something that’s problematic. There are definitely big blockbuster games that I love, and it’s unfortunate that they have sexist or racist representations in it. Then there are other games that I don’t like at all and to get through in order to do the work that I do.

Q: When it comes to gender or race portrayals in media, do you think that creators have the responsibility to challenge the status quo, or are you just looking for creators to look at their own preconceptions?

A: Well, both. One of the quotes that I like to come back to is by Bell Hooks. She says something to the effect that popular culture, for better or worse, is currently where the learning is happening. That means that TV shows, movies, books, video games are helping shape our collective cultural universe. Gaming plays a large role in our collective cultural understanding of the world. I think it’s absolutely the responsibility of developers to challenge oppressive social norms, to do more with their games, and to challenge the status quo. I think that part of what my series does is it gives people the language to understand what they’re seeing in the media. It gives developers to see the history of women’s representations in games in a way that they might not have noticed before.

Q: What has been the reception to your work within the industry, among the people who actually make games?

A: I have visited some game studios and talked in workshops with them about women’s representations in games. It’s interesting, because the industry has been very receptive for the most part. When I started the series I didn’t really consider developers part of my audience. I didn’t really think about it. As the attention to my project got bigger, I realized that developers are actually watching this stuff, and they’re interested and engaged. They bring it back to into their studios and they have conversations around their representations. Sometimes there are debates, and sometimes they’re like “Hey, let’s not do that.” That’s awesome, because part of what this series is hopefully doing is inspiring people to start recognizing this stuff and make smarter, more intentional decisions about what goes in their games. Some developers whose games I have criticized have come out publically and said, “Yeah, we did that. That was not a good idea. I’m not going to do that again in the future.” I think that is really encouraging.

Q: Did you have any idea that what you were doing with these videos was going to be as controversial as it’s proven to be?

A: No, not in the slightest. When I launched the Kickstarter, we asked for $6.000 to fund a series of five short-form videos. The night I launched the Kickstarter, I was like, “I don’t think we can raise this much money. What if we can’t do this?” Within 24 hours, my Kickstarter was funded. Clearly, there were people who were interested in critical media analysis and feminist analysis around video games. The harassment started about a week-and-a-half to two weeks into the Kickstarter. I had no idea it would be this controversial. I’ve been running Feminist Frequency since 2009. I had gotten my fair share of harassment in terms of being a woman on the internet. It’s inevitable, sadly, at this point. But the level of vitriol I received because of this Kickstarter project about video games was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I’m sure you know the story by now. Doxing, misogynistic slurs on all my social media accounts, and trying to hack into my accounts. Death threats and rape threats toward me and my family. It goes on. It was unbelievable to see how this unfolded. I’ve been terrorized and attacked for two years consistently.

Q: Do you ever consider deciding that it’s not worth it?

A: I’d be lying if I said, “no”. Being attacked and terrorized for over two years is stressful, emotionally draining, and exhausting. But, you know, I’ll get emails from people like a mother and daughter who’ll sit down and watch my videos together and talk about media literacy, using [my video] as an educational tool for her child’s growth. The countless messages of support are incredibly encouraging and rewarding. All of that helps inspire me to keep going.

Q: Those critical of your work argue that you’re pressuring developers to reexamine their portrayals of female characters amounts to a form of censorship, that developers only have the responsibility to make the best games possible. How do you respond to that?

The argument of censorship is total nonsense. The work that I’m doing advocates critical thinking. I’m asking for games and the messages and values embedded in them to be taken seriously. I’m asking for developers and gamers to pay attention to the messages that games are sending, both intentionally and unintentionally. I don’t think that it’s unreasonable to ask people to think critically about the media that we’re engaging with or unreasonable for us to demand that game developers start recognizing a larger, more inclusive audience and what messages their games are sending to that audience. Anyone who says that is censorship needs to look up what the word “censorship” means.

Q: Looking to the future of these issues, what are some things that you hope will change in the next 20 years in video games?

A: I think a good starting point would be an end to this flippant, casual use of sexism that’s so prevalent in the industry. I want to see more diverse and inclusive stories, and that means including a wide range of women’s stories and stories of other marginalized communities. This means having more female characters that are good, bad, and everything in between. I also think that telling more original and engaging stories can provide an opportunity to form more diverse gameplay mechanics as well.