Question Why is it that people seem to focus solely on women when it comes to poor representation in video games? As a black male in America, I don't see many, if any, accurate representations of black men or women in the media. This could be said for most races. Problems exist for everyone, why is the focus set solely on women?

Answer

This isn’t an uncommon perspective. Most of your white friends probably don’t really understand why affirmative action (known as employment equality in other parts of the world) is justly required either. It is required though - because racism is a problem in our society.

As a society we understand that racial discrimination is something we need to take proactive steps to irradiate. It doesn’t just go away. But it took a very long time to even achieve legal equal rights for african-americans. There were a lot of stubborn white people who thought that african-americans had all the rights they needed. In fact there still are. And you need only watch the evening news to see that despite the passing of laws that grant equality, we still live in a society that devalues black lives.

We also live in a society that devalues women.

This is why certain groups in our society require special treatment. Because we live in a society built by white men who made sure all their white male needs were met. It seems normal to us, because it’s the only civilisation we’ve ever known, and one whos rules we’ve rarely had cause to rally against.

Why would I complain? I get paid better than women, I’ve rarely been in fear of being sexually assaulted, I don’t feel pressure to dress up every time I leave the house, and if I have sex with a bunch of people I’m not considered a slut. In fact, a stranger will probably buy a beer and pat me on the back. Being a dude is fucking great!

Feminists are just women and men who recognize this inequality, and take positive steps to demand equality. I’d imagine 99% of feminists are also equal rights advocates.

Games aren’t the cause. But as fans of games we should do our part to ensure that our medium takes proactive steps to represent all groups accurately - especially those in most need of our help.

The white men are doing okay - we don’t need marches for them quite yet.

