Two links on video games and gender

(1) Leigh Alexander writes about playing Persona 3 Portable with the (new) female main character, in What I Discovered From Gaming Like A Girl:

The Persona 3 protagonist’s over-arching objective in the game is unstated but evident: Put on whatever face is most appropriate for the situation, both socially and in battle. This created interesting and sometimes challenging moments for me. Sometimes the dialogue option I needed to choose in order to achieve the greatest synergy with a social partner conflicted with instinct that I must conclude comes from being socialized as a woman. I had no problem being ruthless as a male, but as a female, the urge to care-give, to people-please and to back down kicked in.

I’m playing Persona 3 Portable at the moment as well, with the female protagonist, no less. My main experience with the game, or at least the new portions accessible to the female main character: baffled vertigo. It was difficult enough to create and maintain social relationships when I played through the game the first time on the PS2, with the male main character, since everything was happening in an unfamiliar culture. Playing it through now, as a female character, still in a foreign culture, is… well, confusing. I have no idea what to do or what’s expected of me. Do Japanese school girls even play volleyball? How big a serving of soup is too big for a Japanese school girl?? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but it’s been fun finding out.

(2) The latest Hey Ash Whatcha Playin confronts sexism in the works of Fumito Ueda (NSFW):

I don’t have much to add to this, except to say: I think Ash makes a number of good points here.

(Yorda image original.)

—Adam

1. pettankoprincess reblogged this from warpskip and added:

   Woah, haha. Yeah...dig this, especially after my whole Women’s History class last...

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