Thursday, March 7, 2013

Videos, Gamers, Feminism & International Women's Day

Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2013
zipolita@gmail.com
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
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I, for one am not a fan of video games. I have always been concerned about the negativity involved and worried for my daughter about the many issues related to the games. One of those, was that her future prospects for boyfriends and a husband would be poor, as there was so much violence in many of  the games and how it would after her male friends/partners now and in the future. So needless to say I have not seen many.

I always hoped that the videos would be transformed and they would become these super positive educational games that a mom would be happy for her kid to play.

Well there are some games out there that are okay but unfortunately as this video explains there is a serious lack of respect for women and it's so much more deeply ingrained than one may think.

Many people may think,..."oh it's just a game" but as we can see from many studies and just the realities of  life that video games do affect people, especially children more than once believed.

With tomorrow being International Women's Day it is my hope that people will watch this video and speak out. That the public will demand that women be respected and portrayed in more powerful and educational platforms.

The wonderful thing is that we have Social Media and we have more power than ever before. As demonstrated by the support  that video series is created by Anita Sarkeesian and the project was funded by 6968 awesome backers on Kickstarter.com received.

The power of Social Media is amazing!!  I no idea about this project or what happened to Anita when she started her Kickstarter project. So I am sure you will be just as surprised as I was when you watch this  TEDxWomen 2012 video and learn what happened when she was targeted by a online hate campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/user/feministfrequency?feature=watch
http://www.feministfrequency.com/

I need to put a warning on this next video as it is very disturbing but I also want to say it is VERY INSPIRATIONAL.  A change is coming, a cultural shift is happening...slowly,...but there is hope out there. If you want help this project please see the link on the Feminist Frequency Website link above.



If  you haven't seen this video, I suggest you watch it to as it's very informative on how women are portrayed so negatively in the media.


Newest Miss Representation Trailer (2011 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection) from Miss Representation on Vimeo.

Find a screening: missrepresentation.org
Join the movement: facebook.com/missrepresentationcampaign
Spread the word: twitter.com/representpledge

And to all the men out there, I hope that you will all make an effort to help this cultural shift that is upon us, for the sake of your grandmothers, mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, and your grandfathers, fathers, sons, uncles and nephews. No harm can come from these positive changes.

Positive energy attracts positive energy and so only good will come from this change.




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