The video game butt controversy

7/13/2o16, 8:30 a.m.
Tweet to: @Slickster_Mag

Anita Sarkeesian is an outspoken feminist advocate who publishes her opinions on YouTube. Running the risk of alienating 95 percent of our reader base: many times she makes some strong points. One of her recent videos highlights the gender inequality of video game portrayals in video games. Her video, “Strategic Butt Coverings” has sparked an outlashing of, ahem… rebuttals. Pun intended. Taken directly from her channel (Feminist Frequency):

The Tropes vs Women in Video Games project aims to examine the plot devices and patterns most often associated with female characters in gaming from a systemic, big picture perspective. This series will include critical analysis of many beloved games and characters, but remember that it is both possible (and even necessary) to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of it’s more problematic or pernicious aspects. This video series is created by Anita Sarkeesian and the project was funded by 6,968 awesome backers on Kickstarter.com

If you haven’t seen it yet, watch “Strategic Butt Coverings” first before you read on.

While it’s impossible to measure how many people liked or have interacted with her post, she has earned over half a million views in just two weeks. There is no question the video has sparked a bit of a controversy. The number of responses posted on YouTube has been abnormally high. It would be well beyond this post to include every reaction video, but the channel Booze and Bullshit has quickly gained several thousand views.

“Re: Strategic Butt Coverings Anita Sarkeesian’s Tropes Vs Women In Video Games
Booze and Bullshit Show”

Trying to get to the, ahem…. bottom of things, I did a quick search for “video game butts.” Apparently, this subject matter has been thoroughly covered since the dawn of YouTube. Some of the videos date back as far as 2010.

Is this a dead topic or do you think we need to look into the video game butt controversy?