UW-Green Bay hears feminist perspective on video-game tropes

An overflow audience of about 175 turned out Monday night (April 6) for a lecture/discussion featuring nationally known media critic and feminist blogger Anita Sarkeesian.

Sarkeesian shared with her Phoenix Room audience a message she has been promoting through a series of online videos for her non-profit, Feminist Frequency, in interviews with outlets including “Nightline,” “The Colbert Report” and the New York Times, and in lectures at conferences and campuses. She criticizes both the widespread stereotyping she sees in the portrayal of female game characters and the relative lack of positive female characters. She also talks about being the target of threats and online harassment by those who believe “that gaming is a male-dominated space” and who resent her campaign to exert pressure on the industry.

Sarkeesian did a lengthy Q&A as part of her 90-minute slide-and-video-illustrated program, which was titled “Navigating the Gendered Minefield of Online Harrassment.” Her visit to UW-Green Bay was sponsored by the student chapter of the Psi Chi psychology honors society, Student Life and the Women’s and Gender Studies academic program.