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I'm reading it on my kindle which makes the page numbers redundant but I still have the chapters.

I too dislike the cutesy writing style the author has chosen for Amy. It feels like a man writing as what he thinks a woman would sound like, which is strange as the author is actually female. She's supposed to be 30 at the time of writing, a successful woman raised in New York, who went to Harvard and got a Psychology degree, yet she seems almost teenage in her journal entries. It just a little too fluffy for the character in my opinion. Reading on she seems to be sly in her own way, too intelligent for such girlish rambles. There is a coldness about her. She doesn't form deep friendships and she manipulates men to keep them on the hook. The two main female characters, Go and Amy both seem to dislike other women. Amy judges her friends for being "typical women" in her journal, and Nick describes Go as not at all girly. I'm not flicking back through my kindle to quote it though lol!

Before he enters the house and realises Amy is missing Nick recalls the butterfly picture on the window of his former neighbour who lost her home. He remembers seeing a bearded face he didnt know and leaving a sandwich out for the man who he assumed is a squatter. I wondered if this was important. If this person had been staking out their home, watching Amy? If Nick didn't do it, which would be a twist seeing as he seems genuinely shocked at Amy disappearing, then could this man have something to do with it?

I get the sense Nick was considering ending the marriage so it will be interesting to see how this continues to develop.

Edit: Sentence didn't make sense!

Just a mild inconvenience. I deleted the file and will wait till the other episodes appear. It's an episodic game, which I personally don't like to invest in until the series has actually been made. I've been burned before

But in all seriousness it would be nice if they made it clear it's a demo on the play store. It's kind of misleading to not mention anywhere that you eventually have to pay. I don't resent paying, I'm happy to pay for a full game, but I don't like feeling like someone tricked me into the download. If it had said £3 to begin with I may well have just bought it anyway. And if this game had been significantly bigger than 26MB it would have been super annoying to wait, like Dave said, and then find I couldn't access the full game (assuming I had no idea it was a demo and had no desire to pay for the full game) but the reviews on the play store say it's pretty short anyway so probably why its a small file.

It's a free demo, the full game isn't free. I downloaded it and it takes you to the google play store to pay for it when you try to go into a certain room.

I'm going to assume Icey contacted them for a developers license (which any dev can apply for) and they have accepted this and are contacting him regarding payments, dev kits, etc.  Is that correct Icey?

Downloaded to my kindle last night. Excited to start

I loved Colditz when I was little. My nan had it at her house and we would play it most times I visited. We also played a lot of cluedo, taboo and trivial pursuit. Some of my friends and I recently played a game called Cards Against Humanity, which might not technically be a board game, but very fun! Drinking helps because it's kind of ridiculous. We also played a game called Jack Ass which was a sort of general knowledge thing. Again I found it pretty fun.

I'm up for reading Gone Girl. Seconded.

Maybe we could have a look at the best selling sci-fi/fantasy lists or something and pick something most haven't read? Take a vote from there? Sci-fi/fantasy seems to be the genre people are gravitating too, although I'd be happy with a crime thriller/mystery too.

Who here is disagreeing with that? No one has said he's not entitled to a fair trial or even that he is guilty. But charges haven't officially been brought against him. You asked what we thought of vigilante justice, and I explained why I understood that approach. The deck is stacked in Shermer's favour in all honesty. I doubt he will face charges, doubt he will be convicted and I'm sure his accuser will be written off as a hateful crazy, or scorned ex partner. If true he may adjust his behaviour, if not he'll prove them wrong by continuing to not be an asshole.

If he get's charged he will have his day in court, but more than likely this will fizzle out and everyone will just forget it and continue to support him. Rape allegations have hardly fettered the careers of successful men like Roman Polanski, or Kobe Bryant.

It's funny how rape threats, death threats from anonymous internet users is something Anita Sarkeesian is expected to suck it up, ignore and get over, so why can't Shermer? It's just an anonymous accusation. If no one goes to the police he can just say she was lying. He needs to get a thicker skin! /sarcasm.

If this takes off, count me in I love a good read.

Andail I would be interested to hear your opinion.

Calin, from that article alone it is hard to form an opinion. I can understand the victims and witnesses desire to stay anonymous, but I can see why people would find it hard to take an expose seriously when there are no names, dates, etc given.

I was sad to hear the victim reported the crime to the conference organization but no action was taken. Ideally she should have gone to the police, but rape is a really traumatic crime and it can be difficult to muster the courage to go through the police reports when you are going through the emotions of having been assaulted. Not to mention the victim blaming culture we live in where if a woman is raped she is subject to an very public debate about whether or she was "asking for it". What was she wearing? Did she accept drinks from him? Why didn't she know self defence or have a rape alarm? And as we know from the news there have been backlogs of dna testing kits from reported rapes across the USA, over 2000 in some states that have just been left. Something like only 22% of rape reports lead to an arrest, which makes it unsurprising to me that a huge amount of rapes end up unreported. The rape victim is put in a position of feeling violated, traumatised and a whole other roster of emotions, and then has to choose between subjecting themselves to an intrusive exam, interview and possible public shaming that might amount to nothing, or living with the fear their attacker may hurt someone else even worse later.

When I look at it that way I can understand why a person might think outing someone on a blog will help prevent further crimes or maybe get some kind of justice. The system often fails minorities in a he said, she said case, especially in assault without dna proof or witnesses because there is always reasonable doubt. I'm not saying that the justice system is always wrong, or vigilante justice is the solution, but I am saying I can understand why someone might feel it is the only way they can do this.

I don't know the work of PZ Myers, so I can't say whether or not he is a thoughtful or respectable blogger, but lets take it on personal merit for him alone as we know no other specifics of the case. Is he well respected? Is he considered a reasoned, thoughtful blogger? If so it seems it would be unlikely for him to post something so risky that could end so badly. If he's a cheap shock jock then of course it would make it harder to see it as a reliable post.

My question to you Calin, I suppose is how does one gather rape evidence if they do not go immediately to the police? The absence of evidence does not mean the absence of a crime. If it's two people alone in the room there will be no witnesses. If you see a man escorting a drunk woman to a room, you probably assume a caring situation like a husband and wife, friends, co workers, and that they will not harm the person when the door is closed. It would hardly be a memorable sight.

It's easy to report a mugging because no one is likely to judge you for getting mugged. No one will say "You were asking for it holding the handbag walking down the street, right where the mugger could see it! He couldn't help himself!" No one would necessarily expect there to be DNA evidence either. You are reporting it, you claim your stuff is stolen (how do we know you even had an iPad or faberge egg in your bag?) it gets written down and investigated and people don't debate it happened to you, even without witnesses.

But in a rape case, as I have stated it's not as a black and white. It sounds like the victim was either drunk to the point of non consent, or drugged. In either scenario she should not have been raped, but there will be people who say "Well its her fault for drinking." The organizers of the conference took no action which would probably have added to her confusion and guilt about going to the police. Also if the victim has a hazy memory from the drugging/drink she may try to convince herself it didn't happen and hesitate to report it.

The answer to your question in my opinion is a cultural shift. We need to stop blaming victims and stop minimising assault. We need to be teaching our kids about this stuff and the wider media should be taking this on board too. They need to reconsider portrayals of female sexuality because the madonna/whore dichotomy makes things confusing for both genders. Showing consent as sexy would be helpful.

Our justice system needs to be taking this stuff seriously too and making it easier for victims to report these sorts of crimes by educating the public and making victims feel safe, instead of persecuted. They also need to show they will actually do something with the reports and kits, as they are now just getting through some of those backlogged ones after increasing pressure.

I don't think vigilante justice is a safe or practical solution, but I understand why it has been chosen. Hopefully instances like this will encourage people to look at the justice system as a whole and why women are taking this sort of thing to the public forum for help.

Death and rape threats are not something to be taken lightly. There is a difference between regular dumb ass trolling and threatening violence. They know her face, they know her name and I'm certain 4chan doxxed her so they know where she is. It seems ridiculous to just be like "Pfffft, no big deal, everyone gets trolled online." I'd be scared. I think it was brave of her to continue the campaign in spite of the threats. I'd be terrified one of those guys really was a psycho who would make good on a threat.

And like Waheela said, just because you don't see something, doesnt mean it didn't occur. I saw the comments on the trailer for her kickstarter project. They were sickening. Criticism is not the same as a violent threat. Why do people think its acceptable? "Oh, it's the internet, just take it on the chin! They'll get bored!" How do you know that? How do you know one of them isn't going to actually carry out the threats? There are some sick individuals in the world. Violence against women is not uncommon.

You know what else, being silent has never solved bullying and harassment in my experience. In isolated incidents maybe, but this isn't just about Anita, harassment against women is prevalent online, and it just allows it to continue unchallenged. I think showing that these things happen is important. I think taking a stand is important. As a community, the more people who say "That's not cool. Don't do that shit." the less people will do it. Social pressure affects change. There will always be a few jerks, but if the gaming community actually said "Guys this is fucking awful, stop it!" then maybe it would lessen considerably. If people just twiddle their thumbs while people send harassing messages like "I'm going to impregnate you and force you to have a late term abortion." (From the Jenny Hanniver story regarding rape threats on Xbox Live.)It's not acceptable to threaten someone like that as far as I'm concerned.

At the end of the day she doesn't want to subject her pages to a stream of violent threats for the sake of one or two intelligent comments. It's not like by disabling youtube comments she's somehow disabled free speech or criticism of her videos. We are discussing her now so what's the big deal? I think it's better she disable them than it become a stream of vile abuse. That doesn't do anyone any good. There are response videos with open comments so people can have their say there if youtube comments are so essential to this whole debate. Or youtubers can make a response video as many have.

I would also like to have the good counter arguments recommended to me for the sake of balance. I'm not inclined to sift through many angry response videos to find a few kernels of good content so if anyone has any of these good counter points they can direct me too I'd appreciate it.

I feel like I have contributed to this thread enough at this point, but I wanted to say that I think the term you are looking for Dactylopus is egalitarianism. I personally identify with egalitarianism, but I gladly accept the term feminist (inter-sectional) too because while in many ways things have improved significantly for women in the western society (although we still have a long way to go), there are clearly still issues that need addressing and this term reminds us that we are looking at issues of inequality pertaining to the oppression of women.

When we are looking at things like female genital mutilation, breast ironing, forced marriage, honour killings, domestic violence (I'm not disputing men are never victims) and reproductive rights, the people campaigning and fighting for these causes and people tend to have been feminist organisations. I'm not really aware of an egalitarian charity focussing on these sort of things, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

[Dactylopus.]

You also make some good point Dactylopus. The dinosaur planet one in particular and I also agree sometimes the damsel is right for the story, but how you write her makes a world of difference, as shown by characters like Elaine Marley. Turned into a solid gold statue, still bags of attitude lol.

Also I wouldn't play a lot of the pink fluffy games that are marketed to women so I don't blame you. There is nothing wrong with anyone liking or playing those games male or female, but I tend to prefer more serious narratives. Also, can't believe I forgot this one, but if guys didn't play as a female protagonist they would be missing out on the Blackwell games! How could I forget Rosa?! Wouldn't that be tragic!

I personally have no problem with sexy women being used in advertising, but I think it is the way in which it is done sometimes, and the frequency that bothers me. And sexy women aren't just used to sell to men, they are used to sell to women too. I could find a plethora of implied nude or half naked shots of women in my magazine rack just from a couple of womens mags. Selling jeans? Topless woman bent over in a doggy style position biting her lip. Selling boots? Naked woman curled up hugging her knees with just the boots on. Selling make up? Naked woman with bright red lips biting her lip.

It's not clever or original, its just the same thing over and over. Women as sexual objects. I feel like it's difficult to say many of these images are of empowered women simply exuding sexuality because a lot of them are in submissive positions with no names or personality and a vapid expression on their faces. I'd say something like the sexy women in the diet coke adverts are showing sexually empowered women. They are exuding their desire for sex without being on all fours crawling around half naked. But we look at the shirtless guy in the ad and he's the one being objectified. The ad was a big hit because it was one of the first instances we ever really saw a guy being objectified in the same way as a woman.

I also think if we saw men being sexually objectified as much in advertising I would have less of an issue with how often it occurs with women. Boobs are like background noise in our society. Sort of like how the boobs in game of thrones were no big thing because we are used to seeing breasts everywhere, even in page 3 of our tabloid papers. But dicks?! Even Sex and the City did't show dong in amongst its plentiful boob and bush displays. I took no real issue with the boobs or sex scenes in Game of Thrones because they actually showed full frontal with both genders.

And also objectification in itself isn't always a terrible thing at appropriate times. It's annoying if I'm at work and a guy tell's me my ass looks great because at work I'm a professional, but I have no problem putting on a nice dress and going on a date or to a bar and being viewed as attractive. If a guy doesn't know me of course all he has to go on in that situation is my looks. Again in consensual one night stands or relationships based solely on sex, objectification isn't bad.

Anyway, as I said the Mikes Hard Lemonade ad didn't really bother me. It was more eye-rolling because of the lame frat boy stereotype and the pretty girls is so overplayed. Like they couldn't be bothered to think of a clever way to sell it so they just stuck in some hot ladies because men will buy if they think pretty girls will sleep with them. Don Draper would be disappointed!

TLDR; I like sexy women too, I have no issue with sex in advertising, but I do wish it was a little more equal in terms of the frequency we see males in these states of undress and sexual positions. I also wish ads could be a bit more creative. Sexy ads like the Mikes Lemonade one are never the most memorable because they are just like every other lazily written ad out there.

I hope no one feels demonized by my comments. I'm not an authority on the subject and I don't want to make guys feel like they can't sexualize women, or compliment a woman without being sexist because that's simply not the case! In any case I'm impressed with the thoughtfulness of the responses in this thread So used to seeing the conversations end before they've even started with much yelling!

[Waheela]

Waheela thanks for that

This might be a bit TLDR feminism for some but here goes

Ryan I want to address your points without coming across as patronizing myself so know I'm just trying to be as clear as I can regarding an extensive and complex subject and if you already understand feminism in greater detail than I give you credit for please accept my apologies. I also want to preface this by stating I don't mean any of this as a personal attack on you. I think you sound like a good guy so hopefully you get that

I first think that maybe you have a problem with Anita's message to the point it feels like she's being more overly emotional in her delivery than she actually is. When I viewed it I personally couldn't see anything like what you described. To me she was delivering a message in a reasonable and calm tone, with a few facial expressions to show her feelings about the ads. Admittedly eye-rolling and a bit snarky, but that's pretty standard for a lot of youtube reviewers and vloggers. I didn't see anything OTT, but that's just me personally. I could see how she might seem patronizing but again I think that's down to personal interpretation.

You like sexy women, Anita is saying that women being sexy in ads is a problem, therefore it might make you feel angry that she wants to take away something you enjoy and personally feel is harmless. I might be wrong, but if I'm not I can understand why she would irritate you. I don't want to derail this thread and make it about sexism in general, but it would be helpful to understand feminism and sexism in our culture a little better, and also what environment sexism really creates for women in this world. It will be too much for me to get into in any real detail in this thread so if I'm unclear at any point I apologise.

The ads themselves are mildly sexist. I would roll my eyes if I saw them, but I wouldn't be making any complaints to advertising standards. The Mikes Hard Lemonade one is referencing the fact that the guy is trying to get both girls home, under the rather obvious pretence of being their designated driver. He's clearly not doing it to be noble, he's doing it to have sex, potentially even a 3 way. The girls dont appear drunk in the ads, but have been drinking, and while it is fine for a guy to hit on a girl at a bar, fine to make an introduction, the guy is only interested in them as sexual objects.

The coors light one has Anita discussing how marketers have tried to make women laugh at this poor caricature of a woman. A girl so stupid she doesn't realise her partner lied to her to go watch the game and drink beer. It's supposed to make us feel like we would never be that dumb, or that we're so cool about this stuff our man would never lie to us! Again, on its own it's mildly sexist and nothing I would kick up a fuss about.

However, when you begin to put all these little ads together it starts to show women are less respected in our culture. We are the butt of the joke, the nagging wife, the stupid girlfriend, the sex toy. These micro-aggressions barely register alone but they infiltrate our culture, reinforcing a message that women are sex objects until they become your sexless, boring, nagging wife. And that is just one of many messages. Like you have experienced yourself, one of the worst thing you can be as a man is feminine. I like George Carlin's thoughts on some of this. But also think about the sort of insults that you hear like pussy, bitch, c**t. All feminine words at their heart. The worst thing you can call someone is feminine, even when you cuss them out. These too are micro aggressions. Tiny things alone, but when you add them all up it shows a rather pernicious attitude towards women threaded throughout our society.

The funny thing is though that all these sexy women in bikinis drinking are great until someone gets laid or hurt. Then people say "She's a slut!" or "She was asking for it!" or "What did she expect getting drunk in that skirt?" Being a woman is a scary thing sometimes, Louis CK puts it better than I ever could, but we are basically raised to be on constant alert to give us the best chance of not being attacked and assaulted. I'm not saying being a man isn't hard or scary, but men don't generally have to worry about things like "Will this outfit I'm wearing suggest I'm asking for it?" and "It's getting dark out, I better get my rape alarm out in case I'm attacked on the way there." It has been heavily implied by society that if we wear the wrong things, drink alcohol, or simply walk alone at night and get attacked, we bear the responsibility for the attack because we should not have been drinking, occupying that space or wearing a short skirt. We were "asking for it".

These messages we are sent are very conflicting no? By media standards we have to be sexually attractive and available, but not actually have sex lest we be labelled a slut, or look too sexy in case we get attacked. I think it can make us quite defensive when we are out and about too. When a guy I don't know comes up to me in a bar sometimes I do feel intimidated even though he probably just wants to say hi. But if you have seen the awful PUA guides maybe you will understand why I might be anxious. There are men out there who think we are essentially theirs to be taken, that don't take no for an answer. Some guys can be manipulative and forceful and we don't know what we are getting, but we do know if we make the mistake of trusting the wrong one we will potentially be blamed for whatever happens to us! The sexist, victim blaming media and some bad eggs are really spoiling it for the genuinely decent men out there. Not to mention the guys who stealthily grope us on crowded public transport and in packed nightclubs, and the ones who yell "compliments" at us in the street.

Anyway I said I would try not to get off topic, but here we are :/

Regarding the Sarkeesian hating men thing, Anita doesn't hate men. Current feminism is egalitarian and usually referred to as inter-sectional feminism, recognizing that white women are not the centre of the universe. Women of colour by far have the worse deal, not to mention transwomen, but we also recognize that sexism hurts men too. We want equality for all, but that means that men will lose a bit of their privilege when the playing field is level and so some men get defensive and yell "FEMINAZI!" at the first sign of that loss. Radical feminism and man hating was a first wave thing that people love to drag up even though it hasn't be relevant for quite some time, and the few who do behave that way would be shunned by the rest of us in the same way most Christians would shun the Westboro Baptist Church.

Her comment about "women becoming as raunchy as men" was taken from the book she references, "Female Chauvinist Pigs." (Interesting read btw regardless of whether you identify as feminist or not.) She isn't saying being raunchy is bad or that men are bad, she means that some women have adopted sexist attitudes to elevate themselves above other women with their male peers. Kind of throwing the rest of us under the bus again in the context of "feminine = bad". It's kind of the ladette culture of "Look at me, men! I can drink pints and eat steak! I never cry and I curse like a sailor! Hell I even stare at tits and can be your ladybro wingwoman! Give me your approval! I'm one of yoooooou!" (Not to say women can't genuinely be a ladette, it's more the elevation aspect of it, portraying other types of women as inferior.)

Sarkeesian is really saying that these women are objectifying women (trope or not) and laughing at sexist jokes for male approval instead of standing with other women and saying "Hey, this isn't cool." She isn't saying raunchy men are bad. She even says that pointing out sexism does not make one popular right after she mentions it. I mean it's definitely true! I feel anxious discussing feminism here because I don't want to get flamed, but I see the AGS community at large to be thoughtful and open minded so I have been willing to open up and risk getting slammed lol.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if women are constantly portrayed as inferior, or as objects, and that it happens to often and so subtly we barely register it, it will begin to affect us. Again a lot of us are intelligent adults capable of making our own choices and understanding these adverts are incorrect while still laughing at them, but some people aren't. Some people don't think about these things and just sit there chuckling and thinking "Haha, yes! Women are like that!"

And of course we have impressionable kids who soak this stuff up like a sponge if no one intervenes, and as we know we can't always rely on parents to educate their kids on these matters. For instance I was walking home from the shops a while ago and a kid who must have been 10 or 11 yelled "Nice tits!" at me. I swear his bike had stabilisers he was that young. I was blown away that this had come from a child. I told him that it wasn't polite to talk to women that way, and that he should find a better way to talk to and compliment people. He seemed surprised I confronted him, but his response was to tell me I could suck his dick. I walked away shaking my head. I would have found it hilarious if it wasn't so deeply tragic. I'm sure he'll grow up to be a real charmer 

But it begs the question, where did he learn this stuff? And saying they learn it from their friends doesn't really cut it because where did the friends learn it from? Adults, TV or some other form of media will be the answer. Unless he had tourettes, he knew to shout a comment in public about my breasts, he knew it would earn him respect from his peers and he knew that ultimately there was nothing I could do about it. Not unlike the grown men who yelled obscenities at me from a passing car when I was bending over to dig out some ivy from my front yard.

Again I fear I am getting off topic so I will try to wrap this up

I understand what you mean now you have clarified you would like there to be a male and female option in games, so that you could still play as male and that women could play as female. That would be great. I think I would ask myself why I don't want to play as a woman though and if it is because you only enjoy the immersion of playing as your own gender or if it is because you don't think female stories would be as interesting or valuable in a non sexual context. If I wasn't willing to play games as a male character I would have missed out on some wonderful games like Deus Ex, Half Life, Zelda, Metal Gear Solid, Monkey Island etc... You would miss awesome games like Tomb Raider, Mirrors Edge, The Longest Journey, and Beyond Good and Evil. I just wonder what it really is that makes a female character seem like a lesser experience? Sorry if I haven't understood again

So yeah, that's just a bit of an explanation and hopefully I haven't gone too off topic or offended everyone. I'm trying really hard not to paint any particular group with a broad brush because we are all individuals at the end of the day. I'm sure there are lots of holes and things I've failed to explain properly, so again sorry for that!

In my restaurant analogy if we are making comparisons to the game industry, the majority of the popular restaurants would be making food I'm not totally happy with. Sure I can stay in a cook, or I can go to those fun little family run establishments that offer great food, but maybe sometimes I want to go to the same restaurant as all my guy friends and enjoy the food too. It's almost like the restaurant says "Guys eat rare steak, women eat salad!" and I'm saying, "Can I have some peri peri chicken? Or at least a medium steak?!"

I didn't mean to imply you disagree with her, and I wasn't targeting you in particular with my comment so I apologise if it came off that way

She's not a game maker though. She's a feminist and a social scientist. She looks a popular culture from a feminist stand point. She isn't an artist or a game maker and she may not have an interest in making games. So why should she make one? She can consume a product and complain about it and ask for something different and it be valid without her having to make her own. If I don't like a meal at a restaurant I'm going to complain to the waiter and get the chef to fix it, I'm not going to walk into the kitchen and say "Well chef, you didn't cook this meal how I like it so I'm gonna have to cook it myself now." I don't have a food hygiene certificate for one, and two I am not interested in being a chef. 

The problem with saying "Don't complain!" or "If you dont like it fix it yourself!" Is that it is an incredibly reductive attitude. So someone with a full time job who likes video games isnt allowed to complain about them unless they make one themselves? How about we just end blogging and youtube as we know it? No one is taking issue with the huge number of review videos on youtube complaining about game mechanics or bad plots in games, but someone makes some videos pointing out a trend in games regarding sexism and suddenly it's all "She should just shut up and make her own game if it bothers her so much"?

Maybe I'm naive but I don't think that every time someone makes a complaint they have to the one to fix it. We are not all equally blessed in certain skill sets at the end of the day. Sarkeesian makes videos about feminism and runs Feminist Frequency. She isn't a game maker. Her not producing a game does not make her criticisms or arguments any less valid.

You know who is the solution to the problem? Game makers, especially those without a specific agenda. When we show that we can make games that are popular and fun without being sexist (which she did show with examples like Fez)then we pave the way for consumers to get used to that sort of content. We show publishers that these games can exist and be successful.

People have created inspiring female Lego sets off the back of it being brought to their attention. Sarkeesian bring attention to issues, there is nothing wrong with that. Showing people there is a problem isn't a bad thing. It allows other people to find solutions. She can see a problem and bring it to light without having the skills or power to fix it. Complaining doesn't solve problems, but it does bring them to peoples attentions and personally I dont see her videos as her just ranting about things. She is trying to show people there is an issue and then a few people watch them and say "Hey I can do something about that!"

Here are the minifigs that are being petitioned

Me too. Really looking forward to playing some of these and was sorry to see Alaskaban go. Think you could have developed what you had into something really great

[Andail]

Andail thank you for saying that. I think we can all agree that adults capable of understanding the media and marketing can understand and make informed choices on their media consumption and be aware it is fantasy, not an accurate portrayal of real life and get that they are being presented information in a manipulative way. However, not everyone has that awareness, and children are especially vulnerable to the constant diet of stereotypes and sexual imagery that is now the background noise of our culture.

Ryan I'm surprised you were surprised that she's quite feminist. Her channel is called Feminist Frequency so I didn't think it would be a shock. And regarding the lego, I have no problem with there being a Lego set that is pink and "feminine" but she's trying to point out that the lego sets that have public service roles like fire fighters, police, etc have no female mini figs. Why not? Women are in every public sector serving their country and our kids should know that, boys and girls alike.

I see a lot of guys saying they wont play games as girls, but in the same breath saying girls should just play with the sets even though the mini figs are all boys. Are you not seeing the double standard? Girls do enjoy playing with Lego, but girls would like to have some mini figs of the gender they identify with the same as the guys. Equally by only having hair dressers, bakers and retail assistants in the female category it is sending a message to both genders on what they can do. Girls, you are hair dressers, and home makers and you like fashion. Guys, you don't do that stuff, that isnt for you. You are fire fighters and policemen.

Anecdotally I have a young male cousin who adored pink and a doll called Felicity Wishes. He took her everywhere and he would sing and dance and was basically this really happy little kid who told me he wanted to be a dancer and do make up. His parents just let him just be who he was because they love him and why should they tell him he cant like those things? The only real issue came when he got to school and was so horrendously bullied for not being "a proper boy" that he completely changed into what he was told he was supposed to be by his peers. When I asked him where Felicity was he said "I got rid of her. She's a girls toy. Boys dont like pink or dolls." He stopped dancing, stopped all the things that could have been considered feminine because he learned that displaying an interest in feminine things was bad if you were a boy. I think that is a shame. Maybe if toys were marketed more gender neutrally, and more parents explained that there are no "male" or "female" colours or jobs he would still be the completely free and happy kid he used to be.

Maybe people will disagree with me, but I think it is really difficult to talk about this subject without people getting defensive because change is hard. People like things to be as they always were. If there are more female characters then like Ryan said, he wont be buying those games because they simply wont appeal to him. It might feel annoying to a guy if suddenly the experience of games was taken down a level, even if it meant that his female peers went up significantly so they had a more similar experience overall. It comes down to people not liking to lose their privilege to allow others a better experience. I don't want to get into hyperbolic comparisons, but any change that has sought equality for people has been met with resistance from those who would lose a bigger slice of their already significantly larger pie.

But the discussion here has been interesting and I've enjoyed the debate thus far