Anita Sarkeesian and the need for more female critics

Check out this awesome article from Maddy Myers at Hyper Mode. It talks primarily about Games journalism but I think most of her points are valid for any women critiquing in any field:

If you’re a critic or a journalist, your job is hard enough. You have to love it to do it at all. Don’t believe me? Try it sometime; see how the unforgiving hours and low pay treat you.

If you’re also a woman, you’ll endure more scrutiny and more harassment online just for that reason. If you’re a woman and you write about gender roles in relation to videogames, the harassment will get worse. If you’re also visually present online (in photographs or video), the harassment worsens yet further. Anita Sarkeesian can put a check mark next to every single one of these boxes, and no one should envy her for it. No amount of money could make up for the difficulty of her day-to-day life.

It is enough to put any woman off of going into the field which is the exact opposite of what needs to happen. Even if you don't  agree with the points that Sarkeesian makes in her videos (and you don't have to, as Myres points out Sarkeesian is not supposed to be "the perfect critic") she doesn't deserve the vitriol pointed her way just because of her gender.

What is it about brutally murdered young women?

(Spoilers for Dexter and The Dark Knight below)

Sady Doyle tries to answer that question with this article titled "The Violently Killed Femmes".

It comes down to the vulnerability that we perceive in a young (almost always white) woman with an air or innocence and virginity. In many shows it transpires that this may not be the whole truth. Twin Peaks' Laura Palmer is a typical example of this, the prom queen who snorts coke and hangs out with demons. Nonetheless she is a complex and ultimately sympathetic character, especially compared to other examples where the dead body is there to be both mourned and fetishised in equal measure.

Doctor Who Gender Flip

There is an article over at Huston Press by Jef with One F, that explores what the history of Doctor Who would have been like if the character was an American woman. My favourite is swapping out David Tennant for Tina Fey.

Overall I think its an interesting exercise though a core aspect of Doctor Who is its "Britishness", see the 1996 movie as an example of how the premise doesn't quite work as well in America. However changing genders, nationalities, races and settings are a fantastic way to explore the motivation behind pieces of work.

Look at how successful The Lizzie Bennet Diaries was.

Feminist Frequency

If you haven't done so already you need to go and catch up with Anita Sarkeesian over at Feminist Frequency especially her newest series on the portrayal of women in video games which makes for interesting viewing even if you aren't a super avid gamer (which I am not).

Sarkeesian is a media critics who specialises in deconstructing stereotypes (that sound you hear is academics and fans alike squeeing)  and exploring issue of portrayal. It's very cool.

With an approachable (and thankfully jargon-less) way of communicating ideas that mixes snappy facts and quirky asides, Sarkeesian is endlessly watchable for those with an interest and/or expertise in media  and the more casual viewer alike and also avoid that "accentuate the negative" approach that others feel is necessary to be a critic.