But Enough About You... (Extra Credit)

Oh, wow, guys, this is my last post :( I'm gonna miss you all but I'm so glad I'm done with these (at least for now :P) Try not to get too emotional.

So yeah, I was back on YouTube again and ran into this horrid video by some guy named DuckReconMajor. I don't know who this guy is, but if I ever met him I'd probably sock him in the face. When I go to the video there's an option that says "Edit Video". I guess this monster had some form of remorse so he decided to let some unlucky person come along and clean up the mess.

Well, for one thing (which happens to be the only thing I'm going to talk about), there are no women in this video. Well, you may observe, there are only two people in this short film. True, but why should it matter? Are women something you just stick in if you have room? Are they an accessory to your male-dominated playset?

Something tells me (can't tell you what) that this guy couldn't have made his main character a female because he thought that making a female main character would require a different story structure. Instead of focusing on the main character's journey into the fantasy land of space, he would have to concentrate more on
developing the main character. He saw that he would have to make her have strong emotions because she'd be a woman and he really didn't want to get into that. Nope, to fit in with the atmosphere of the rest of the film, he had to make the main character as generic as possible. And, of course, generic = male. He learned part of this from watching Pixar films as a child, but people all over the world were blowing the same horn in his ear. Yep, to keep all character related questions to a minimum, he couldn't do anything "different", like having a female lead the action onscreen. Cause, you know, then the video would be revolved around that. Just like when women play sports we gotta treat em special. Yeah, I could go on all day.

Wait, this main character seems to be somewhat genderically neutral. Oh well.

Beyoncé's got a DS (makeup)

So I saw this on TV and knew I wasn't going to have any trouble picking something to write this week's pointless rant on. Video games have been an important part of my life since I was jumping on flying turtles and shooting ducks as a four-year-old. And gender is a prevalent issue in the male-dominated industry.

Let's put aside that this is Beyoncé for a minute. Well, before that, let me explain, for those who don't already know, that since Nintendo can't compete with it's competitors with more advanced hardware and better graphics, they're instead going to make games that everyone can play. Yes, as many have seen, that includes grandmas, grandpas, and legions of soccer moms (yes I said it) who found out that video games are about more than seeing how much blood you can splatter on the wall.

So, anyway, here, Beyoncé, sorry, some girl, has been put into a DS commercial to show off that this product is so playable, even girls can play it. Yes that's right, you dumb girls, even you can play it. But no, you can't play anything that might require thinking, like maybe Mario or even Star Fox: you might have to learn what the buttons are for! Nope, you have to play games like Rhythm Heaven, where you play senseless mini-games and bash way too hard on the touch screen like a savage while you mimic the sounds coming from the speakers.

Okay so I've been harsh. There's nothing wrong with games that are nothing but senseless fun. But why does everyone act like that's all girls are capable of playing? Even when they are shown playing games with some value, why do they still act like Nintendo has just invented light or something? In her behind-the-scenes feature, Beyonce talks about how much she loves the game and how much she likes to play it. Yeah, and Jeff Gordon has Pepsi and Fritos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner too, right? I'm sure when she does find time to play it, she plays as long as any normal person would, until it's given all it has to give to someone who's older than four, and then one of two things: she'll put it down and do something else, or she'll find some other games. I'm sure there are many who agree with me in saying I hope it's the latter.

One thing about this whole ordeal, though, is that I've seen from first hand experience that this is an issue that has been taking a turn for the better. As a new generation of gamers grows older, not only does the age demographic of gamers grow wider, the gender lines start to blur. I mean, the first time I played the excellent Banjo-Kazooie was at a girl's house. And no, she wasn't some pocket protector nerd, either. And this was more than ten years ago.

Hell's Kitchen

I never really stopped and realized until now how genderalized one of my favorite shows is. Of course, once you learn to spot these things, this tends to happen quite often. Hell's Kitchen, now in it's fifth season, is a reality TV show where the world class Chef Ramsay puts a group of aspiring head chefs through demanding challenges to whittle out one who will take head position in another outpost of Chef Ramsay's far reaching empire.

Now that I've thought about it, I realize how much Ramsay's image is portrayed as "manly". He curses, he swears, his temper flares, yet he still draws respect from millions of people. Why? He's a man who is extremely good at what he does. He shows disregard for any traces of personality that don't contribute to a command of the kitchen. And why, besides the obvious notoriety, do thousands line up every year to try and place themselves at the top with this part madman-part acclaimed culinary mastermind? Well, with all of the success and fame that constantly surrounds him, people regard him as a man who knows exactly what he's talking about. Thus, when he turns to you and shoots off a stream of his trademark profanity, you know it's you who has the problem, not him. You go and try to make yourself better to try and earn the respect of Chef Gordon Ramsay, one of the manliest of men, knowledgable, professional, and relatively unemotional.

No, Chef Ramsay is not a bodybuilding musclehead, lifting benches with women on them and throwing anchors across the beach. Yet his traditionally manly composition has had networks renewing contracts for him for years. And it shows no signs of stopping.