The German comedian Carolin Kebekus (42) addressed the gaming industry on Thursday, November 24th, in a segment of her ARD show “Die Carolin Kebekus Show” (DCKS). She criticized the portrayal of and treatment of women in games like WoW.
What kind of show was it? In the November 24th episode of the personality show “Die Carolin Kebekus Show,” hosted by Kebekus, the comedian dedicated a segment to “the most beautiful thing in the world”: gaming.
However, despite Kebekus identifying as a passionate gamer, there are many aspects of her hobby that she finds troubling: The comedian criticizes sexism and lack of diversity in gaming.
Although just as many women as men play games, women are still portrayed extremely sexist and have to endure “awful shit,” according to Kebekus.
Where can you watch the show? The full show is available on the ARD Mediathek. If you are only interested in the 15-minute gaming segment, you can find it here (via Das Erste).
“There is only the damsel in distress and the sexy warrior”
How does Kebekus see the role of women in games? Kebekus criticized that there are usually only 2 roles for female characters in games:
- the helpless damsel in distress
- the “sickly proportioned” and sexualized action heroine
Other gender identities besides male and female do not even occur.
Kebekus illustrated her criticism with sketch-like scenes in the fictional video game “World of Mencraft,” a parody of MMORPGs like WoW. She received support from German Twitch streamer Lara “Lara Loft” Trautmann and the Rocket Beans.
As an example of a “damsel in distress,” Kebekus cited Princess Peach, whose role usually consists of being kidnapped at the beginning of a game and being rescued by the player.
To represent the sexualized action heroine, Kebekus mentioned the archaeologist Lara Croft from the “Tomb Raider” games. Although her physique has become much more realistic, her outfit is still unsuitable for a mountain tour in South America, Kebekus judges.
Women are reduced to supporting roles
What roles remain for women? Compared to their male counterparts, who charge into battle in heavy armor and armed to the teeth, female characters are often relegated to supporting roles: healer, support, spell-casting ranged fighter.
Instead of cool weapons and heavy armor, Kebekus’s character in World of Mencraft only has a weak wand and the weapon merchant’s question of whether she would rather be a healer.
When Kebekus then cannot accomplish anything during a quest with her wand, she has to hear from her male teammate that she would have been better off as a healer.
The portrayal may be somewhat exaggerated, Kebekus admits, but at its core it is true. And this is a problem that goes beyond the games:
This image of women has, of course, a great influence on how we see women and how women see themselves.
Carolin Kebekus
At least: In the past decades, the portrayal has already improved, Kebekus continues. However, this leads to her next criticism: the negative reactions to what she sees as a positive development.
Progress faces massive resistance
Although some things have improved, Kebekus finds that there are still too few realistically portrayed women in games. Not to mention PoCs, meaning non-white people, and queer individuals. On the other hand, there is too much outrage over the less sexualized portrayals of women.
What portrayals does Kebekus find successful? The portrayal of Aloy, the main character from the Horizon game series, is highlighted positively by Carolin Kebekus. Specifically, it is about the version of Aloy as seen in Horizon Forbidden West, released in 2022.
However, Aloy’s new look led to massive criticism from some players last year, claiming this Aloy looks totally masculine.
Even heavier reactions came to the continuation of the popular action-adventure The Last of Us: Players felt that the game forced them to play a female main character.
The actress of one of the female characters had received death threats in 2020 from supposed fans of the series (via GamePro).
Kebekus cannot understand these reactions at all:
How can you get so upset about having to play a woman? Death threats? How over the top can one react? Cry offline!
Carolin Kebekus
Women have to deal with sexist trolls
Not only in the games themselves, but also with teammates, Kebekus sees a problem: Women and minorities are often subjected to disgusting comments.
This leads some female gamers to pretend to be men, using male characters and voice filters to avoid harassment, Kebekus explains.
Sexual harassment, threats, and insults are no joke. Not even when they take place in a virtual space.
Carolin Kebekus
What does Carolin Kebekus demand from the gaming industry? Carolin Kebekus wants more games with diverse stories and characters. Especially, women should not feel intimidated but continue to play or even enter development. Perhaps one day there will be a “World of Womancraft.”
The criticisms that Carolin Kebekus raises are not really new: For years now, especially women have been criticizing the portrayal of female characters in video games. The feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian has played a pioneering role with her series “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games.”
In light of such representations of women in games, it is not surprising that there are always allegations of sexism in the industry that produces these games:
Sexism in the gaming industry: ‘I thought that was part of it’
