Feminist Frequency, Linkle and Unattainable Standards

[GennGreymane]

https://medium.com/@shogun/feminist-...9d1#.e9w9pn9ya

If you don’t already know what this post is going to be about, allow me to provide some context:

Today Feminist Frequency (and Anita Sarkeesian by extension) made the following tweets, presumably to clarify her views on Linkle in light of her apparent hypocrisy:

(tweets in article)

In these three tweets Anita is clarifying her views — not quite backpedaling or moving the goalposts, but I still find her argument weak nonetheless.
What exactly is she saying here? That because Linkle is a separate character, for a spin-off of the Zelda series and not part of the main series itself, she’s simply not good enough? Well first off, isn’t having any kind of new female character in the Zelda universe, no matter how insignificant they may be, a step in the right direction? Is there really any need to dismiss the character out of hand as ‘a kid-sister version of Link in a non-core-Zelda 3DS game’, when hardly any information has been released about her? Sure, it’s not the most original design, but that’s a little harsh.

Besides, what Anita claims to dislike is that because Linkle ‘is so clearly set apart from Link, Linkle only works to reinforce the notion of ‘male as default’’. OK, and how is having a bonafide, analogous female Link in a flagship Zelda game not reinforcing ‘male as default’?

What I’m understanding here is Anita wants a female Link that for all intents and purposes is Link, but simultaneously a separate character to male Link, so as to avoid becoming a Ms. Male character? That’s quite the conundrum. It’s not like Nintendo could do much to distinguish her; Link isn’t exactly a rich well of character depth; how much personality can you add to a mute adventurer who’s pretty much a blank state and whose sole characteristic is being heroic?

Link has always been a male character since the first Zelda, and as long as a female Link took on the mantle of Link, we would only see her as a derivation of the ‘male default’ Link that we have come to know, no matter how different her personality or appearance was.
The only way of truly escaping the ‘male default’ trap would be to create a new default, a new character to build the game around, with no canonical strings attached.

Or better yet, why not have a Zelda game where you actually fucking play as Princess Zelda, and have to save Link? Then you’d actually be doing something fresh and subversive, as opposed to a lazy gender-swap (how would the relationship between female Link and Zelda work, anyway? Would they be lesbians..?).

Long story short: you can’t have your cake and eat it Anita. Either you’re in favour of a female Link that will always be seen as a Ms Male character, or you want what looks like a female version of Link, but is a separate character in her own right like Linkle (yes the name could be better).

And you said you want a female Link, hmm..?
You honestly just can’t win with the likes of Anita. Can you imagine what a conversation between an SJW demanding a female Link and Nintendo would be like?

SJW: Umm so yeah don’t you think it’s about time we had a female Link? Nintendo: *Introduces Linkle to Hyrule Warriors*
SJW: No no, not a second rate female Link that’s a separate character, we want an actual female Link in a Zelda game!
Nintendo: *Makes a Zelda game with female Link, making sure she is just as strong and capable as male Link*

SJW: *OMFG, so you just made a female Link that’s exactly the same as male Link?? That’s LITERALLY the definition of a Ms. Male character!!
Nintendo: *Gives female Link distinguishing features and traits to separate her from male Link, sweats profusely*

SJW: Are you fucking kidding me? So you gave her gender normative traits just because she’s a woman?? Fuck you and your female stereotypes!!
Nintendo: *Begs for forgiveness, commits seppuku*

Here is another article: http://theralphretort.com/the-rad-fe...otic-11013015/

This is more of an opinion piece than anything else and focusing on games. I figured I can state an opinion too. I think Linkle is cool.

[Tastyfish]

Genn I understand you are feeling brave cause Genn is going to be a HOS character and prominent in Legion, but this.. this has gone too far! LOL

I love how she flip flops the concern troll over this tho. It's not full Mac but pretty close in my opinion.

[GennGreymane]

Genn I understand you are feeling brave cause Genn is going to be a HOS character and prominent in Legion, but this.. this has gone too far! LOL

I love how she flip flops the concern troll over this tho. It's not full Mac but pretty close in my opinion.

HOS? Also brave? Am I at least stunning?

[Belize]

Oh look, FemFreq and co. are being stupid. Figures.

[Iflash]

Ha, I did laugh a bit at The last part of thE article.

I am guessing they wanted something closer to the new Thor in Marvel Comics. Not "Thorita" "Girl Thor" or whatever.

[Narveid]

Why do we still give a damn? They contradict themselves and spin things so badly to try and make it into sexism that you have to be fucking ignorant about games to believe them. Just let them keep going with their bullshit, and let us focus on more important things like.. I dunno.. That it has started snowing or some shit like that?

[Deleted]

Sarkeessitard should be ridiculed at every possible oppotunity. The crap that imbecile tried to argue in front of the UN was cringeworthy. All hail Thunderfoot

[Belize]

Sarkeessitard should be ridiculed at every possible oppotunity. The crap that imbecile tried to argue in front of the UN was cringeworthy. All hail Thunderfoot

But then they're viiccttttimmssss of online haarrraaaaassssmmmeenntt.

[rogueMatthias]

I think there's an easy solution to the problem here.

With the popularity of focusing on trans people in the media, its clear that in films and computer games there's a real under representation.

We can't just create new characters that are trans, because then they'll have to build up their own new fans and will be hard to reach the populatiry of the already established and very popular characters. The best way to inject this into the medium is to realise that some of these established characters are trans. They're not ret-conning anything, these characters simply haven't come forward to reveal this information before.

Revealing that Link is actually transsexual would clearly be the best thing they can do for the game series.

Also, as they've never got married or anything, it's pretty clear that Princess Zelda was always meant to be a lesbian, so I think having a game to focus on this aspect of her character could really be liberating to LGBT fans who are looking for their own hero that they can identify in in these games.

It'd be a shame if people on here disagree with this. There's so much hate against the LGBT community and Transphobia that by making remarks saying you don't agree, you're just perpetuating this hate.

[Rukh]

Why do we care about this Anita's opinion of a videogame character? Why are we writing articles against it or discussing it? I'm genuinely curious.

[GennGreymane]

Why do we care about this Anita's opinion of a videogame character? Why are we writing articles against it or discussing it? I'm genuinely curious.

This is the internet. We discuss everything and everyone

[Rukh]

This is the internet. We discuss everything and everyone

We don't actually though, do we?

[GennGreymane]

We don't actually though, do we?

We kinda do

[Deleted]

Why do we still give a damn? They contradict themselves and spin things so badly to try and make it into sexism that you have to be fucking ignorant about games to believe them. Just let them keep going with their bullshit, and let us focus on more important things like.. I dunno.. That it has started snowing or some shit like that?

Problem is she actually goes out of her way to speak out to those who are fucking ignorant about games in order to convince them of manufactured problems and thus turning them into a horde of politically correct cronies who go around and change things that dont need changing in the first place. All the while parading as a champion of justice who brings possitive change while making sure any resistance or criticism in her direction is turned into a "Hey! Do you see! There resist possitive change that because they want to maintain while cis male patriarchy! Dont listen to them!".

It is pretty important because she creates a tumor of ultra oversensetive bullshit and selfcontradicting pseudo educated theories all for the sake of making buck on people who only have their good intentions turn into force of destruction on what is alrady established as good and beneficial for everyone who wish to join in.

[Rukh]

We kinda do

Do you want me to go link a pile of blogs we're not discussing? ; )

[Tastyfish]

HOS? Also brave? Am I at least stunning?

Heroes of the Storm = Genn as playable.

YOU ARE RAVISHING DARLING!

[GennGreymane]

Do you want me to go link a pile of blogs we're not discussing? ; )

But then we would be discussing it. And this is the internet. Those blogs are being discussed somewhere. Most likely on the blogs.

- - - Updated - - -

Heroes of the Storm = Genn as playable.

YOU ARE RAVISHING DARLING!

WOOOOOOOOT I better be fucking OP!

[Tastyfish]

Know why I love her?
she is so delightfully homophobic. She is delightfully gender segregationist, and she is the social media darling of so many directionless white people who are looking for an identity.. It makes me feel like im just a little more ok for not being one of these people.



http://cdn.escapistmagazine.com/medi...999/999411.jpg <--- image of him in HOS for you Genny
https://youtu.be/-s13WDXZe3k And play footage

[Bosen]

I think the character might seem superficial because she hasn't any lore to establish her value as a character. If she had her own game,there'd be something to discuss in more depth,but there's nothing to discuss other than she seems to be another variant of an established male hero.

[GennGreymane]

Know why I love her?
she is so delightfully homophobic. She is delightfully gender segregationist, and she is the social media darling of so many directionless white people who are looking for an identity.. It makes me feel like im just a little more ok for not being one of these people.



http://cdn.escapistmagazine.com/medi...999/999411.jpg <--- image of him in HOS for you Genny
https://youtu.be/-s13WDXZe3k And play footage

The amount of reaction the A.I has to being smacked is.... interesting

OMG 2 minutes in.... that equipment..... my god