Carolin Kebekus comes out as a passionate gamer, but she also has a bone to pick with this hobby. (Source: ARD)
With her contribution “World of Mencraft – Sexism in Video Games”, ARD comedian Carolin Kebekus takes a sharp stance against clichés and harassment in the gaming environment.
She receives active support from the Rocket Beans, Lara Loft, Sarazar, Rewinside and other well-known faces from the influencer area. Together they show in a clip where the problems lie: The complete You can watch the 15-minute episode in the ARD media library.
Wouldn’t you rather be a healer?
It starts with the character selection: Kebekus plays the fictional-satirical online role-playing game World of Mencraft, which only offers two female choices in hero creation. “It’s really like that in a lot of games. Female characters are either the damsel in distress or an ill-proportioned action heroine who is horny as fuck,” says the Grimme Prize winner.
The WoW satire throws more restrictions at the player’s ears: “You chose a female character, wouldn’t you rather become a healer?” is the answer of an NPC dealer when asked about a sword. Although this is exaggerated, women are almost always assigned a supporting role, comments Kebekus.
Lara Loft dresses up as Lars to avoid online harassment. Image rights: ARD
But it goes even further: in the very first dungeon of World of Mencraft, Kebekus meets other players who suggest she go into the kitchen, “where you belong”, followed by crude sexual abuse. Unfortunately, this is a bitter reality for many players.
There is also a lot of trouble within the big studios: The shocking sexism incidents at the WoW developer show GameStar editor-in-chief Heiko that the games industry must finally take responsibility and change:
Blizzard scandal
Why apologies are no longer enough
Its a lot to do
After all, something has happened in some places, Kebekus admits, for example with Lara Croft, whose proportions look much more realistic today than in the bizarrely big-breasted version from the 90s.
She cites another positive example Horizon: Forbidden Westin which the heroine Aloy looks believable – and directs clear words against fans, who had criticized Aloy’s look as »too unfeminine«. They are also discussed Death threats against the cast of The Last of Us 2 from the gaming community.
GameStar discusses the status quo in the Europe games industry with two experts:
Talk-Runde
Sexism in the Europe gaming industry
The conclusion of Kebekus: “Although some things are improving, there are still too few realistically portrayed women in games – not to mention PoCs and queer people.” Incidentally, male characters are also not immune to distorted representations: Kratos, the hero out God of Warfor example, go into battle conspicuously naked.
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