Angry Feminist Gamer Gets Angry! In other news, the Pope is Catholic.
So, uh, remember the last time I got pissed at my Social Psych class for bashing video games?
Yeah, um. I kind of did it again.
So the topic of today's class was aggression and it's role in popular media. Now, we started off talking about the role of violence in modern action and horror films, which I can deal with. It was actually pretty interesting, even if I think my professor's perspective on modern Japanese film is a little bit off.
But OF COURSE, the rest of class is about violence and its presence in video games, and OF COURSE it is overwhelmingly negative. We even got to watch part of a documentary about video games, particularly how they portray gender, race, and violence, which would have been fine...if it hadn't been made in 2000 about games from the early/mid nineties. Seriously, do researchers honestly think DOOM is an apt example of modern gaming? Really?
Anyways, long story short, I got pissed. Hell, I got pissed enough to write an email to my professor. And here's what I said:
Hi Professor,
I'm going to apologize in advance if this seems at all presumptuous, but today's class touched on an issue that I find important and a little personal; and I've read up on some research I thought you might find interesting.
To start off, I'm not denying that video games (or any form of violent media, for that matter) can contribute to aggression in people; we've discussed the importance of priming and desensitization, and I know there's a good deal of research out there about it. However, there was a pretty recent study that looked at the role of video games in the lives of teenagers, including why they play violent games (an issue I know you asked us about), the relationship between violent game playing and real-life aggressive behavior (such as bullying) as opposed to gauges of aggression in the laboratory (i.e. blasting an air horn), and how kids view their own game playing behavior. These studies in question were headed up by Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson, and they culminated in a book called "Grand Theft Childhood" (the website for which is http://www.grandtheftchildhood.com). I would also provide links to the articles the book is based on (they're found mostly in the Journal of Adolescent Research), but the library website is fighting me at the moment.
Their basic argument is that it's not necessarily the group as a whole who are at risk from video game violence exposure, but a specific type of kids in particular. They also argue that all violence is not created equal, and that, while some studies have found video game playing decreases pro-social behavior, it actually has become terribly important for peer social interaction amongst teenagers, particularly boys.
I guess the whole "video game violence" issue is a little touchy for me. Unlike a large number of my peers (the female ones, anyway), I actually do play video games on a regular basis, including some violent ones. I have never personally been accused of being socially-stunted or violence-obsessed, but the group as a whole has been painted with a pretty wide brush by a lot of people, and it can be frustrating. I'd have loved to bring this up in class, but there was never really a good time, and frankly, it kind of seems the pro-video game people tend to get jumped on a little bit by some of our classmates.
Anyways, I thought you might find this interesting, and I'm sorry if this seems a bit out of the blue.
Thanks,
Niki La Teer
After going over all this in my head, I've come to the conclusion that this is just one of those issues that I get worked up over, and I can't even put my finger on why. So, I was sort of wondering; what is everyone else's take on the issue of video games and violence? Do you side with the people who say it instigates aggression, or do you think it's not that big a deal?
Hmph. Ironic though it might be, I now feel the urge to go kill something.
Yeah, um. I kind of did it again.
So the topic of today's class was aggression and it's role in popular media. Now, we started off talking about the role of violence in modern action and horror films, which I can deal with. It was actually pretty interesting, even if I think my professor's perspective on modern Japanese film is a little bit off.
But OF COURSE, the rest of class is about violence and its presence in video games, and OF COURSE it is overwhelmingly negative. We even got to watch part of a documentary about video games, particularly how they portray gender, race, and violence, which would have been fine...if it hadn't been made in 2000 about games from the early/mid nineties. Seriously, do researchers honestly think DOOM is an apt example of modern gaming? Really?
Anyways, long story short, I got pissed. Hell, I got pissed enough to write an email to my professor. And here's what I said:
Hi Professor,
I'm going to apologize in advance if this seems at all presumptuous, but today's class touched on an issue that I find important and a little personal; and I've read up on some research I thought you might find interesting.
To start off, I'm not denying that video games (or any form of violent media, for that matter) can contribute to aggression in people; we've discussed the importance of priming and desensitization, and I know there's a good deal of research out there about it. However, there was a pretty recent study that looked at the role of video games in the lives of teenagers, including why they play violent games (an issue I know you asked us about), the relationship between violent game playing and real-life aggressive behavior (such as bullying) as opposed to gauges of aggression in the laboratory (i.e. blasting an air horn), and how kids view their own game playing behavior. These studies in question were headed up by Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson, and they culminated in a book called "Grand Theft Childhood" (the website for which is http://www.grandtheftchildhood.com). I would also provide links to the articles the book is based on (they're found mostly in the Journal of Adolescent Research), but the library website is fighting me at the moment.
Their basic argument is that it's not necessarily the group as a whole who are at risk from video game violence exposure, but a specific type of kids in particular. They also argue that all violence is not created equal, and that, while some studies have found video game playing decreases pro-social behavior, it actually has become terribly important for peer social interaction amongst teenagers, particularly boys.
I guess the whole "video game violence" issue is a little touchy for me. Unlike a large number of my peers (the female ones, anyway), I actually do play video games on a regular basis, including some violent ones. I have never personally been accused of being socially-stunted or violence-obsessed, but the group as a whole has been painted with a pretty wide brush by a lot of people, and it can be frustrating. I'd have loved to bring this up in class, but there was never really a good time, and frankly, it kind of seems the pro-video game people tend to get jumped on a little bit by some of our classmates.
Anyways, I thought you might find this interesting, and I'm sorry if this seems a bit out of the blue.
Thanks,
Niki La Teer
After going over all this in my head, I've come to the conclusion that this is just one of those issues that I get worked up over, and I can't even put my finger on why. So, I was sort of wondering; what is everyone else's take on the issue of video games and violence? Do you side with the people who say it instigates aggression, or do you think it's not that big a deal?
Hmph. Ironic though it might be, I now feel the urge to go kill something.