This story’s over a month old, so for that and other reasons I’m not going to go on a rant about it. The fuckupery here should be self-evident. The story, as briefly as possible, is this:
[T]he Mechromancer skill tree that helps video game newcomers is formally called Best Friends Forever. But Borderlands 2 lead designer John Hemingway referred to it numerous times as “girlfriend mode”.
Borderlands 2, just so we’re on the same page, is developed by Gearbox Software. Gearbox Software, just so we’re on the same page, is also responsible for this:
So I’m seeing a trend here. John Hemingway was not actually personally involved in the production of Duke Nukem Forever, but the fact remains that Gearbox seems to foster a disturbing tolerance of misogyny.
But as with white people in matters of race, you can’t really be sexist if you just say you’re not:
“There is no universe where Hemingway is a sexist,” Pitchford added.
Yes, yes there is: this universe. But don’t worry, some of his best friends are black women:
“All the women at Gearbox would beat his and anyone else’s ass.”
Related posts:
- Why yes, we do live in a culture where rape is more acceptable than consensual sex
- A gamer notices that women have personalities in addition to boobs
- Rape culture: alive and well
- Straight Male Privilege Dude Sez: Stop making games for people that aren’t us!
- To all those women who wish they could escape their inferior gender, Scott Adams understands you