For this week’s critical play, I played Super Smash Bros with the character Isabelle. Super Smash Bros, from the name, is not a game that strongly supports feminism. There are very few female identifying characters such as Isabelle and Princess Peach and far more male identifying characters such as Mario, Luigi, Bowser etc. There are many ways where the game developers have boxed Isabelle into a weak female stereotype so that the player feels like they are “playing like a girl” when they choose her. First, she is the town mayor but is completely mute. Her powers such as Lloid trap and Fishing rod are moderately effective. But they have flaws which hold Isabelle back in competitive play. Basically if you want to win, you won’t choose Isabelle, or any of the female characters in Super Smash Bros. “Girling does not happen in a vacuum. It is enacted in public and private spaces.” The way femininity is represented in Super Smash Bros is portraying the women as weak and not able to win. This affects girls who see characters like them lose. In this game space, girling is something to be avoided. Players can choose the feminine character to be expressive but the dynamics show that they are weaker than the male characters. “Play is an ideal space for changing minds and bodies, and disrupting patriarchal hegemonies.” This is a game where male and female characters can fight against each other. It would be better to show that men and women can work together to solve their problems. This may not be the goal of Super Smash Bros so a better way of feminism is to make some really powerful female identifying characters. For example, female characters that also look big, scary, and smash things. This would evolve the feminism in the game to show that men and women are equals and can be equal matches.
Girls are taught to play better like boys. Having powerful characters of all genders would allow girls to smash things like girls want to and boys to smash things like boys want to. For example, boys aren’t the only ones allowed to express anger or power. Or, there can be male characters that aren’t so big or exude masculine traits. Unfortunately, this game expresses systemic institutionalized sexism and players need to have an understanding of how it misleads their play and thinking. The female characters are few and therefore not chosen to play as much similarly how women are discriminated against when being chosen for a job, executive, or leadership position. Women are being told to focus on their current strengths instead of strengthening them or developing new abilities. Since Isabelle cannot talk, this reinforces the stereotype that women should be weak and submissive to the powerful male superiors. Super Smash Bros needs to be redone to account for the sexism it portrays and promotes. In the feminist radical play feministing, players engage in leisurely freedom open to an equal and fair future.
How can games help women express all emotions not dividing them among feminine and masculine?
