(Trigger warning)
This is just a sample of the vicious messages activists received yesterday following the announcement by Target Australia and then Kmart, that they would no longer stock GTAV.
As well (I can’t show the image, it is too distressing), the face of one of our activists was superimposed on the body of a murdered woman, lying in a pool of blood, from GTAV.
Jokes about domestic violence as well as images of graphic violence against women to those women who dared thank Kmart for removing the game – because that’s all the provocation it took.
To the retailers still profiting from selling this game – including Big W – do you stand with these men threatening women with violence, or with survivors of violence?
Sincere gratitude to Target and to Kmart for demonstrating corporate social responsibility, ethical business leadership, and respect for women. Please thank these companies for taking a stand.
We won! Target, Kmart withdraw Grand Theft Auto from shelves
Nicole Survivor
4 Dec 2014 — Great news – we’ve won! Target (and breaking news: Kmart now too!) have pulled Grand Theft Auto 5 from shelves across the country in response to our 40,000-strong change.org petition.
Here’s the response from Target Australia
The petition win is all over the media right now: on ABC News, news.com.au, Sunrise, Guardian Australia, Herald Sun, even reaching international outlets like AP, Forbes, UK’s Telegraph newspaper and others!
This is a huge win. For years, games like Grand Theft Auto have got away with this in-game misogyny and sexual violence.
It’s games like this that normalise rape and sexual violence. You’ve helped send a message to family retailers and brands that their consumers have had enough, and they’ve started listening.
We’re now asking outlets like Big W and Woolworths whether they’re going to stand up against Grand Theft Auto’s violence against women as well.
Join us here and here
Thank you again. All 40,000+ of you!
Nicole
Yesterday on its Facebook page, White Ribbon wrote: “Target & Kmart have taken Grand Theft Auto V off the shelves. What are your thoughts?” With the question they posted a negative piece from a gaming site about the response of these corporates to our campaign (they posted no neutral or positive pieces). This was my response late last night:
Melinda Tankard Reist: What are OUR thoughts? Like you can’t actually take a stand on this yourselves? And you post a negative piece about the Change.org petition written by three women survivors of violence? You have nothing to say about the mainstreaming and normalising of violence against women, about treating the abuse of women as a game and as entertainment, about the importance of corporate social responsibility and ethical business leadership? We have often asked your support on campaigns and get nothing. Why are you in this for? What do you actually represent? Many of us – including women survivors of violence – are asking this question.
This morning White Ribbon has posted this:
White Ribbon believes that all forms of violence are wrong and we do not condone any form of entertainment that features violence against women. Thank you for sharing your opinions with us about Grand Theft Auto V – open conversation is the first step to raising awareness of men’s violence against women and changing people’s attitudes and behaviours.
We are in discussion with leaders in the games industry about this issue, and the broader issues of violence against women and the representation of women, as we have with the sports industry. This is an ongoing and long-term discussion that we have been engaged in for a while now. Achieving change is a long process and is most effective when we work together.
Very disappointed with the coverage of GTAV, Change.org petition of 45,000 signatures and Target and Kmart response on ABC The Drum last night. (view from 18:00).
Did you see it? SMH journalist Kate McClymont quoting gamers against actual survivors of violence against women who wrote the petition. She said of the game “It’s actually discouraging violence against women.” And Paul Bongiorno saying it may have been a “stunt” and commenting on the“amazing graphics”. Couldn’t the producers find someone who actually knew what they were talking about? I expected more than this poor quality coverage.
Anita Sarkeesian speaks about her experience of online harassment and cyber mobs. It’s two years old but a must see.
32 Responses
These men need to be locked up, seriously. I hope there are no women in their life. No woman deserves to deal (certainly not intimately) with men having such contempt for women. Poor mothers. They are violent misogynist, entertaining their violent misogyny with games such as this one and the huge amount of porn I have no doubt they consume. These media are adding fuel to their misogyny no doubt. These media are a threath to the safety of our girls, their sense of security and worth in our world. We must never stop speaking out. I hope the activists are doing fine. They should know that these responses, instead of being a deterrent, should rather be proof that what they are doing is necessary. For the sake of our daughters. Thank you! Solidarity to all the survivors of violence, I wish you the best!
Who killed the hearts of these men? They are like a pack of dogs tearing women to pieces as Gamers in GTA 5 and promoting macho violence against women outside the game. All online and retail shops and game stores should return them to GTA 5’s return address now.
I am all for the game being sold by any and all retailers and have signed a petition to request Target to reconsider their decision.
Having said that, there is no excuse. NONE! For how these “people” are reacting. This really has nothing to do with the game in question but all to do with their views on women. A video game can not change what someone is taught and the majority of what people are taught is by the society around them, not computer games. When we have a misogynistic Prime Minister and a surviving generation that where taught that women are not equal to men passing on their hatred/mysoginism, it makes it very difficult for women everywhere to be seen as equals (which we all are) by these… “people”.
I was brought up to respect everyone, I was never taught to treat anyone differently no matter what made them different to me. Doesn’t matter if some one is male, female, gay, straight, dog or cat. The best lesson I learnt from my parents is “Treat others the way you want to be treated”.
Sorry but I think you’re mixing two issues here. Issue 1, the internet is full of sexist trolls. We already knew that. And issue 2, violent video games. These trolls do not represent gamers and I think it is unfair to portray them as such. How about responding to the many people who have said (a) GTA is equally violent against men and women and (b) there are many other violent games. So while I think withdrawing the game is a good thing, I think a better goal is to pressure mainstream retailers to either not sell R-rated games, or have them hidden in a different section – as they do for R-rated movies.
Can you guys stop being your own worst enemy? We all could have had a nice civil discussion on the role of violence in games and how they should be addressed.
But no. All you wanted was to attack a whole culture of people over a sliver of a game that the majority of us haven’t even played. Calling for games to be pulled from the one store you knew would pull it. This whole thing reeks of attention seeking and media bait.
You got what you wanted. You got a lot of people’s attention. But nobody is going to stop buying this game. You have made no net difference. I fail to see what you have achieved. Please, stop doing this stuff. It just makes us all look bad.
I would say that most of these ‘gamers’ getting angry at the people who support this petition for a couple of reasons, mostly because the supporters of the ban have no idea about the product they are complaining about. I will point out a few lies that were used to get this game banned from these stores.
1. There is NO rape in GTA V, never has been.
2. You are not encourage to be violent towards women. It’s an open world crime based game where you can do as you please. The story line consists of violence to men 99.999% of the time. I want to say 100% towards men, but I can’t remember every small detail about the story. You are never encouraged to be violent towards prostitutes. I am sure prostitutes aren’t even apart of the story line.
3. You do no get rewards for killing men, women or even animals. If anything you get the opposite of a reward. After you commit a crime in the game, the police are alerted and they hunt you down. That’s not a reward in anyone’s book.
4. People say this game is making people join ISIS. LOL really. Just because ISIS is the current hot topic somehow video games caused that. Even though violent games have been around for years.
5. It encourages kids to be violent criminals. I have 2 problems with that common statement. firstly it says R18+ on the front cover, rear cover and game disc for a reason. It’s not marketed towards kids. If parents let there kids play the game which they deem inappropriate for the kids, then that is their own failing as a parent. I wonder how many of these concerned parents buy their kids a laptop or tablet or phone with unlimited and unrestricted internet usage.
Secondly, if your kid is a violent criminal, there is something not right in their head. It’s not caused by games. They will have issues whether they play the game or not.
I know so many people who have played this game. None of them are criminals or are violent towards anyone. Many have wives, girlfriends, and kids. I know people who earn 6 figures and are quite successful at their occupation and play this game. I know females who play this game. A lot of the people in support of this ban assume all players are psychotic teenagers or young men who are useless at life and have nothing going for them but the game.
I show know support to any GTA fans who are making threats or saying inappropriate things, but I do understand why they are upset due to all the slander and lies they are on the receiving end of due to false statements made in petitions.
Few more points I forgot to add in last post.
-Average age of a gamer in Australia in 2012 was reported at 32 years old. About 75% of gamers were reported to be over 18. These are the only games that should be playing GTA V. Most, of these adults can tell the difference between a game, and real life.
-In most areas in the First world, crime is on a steady downward trend.
Video game usage is on a steady upward trend. It was also quoted that over 90% of Austrlian households have a video game console. If games made people violent, I don’t think we would see much of a fall in crime considering so many people are exposed to video games.
Lastly, of all the GTA V fans out there, these people making death threats and talking about extreme violence are a very, very small percentage of the overall fan base. Probably less than 1% I’d say.
In the same way that crazy extremist feminists, who hate men and are extremely sexist towards men are probably less then 1% of the feminist population. There are nut jobs is every group. Don’t give them the attention they want.
I don’t think that the way these trolls are behaving is in the slightest bit appropriate, but they DO NOT represent the gaming community! And gamers have every right to be pissed with you (within reason), as your petition is 99% BS!
Alright let’s just start off saying one thing. We as Australians have a rating system that ends at r18+ right? Now gta is a game rated um err what? Oooh right that’s it R18+, you know that age when you should have a functioning brain to be able to tell game from reality. Now gta is a game where you kill people yes but it’s not encouraging people to do jack. The killing civilians and prostitutes is merely a choice made by the player. The story mode seems to treat the girls rather well (mostly) but what can you expect. They go off killing the men, stabbing then, torturing one, assassinating others, blowing others up, pushing them of cliffs, you get the point but hey no one’s complaining. Because we don’t care, sure women deserve respect and they should be treated nicely but this is a game and killing a bunch of pixels and command lines is not going to make me feel guilty. I mean the game has been out for a year and i don’t know what rock you have been under but you are a little late to the party when you try and stop the games sales. This is a game that has been around for years. I have played almost all of them but i don’t have an urge to go steal a plane and crash it into the first prostitute i find. If gta is encouraging violence against women then it’s encouraging me to go buy an rpg or tank and go and a rampage downtown and blow up everything. Once again i state that the way the game is played is completely up to the gamer. It’s basically like saying ooo i like minecraft let’s go try punch down a tree. All i can say is if you think gta is primarily out there to corrupt minds you aren’t thinking clearly. It is a Gabe that we play for fun. Note the name is grand theft auto not let’s kill hookers, and what does grand theft auto relate to? You don’t know? Stealing cars and whatnot. So i don’t know what you guys are thinking but you are wrong.
The Correct Person
First off, Why you gotta be doing it man like for real. I wanna sit down and play gta kill some people yea? so what I aint got no urge to go out and kill everybody in sight. Man trying to ban a game which is so big and the reason you provided is ludicrous. Now yes the gamers have responded rudely and it is not right but if your for feminism and stuff like that good on you but don’t go bringing shit down that has been going on for ages. I mean your only hurting yourself by making people hate you. Now there are other things you can do in this game like race, hike, fly, blow up everyone and everything. You can kill guys in this game to you know. I mean if the men were invincible and females could die I would be on your side saying it’s wrong. It sucks how you try to get your point across by trying to ban a game that has been out for a year now that most people have already bought on their ps3 or ps4 or both. Now if you put on your glasses and open up you eyes and your narrow mind you can clearly see there is an R rating bottom. What does that mean I hear you ask? Oh it means that it’s for adults only. Yes kids can get there hands on it as well but honestly who gives a shit? In a game where you can literally do anything I can tell you there’s many things I would rather do than kill a hooker here’s 10
10: attempt to drift
9: Mod a car
8: Fly a plane
7: Steal a tank and go on a rampage downtown
6: Steal a jet and have fun blowing things up
5: Race with friends
4: Try to dominate an online lobby
3: Go on a epic police chase
2: Play the story
and 1: Try ride a bike and survive going down the god damn mountain.
see there you go I mean yes there a strip clubs and yes there are prostitutes but I have better ways of spending my time in game and not doing what you people purpose the game promotes.
You know that saying, “the comments on any article about feminism justify feminism?” Yeah, that.
You NO idea what you’re talking about, do some actual research before you blast out statements claiming stuff is true while infact it isn’t. Besides, you’re only showing the stuff that’s bad. You showed a couple of bad posts from GTAForums while there are MILLIONS with solid arguments in them. But hey, you just convienently forgot about those didn’t yah?
I could see how manipulating women’s naked (dead) bodies on a game for the player’s amusement does contribute to rape culture. Did any of you defensive guys notice how this petition calls for banning the game in FAMILY general stores? It’s not like you can’t get your grubby hands on this “precious” hate game. I’ve played other GTAs before and they make the female extras easy and “amusing” targets. Incidents of domestic violence against women and children have increased drastically over 10 years. Oh and all those abusive comments…think really hard for a second, that’s a large number of boys and men being abusive to women and last time I checked,petitions we’re a safe,civilised form of protest.
(a) GTA is equally violent against men and women
In GTA can you hire a male prostitute, butcher them with an ax and set them on fire?
If not, why not?
Question why aren’t those males who have/are sending messages threatening women with sadistic male sexual violence not being prosecuted to the full extent of the law? Why are these males continuing to be allowed to enact their vile male hatred of women with impunity? Is it because mens’ Male Supremacist Legal system condones and supports these vile women-hating males?
I have no doubt that if any male were to be subjected to a barrage of threats of male sexual violence the police would immediately investigate but because it is males bombarding women campaigners with real threats of male sexual violence, nothing is being done – apart from men telling women to ‘get over it!’
White Ribbon Campaign has once again shown their true colours because White Ribbon Campaign is not remotely interested in challenging pandemic male violence against women and girls but instead is just another anti-women male supremacist organisation.
Don is another male misogynist who believes his male right to view/access GTA is sacrosanct and he claims GTV isn’t misogynistic or glorifying pandemic male sexual violence is the definitive truth. So either Don is lying or else he is viewing another game not GTA!!
So crux of the issue men are very, very angry because they believe it is their male right to view sadistic games which glorify and promote sadistic male sexual violence, because how dare women who comprise majority of the human race but continue to be subjected to male oppression, tell men no you do not have right to view games glorifying male violence against women and girls.
News flash – Don – the evidence is there but you continue to deny the facts because you and your bros. don’t want to be held to account for buying/endorsing and justifying your male right to play games which glorify and promote male sexual violence against women and girls.
The comments you and others received made me feel ill. Maybe they don’t reflect the feelings of a lot of gamers – I have no way of knowing – but I really respect you and all the other men and women who continue to stand against violence against and the disrespect of women in our culture.
It’s funny how the first thing said is about violence against women, but has anyone thought about the teenage girls who play this too. Its not just a male orientated game, its for both sexes, yet all you can go on about is this nonsense. I’m a female GTA player and i kill who ever in the game male or female, people need to think before they act on stupid things that they believe is all “violence against women”
As previously stated by many gamers what about Call Of Duty, or Saints Row, there is so many other games that portray violence and not only based on violence but its actually against men, yet if it is against a woman everyone gets upset, its bad for children to see violence against women but not men?
How is this fair. I’m pretty sure it was fought that women should get equal rights to men, yet you all want to think that men shouldn’t be able to kill a woman in a game because it may provoke them to harm someone in real life, yet that is a choice they make, if they want to harm a women that is a choice that person makes not based on what they see in video games. Why is it okay to kill a man but not a woman if we are all equal, but obviously we are not.
Your entire petition I based on lies and slander not only against a generation of males but also a large group of hard working game developers, majority of which have won awards for the work they do. I am disgusted by the things said to you, but I promise if I was to start a petition to have woman banned from the internet because they encourage make shaming I would be getting the exact same response. Stop being a terrible mother and stop pushing your beliefs onto to everyone else despite science proving everything you said about this game completely false.
I’ve played GTA for years, I’ve never gone out and bashed a woman after playing the game. A number of my female friends have played, and play GTA. The game isn;t about killing women, it’s about surviving gang attacks, saving friends, one side mission has one of 3 characters helpiung a father save his DAUGHTER from a gang. It is the players choice to do missions, some gamers will go around beating up people, but when they turn off the game and play again, those people are back, why, because it is a GAME. Yes there are matters in REAL LIFE that happen, but people who beat other people up in REAL LIFE have mental issues, children are not meant to play these games, hence R18+, but PARENTS or OLDER SIBLINGS buy the child a game. I listen to Heavy Metal (a scapegoat) it does’t make me violent, nor my friends who play these games, if the games made them violent, I wouldn’t be friends with them. The reputation it has for causing violence is stupid. I watch Horror and Action films, never once do I want to go out and kill or shoot a gun. Unfortunately a % of people do (they have issues and need help) a-I was diagnosed with Bi Polar, and how I keep it, my depression and anxiety at bay is writing poetry, music, seeing friends, or listening to music and playing games, in the game, GTA5 I just drive around and have fun. In real life, i obey the speed laws, do not steal cars, why, because I;m not STUPID. I have the game, and am not in jail or a psych ward, why, because I do not do anything I do in the game when outside, doing such a thing is STUPID
A few simple questions.
Do video games cause violence? Have you informed your readers on how the Classification Board of Australia works in relation to R18+ games? How many of your readers have played any of the GTA games?
Let me answer your questions real quick.
The Classification Board of Australia will NOT classify any games that contain sexual violence. Even under R18+. Any games that do are illegal to sell or purchase in Australia. The Classification Board of Australia spent quite some time with GTA IV and rightfully gave it an R18+ rating. This game is NOT for children. It does not contain rape, it does not contain sexual violence or any incentive to target a particular gender. If it did, then it would have been banned by the Classification board already.
Do video games cause violence? ಠ_ಠ really? I’ve studied games at university level for a number of year and I’m currently completing my masters degree. Study after study has been has been funded to try and prove a cause relation to violence and video games. Case after case has failed to do so. Most of the studies that result in the claim video games cause violence either don’t use games as a part of their study or grossly neglect the fact that sane people can tell the difference between reality and fantasy.
So what do players do in GTA V? Surely it must be kill hookers all day? Unfortunately such an activity is merely a very small slice of what’s possible in GTA V. Especially since that anyone can be killed, male, female or even transgender, in many gruesome ways. GTA V is “an equal opportunity ass kicker”. All people from many different backgrounds, faiths and occupations can be indiscriminately blown up, run over or set on fire. Hopefully I don’t have to remind you that it is a game for adults, hence the R18+ rating.
Ok, now for some ‘horrific gameplay’. Like a mother and son playing GTA V together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ2LXAkKBmM
and what a typical GTA V mission looks like…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_ZauoZl8LI
and some more gameplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bSVvNBScUs
With the greatest respect and not wanting to offend, have you actually played the game? I have this game and it is one of my all time favourites. If this is the stand Target and Kmart will take they need to ban Saints Row 3 and 4, all call of duty games, any sandbox game on the market, far cry 3 and 4; the list goes on. Why stop there, ban all violent movies or anything rated R18+. Also ban 50 shades of grey as it is quite raunchy and can get into the hands of children. I think you see my point. After numerous studies conducted on whether there is a direct correlation between video games and anti-social or violent behaviour, there has been no evidence of any link, in fact it shows a correlation of the opposite and in certain doses, prove to be beneficial in social interaction and attention to detail. Crazy how we can’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.
I’m sorry that you were abused by a group of Badly educated people who probably get a thrill out of abusing others.
As someone who has a daughter AND plays video games I abhor men who have a violent nature in real life. Whether it be to other men or women or worse children, the problem lies in the individual and not the content they can lawfully access. I personally have zero urge to be violent even though I play violent games and watch violent movies.
As I cannot control the attitudes of aggressive men I will do my best to teach my daughter to defend herself and not accept this in her life. Easier said than done I know.
Peace to you all.
yet again this petition is being promoted using a very selective and non-representative evidence, in this case it’s a collection of extreme trolling. 100% of the comments on the actual petition page which are opposed to it are highly intelligent arguments. I have not seen a single derogatory comment aimed at the writers.
What you’re doing here is blatant feminist garbage, YOU KNOW that Twitter is full of trolls so ignore that and read the arguments on your own damn petition.
Wow, and as usual, a bunch of lying, stupid men come in here to mansplain how we are somehow wrong, and pay the DARVO game. HAVE I PLAYED THE (GTA) GAME? WHY, YES. AND IT MADE ME FUCKING SICK. MEN ARE SHIT. Thanks for proving it yet again, d00ds!
http://nametheproblem.com/
http://icemountainfire.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/men-are-not-broken/
I don’t know why so many men are whining about a freaking game. It’s embarrassing to watch. ‘
I’m a gamer and, shock horror, I don’t care about people not approving of a game. it’s just a fucking game. Get over yourselves. Move on.
From what I understand, the majority of men (and some women) are complaining that feminist are arguing that “video games lead to violence against women” – that’s not what I’m seeing. I’m seeing feminists arguing, “We already live in a society where men’s violence against women is out of fucking control. Reinforcing this message through games (and other elements of pop culture) is not helping the situation. We need to raise awareness about men’s VAW, not reinforce it/be complacent to it/normalise it through a piece of shit game”.
hmm how come you didn’t post the article that white ribbon actually shared?
http://au.ign.com/articles/2014/12/04/targets-gta-5-snub-is-misinformed-and-achieves-nothing
this is all the facts that you misinformed sheeple overlooked, there is no violence against women nor rape in the Grand Theft Auto series and never has been, 100% of this game is targeted at men during the missions just because the minority of people go around killing women in the game does not mean that women are the targets in this game, your petition is misinformed and 100% inaccurate.
You base your facts off no hard proper evidence if you actually bothered to do any proper research into the game and talk to people such as EBGames you would see that everything in your petition is nothing but lies!
If you actually care about violence against women it is a known fact that alcohol is the leading cause of domestic violence in Australia, instead of getting one game off the shelves which literally does nothing for your cause at all since alot of females play this game also how bout going after the alcohol industry instead?
Please get your facts straight before making a petition about a game you clearly know nothing about, I have played the GTA series since number 3 and have never been violent against anyone! if someone gets violent because of a game then they aren’t right in the head, the picture of the abuse you posted is a good example of immature morons who go against everything that gamers stand for, anyone who supports your lying petition needs to grow a brain and actually do some proper research instead of blindly following.
if you do not like a game just ignore it, this game in no way promotes violence against women Rockstar has no missions that tell you to go out and kill women or harm women for that matter, all the missions that involve women in this game are ones where you help women get away from violent people.
Please check your facts!
If only any of you had a clue. You can’t censor things that offend your sensibilities. Your views offend me but I don’t advocate the censoring of your lunacy. This makes me so angry I want to yell and swear at you ignorant “humans” but I refuse to give you more click bait. There is violence towards ALL people in the game. You cannot sexually assault women in the game. The petition is based on lies and the problem with the third wave, or neofeminism or how you’re known to anyone with a brain a feminazi, is that all your causes are based on lies. You’re professional and habitual victims and if you don’t grow up you’ll be left behind.
“In the United States, violence against women is a major pastime. It is a sport. It is an amusement. It is a mainstream cultural entertainment. And it is real. It is pervasive. It is epidemic. It saturates the society. It’s very hard to make anyone notice it, because there is so much of it. But the fact of the matter is, that if you live in a society that is saturated with this kind of woman hating, you live in a society that has marked you as a target for rape, for battery, for prostitution or for death.” — Andrea Dworkin
For those who argue men are also killed in this game, the problem is that women are killed in a gendered way. They are portrayed as sex objects and killed as such. And such is sexual. I would find it as problematic to see black peopld being hanged from trees. And seeing white people delighted making racist comments. And i would sign a petition to have such blatant racism out. But hey, white men can’t understand, whitemen are being killed too. Well no, it’s not the same thing, white men are never killed for being white and male, in a racist and sexist way.
A petition for the ethical treatment of animals would not have garnered such violent misogynist threaths. The fact that you have people making these kinds of treaths, to defend their unlimited access to these kind of material, well that’s telling. And it’s certainly not surprising.
“Who killed the hearts of these men?”
Radical feminists killed the hearts of these men. I see everyone expressing confusion, sadness and anger that the gamers that make these threats, but not enough asking “Why?”.
GTA V is violent-I’d never play it, but violent video games are not the problem. These men are overwhelmingly withdrawing from a world that make men and boys out to be the enemy. Sometimes its easier for a young man to retreat video games rather than try to go on a date with a woman who might drop a false rape accusation on him or accuse him of harassment.
They are victims of social and media hysteria created by the (radical) feminist movement and their supporters. When these men lash out against and express their misogyny through death/rape threats, feminists launch a campaign to get the video game pulled. Seriously? Always the band aid, and never a permanent solution. As the game is pulled from shelves, where do you think all the hate and resentment generated is going to be directed? I shake my head at all the well meaning women and men who feel like their course of action is right when all they are doing is unnecessarily fanning the flames of hate.
You have thousands of young men who are angry and developing deep misogynistic tendencies not because of the portrayal of women in video games, but due to living in a society where they feel increasingly under attack. This campaign is another one hard on the heels of Hollabacks street harassment, #YesmeansYes and many other campaigns with the target dead set on men.
I’d never have heard about this is I didn’t have hundreds of emails pouring in from men asking my opinion on this issue. My first reaction before I clicked a link was “God, what have feminists done now.?” Its ridiculous.
Think before you engage. Congratulations on causing more damage than you feel you are averting.
I don’t support the ban on removing shelved copies of GTA IV as in all honesty it is a video game. Yes, there is killing, stealing, and plenty of crime in this game and does not engage in sexual violence at all. Rape is not a part of the game and never will be. This was actually a mod created by an outside source which given the resources, time and motivation can be done with any video game on any engine. However despite some people’s ignorance it is non-discriminant in the way it allows the players to perform such crimes. Leaving these choices solely up to the player. However it does in no way encourage players to kill specific ethnicities or that of the opposite gender. If there were racism or sexism in the game, it would be on the player’s terms only.
With that being said, I do not condone the horrid acts of the trolls even if GTA IV was banned completely from Australia. This is still a video game. I personally find it horribly overrated but I’m sure many can agree that under any circumstances this is highly unacceptable.
I’ll bet my bottom dollar that the vast majority of these spiteful little boys come from fatherless homes.
Oh the irony.