Is raping women only a game?
CNN reported on the latest [apparently, not the latest: see comment below] atrocious video game that allows the player to rape a woman over and over again while choosing a variety of methods to initiate the assault.
That’s right.
RapeLay, a video game that has gone viral since people, especially women’s rights groups, have reacted in outrage (and rightly so). Rapelay, a video game that, as CNN reports, makes Grand Theft Auto (the game that stirred up a firestorm of criticism upon its release in 2008) appear as harmless and “clean as Pac-man.”
Given the statistics on domestic violence, assault, and rape, it is difficult for me to conceptualize this video game as a “game.” Our media landscape is (and has been) populated with endless streams of images and messages glorifying, eroticizing and diminishing the serious nature of violence against women, an issue that some have called a hidden pandemic and others have labeled an epidemic of global proportions.
Viewing repetitive and stable images decreases our sensitivity to an issue, it normalizes the images and themes contained therein. Violence against women is an issue that we, as a culture, are already desensitized to on many levels. The systematic objectification and dismemberment of women (see Jean Kilbourne‘s film Killing Us Softly 3 and read her book, Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel) is rampant in and a staple fixture of our mediated culture, reinforcing images of aggression and violence against women as normative and unremarkable.
“Games” that continue to use images of gratuitous and unapologetic violence as a source of “entertainment” frighten me because the inevitable results are horrifying. We know that dating violence among young people is increasing. We also know that the level of mediation and amount of time young people are exposed to messages constructed by the mass media, including video game makers, is increasing (there are even treatment programs for young people addicted to video games). Taking these variables into consideration and recognizing the correlation between the level of mediation and one’s attitudes, expectations and behaviors creates a dismal picture for girls and women (and this isn’t even taking the construction of gender and the corresponding expectation of violent masculinity and submissive femininity as normative into consideration).
Given that, I think it is safe to say that rape, virtual or real, is never simply a game, at least not for the victims of that violence, virtual or real, and its social, physical and emotional consequences. In the end, we’re all negatively effected by a culture that makes violence against *anyone* a game.
NOTE: Since posting this, Rachel O and Justine have directed me to this article that reports that this game came out in 2006 and that the Western media discovered it in 2009. The article goes on to state that the makers of the game did not break any rules in Japan but decided to clean up their act after an emergency meeting was held by Japan’s Ethics Organization of Computer Software. The article claims that this game is outdated and CNN’s motives for reporting on this game are linked to another issue (see full article). Whether or not the game is outdated or out of print, the fact that this game was created, was (and possibly is being) played is disturbing, not to mention that this game was/is one of many in Japan (and in other countries) that continues to dismiss and glorify violence against women. Cleaning up potential game titles and renaming the “rape genre” doesn’t convince me that this game is not worth discussing. Unlike CNN”s article I don’t place blame and the creators of their video games. I am analyzing the issue of violent entertainment and the portrayal of women in video games and this video game is simply the platform. For an excellent critique of hypermasculine and hyperviolent video games, see Anita Sarkeesian’s remix “Too Many Dicks.”
For a disturbing commentary (rape is a sexual fantasy and should be OK? Isn’t it just as violent as the other violence she discusses?), see below (thanks, Krista):
It is so sad that we have become so desensitized morally as a society that we think it is ok to make our sickest fantasies and dysfunctional behaviors justifiable by indulging in them virtually! Hven’t we not learned anything from the statistical data and headlines. Eventually these virtual behaviors come off of the screen. Worse yet, what start out to be innocent youth who are introduced to these games as JUST GAMES go on to act them out as JUST GAMES ! But my bigger question is who lets these and other games like it get published and why aren’t the same congressmen who target prochoicers and LGTBs go after these degenerators of societyHow do you think some of these women end up with unwanted pregnancies-husband, boyfriends and strangers who forced them down. The LGTB community as a whole has a high incidence rate of sexual abuse and rape-brutal rape tha often involves more than one attacker in a scenario that they often claim started out as just playing with or messing with the person! Why can’t we come up with more games that glorify the heroes not the villains?
Comment by Carla — March 31, 2010 @ 11:44 am
I’m nauseous. Angry. Saddened. and almost driven to violence myself after reading this. My first feelings are “where is the asshole who created this game, so I can punch him?” But the worst emotion is the fear. The fear women go through everyday. The fear that is so normalized. That it is “normal” to be fearful when walking alone somewhere. Games like these are further de-humanization of woman. To me, it is a re-raping for any woman who has survived a rape or any act of violence. Another way of our culture to say “we don’t care, your bodies don’t matter, and to further our lack of human decency we will make a game out of it.”
Comment by nita — March 31, 2010 @ 11:58 am
This is truly horrifying. For people to actively seek out, download, and then play over and over again a game which is solely based on brutality, physical and emotional violence, and dehumanization not only disturbs me beyond belief, but also frightens me about our future. I do not want to imagine what will evolve from this.
This article made me think about Robert Jensen’s quote about the current state of porn culture: that this is what the end of the world looks like, a place devoid of human empathy.
Comment by Casey — March 31, 2010 @ 12:03 pm
I have never understood the argument that people make claiming that the effects of watching violence in movies or video games have no effect on the increasing rate of domestic violence and abuse against women. The images have become so normative that it is more comfortable (and completely untrue) to say that people are perceptive enough to know when it is just a game. This is incredibly alarming to me as well because it diminishes and inevitably discredits the work that movements do to raise awareness about abuse and violence against women. How can we work towards eradicating violence when we are constantly perceiving these images as normal?
Comment by Marley — March 31, 2010 @ 12:34 pm
thanks for this info. since the un is looking at categorizing rape as a weapon of warfare with what is happening to women in the congo, this is no small thing, another ‘game’ that is preparing young people today to be the military of tomorrow, in whatever way the government, aka, the corporatocracy, should need and desire.
keep your kids away from commercial television and video games. get your kids outside as much as possible and connect them to the peace, beauty, and harmony that comes from nature. let them break a leg while rock climbing or climbing a tree, that is a wound that will heal more deeply and fully than the ones that come from the desensitizing media that permeates pop culture!
Comment by liz — March 31, 2010 @ 12:39 pm
are you kidding?!?!?!?
…
this is the most repulsive concept i have heard of in as long as i can remember.
sad that someone could possibly create a “game” like this. even sadder that people buy it.
what does this say about our society!??!?!
Comment by shana meyerson — March 31, 2010 @ 2:01 pm
As a woman, I am simply appalled, but as a survivor of rape and sexual abuse, this makes me sick. It woke up the sense of hollowness and raw anger that I once felt in the immediacy the assaults. It acts as a trigger, once again minimizing the trauma of rape and one more time ringing that vile bell to alert the presses that we women are just objects. There’s nothing fun about rape and certainly nothing entertaining, at least not from a survivor’s perspective. If there’s one thing I would like banned it would be this, but there is that whole freedom-of-speech thing in the Constitution! Thanks for posting this!!!
Comment by Sarit — March 31, 2010 @ 2:02 pm
This is just so sad and sickening!! And I pray for that young miss in the video because if she were raped or know anyone who was raped she wouldn’t readily view it as a “game/fantasy”!! Clearly too young and naive!! One of the problems with the U.S. and other “developed” societies, is that you’ll take this “freedom” thing too far!! How and when should it ever be right to create a “game” about rape? This “game” only serve to demoralize, demean, and rob us women of our dignity!! Only sick disturbed people think of rape game as “fantasy”!! Where did the morals of the society go? This relates not only to the creator, producers and distributors, but the culture of violence against women that permeates the entertainment industry!! Some things should not be labeled as entertainment period!!
Comment by Carlah — April 5, 2010 @ 11:32 pm
She’s wrong. Children who play violent video games DO display violent behavior. On top of that, killing people in videos games would not be a crime in the situation in which they are killed (people die in wars and in video games it’s the middle of a battle). Rape will always–and should always–be a crime.
Comment by Nahida — August 17, 2010 @ 11:23 am
I think that this is true and it is horrible of what is continuously going on througout society.This is just so sad and sickening!! People to actively seek out, download, and then play over and over again a game which is solely based on brutality, physical and emotional violence, and dehumanization not only disturbs me beyond belief, but also frightens me about our future. I do not want to imagine what will evolve from this.
Comment by Joshua. S — November 14, 2010 @ 2:10 pm
Woah! I would have never imagened that a game solely on raping women would ever be created. Yes, there are violent video games such as GrandTheftAuto, Killzone, CallOfDuty, etc but a game to rape women is pushing it. Rape cases should not be taken lighly in any way. The victim, whether male or emale, goes through emotioal trauma, and physical pain. No women should be the victims of rape; it destroys the psyche of the indidual. Some might laugh at the game as being another “violence against women” but the reality is that there are women out there that have been victims of such action and this game is just offensive in every angle.
Comment by David Ruano — November 19, 2010 @ 10:00 pm
As a victim of rape and having a grandmother who was raped I don´t find this fucking game funny at all. It is repulsive to witness the degradation of our society and the whole concept as disgusting as rape shouldn´t even be glorified as it is through this game. Whoever made this this video game all i have to say is: Karma is a bitch, and be prepared to bite you right in the ass.
Comment by ElizabethP — November 26, 2010 @ 11:33 am
Holy shit I had no idea that a game like this even existed. How could i not have known? The commentary made by that ridiculously deluded girl completely sickened me. THe extreme ignorance of some people will never cease to amaze me.
Comment by AshlynB — November 29, 2010 @ 2:03 pm
When I read the first line of this article I was in such disbelief that I re-read it just to make sure I got it right. I am in total disbelief. This is so wrong in so many ways, it is disgusting and cruel. It is a horrible thing for rape victims to see. It would be like making a video game with concentration camps where people can hurt others just for the “fantasy” of the pain. How would that make Holocaust survivors and their families feel? It is scary to think someone would think this is alright, that it is just a “fantasy”. Obviously, somebody needs to get some help if he or she thinks it is okay to make a video game where you rape people for fun.
Comment by Sharlene_G (WMST30) — November 29, 2010 @ 7:33 pm
I wish there was a dislike button I can press for that youtube video. Just because there are other video games with violence it does not justify these new videos of violence against women. I have four little brothers and let me tell you, these violent video games and movies really do have an impact on them. I see them act more aggressive and violent with their whether they are playing with their toys or friends, after watching or playing these videos. I really do not know why a game like this exists it pains me. This is not “freedom” of whatsoever. This makes us women bound onto stereotypes and pain that are formed from these video games. These games are cruel and disgusting. People should figure out a way to satisfy their “fantasies” in a more moral manner than this.
Comment by Sarah Sadik — November 29, 2010 @ 8:38 pm
I have never been a fan of video games but today my hatred for them is to a whole new extent. How could someone sit down and create a concept of a “rape game” for kids to play. How can someone come up with this concept and not be embarrassed to say it out loud. It is scary to me that someone could think it is okay to make a game where people rape women and think that there will be no consequences. All it takes is for one disturbed person to play this game and think that since he can play it in the virtual world he has a right to do it in the real world. This makes me scared and angry that whoever created this has no repercussions and dumb people out there are actually paying to buy this game and play it!
Comment by Ariel Kasheri (wmst10scholars) — November 30, 2010 @ 9:17 am
So, def did not even think this existed until I read the article for Discussion 18. And wow, what a joke and I’m completely disgusted. How can someone have the nerve to create a game for young males which consists of raping a woman. Like you said, if this is used as “entertainment”… i don’t know what the future of entertainment will turn out to be. All sexualized images of women will become normative for the public, and this isn’t okay. Great post, helped with my discussion and I learned something new.
Comment by Giselle (WMST30) — November 30, 2010 @ 11:15 am
All i can say is, that the people who created this is sick in their heads and obviously needs compassion. We can only hate so much and be angry. As i learned in my woman’s class, angry is a good powerful catalyst that will boost motivation to act upon such gruesome actions.
Comment by melani dg — May 16, 2011 @ 3:50 pm
A game like this needs to outright be banned. The fact that it exists is very disturbing
Comment by Shawn S — June 1, 2011 @ 5:39 pm
First of all, a game like this should have never been made in the first place, but it was and it reflects the disturbing flaws of society today, where rape is normalized and seen as a “game.” Second, the fact that the girl in the video justifies the game and states that “it’s not that bad” and that it is less important than murder is ridiculous. She obviously has not been or known a victim of sexual assault. It is just as bad if not worse than being a murder victim.
Comment by Tiffany Majdipour — November 21, 2011 @ 8:19 am
I am utterly shocked and disturbed. I don’t care where it came from, how could any country allow something like this to be ok?? It’s repulsive and insensitive to anyone who has ever experienced ANY type of abuse. The girl in the 2 minute video seems like she is just young and ignorant and doesn’t understand much about what she is talking about. She needs to be more educated before she puts in her “2 cents” on a matter such as this. And to agree with Nahida, she is wrong. Video games such as this DO affect the people who play them, and they need to be banned. The sickos who created this should be in jail.
Comment by Bianca Balanchi (WS30) — November 21, 2011 @ 2:59 pm
This is the very disgusting and sickening to see that what is a crime is glorified as a game and as entertainment. There is no way of justifying this kind of creation; also, it is detrimental because it treats women and rape victims not as human but as objects to play with. How disturbing!
Comment by Jennifer S — December 3, 2011 @ 1:15 am
I am disgusted. This is horrible. No wonder rape is occurring at escalating rates. It seems as though society is finding rape to be something that is ok and normal, this game should have never even allowed to be made or produced. It is stupidity like this that is letting men think rape is perfectly fine, and making sure that society sees women as objects, that are only good for sex and should therefore be treated as such, even forcibly.
Comment by Chloe Shenassa (women studies 10 scholars) — December 6, 2011 @ 6:20 pm
What a horrible game! I understand that its just a game but the message they’re sending to the people that play this is that its okay to rape women. But in reality its NOT okay to do that! People come up with these games not realizing how rude they’re being to victims of rape. Rape and sexual assault is not a funny crime. It should be taken more seriously and definitely not be put in a video game where the player can repeatedly do this.
Comment by Kammira B — January 30, 2012 @ 12:46 pm
Games like these are encouraging young boys that it is perfectly okay to harm women. I believe this is no fantasy whatsoever. Young boys who play games with violence do show signs of violence in their everyday lives. Playing games where they rape women will have them think that it is okay to do it, but it is unquestionably not. Having games where the task is to rape women is completely sexist and it honestly hurts as a woman. What makes us less than men? Why are we being displayed as the ones being hurt even in video games? Rape is definitely not a game. The person that is raped is completely altered after this incident. It traumatizes a person for life. There are helpless women that are being raped everyday, it is no joke. And what kind of sick person would spend time creating a game where children had the opportunity to rape women? This just shows how messed up our society is when people think that a huge crime, such as rape is viewed as a game.
Comment by Mary H. — January 30, 2012 @ 6:43 pm
I’m not going to lie, in many instances I defend violent games not because I like them or respect them but because I think at times there is an oversensitivity in our society when it comes to things like that. Additionally, I understand that rape is about control and not about sex so I have a hard time believing most games really do cause people to go out and rape.
This “game” though, takes things to a different level and it concerns me greatly. My friend used to play Grand Theft Auto all the time and had to stop when she realized she had become entirely desensitized to car-based violence and often had to fight the urge to run others off the road like in the game. I’m afraid boys or men may have a similar reaction as a result of playing this game too much. It might be “interesting” or “exciting” for some people to see sexual violence in a game occasionally. It’s strange and it’s not right but the taboo is alluring so I suppose I understand it. When somebody is repeatedly exposed to sexual violence over and over it won’t be long before control doesn’t even play a part in rape anymore and they simply act out something from habit or reflex.
There is no reason for any game to be created based so strongly around sexual violence and rape and it’s appalling that there are enough people who demonstrate interest in this game that it was able to go viral.
Comment by Antonia C. — January 30, 2012 @ 11:44 pm
This situation is so upsetting, and there are so many things wrong with it. it’s compelling to explain why this is not okay. Rape is literally treated as a game by the video game industry. Our media do promote rape, I can totally understand that can happen. Yes it promotes sex, and honestly some parents do care and others don’t. The video game industry is powerful because whatever is portray on television kids will sometimes watch it , and they adopt to whatever they see. Kids understand its just a game, but any time a kid does something that they saw in a video game they will do and it does happen very often.
Comment by Tiffany M — February 1, 2012 @ 2:29 pm
More and more in society, we are becoming desensitized to issues such as violence and rape. Things such as the brutality of warfare barely make a kid today flinch, because it is featured so much in the media and video games. I know for a fact that sometimes when I see images of violence and brutality I have to actually tell myself how terrible it is, because of how much I am used to seeing the types of things. And to take an issue of rape, an issue that is already struggling to find the legitimacy for people to take it as gravely and serious as it is, is incredibly sad and scary. There are already so many people out there desensitized to the idea of rape and what actually constitutes as rape, and something, such as this video game, only furthers society’s ignorance and ambivalence to an issue that everybody should care about.
Comment by Nisha CM — February 1, 2012 @ 8:46 pm
I think people are getting a wrong concept from the society. people started to not care about the messages from the game. the game is send ing us a message of crime and porn. When people keep playing this game, they may get confused. eventually, they will do what they did in the game and do it in the realty. they cannot separate the game and the reality. it is terrible.
Comment by Lam Yan Yee — February 2, 2012 @ 11:45 pm
The fact that anyone could extract some sort of sick pleasure from a game like this disgusts me. Not only does that person need help but I think we as society need to look at what we are saying to our children when we use rape in the context of a game. Rape is not a game and should never be put into one. I hope that this sort of game is banned from the market because it is sick and highly immoral. People who play games like this are at an increased risk to just look at life like a game and think that raping women in real life would be fun too. This game and others like it must be stopped.
Comment by Rory O — February 4, 2012 @ 3:10 pm