Tropes vs. Women

MovieBob’s latest video for The Escapist hit my RSS feed reader the other day. In this latest video, MovieBob tackles some of his recurring themes, namely sexism in video games, double standards, and discrimination. While the video is very good by itself, I’m doubly glad I watched it because it pointed me in the direction of Feminist Frequency, the YouTube channel (and website) of one Anita Sarkeesian, and specifically towards the Tropes vs. Women series, where she analyzes feminine tropes, backing them up with examples from all kinds of media, from movies and TV shows to video games.

Sarkeesian’s channel is filled with really interesting, eye-opening and thought-provoking videos, where she exposes the distorted representations of men and women in entertainment and advertising. I chose to focus on the Tropes vs. Women series simply because that was my first contact with Sarkeesian’s work, but the truth is all her videos are must-sees. Besides the obvious social relevance of the topics covered on the Feminist Frequency channel, learning to identify misogynistic and sexist writing is one of the elements of separating good writing from bad. Case in point, The Bechdel Test.

Anyway, here is one of her videos, head over to her channel and watch the entire Tropes vs. Women series, it’s worth it!