Simone de Beauvoir "The Second Sex"

For my blog post this week, we had to choose one of three readings and compare the theme to a Youtube clip. I became very interested in the reading by Simone de Beauvoir titled "The Second Sex: Woman as Other." I chose it because it made the most sense to me and I was able to understand it the best out of all the texts. I was intrigued by how in-depth she went in describing the different views society has for men and women. She claims that men and the male gender are seen as the default in all instances of social interaction and situations. In many circumstances, especially on the internet, everyone is assumed to be male unless told differently. She says that, "In actuality the relation of the two sexes is not quite like that of two electrical poles, for man represents both the positive and the neutral, as is indicated by the common use of man to designate human beings in general; whereas woman represents only the negative, defined by limiting criteria, without reciprocity." Everyone is assumed to be a man unless someone reveals that they are in fact a woman. It is then seen as a "game changer," unknowingly viewed as a surprise and thus causes a shift in how the situation is handled. It should not be such a difference if someone is a man or a woman, but society has their pre-conceived notions of the genders and so must view them through the appropriate eyes if faced with one or the other. 




This can be seen in the Youtube clip I found that embodies this concept of gender in a male-dominated world. The gaming industry has always been seen as a medium discovered by men, created by men, and inhabited by men. This clip goes through the history of gaming and how women have since risen up in the community and showed that they can play alongside the men with no problem. The issue I have with the points made in the clip is that it is apparent that games almost "had" to be made specifically for women in order for them to be played by women. According to the clip, the first games created solely for women had softer colors instead of harsh tones, and had no shooting or blood because obviously women cannot handle any kind of violence in a video game. They had to create easy and childish games like Pacman and The Sims because women are better at home-making and playing tag than shooting and killing people. It was also seen as shocking and out of the ordinary for a woman to beat a man at a violent video game, because it was seen as impossible for that to happen. It is only viewed as a man versus woman thing, instead of human being versus human being. It is the default that guys are the best at video games, and it is the responsibility of the woman to prove that she is just as good at video games as men.