This past weekend I went to Arse Elektronika, a sex and tech conference in San Francisco that has talks from many different perspectives on whatever lies at the intersection of sex and tech. I wanted to share the transcript of my talk since I put a lot into it and it’s about a highly personal […]
Tag Archives: Sexuality
More Than a Beard: How Hot Ryu Turns Thirst Into Critique
If there is one particularly awkward conversation in media critique, I would give the award to discussion surrounding the sexual interests of women, and tangentially, anyone attracted to men. Codified on the ‘obviously bad’ platform of media activism, the objectification and sexualization of women calls into question the pervasiveness of pandering to men’s interests by […]
Passing and Self-Identification: Managing the Power and Visibility of the Closet
Having the ability to speak of our experiences without being forced to represent groups of people goes both ways.
Dispatch from Arse Elektronika – Some Things Games Can Learn from Sex & Tech
(This post will be talking about sex, and there will be writing about about some sex acts. Consider all links NSFW if your work doesn’t appreciate you looking at sexual content.)
OkEthics – A Look at Social Experience Design Through Dating Apps
I find this interesting because systems like these are all over in our lives, manipulating subtly how we interact with one another.
Play and Be Real About It – What Games Could Learn From Kink
Content Note: This article will be talking about kink and philosophy surrounding it, and no graphic depictions or descriptions of sex. I should note that kink culture, politics, and activities are outside of this piece, but they are worth interrogating.
You Want To Make a Boyfriend – You Just Don’t Know it Yet
There is an app taking the world by storm. It’s hot in Japan, it’s free, it’s Boyfriend Maker.
Second Date – Ikezawa Hanako, a Trans* Narrative
Upon a first glance, there seemed to be little application for this analysis outside of criticizing pandering to men’s interests in visual novels, however, my personal connection to Hanako provided me with something else. I saw her do something that triggered a muscle memory from my past: She covers her face.
Ikezawa Hanako, the Otaku Exotic
You’re a male student who has the pick of five high school girls with disabilities to date and sleep with. Yes, Katawa Shoujo has a sensationalist premise promising for something to go horribly wrong.
Werner Herzog, the Power Fantasy
While this game is categorized as a Boy Love (BL) or yaoi game, these are ultimately under the otome genre, which are games aimed specifically at heterosexual women.
Tsukuba Muneshige, the Meta-Samurai
Dating sims defy a lot of logic. Describing them to someone who’s never heard of them would paint them as a game aimed for girls; relationship focused, sappy, a social simulator.
Arianna Bell-Essai, the Teacher’s Vixen
Ah, dating a minor. Your student even! The beauty and tragedy of visual novels is the chance to engage in relationships you wouldn’t have considered, or don’t have access to.
Derek Nevine, The Anti-Gamer
We all know someone like Derek, that guy who effortlessly has the world revolve around him and gets what he wants. Even though he was just event triggers and art on my screen, I still felt a little intimidated by him.
On Men’s Sexualization in Video Games
Because pornography typically has straight male consumption in mind, its politics leak into games by highlighting how they look at women and other men in porn. We would have to look to pornography made for women and gay men and apply how the camera looks at the performers for a holistic approach to sexualizing characters.
The Fantasy Cyborg: Reading Passing Narratives in Dragon Age
Topics about social minorities in video games typically manifest in the relationship humans have with other sentient characters of their world or universe.