A Brief Summary of Sexism in GTA IV

(... with informative links! Last updated: 6/1)

As someone who is completely in favor of games as a recognized art form, and who will be attempting to critique games with that mindset in the near future (I swear), I feel compelled to call out sexism in video games when I see it. And nowhere in video games is it more blatant than in GTA IV.

First, some facts:
-- I am not in favor of having the game banned or otherwise censored. Free speech and all that.
-- No, I haven't played the game. But the things I bring up here have been confirmed by people who have played the game, or by gameplay footage. Along with that, I can only actually point out things that I HAVE confirmed happening, so there very well may be more.
-- I am well aware of the style and history of the GTA series.
-- I do not think GTA IV will cause healthy, balanced adults or teens to go out and rape women/shoot cops/whatever.
-- I do not think the game is completely void of redeeming qualities. For example, the graphics are very nice.

The game world of Grand Theft Auto IV is an environment of misogyny. The most grievous evidence of this is the sexualized violence against women, though other details contribute. Together, the evidence suggests a deliberate attempt to create a world that devalues women and reinforces misogynistic attitudes.

Sexualized Violence Against Women
In GTA IV, the player character can pick up prostitutes, have sex with them, and then kill them. Even if the sex isn't rape, which hasn't yet been confirmed as something that can occur in the game, murder just after sex is still sexualized violence. In GTA IV, the player can only do this to women. There are no male prostitutes and the player cannot have a boyfriend. The only characters the player can commit sexualized violence against are female ones. That is misogynistic environment.

Further, the game presents the mature subject matter in a very immature way. Suggested further reading on this point: "Mature vs Mature" -- Man Bytes Blog.

Lack of Female Characters with Depth
The only major characters in GTA IV are male. The only female characters in the game are nameless Liberty City inhabitants, prostitutes, and random enemies. This is a serious flaw in a work of fiction. There is no reason to have no major female characters with as much depth as many of the male characters apparently have.

Other Details
There exists an internet cafe called Tw@, pronounced "twat." Twat is "vulgar synonym for the human vulva, vagina, or clitoris, and is used as a derogatory epithet" (Wikipedia). It's not clever or satirical to name a place after a derogatory term for female genitalia. It's immature and contributes to the atmosphere of misogyny.

Also, a female fast food worker asks the player character if he wants a handjob with his burger. Because clearly a female character cannot exist unless there is the possibility of some sexual interaction. The immaturity paints games as something for young teens.

Update: Via Feminist Gamers, an interesting comment by Cola on Feministing about a certain mission in GTA IV, quoted in part (full comment here):

"Just as I was starting to think Niko was really great, I realised he was a moralising hypocrite. Oh, and then he hit a woman he was kidnapping for trying to get away and referred to her as 'the bitch.' Then he hit her again to get her to look at him so he could take a picture of her gagged face to send to her father.

It was really hard to keep playing after that. This woman was portrayed, in contrast to the protagonist, as selfish, shallow, and bitchy. I had nothing but sympathy for her, because she was justifiably scared and angry, but she was being cast as this shrieking whore (she hit on Niko before he kidnapped her)."

Clearly the portrayal and treatment of women in this game leaves a lot to be desired.

The fact that this game is receiving nothing but the highest marks from game reviewers and is being hailed as the greatest game ever made upsets me. Is this really something we want to hold up as gaming's finest? (I can't help thinking back to the analysis of No More Heroes I linked to last post, and how NMH is a direct satire of Western GTA fans.) I realize the game does technically impressive things, but what is it saying with that technology? Isn't that just as important?

General Reading, or People Who Put it Better Than I Do
"GTA discussion... over there" -- Feminist Gamers (with a link to Feministing)
"Some GTA IV Questions" -- Man Bytes Blog
"I've Decided That It's Simple After All" -- The True Confessions of an Hourly Bookseller
"How Can Grand Theft Auto Transition from Base Entertainment to Art?" -- Latoya Peterson, Cerise Magazine (May 2008). Fantastic article, highly recommended.
"Grand Theft Auto IV" -- Scholarly Gamer. A general (but interesting and thorough) critique of the game, but contains some concise examinations of the misogyny and homophobia in the game.
"Oh, right... Grand Theft Auto is coming out..." -- No Cookies for Me. (How did I miss this the first time around?)

Common Defenses
"It's just a game!"
No. Games are creative expressions just like books, movies, and television, and are thus open to critique.
Suggested reading:
"The Problem with That Line 'It's Just a Game' -- Are Our Games Our Fantasies?" -- MTV Multiplayer
"It's Just a Game" -- Feminist Gamers

"But you kill men, too." Or, "Why is killing a prostitute worse than killing a pedestrian?"
The problem is not just the killing. I do not think you shouldn't be able to kill female characters in a video game. The problem is the sexualized violence that is directed only at women, as well as the greater misogynistic atmosphere the game reinforces through other details and the lack of any female characters with depth. The rampant violence is NOT equal-opportunity.

"But sexism is a problem in this game/movie/any and all other media."
Yeah, it is. But right now I'm talking about GTA IV.

"There are no incentives to killing prostitutes."
Yes, there are. You gain health back by hiring them and you get back the money you spent after killing them. That's more incentive than mowing down pedestrians.

"It's not part of the story. Rockstar isn't promoting doing this sort of thing."
Except that they are promoting it by allowing it to happen. Liberty City is not a real world, it is a deliberately crafted piece of fiction; things just don't happen. Everything in the world and everything that happens has to be deliberately allowed by the creators. Isn't it unrealistic how there are no children at all in Liberty City? That's because the game would definitely get an AO rating if the player were allowed to kill children. Developer choice.

On this point, see also: "On IGN's Grand Theft Auto IV Video" -- Cruise Elroy