From Bullies to Heroes: Homophobia in Video Games

Berlant and Warner would not find this surprising. In talking about gay neighborhoods being wiped out and adult bookstores that once were safe spaces for gay men to meet and converse closing, Berlant and Warner insist, “Now, gay men who want sexual materials or who want to meet other men for sex will have two choices: they can cathect the privatized virtual public of phone sex and the internet; or they can travel to small, inaccessible, little-trafficked, badly lit areas, remote from public transportation an away from any residences, mostly on the waterfront, where heterosexual porn users will also be relocated an where the risk of violence will consequently be higher" (Berlant and Warner 551). Gaymer.net, Lesbiangamers.com and numerous other video game websites geared at queer culture would not have to exist if they were granted a voice on heteronormative websites. Communities comes in all different forms, but unfortunately to be allowed into a heteronormative community, gamers must follow heteronormative rules and regulations. Anyone who does not abide by these rules are cast out of the community by harassment, bullying, and alienation. Many gay gamers wonder how long this segregation will last. Unfortuately, Berlant and Warner agree that as long as heteronormative culture prevails, the idea of an equal community is “unimaginable” (Berlant and Warner 557). Queer culture will always been seen as the counter-culture and inferior to the dominant heteronormative society. Until queer culture manages to infiltrate this society, segregation will always take place in public spaces. Not including queer characters within video games will just further the segregation, and the more segregated communities get, the harder it is to unite them.

In order to achieve this utopia of a combined culture, it is essential that gay gamers must stop living within the boundaries of their heteronormative society. By hiding their true identities, hatred, racism, and homophobia will continue to run rampant.  Acceptance in video games will not only pave the way for this future culture, but eventually lead to it’s success. One cannot argue that the way queer avatars are treated in video games mirrors reality. Gay gamers are constantly trying to prove themselves, yet they are forever inferior to the dominant hegemony, which in this case happens to be white, male, and heterosexual.

Fortunately, this is not to say that progress is not being made. Popular games such as World of Warcraft and The Sims are breaking grounds for unapologetically including queer avatars within the video games. Although not acknowledged in the heteronormative world, there will always be queer communities in which queer culture is not only practiced but celebrated. Video games such as Fable or Bully pioneered their way through heteronormative society. Slowly but steadily, these games started expanding the gray area between the heterosexual and homosexual binary in hopes that one day that binary between the two cultures will not exist. In it’s place- perpetual gray. Bullying, racism, and hatred do not have to exist, but it won’t stop overnight. Creators and manufacturers’ acceptance of queer culture will eventually help the fusion between the two cultures, the two binaries, and make one culture that is celebrated for the love in it.

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