Assignment 19:

I usually don't play very much video games anymore, however I did use to play Call of Duty. That is an army game where you can either follow the story line or play online with other people in the community. Depending on the version of the game, you typically spend time going around killing each other or working with a team to defeat the enemy. You can talk to other people through a headset. The main reason was to ask for help or tell people where the enemies were that way you can communicate with your team to strategize and win. Being a girl, there were always sexist comments. Since I did not play often, most comments would be something along the lines of Oh, you don't want her on your team. Girls are usually horrible at this game. I was not as bad as some of the other players. My gender has nothing to do with my ability to play a video game. These guys were so good because they spent hours playing the game and building their skills. I did not play as often so I was not as good at it as them, but not because of my gender.

• Claire Hosburgh

Assignment 18

Pornography is a difficult yet interesting topic. In my opinion, it can absolutely be produced in an ethical way. I did watch a documentary on porn a few years back and most actors see it strictly as work and nothing else. Every actor has their own contract and it is a way of business. Outside of the business, they go about their lives like any other person would. They are consenting adults earning a living in a way they want to. As long as a person's free will is not being affected, porn can be produced and distributed to many different medias. Porn is in TV, movies, online, and even in video games. It is typically unavoidable. As long as the user is not being forced upon it, there is no ethical question. The industry is a business and they are producing their product accordingly.

• Claire Hosburgh

ASSIGNMENT 19
I have never been into video games. Every time something new came out when I was younger, I never was able to get myself hooked on the games like my friends were. My brother on the other hand, loves any type of video game. This year for Christmas, my younger brother got the Call of Duty WW2 game. I decided to play this for my online game. I did not see any instances of racism, but I did see a lot of sexism and hate. First of all, being a girl playing video games did not sit well with a lot of the younger boys who were playing. There were many instances where I was urged to log off of the game because I was a girl and did not “belong.” There was also a huge amount of hate just in general. There is so much cursing and negative comments going on the whole time I was playing. At one point I decided to turn off the headphones because it was just too much. I think that because this is such a violent game to begin with, it brings out the worst in people. The main goal of this game is to run around and kill people basically, so people, (especially boys) get very angry and heightened frustration while playing.

• Laurel Poff

ASSIGNMENT 18
I believe that pornography can be ethically produced and distributed. I believe that pornography is somewhat unavoidable. TV shows and movies these days in my eyes are borderline pornography. There are scenes in certain shows that I would consider porn. I believe that as long as the participants are okay with it and are doing these things at their own will, there is nothing wrong with that. They know what the circumstances are and what they are getting themselves into. I believe that people have the right to their own bodies and can do with them what they please. As for the distribution part of things goes, I believe that there are ethical ways to distribute it. Like I said, as long as the participant is doing it all willingly, I think that it is ethical. Although porn may reach the line of being morally wrong, I think that if it is someone’s way of making a living and supporting themselves, it should be no one else’s business.

• Laurel Poff

Assignment 19:

So I went to play a game, Fortnite. I really am not skilled in video gaming so I actually just talked while my boyfriend actually played. Compared to my expectations, I had quite a wholesome experience, but there was in fact racist dialogue and the need to differentiate whether I was a girl or a 12-year-old boy. I have a cold so my voice sounded like a little boy which got me a lot of laughs, and made me crack up myself. We played three rounds.

The first round, I was asked if I was a little boy or a girl. When I said, “female with a cold,” he said something that my boyfriend and I could not understand, but I think it was something along the lines of, “Oh, shit! It’s a bitch.” Really though, all I heard was the word “bitch.” From then on we just played and had fun and there was not much more dialogue besides, “Oh, shit!” and, “I’m going to die. Ripparoni’s.”

In the second round, the players were really just in the game and the only comment was, “I’ve been playing a while. My ass hurts.” They did not care to differentiate my gender or anything. They just told me to put off my craving of a quesadilla until the game was over because they were on a winning streak.

In the third round, I finally found more of what I was searching for to put toward the purpose of this class. They sounded like a bunch of teenagers who often play together. They also asked if I was a little boy or a girl. I again replied, “a female with a cold.” They busted up laughing and then continued to play and tease each other with racist and discriminatory language calling each other “gay.” One of the players was Hispanic and there was quite a dialogue about this saying, “You guys only make fun of me because I am Mexican, so you guys are both gay.” Another friend replied, “I’m not racist, I have like 20 Mexican friends.” Then I asked him to name all 20 of his Mexican friends and the guy replied, “I named one taco.” Then the game started to get heated, they complimented me (my boyfriend) on his skills, and we eventually died.

Prior to this, my boyfriend was going to set up Call of Duty, but decided it might be too much for me, so I guess certain games are worse than others in unethical language. Fortnite though, to me, was mild and the players were there to have fun and did not care much that I was a female or not (besides the having the need to differentiate me from a boy). Though this could have been due to me sounding like a 12-year-old boy and that my boyfriend was playing really well. Either way there is a certain way of talking, teasing, and haggling each other in video games when I hear my boyfriend playing that does emphasize racism and discrimination in their dialogue.

• Jonna Elvin

Very good conversations. These are tough topics but you all approached them reasonably and thoughtfully.

• John Sullins

Assignment #19

While playing and observing video games I have not necessarily noticed racism and sexism especially playing online. Although I do not play video games myself, my boyfriend plays a game called “overwatch” online a lot so I often hear the online players and how they talk. I hear them often call out the term “bitch” or “pussies” referring to the other team in a condescending way. Both of these terms have female association so it comes to my conclusion that there is a negative connotation towards females on the online video game scene. Another example is when I tried playing and they heard my video one of the players said “oh gosh we have a girl on here were going to lose” this made me really mad. Yes I was not good, but only because I had never played the game not because of my gender. Another thing I have noticed with online video games is the stereotype that because I am Asian I should naturally be a good gamer. I find this stereotype offensive that it is unethical to judge someone online by their race or gender and then assess how they are going to play on a video game. None of those correlate at all with someones’ skill level playing games.

• Cassandra Abad

Assignment #18

After reading these articles I believe that pornography can be ethically produced, distributed and consumed. I know that with the Internet it is a hard topic to distinguished what is ethical or not since pornography can be shared so vastly through different platforms. Pornography is a job like any other as some may choose to disagree. But it is a paying job that people apply and sign contracts for. In those contracts they are giving consent to the production of such pornography knowing it will be up on the Internet. As I do believe there are many industries that follow ethical contracts, rights and morals. There is still a percentage that is very unethical and does not have the full consent of their employees. I think since the Internet is still a newer thing, that pornography stands in the middle of ethical and unethical. Although a company may follow all the ethical theories when producing and disturbing they have no control over what happens once it is on the web and they cannot promise if it is being ethically consumed or not. For this time being I think for the most part we can count on pornography being ethically produced etc.

• Cassandra Abad

Assignment 18:

I believe that pornography can be ethically produced, distributed, and consumed, but just not right now. I agree with Louise in that it is not yet possible due to the patriarchal, macho-geared commercializing world that we live in today. The problems faced today are the issues of free speech versus censorship; of enforcing certain restrictions; of easy accessibility; of the promoting of fake, nonconsensual, and unsafe sexual behaviors; of who runs the industry; and the lack of inclusion and openness to all within the industry. Erika Lust makes incredible points in that the more inclusive the industry, the more ethical it will become in that it will provide a more diverse business. In being more diverse, more viewpoints will be accommodated and therefore not just the skewed viewpoints of white heterosexual males. Lust also comments that ethical pornography is not achievable right now, but it is a slow process in the works. In creating more inclusion, more people would benefit from pornography’s effects: realistic expectations, safety, and promoting a consenting atmosphere. Pornography being almost exclusive to a certain kind of “fake, macho-centered, and barely legal” model, actually harms those who are exposed to it by creating unrealistic expectations of themselves and of others. From a consequentialist point of view this is incredibly unethical, not only for the consumers, but those in the porn industry who feel they have to put up with abuse just to keep up with the business.

• Jonna Elvin

Assignment 19

The game I decided to play is Grand Theft Auto V. This is a game that one can play on the PS4 and online and connect with other members.

There are three characters one can choose from, an Caucasian male named Michael, an African American named Franklin, and another Caucasian male named Trevor. The game takes placed in made up city, Los Santos, made to depict Los Angeles. The characters go to the city and complete missions.

This game is very fun and interactive game because one can be any of the three characters and do anything in the city, especially anything illegal like steal cars and kill people.

But it is also a game that depicts a lot of racism and sexism. To begin with, there an almost invisible portion of sexism as soon as one enters to play the game, the characters that one can choose from are all male. As one goes around the city to complete missions, one can see a lot of females in skimpy clothing: short shorts and tank tops. These girls walking around with minimal clothing are prostitutes, and the character can pay the girl to have sex with him.

When going to the poorer areas of the made up city, there are a lot of different ethnicities. But it is interesting to see that when the character goes to the poorer sides of the city, he is to do business with the African American males. The type of business to be done are the selling of drugs and weapons. One does not see a lot of mixed races in the city, mainly white people.

Although this game is fun because one can do just about anything, it also shows a lot of racism and sexism.

• Lucia Pulido