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By Corina Cuevas / Staff Writer
By Corina Cuevas / Staff Writer
Step aside zombies and monsters; creators of video games have gone to another level.
Video games seem to have shifted from the traditional mission or conquest to vulgar and sexual motives.
What happened to games like “Super Mario,” where the goal of the game was to obviously beat the opponent but also become a hero?
Now with video games like “RapeLay” the idea of being a hero is not taken into consideration.
“RapeLay” is a Japanese video game that not only depicts rape and violence but it also encourages violence against girls and women.
The game gives players the right to assault, molest, rape and impregnate their supposed victim.
As the game continues, friends can join and continue to assault the girls or women they want.
“RapeLay” has been taken out of shelves from video game stores not because of government intervention but because of women’s rights supporters.
The bad thing about this is that although the game has been taken out of the stores it has gone viral.
Now the game has gone directly toward I Web sites where people world wide can play the game, sometimes for free.
Japan’s laws do not restrict the themes and ideas of the games is a way of encouraging these hentai sorts of games.
The word “hentai” defines those “games that promote and stimulate sexual violence, sexual torture, stalking, and rape against women and girls,” according to Taina Bien-Aime a member of the women’s rights organization, Equality Now.
These types of games continue to exist because Japan is a society that since its beginnings has been ruled by men.
The men in the political positions that govern the country have been taught among different gender norms than those that exist now.
This is why Japans leaders turn the other way or suddenly become deaf when issues of feminist nature come up.
The fact that the women’s rights members were outraged and upset about the game “RapeLay” made no difference to them because since there is no women in high-power positions in Japan, then according to them everything is alright.
This ignorance and unjustified thinking sets and reinforces the old mentality that men are superior to women.
The lack of support toward women’s rights activists in Japan makes the problem worse because those women have no one to turn to.
In America, however, women have a better chance of being heard because there are different organizations that support women’s rights such as MADRE.
MADRE is an international women’s rights organization that works in partnership with women’s community-based groups in conflict areas worldwide.
Japan’s relatively male dominated policymakers and politicians should look beyond that mindset and realize that hentai games should be eliminated because they depict girls and women as sexual objects and places the country in a controversial position.
Are hentai games repressed sexual desires or simply freedom of expression?
It could be both, but the latter seems more convenient.
The fact that these games represent freedom of expression does not justify their vulgarity and sexual motives targeted toward girls and women.
America’s Western sensibility finds it difficult to understand why such games are produced. Similarly, the Japanese may not see what the big deal is because the hentai games are a way in which the Japanese express their ways of sexuality.
The clash between Western and Japanese norms is what makes the hentai games issue controversial.
Even more controversial is the fact that these games have gone viral.
Both Japan and America have different perspectives on what is and what is not appropriate for society.
What should Japan as well as America do to regulate these hentai sorts of games?
Japan should realize that hentai games are disrespectful to girls and women.
The Japanese should completely eliminate hentai games because they set a bad example for society’s youth and the world as a whole.
Women are much more than sexual objects.
The creators of these types of games should remember that their mothers are women and therefore should show some respect to them and other women as well.
America does not really have a voice when talking about hentai games because they are Japan’s problem.
What America should do however, is reflect and take a look into its own video games and see how they might compare to hentai games.
Because generally speaking, America does have some violent games that may seem offensive to other cultures.
Overall, hentai games are offensive toward women and they have no place on any shelf of video game stores.
The use of these types of games expresses the Japanese view of sexuality but does not justify the encouragement of assault, rape and violence toward girls and women.
Unless strict regulation is established to control the circulation of hentai games, girls and women will continue to be targets of these silent and vulgar video game themes that disrespect the female image.
