Newsflash: New Videogame Character With The Ability To....Rape Women??

Everybody has at some point played a game that involved role-playing, whether it be ‘Cowboys and Indians’ or a simple ‘Tea Party’ as a young child, to ‘Charades” as an adult. As we move into an increasingly technological world, where information can be sent across the world in a matter of seconds, it becomes easier for the world to become exposed to forms of media that would otherwise be unknown to other parts of the world. So is the case with a Japanese computer game called, “RapeLay.” The game is described as a “sex simulator.” According to CNN, “The game begins with a teenage girl on a subway platform. She notices you are looking at her and asks, "Can I help you with something?" It is at this point that the player can decide to grope the young girl. In the next sequence the character follows the young girl onto a subway train where more inappropriate touching ensues. Later on in the game, the character’s friends arrive and the player is given the chance to rape the primary girl as well as her sister and mother. Apparently the game even progresses to the point where the player can forcibly impregnate the girl and then force her to have an abortion. As the premise of the game explains, the character is motivated to molest this girl for revenge. Apparently the girl accused the character of molesting her, and when he was sent to court his wealthy parents got him acquitted and now he is on a mission. The release of this game only serves to show that as far as women western cultures have come through feminism, there are many places in the world that are still too accepting of this type of material in their cultures. For as much progress as women have made, this only serves to push that progress backwards. But who decides what the level of censorship should be, and when does the line cross from simulation to inappropriate? What I do know is that women in eastern cultures still have much further to go before they have reached a level anywhere near the level of progress made by feminism in western society. But are we able to judge other social norms by our own standards?

This game, unsurprisingly, has encountered widespread outrage and protest from various groups. Although it seems that with the growing publicity, this game has actually been widely published throughout the Internet and is actually available for download online. However, the protesting groups were able to get this videogame removed from shelves in Japan. But the fact that people would even be curious enough to play the game says a lot about our society. This videogame demonstrates more than just, ‘raunch culture’, as described in Ariel Levy’s book, Female Chauvinist Pigs. This is more of a display of just how much further many non-western cultures still have to go to achieve a state where women are not constantly degraded and disrespected on such a large and blatant scale. If this were America, Levy would assert that there was at least one woman behind the development and publishing of this video game. Because this example occurs in Japan, I don’t think that argument would be particularly relevant. However, the absence of any “female chauvinist pigs”, doesn’t make this any less a part of a particularly ‘raunch’ culture that most of us don’t really know much about. Because of our lack of insight on some of the many different cultures in the world, are we able to judge the way women’s roles play out in other societies? Obviously a game such as this would probably never leave the drawing board here in the U.S., but there were obviously those in Japan that felt this game was appropriate enough to make it to the shelves. Japan does happen to have some of the lowest crime rates in the world, and less crimes such as murder and assault per 1,000 people than some first world countries. So perhaps this media outlet does not have the impact on outside behavior that many believe.

The previous paragraph is not to in any way condone the images associated with the game RapeLay. Regardless of crime rates and individual behavior, the game is a sickening representation of quite a serious matter, and women all over the world should, in fact, be appalled. This only goes to show just how large the divide is between western and eastern society. This makes me think of the beginning of the chapter we read concerning the “Mommy Tax”, when the author is at the press conference with the large green check, showing that women now made ninety-eight cents to every man’s dollar made, when in fact the actual number was much lower. We see all of the progress being made my feminism including: Gay/Lesbian rights, as well as the search for equal wages. But meanwhile, on the other side of the world, games and images such as this, depicting women in these awful situations is still being published and distributed without the approval or any consideration for women. But at the same time, when does it shift from a censorship issue into a personal rights issue and a freedom of expression debate? I suppose this varies by region and culture. But it is no doubt that RapeLay proves we still have a long way to go.