Fat Princess and Feminism

Since when did the term "feminist" carry such a negative connotation-- like feminists are the new fundamentalist religious radicals around whom you can't have any fun because "they might get offended". Apparently, in the last several years, feminism has evolved into this outlandish idea that women have every right to be heard, seen, and feel feelings as men do. Any women that seems to give a shit about anything is one of those "crazy feminists". Meanwhile, the personals ads are overrun with men who are looking for a woman with a brain and yet do not know how to treat such a foreign being because they are not used to anyone with an ponytail and an opinion.

Deep breath.

The point is, is that I am totally pissed off about something that doesn't even concern me, specifically, but is just so insulting to humans in general that I have to say something about it. Sure, it is easy to go with the flow - to accept stereotypes just because they exist, and to not speak up when someone uses commonly accepted language as a silent weapon against you or people you care about, but it is more rewarding for me personally to reject even those commonly accepted things that carry insulting undertones with which I just do not agree.

For instance, Sony's new video game: Fat Princess. No, I am not kidding, there is actually a game on the market called Fat Princess. The title itself is perhaps a little tasteless, but the object of the game is what is mind-blowingly insulting. It's your typical princess-stuck-in-a-castle game, wherein she needs rescued (groan), but players can feed the princess cake to make her fat so that she can't be rescued and carried away.

Wait, what?

Without even touching upon the traditional gender imbalance inherent in these kinds of video games from the inception of the Super Mario series, this game is basically ascertaining that when the princess is skinny (as she starts the game to be), that she is able to be rescued and have her freedom. But, when she's been locked against her will in some castle being force-fed cake, she must remain a prisoner to both her captors and her own fat ass. In short: a fat princess can't be rescued.

Two points here:

1. The reinforcement of fat people as being a target of ridicule is alarming and infuriating. Yes, it is true that this nation is constantly struggling through obesity crises, however, marketing a game that will surely do nothing to address this issue properly is unnecessary. I can already see young children (girls AND boys, although this plays more in to gender stereotypes than I am claiming here) being ridiculed with this game as armor.

2. What the hell kind of market does Sony think they are marketing to?!

Moreover, I grow increasingly more critical of journalism (if writing on the web is still considered to be journalism) when something like this that I feel infringes upon the happiness of several different groups of people, is reported throughout the headlines as an event that is "outraging feminists". Why am I being pigeonholed here? Why can't just decent people be outraged? Moreover, have you ever seen a story that reported that feminists are pleased? How about this one: Feminists Embrace Decency.