Feminist Frequency, the non-profit organization ran by Anita Sarkeesian, creator of the Tropes vs Women in Video Games Youtube series, has called out The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for being sexist.
There is so much to admire in BOTW. Its gameplay is incredible. But that absolutely doesn’t excuse its use of tired, sexist plot devices.
Through the memories players can collect, BOTW acknowledges the ongoing problem of Zelda being damseled but doesn’t do anything about it.
Critics might call out sexism in games with bad gameplay but often act as if it’s not worth mentioning when the gameplay is great. It is.
In a series of tweets posted to the account yesterday, Breath of the Wild is called out for having “sexist plot devices” and suggests critics don’t mention blatant sexism in video games if the game is good. Mention is made of the memories Link collects throughout the story and how the game acknowledges the ongoing problem of Zelda being a damsel in distress but doesn’t do anything about.
This isn’t the first time The Legend of Zelda has come under fire for being considered sexist. Ocarina of Time was called classist, sexist and racist in an article on Salon.
Anita Sarkeesian rose to fame for her role in Gamergate in 2014. She received death threats and was forced to move out of her home through all of this controversy according to an interview with The Washington Post. She even had YouTube delete her Feminist Frequency channel for a little while.
