Bayonetta Subway Advertisements in Japan
Created for and originally posted at Bitch Magazine’s Mad World Virtual Symposium
Note: This is a slightly recut version of my Bayonetta Advertising video from back in 2010. In the original cut of the video I made a few jokes about the game that were misunderstood, poorly worded and helped create a torrent of hate via YouTube. In this version I’ve removed those jokes about the gameplay and character design to better focus on the actual point of the video which is the disturbing Tokyo subway ad campaign. All my original points remain intact.
The widely popular video game Bayonetta has had an advertising campaign that matches the on screen sexism of the game itself. In Tokyo a large billboard in the subway invited passersby to literally strip off flyers to reveal Bayonetta naked underneath. The campaign is part of a bigger problem of corporate advertisers perpetuating or encouraging the sexual and physical harassment of women which is an epidemic in Japan (and many other countries, including the United States).
Related Links and Articles:
- High Rates of Street Harassment in Korea and Japan and Video Game Allows Subway Groping and Worse from the blog Stop Street Harassment
- Harassment on Public Transportation is No Joke from Gender Across Borders
- In Anonymous Packed Train Lurk Gropers from The Japan Times
Links to Bayonetta Billboard Images:
- Ads with flyer on body: Ad 1 and Ad 2 (it appears to be a mock up of the ad campaign)
- Ads with the flyers removed and images of the cards
- Example of screen cast of Bayonetta naked
** This video is available to be translated into other languages by volunteers like you. Please visit the subtitling page on Universal Subs and click TRANSLATE to get started.
[...] Link: Bayonetta: Innovative Advertising or Sexual Harassment Training? (full transcript) [...]
It’s even sillier than that. Bayonetta’s clothes are made out of her hair, so even when she looks fully clothed, it’s still “only her hair covering her naughty bits”. And when her hair is being used as a weapon, it’s not being used for clothing, which gives an excuse for having her clothes disappear when she attacks.
[Reply]
I’m going to have to disagree here. I thought Bayonetta was one of the most refreshing female game characters in recent memory…Dante’s inferno on the other hand, I felt was actively exploitive fo women.
Firstly, Bayonetta. Sure. She’s a sexy witch who never misses an opportunity to get into a risque pose or to do something erotic. But everything is so over the top that it becomes self-parodying. The designers *know* that games in general are mysoginistic. So they take it to a level that’s so absurd that it highlights the faults of the industry in general. Also, the character of Bayonetta owns her sexuality. She is in complete control and she’s doing it because she it amuses her, not because the male characters in the game want it. As for the player, yeah. I could see a guy getting off on this. He’d be a pretty sad bloke. For me, as a woman, this was one of the first games I’ve played where the main character was a woman and not just because I changed the sex on the character screen. It’s the first Japanese game I’ve played where the main character was a woman who was not a good princess and/or committed to nursing and flirting with the male characters <> It’s definitely the first hack and slash that I’ve played where the character was a strong, intelligent, badass interesting female.
I liked it a lot.
As for Dante’s Inferno, Thank god that didn’t sell terribly well. I was disgusted by some of the elements of Hell. The women with the snakes coming out of their vaginas, (which of course you massacre in the nastiest way possible), the damned babies that hatch out of Cleopatra’s bosom. Five hundred years after its conception, Dante’s hell is still populated with sinning adultresses and brazen harlots.
And Beatrix? The heroine who you have to save? Well, the lead artist had obviously never seen a naked woman outside of porn because she has the kind of boobs you only get with surgery. And of course, when she’s getting massacred, her clothes fall off as she falls to the ground bleeding.
I’d write EA a letter about how offensive this pile of turds is, but they’d probably revel in it given that that team is apparently populated with frat-boys.
[Reply]
Anita Reply:
May 24th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
I don’t think comparing Bayonetta with another video game that might be more exploitative of women makes your case, as an overarching statement, women are HORRIBLY represented in video games with the very, very rare exception. If Bayonetta is better than a few other games, that still does not make it okay. Also, I don’t think that Bayonetta is self-parodying and even if it is, the target audience, young men, were definitely getting off on how over sexualized she is. She was marketed and created as a sexual object specifically to appeal to that particular demographic.
[Reply]
SoylentH Reply:
May 27th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
I haven’t played the game, but I glanced at a review and the creators seemed to think she was refreshingly feminist because they had a woman design how the character looks and that she was designed to look “sexy” to both men and women equally and therefore was a much more mature and responsible video game character. Or that because a woman designed her with slightly smaller breasts she is a feminist icon.
I think they’re wrong of course, because they’re still operating under the conceit that the only female characters worth caring about (or that a male audience will care about) are those that turn men on. And then “strong” female leads are typed as women who act like men. So it’s still kind of messed up. I have yet to see a “I use my sexuality to control men who are stupid sexbots” argument that really seems like a “better” man/woman dynamic. Mutual exploitation is not the same as or better than mutual admiration and respect.
[Reply]
This is a great posting for its “A-ha” factor. I showed it to some of my male friends, and explained why these ads are exploitive and damaging and they were like, “Yeah, that’s really so true, Wow” like they were discovering a new primary color. Please keep up the great work.
[Reply]
[...] Bayonetta: Innovative Advertising or Sexual Harassment Training | Feminist Frequency [...]
This video isn't censorship. It isn't banning plays. Feminism is discourse. Feminism is identifying problems and saying: "we can all do better." It's a hard look in the mirror.
Here is an ad campaign that encourages an audience (men) to undress a picture of a passive woman. This advertisement was placed in a subway system where real women get groped against their will.
Sometimes we need a give ourselves a hard look in the mirror.
[Reply]
I am a gamer girl, and I can not stand most gamer guys. I’ve noticed in general, that many gamer guys that I know have a bit of a misogynistic attitude towards girls, moreso than those that are not gamers. I’ve tried to explain why I find the common portrayl of females in games sexist, and I am usually met responses such as, but it’s what sells, and that I need to grow up. I have found very few games that have a positive portrayl of women that is not overly sexualized, and sadly, most of them are from the 16 bit era. Samus from metroid was one, but unfortunantly she has become very sexualized over the years.
I am also upset about what many gamer girls consider to be a strong female character. Many love the character Tifa from FFVII and claim that she is feminist simply because she fights with her fists. However, she is very sexualized in the game, wearing a mini skirt and a sports bra while having boobs so large that would give any normal woman back problems, and her entire life revolved around the main character who she is in love with, despite that he hardly shows any real interest. Now I’m not saying that Aerith or Yuffie are better examples, the Final Fantasy series itself has an issue with how it portrays it’s female characters.
[Reply]
Alise Reply:
August 7th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
This!
[Reply]
[...] Before I close, I would like to share a few stray thoughts I jotted down while walking Dr. McGonigal’s lecture: • I hadn’t heard of the sOccket project and was really glad she mentioned it • How can she be so against global poverty and not be overtly anti-capitalist? Capitalism necessitates poverty. Why, then, is she making for the WORLD BANK? • Now, I could be way off base about this as I have not seen the game itself, only the clip she showed, but the trailer for Evoke struck me as incredibly problematic. It seems to play off of many stereotypes and misconceptions that Westerners generally have of Africans; we see random shots of people walking in the hot African sun, driving older cars, all interlaced with “tribal” sounding music. The truth is we don’t know what the story of those people is – maybe they’re considered middle class in their community; maybe they’re on their way to work; maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t appreciate being described as “the world’s greatest problem.” And then, to go from bad to worse, we see a disembodied tribal mask talking in a heavy accent about how it’s YOUR DESTINY to join. Again, I could be way off base since I haven’t actually played the game, but the trailer made me not want to. • At one point, McGonigal was asked how she feels about the portrayal of women in video games. She said, very simply, “it’s getting better,” but she didn’t cite much evidence. She gave one example and then moved on. I find it odd that she didn’t mention Chell, the awesome female protagonist in Portal and Portal 2 who isn’t hypersexualized and who uses her brain to solve puzzles to survive. I do not necessarily agree with McGonigal’s notion that “it’s getting better;” that’s not to say I disagree, I just simply haven’t seen any meaningful data to suggest this. I would, however, like to take a second to link to Feminist Frequency’s short video about the game Bayonetta. [...]
[...] to perform gender in the way they are expected. Perhaps it’s because they’re also constantly bombarded by images and representations of what women are supposed to be, so they feel compelled to [...]
Women only subway cars are a good step towards the prevention of sexual assault.
However, I hope that there comes a day where everyone can respect each-others personal rights.
[Reply]