"What matters most?"
When I was growing up, I prided myself on waltzing right into the toy store and marching straight past the bright pink Barbie aisle, past the purple and faded pink doll aisle and proudly plopping myself down in the bright blue Hot Wheels and action figure section. I was raised with the idea that girls could do anything they wanted. We could wear pants OR dresses! Play with dolls OR action figures! Play sports OR sit in the corner reading! And I was very proud of shoving my preference for action figures in everyone's faces. I was that obnoxious kid, but only with my toys. When the big name toy store near me brought in demo versions of video game stations, I always jumped at the chance to take on a teen boy in a fighting or racing game. I knew my limitations--I was horrible at sports of any kind, regardless of the degree of reality involved--but I loved being the girl to not only show up, then know what she was doing, but also finally beat my opponent with room to spare in any game. I can't say what it did for my opponent's esteem, but it raised mine by a lot.
I loved many video game series growing up. I was (and still am) a Legend of Zelda fan foremost. I love adventure and action and puzzles the most. Racing was great fun, especially with karting series that would, essentially, allow you to cheat and one-up your opponents. I was gifted Grand Theft Auto III for my sixteenth birthday and fell in love with the open world aspect of the game. I have played every iteration of the series since, up to GTAIV. Adult life has intervened too much for me to touch GTAV, but it's on my bucket list. And although I can't speak for GTAV, I will defend that series along with others as games that should be played by mature people, regardless of numerical age. Because the game is not the sex worker whack-a-mole the media portrays it as, but it's also not for people without ties to reality or high levels of maturity. Even as an adult I have feelings of disgust while playing the more realistic missions in the game. But my point isn't that the world is going to hell in a hand basket because of a few video games.
Because while parents today seem much more lenient with children who self-identify as gay, lesbian, gender-queer, or even as the sex opposite the one they were assigned at birth (identifying with the sex you were given at birth is known as being cissexual, identifying otherwise is transgender), there are viral videos where little girls go into long tirades in the middle of the "girl" aisle about why all the "girly" stuff is pink (I've been there, little Riley), mothers write to toy oven companies to ask if they could perhaps manufacture an oven for aspiring little boy chefs, and large toy store corporations make the news for doing away with the "boy" and "girl" aisle banners. The point of young Riley's rant isn't the color, but when did the color of our toys become more important that the content? I grew up with non-violent games for the most part. Fighting games and beat 'em ups and commando games, sure. But a fighting game that featured blood or gore was out of the question. People are more keen today to worry about whether their child is slightly less than heterosexual than taking the time to see if what they're playing with is actually age appropriate. That famous, monumental speech of Dr. King's mentions judging based on the content of our character, not our skin color. And we're still fighting for that, even in 2013. But when our own children are refused harmless (to an extent, I've heard stories) toy ovens and dolls because they are "meant" for the other sex, we're not advancing humankind. When parents give their children a violent video game because they assume all video games are still pong, it's not helping our future.
The American government recently went into shutdown over the proposed new health care system under Obama. We live in a world where even the government would rather point fingers than try to solve gun crime or pay severely underpaid "non-essential" jobs. And instead of rioting or protesting, people take to social media and make jokes. I think it's sort of ridiculous, but only because it's something that we have the power to change, if only to make the world a better place. I can't remember the last time I saw a parent actively taking part in their kids' enjoyment of a book at a library, or not looking at their phone while their children ran around at a park. Broader minds can only help us as a country. Just look at our government!
