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“It’s payback time, boys” – street harassment game

June 4, 2010 By HKearl

Last fall, a New York City graduate student* contacted me because she was creating a first person shooter game about street harassment. We chatted about street harassment and I hoped to include her work in my forthcoming book, but alas I could not include every activist I came across due to space constraints. I will include a profile of her in a new activists section of my website this summer.

Anyway, after a particularly annoying harassment experience, she was talking with a friend about street harassment and out of the conversation came the idea to use her programming strength to create a product she calls “definitely controversial but designed to be playful and silly and totally over the top!” In the game she uses real comments harassers have said to her and her friends and family. This week she let me know that her first person shooter game is done. Here’s her description:

” Ladies, are you sick and tired of catcalling, hollering, obnoxious one-liners and creepy street encounters? Tired of changing your route home to avoid uncomfortable situations?

IT’S PAYBACK TIME, BOYS…..

Tell your friends, co-workers, sisters, mothers and grandmothers.  This is the game you’ve all been waiting for…”

Hey Baby is a playful and provocative video game about street harassment. Through a 3D game and website, Hey Baby is designed to spark discussion about women’s experiences of public space. Play the game at www.heybabygame.com.

The Player encounters a series of creepy men who confront her with real comments as she navigates through the game world.  The Player can choose to shoot or to shower them with love.  Hey Baby is based on hundreds of real stories, collected from women throughout the world. Using an ironic mix of humor, violence and over-the-top graphics, this unsettling game encourages open access to public space.

Hey Baby
www.heybabygame.com
www.youtube.com/user/heybabygame

My pal Brittany interviewed she and featured her game at Change.org’s site and in the latest issue of Bitch magazine, and here is a review of it on Sexy Videogameland and Salon.com, so I refer you to those articles for more info.

Thoughts?

*the game creator has asked me to delete her name because of the controversy the game is creating and how directly it is attached to her name

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Filed Under: Activist Interviews Tagged With: activism, hey baby, hey baby shooter game, street harassment

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