Polygamer #05: Khadeja Merenkov on Cultural Gatekeepers & White Privilege

I recently attended a talk by Boston-based voice actor and ethnographer Khadeja Merenkov about the need to use cultural artifacts accurately and respectfully in video games. Don’t just use a mosque because you like mosques, she advocated; recognize what those objects represent to the culture they come from. I hadn’t previously considered that the inspirations one draws from when creating a fictional game or story need to be taken in context. I asked her onto Polygamer to talk more about how different (non-American) cultures and peoples are portrayed in games. Our discussion ranged from President Obama to Jake Gyllenhaal to Star Trek‘s Captain Sisko.

Watch the video below, or download the audio edition from iTunes or Stitcher.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Introduction
  • Let’s Play Destiny (PS4)
  • AlterConf
  • Ashe Dryden on Less Than or Equal
  • Women as Background Decoration: Part 2 – Tropes vs Women in Video Games, by Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency
  • Isometric on GamerGate
  • Indie Investigations interviews Read Only Memories’ Matt Conn
• Interview
  • Khadeja Merenkov on Twitter
  • Codename Cygnus & Children of Liberty
  • ‘Indieology’: Indies in the Boston Area
  • Boston Indies Lightning Talk: Khadeja Merenkov
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang"
  • Peggy McIntosh’s "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"
  • Khadeja’s AlterConf profile
  • Women in Games Boston
  • The Complete Djinn Story
  • Jagged Alliance 2 by Darius Kazemi on Kickstarter
  • Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weinersmith

Polygamer explores issues of equality and diversity in the gaming industry. New episodes air every other Wednesday on YouTube and in iTunes and Stitcher.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 58:07 — 30.3MB) | Embed

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