Since Batman: Arkham City was released last week, questions have been raised regarding the repeated use of the word "Bitch" in the game. The problem isn't the abuse of foul language, but the context: In the game the word is used almost exclusively as an expletive towards women. As Kirk Hamilton from Kotaku points out, it's pretty much always said in anger and in response to a woman - mostly Catwoman - getting the upper hand over a male enemy. Moreover, the criminals definitely get more worked up about Catwoman kicking their ass than Batman or even Bruce Wayne. If the question is; "Is there sexism in Batman: Arkham City?" the answer is definitely yes. But Arkham City isn't a sexist game.

It's understandable that the way that word used makes players uncomfortable. Honestly, it should: The general discomfort towards it shows that we, as people, believe in respect and in the lines we know not to cross as civilized people. Putting the game's basic enemies on the other side of that line establishes these criminals as monstrous. There's no difference between the use of the word Bitch in Arkham City and the use of any slur in a film: It's a means to building characters and setting the tone of the game. Yes, we accept without question the enemies in the game are bad, that's why we're fighting them, but that doesn't make you believe it. This does.

Gliding over Arkham's dilapidated streets, Batman hears snippets of conversations between random inmates, presumably the grunts that would attack you should you drop down to street level. Those conversations are a key part of bringing Arkham City alive; though well-designed, without them the map is just another post-apocalyptic city. They establish Arkham city as place more akin to a warzone than a prison: The inmates often refer to death as commonplace; every criminal is gang soldier or sadistic killer. They also allude to rape fantasies: If we're supposed to believe that the average Arkham City inmate is a rapist with little to no regard with human life to begin with, isn't safe to say they're misogynistic as well? More importantly, doesn't knowing that about them help you to understand just how terrible that place really is?

What sets the acts of misogyny in the game apart from every other bad thing that is that we're actually experiencing it. We may not be in the scene, but the sound is still hitting our eardrums the same way as it would if a real person said it, as opposed to the game's violence which, no matter vivid, is still a facsimile of the real thing. If depictions of violence could garner the same response, that would be enough. As it stands, crossing the line clearly garnered the desired effect: it's striking and it helps to make us hate and think less of these characters, which is exactly what we're supposed to.

This article was originally printed on Games4thought.com on October 26th, 2011.