ABSTRACT
Videogames and pornography seemingly share the feature of involving sexually objectifying depictions of women. This chapter considers whether a particular genre of explicitly pornographic videogames (PVGs), eroge, is morally problematic from a feminist perspective. It outlines what eroge is and then considers why objectification of women does not quite capture its problematic aspects. The chapter also considers an alternative explanation: that such PVGs infantilize women. Anti-pornography feminists typically argue that pornography harms women as a group. Pornographic materials harm women in playing a crucial role in their exploitation and oppression by depicting the abuse and degradation of women in endorsing and encouraging ways. The chapter looks at whether women's objectification or their infantilization in eroge PVGs can ground a feminist condemnation of the genre. It explores the view that eroge is problematic from a feminist perspective in endorsing and celebrating childlike depictions of women—in short, in infantilizing women.
