God of War Team "Pulling Back" From Violence Against Women

[cobra_ky]

I have never gotten a straight answer from women on why the wear heels though I strongly get the impression it is not to be sexually appealing, it is so that they are in similar height to men, particularly on the same eye line so they are not looked down on. They may be uncomfortable and impractical, but high heels PURPOSE is empowering women to compensate for how they tend to be shorter than men. Height is a big factor in how people perceive each other.

If this were true, then strippers performing on stage wouldn't have to wear high heels. In fact, heels are the one article of clothing a stripper will almost never take off. It's purely about sex appeal.

If it was just about height, wouldn't platform shoes be a lot more comfortable?

"If this were true, then strippers performing on stage wouldn't have to wear high heels."

Yeah... they DO NOT have to wear high heels. What are you talking about? Where do stripper HAVE to wear high heels?

I didn't mean they were required to wear them. What I meant to say was "If this were true, then strippers performing onstage wouldn't wear high heels." Sorry for being unclear.

I don't know how many strippers you have seen but the only one example I can remember is from the movie Striptease and she didn't wear high heels. It's hardly like high heels are an integral part of what makes erotic dance erotic, high heels are definitely feminine and associated with a certain classiness so I can see why if an erotic dancer would wear any footwear it would be High heels and not flip flops or crocs. And they wouldn't take them off as it's not like they are hiding anything and ... I'm not a dancer but there doesn't seem to be any elegant way to take shoes off.

I've seen dozens of actual strippers, and every single one of them has worn high heels. LOL at "associated with classiness", because if there's one thing strip clubs are known for, it's being classy. I went to a wedding a couple weeks ago where the bridal party were all wearing flat sandals, (beautiful, by the way) so why would women engaging in a physical performance wear anything less comfortable? You know what's classy, feminine, AND suitable for performance art? Ballet slippers.

Strippers find elegant ways to take everything else off. Shoes don't seem like an insurmountable challenge to me.

I can also tell you as a heterosexual man high heels make NO DIFFERENCE to me. It's not like 'What! Bare Foot? That's it, my boner is gone' it's not like high heels enhance a woman's distinct feminine curves like a thong might.

Good for you! Everyone has different tastes and proclivities. But I can tell you that it DOES make a difference for many, many men. Foot fetishes are among the most common kinks out there.

 

[Treblaine]

I'm mainly talking the ergonomics of stability for the practicality of moving quickly in a gunfight. I'm talking ability to transfer leg movement to the ground to move the body, high heels over platforms.

As a lady who has worn both platforms and high heels (though the last time I wore platforms was when I was fifteen and trying to sneak onto a rollercoaster I wasnt tall enough for), I can honestly say running in platforms would be easier.

I hear from my sister that comfortable AND stylish high heels exist but they inexplicably cost $400'000 to wear for 12 seconds because the women's fashion industry is run like a fucking Columbian drug cartel as fas as she can tell.

As many ladies in my life have said to me whilst hurting me to make me look pretty, `Beauty is pain`.
High heels hurt. Some people say they are so used to them that they don't. I wish I was one of those people.

But lets isolate the terrible design aspects and focus on how Miranda could get actually GOOD shoes in the far future. Get some comfy old trainers and attack (superglue?) a triangular block under the heel, how comfortable are those? That is isolating the sole factor of raised heels..

What like a wedge?
Heels are painful because they tend to push all your weight onto the balls of your feet. Try walking on the balls of your feet for ages. It would be the same with a trianglar block under the heel.

I still don't get women and shoes... and I don't want to sound like a stand up comedian with "women are different from guys, huh?" but seriously, I cannot fathom why woman wear shoes like those. Is it a height thing? That's the only thing I can think of. Why wear such things, and pay so much for them? For such painful things?!?!

No, it's not (always) a height thing. My sister is 6 foot tall and she still wears heels. Shorter ones though.
There are many reasons to wear heels.
It can smarten up an outfit that wouldn't look as smart with flats (example- I don't own a lot of shoes, I have winter boots, trainers and heels. Recently I had to go to a funeral. A pair of short black heels were the smartest thing I could wear on my feet).
To be honest a lot of people don't even know why they wear heels. It's been socialised that it's just what women do. So they do.
Or just because they want to. Heels make you taller and give you a different posture that many people see as more feminine.

Heels do hurt, but not always. And they can make you feel good, I feel more attractive and more confident in heels. I'm sure many people do.

"Beauty is Pain" is bullshit. Really it is only to cover up for incompetence of purveyors. I'm serious about this, things like moisturising cream, chemically that was perfected in the 1960's that basically took vaseline and stopped it leaving a greasy appearance on the skin.

Then they started adding hydrogen peroxide. Fucking WHHHHYYYY?!?!? Oh, because it "oxygenates" and oxygen is good right, we need oxygen to breath. NO! You're skin has no shortage of oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide in moisturising face creams will do nothing but give a mild chemical burn and this horrendous practice is defended as "ooh you can feel it's oxidising effect".

I just REALLY REALLY hope you and other women are not wearing heels to somehow appease other people's expectation, especially what you think men might like to see you wear, because I don't want that shit on me. That may be selfish, but I don't like the idea of hurting themselves so I think they look classy or whatever.

Any guy, ANY ONE, who criticises even privately a woman for wear flats, even to a funeral, is a JERK OF THE MILLENNIA. And wrong as well.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Raiden

Well if you really feel like it you can also try breakdancing in heels on asphalt with a samurai sword. But only if you post pics.

 

[Treblaine]

I have never gotten a straight answer from women on why the wear heels though I strongly get the impression it is not to be sexually appealing, it is so that they are in similar height to men, particularly on the same eye line so they are not looked down on. They may be uncomfortable and impractical, but high heels PURPOSE is empowering women to compensate for how they tend to be shorter than men. Height is a big factor in how people perceive each other.

If this were true, then strippers performing on stage wouldn't have to wear high heels. In fact, heels are the one article of clothing a stripper will almost never take off. It's purely about sex appeal.

If it was just about height, wouldn't platform shoes be a lot more comfortable?

"If this were true, then strippers performing on stage wouldn't have to wear high heels."

Yeah... they DO NOT have to wear high heels. What are you talking about? Where do stripper HAVE to wear high heels?

I didn't mean they were required to wear them. What I meant to say was "If this were true, then strippers performing onstage wouldn't wear high heels." Sorry for being unclear.

I don't know how many strippers you have seen but the only one example I can remember is from the movie Striptease and she didn't wear high heels. It's hardly like high heels are an integral part of what makes erotic dance erotic, high heels are definitely feminine and associated with a certain classiness so I can see why if an erotic dancer would wear any footwear it would be High heels and not flip flops or crocs. And they wouldn't take them off as it's not like they are hiding anything and ... I'm not a dancer but there doesn't seem to be any elegant way to take shoes off.

I've seen dozens of actual strippers, and every single one of them has worn high heels. LOL at "associated with classiness", because if there's one thing strip clubs are known for, it's being classy. I went to a wedding a couple weeks ago where the bridal party were all wearing flat sandals, (beautiful, by the way) so why would women engaging in a physical performance wear anything less comfortable? You know what's classy, feminine, AND suitable for performance art? Ballet slippers.

Strippers find elegant ways to take everything else off. Shoes don't seem like an insurmountable challenge to me.

I can also tell you as a heterosexual man high heels make NO DIFFERENCE to me. It's not like 'What! Bare Foot? That's it, my boner is gone' it's not like high heels enhance a woman's distinct feminine curves like a thong might.

Good for you! Everyone has different tastes and proclivities. But I can tell you that it DOES make a difference for many, many men. Foot fetishes are among the most common kinks out there.

Wait, what the hell do you get out of high heels? They're inherently awkward and pointy and limiting. I get that women might like the mini-stilt effect, but I don't get it for an erotic dance.

I don't mean classy high heels in quite that way, I mean in a way that high heels are more classy than flip flops. Strip joints TRY to be classy in a burlesque kind of way but really fail. I don't think a strip club manager puts too much thought into footwear, but prescribed high heels for an attempt at association, not their choice for suitability in dancing or proclivity for erotica.

I don't think ballet slippers are the fitting association for such a burlesque establishment, think of all the dads there who take their little girl to dance practice.

I don't think we can really factor shoe fetishes as they are by definition outside normal range, and include things like balloon fetishes and other weird crap.

 

[cobra_ky]

Wait, what the hell do you get out of high heels? They're inherently awkward and pointy and limiting. I get that women might like the mini-stilt effect, but I don't get it for an erotic dance.

I don't mean classy high heels in quite that way, I mean in a way that high heels are more classy than flip flops. Strip joints TRY to be classy in a burlesque kind of way but really fail. I don't think a strip club manager puts too much thought into footwear, but prescribed high heels for an attempt at association, not their choice for suitability in dancing or proclivity for erotica.

I don't think ballet slippers are the fitting association for such a burlesque establishment, think of all the dads there who take their little girl to dance practice.

I don't think we can really factor shoe fetishes as they are by definition outside normal range, and include things like balloon fetishes and other weird crap.

The point is that foot fetishes are much, much, much more common that balloons or whatever. "Fetish" is kind of a misnomer anyway. It's just a fixation on part of the body, just like the breasts or buttocks. High heels make legs look longer and slimmer, which many people find attractive.

 

[TallanKhan]

Looking at it objectivley, Kratos to date has been one of the least discriminating chartcers ever to grace our screens. He kills mercilessly without concern for gender, age or anything else. The only real equality issue that raises its head in the God of War franchise is that many of the female characters are portrayed as physically inferior.

However, for Kratos to tone down the violence against female characters would be a huge step away from equality. Particularly as it diverges from his already well established personality. If they tone down the violence against women they will be doing it for no other reason than they are women, and thats the very definition of discrimination.

 

[Icehearted]

Maybe in the future he'll assault women with tasteful compliments until they explode into rainbows and jellybeans. That red stuff he collects when they evaporate into candy? It's all the sugar and spice they're made of!

At least we can massacre men en masse with ruthless abandon. I mean, it's not like killing men is nearly as bad as women! I mean let's face it, nobody cares when men are killed, amirite?

Looking at it objectivley, Kratos to date has been one of the least discriminating chartcers ever to grace our screens. He kills mercilessly without concern for gender, age or anything else. The only real equality issue that raises its head in the God of War franchise is that many of the female characters are portrayed as physically inferior.

In matters of strength, women are physically inferior. This is just scientifically evident and proven fact. They're smaller, naturally more limber, have softer skin, lower center of gravity which means generally more capable of retaining balance. Men are larger, produce muscle building testosterone (which also makes male skin a bit more resilient but less pleasing to the eye and to the touch), and are generally physically more inclined to strength.

There's nothing wrong with genders being different, that's what we're supposed to be. It's only sexism when it represses women from doing what they are capable of doing. A man and a woman are equally capable of shooting a gun, being good orators, cooking a pleasant meal, for example.

 

[TallanKhan]

Looking at it objectivley, Kratos to date has been one of the least discriminating chartcers ever to grace our screens. He kills mercilessly without concern for gender, age or anything else. The only real equality issue that raises its head in the God of War franchise is that many of the female characters are portrayed as physically inferior.

In matters of strength, women are physically inferior. This is just scientifically evident and proven fact. They're smaller, naturally more limber, have softer skin, lower center of gravity which means generally more capable of retaining balance. Men are larger, produce muscle building testosterone (which also makes male skin a bit more resilient but less pleasing to the eye and to the touch), and are generally physically more inclined to strength.

There's nothing wrong with genders being different, that's what we're supposed to be. It's only sexism when it represses women from doing what they are capable of doing. A man and a woman are equally capable of shooting a gun, being good orators, cooking a pleasant meal, for example.

Ok you have a pretty valid point there. But GoW still seems to have gone out of its way to throw some of the most frail examples of womanhood in the path of vengence seeking Kratos. For example snapping the old woman's neck. I admit i never played the games religiously, but i dont remember many OAP killings.

 

[Icehearted]

Looking at it objectivley, Kratos to date has been one of the least discriminating chartcers ever to grace our screens. He kills mercilessly without concern for gender, age or anything else. The only real equality issue that raises its head in the God of War franchise is that many of the female characters are portrayed as physically inferior.

In matters of strength, women are physically inferior. This is just scientifically evident and proven fact. They're smaller, naturally more limber, have softer skin, lower center of gravity which means generally more capable of retaining balance. Men are larger, produce muscle building testosterone (which also makes male skin a bit more resilient but less pleasing to the eye and to the touch), and are generally physically more inclined to strength.

There's nothing wrong with genders being different, that's what we're supposed to be. It's only sexism when it represses women from doing what they are capable of doing. A man and a woman are equally capable of shooting a gun, being good orators, cooking a pleasant meal, for example.

Ok you have a pretty valid point there. But i GoW still seems to have gone out of its way to throw some of the most frail examples of womanhood in the path of vengence seeking Kratos. For example snapping the old woman's neck. I admit i never played the games religiously, but i dont remember many OAP killings.

There is a mentality that harming women is worse than harming men. For all the squawking people have been engaged in since the Anita blowup, it seems that sexism going both ways has been lost in the discussion. In another board I wrote this:

Truth is, nobody cares if males die. That's just not bad enough. Watch a story in the news about a mass killing, and you'll likely hear something like "among the dead women and children" as if a mass killing just wasn't all THAT bad... until women and children were killed too

There is a societal way of thinking that has made us extra sensitive to a woman's suffering, and nearly deaf to the suffering of men. You mention frail women, I've seen Kratos likewise harm emaciated, weak, or helpless men. One of the the very first things I remember reading about before the first GOW arrived was how Kratos used the caged man to open a door. That's a man in a cage, begging for his life, before being killed in a very brutal manner.

I've always taken him as a character without mercy. Going easy on women because they're women is not only contrary to the established character, it's also actually very sexist, and begins the slippery slope.

 

[TallanKhan]

Looking at it objectivley, Kratos to date has been one of the least discriminating chartcers ever to grace our screens. He kills mercilessly without concern for gender, age or anything else. The only real equality issue that raises its head in the God of War franchise is that many of the female characters are portrayed as physically inferior.

In matters of strength, women are physically inferior. This is just scientifically evident and proven fact. They're smaller, naturally more limber, have softer skin, lower center of gravity which means generally more capable of retaining balance. Men are larger, produce muscle building testosterone (which also makes male skin a bit more resilient but less pleasing to the eye and to the touch), and are generally physically more inclined to strength.

There's nothing wrong with genders being different, that's what we're supposed to be. It's only sexism when it represses women from doing what they are capable of doing. A man and a woman are equally capable of shooting a gun, being good orators, cooking a pleasant meal, for example.

Ok you have a pretty valid point there. But i GoW still seems to have gone out of its way to throw some of the most frail examples of womanhood in the path of vengence seeking Kratos. For example snapping the old woman's neck. I admit i never played the games religiously, but i dont remember many OAP killings.

There is a mentality that harming women is worse than harming men. For all the squawking people have been engaged in since the Anita blowup, it seems that sexism going both ways has been lost in the discussion. In another board I wrote this:

Truth is, nobody cares if males die. That's just not bad enough. Watch a story in the news about a mass killing, and you'll likely hear something like "among the dead women and children" as if a mass killing just wasn't all THAT bad... until women and children were killed too

There is a societal way of thinking that has made us extra sensitive to a woman's suffering, and nearly deaf to the suffering of men. You mention frail women, I've seen Kratos likewise harm emaciated, weak, or helpless men. One of the the very first things I remember reading about before the first GOW arrived was how Kratos used the caged man to open a door. That's a man in a cage, begging for his life, before being killed in a very brutal manner.

I've always taken him as a character without mercy. Going easy on women because they're women is not only contrary to the established character, it's also actually very sexist, and begins the slippery slope.

Well I'll concede the point this time i think. Well argued.

 

[Icehearted]

Looking at it objectivley, Kratos to date has been one of the least discriminating chartcers ever to grace our screens. He kills mercilessly without concern for gender, age or anything else. The only real equality issue that raises its head in the God of War franchise is that many of the female characters are portrayed as physically inferior.

In matters of strength, women are physically inferior. This is just scientifically evident and proven fact. They're smaller, naturally more limber, have softer skin, lower center of gravity which means generally more capable of retaining balance. Men are larger, produce muscle building testosterone (which also makes male skin a bit more resilient but less pleasing to the eye and to the touch), and are generally physically more inclined to strength.

There's nothing wrong with genders being different, that's what we're supposed to be. It's only sexism when it represses women from doing what they are capable of doing. A man and a woman are equally capable of shooting a gun, being good orators, cooking a pleasant meal, for example.

Ok you have a pretty valid point there. But i GoW still seems to have gone out of its way to throw some of the most frail examples of womanhood in the path of vengence seeking Kratos. For example snapping the old woman's neck. I admit i never played the games religiously, but i dont remember many OAP killings.

There is a mentality that harming women is worse than harming men. For all the squawking people have been engaged in since the Anita blowup, it seems that sexism going both ways has been lost in the discussion. In another board I wrote this:

Truth is, nobody cares if males die. That's just not bad enough. Watch a story in the news about a mass killing, and you'll likely hear something like "among the dead women and children" as if a mass killing just wasn't all THAT bad... until women and children were killed too

There is a societal way of thinking that has made us extra sensitive to a woman's suffering, and nearly deaf to the suffering of men. You mention frail women, I've seen Kratos likewise harm emaciated, weak, or helpless men. One of the the very first things I remember reading about before the first GOW arrived was how Kratos used the caged man to open a door. That's a man in a cage, begging for his life, before being killed in a very brutal manner.

I've always taken him as a character without mercy. Going easy on women because they're women is not only contrary to the established character, it's also actually very sexist, and begins the slippery slope.

Well I'll concede the point this time i think. Well argued.

Thank you... though I don't feel much like this is a discussion I really wanted win. I'm all for equality, but both ways and in all practical regard.

Either way I got a new friend out of this, and I'm good with that. Cheers.

 

[kickyourass]

I'm more confused then anything, what is this supposed to mean? Are they including fewer female enemies this time? Will they just have some clothes on in this game? What is it?

And besides that, this just doesn't seem to be in line with what Kratos is. I mean these guys have spent the last 4 games (Unless I've lost count) violently drilling it into our heads that Kratos IS violence and vengence, there is basically nothing else to his character as far as they've cared to show. So to now come and say "We're gonna dial back some of the violence to show some of his character." Just sounds like a complete contradiction.

 

[II2]

Ignoring the politics, it just doesn't make sense... His character has already killed monsters, men, women, children, family and gods and spiraled to the bottom of hate beyond redemption. There's a momentum to that kinda character arc and even though God of War 2 and 3 got increasingly silly in its extremity, it was consistent. To have him pull back now would be even more absurd than the lengths he's gone to...

Political correctness is at odds with both history and artistic license, but it's reasonable to expect of games marketed E+ or sometimes TEEN in entertainment. God of War isn't looking to sell to those markets (in theory).

 

[Colin Bagley]

Oh, god damn it. In other words "We've decided to use sexism to fight sexism".

Basically; This.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

Double-post.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

Nice. That's like a child molester promising he will only molest children every month or so.

You wanna fight a female enemy, fine. A threat is a threat. But Kratos drops his entire schedule to chase after an unarmed and terrified non-combatant, ignoring the corpses and nice sturdy nonliving objects laying around, because what? She was there? This is the mentality serial rapists must have. I hated the psychotic moron and his retarded excuses already, and that just cemented it.

But whatever, watch his fans bemoan the "loss of his character" and whatever bullshit excuses they can conjure to continue wanking off to torture porn without a credit card.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

Oh, god damn it. In other words "We've decided to use sexism to fight sexism".

It's practically pointless to continue this thread now.

Well said.

Then again, God of War is yet another IP I stopped caring about a long, long time ago.
So maybe I shouldn't complain... wait, fuck that, this is still a giant issue that won't go away. /rabble rabble

 

[Pearwood]

I'm left wondering why whenever I hear about something like this. This is a real world stigma. God of War is about as detached from reality as you can get. It's also a stigma that annoys the people they're putting it in for in the first place. Fail on all counts.

 

[Darmani]

As gaming becomes more mainstream, and the development costs balloon - forcing big budget developers to seek an ever wider audience--games and gaming culture are forced to start considering societal norms and standards. As companies become known to the general public, they are forced to consider what their products are telling the public about them and their ethos. It's an inevitable, fundamental shift, and even if you don't personally view it as a good thing, it shouldn't come as a surprise. I do view it as a good thing in general, although the early steps taken, including this one, are pretty bumbling and inept. Games and gaming culture do have serious issues with underlying currents of pretty vicious sexism, as evidenced by the embarrassing parade of practically weekly debacles lately, and moves like this are the awkward flailing of a homebody dragged out into the light desperately trying to clean themselves up before anyone else sees them looking so disheveled.

As for treating violence against men and women differently, well without defending this particular case (honestly, did we need any particular reason to shake our heads at the blatant wringing of a tired old cash cow long past the point of any real innovation?), violence against men and violence against women do have significantly different connotations, not because of any reality within the game--which might be an immersive imaginary world without millenia long legacies of sexism where men and women might be treated completely equally by the game's idealized fictional society--but rather because the games themselves exist as physical objects within a world where sexism and oppression of women is very much a real thing, both historically and today, around the world and 'here' in wherever 'here' happens to be for you.

This is true. but me I am sick of the mere INSTANCE of harm to a(white pretty who's virtue shall remain in esteem) woman be met with rejection and associations of domestic violence, and etc.
Technically GodHand is HELLA sexist all the women are dressed and act as some form of 70-80s kitchsy pinup fantasy. There isn't a woman who's just a gangster/martial artist. But that's not the response we get not to the situation with its context and intent.

You hit a woman, "VILE RAPIST VILLIAN THIS GAME IS THE EVIL" you have a sex minigame "VILE PERVERSE VILLAINOUS GAMERS FICTIONAL CONSEXUAL SEX WITH TWO WOMEN IN A HOTTUB IS EVIL SHAME SHAAAAME EVIL SHAAAAME"


Its less the supposed open dialogue for equality for both men and women to a better tomorrow critics hide behind in discourse and more the moral condemnation AKIN TO the local preacher just with differing moral standards and the same burn the witch mentality. If games are going to have more women in them and more women playing them by god stop assuming everything must change for their enjoyment and judgement so much as their inclusivity and respect. (beating down teammate that bad... bad, I can only defend the evil teammate on grounds I'd never apologize under exposure either that's something I come upon my own reflection. but anyone else wanting to shun and dislike him go ahead that was heinous)

Not to mention it feels less an opening of dialogue to be better and more someone with an axe to grind and vulnerable target to use it against.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

In a few years the only enemies we'll be able to fight in games are white males in their mid 20s to late 30s.

It's already happened. Back in the day when Double Dragon ruled the arcade you could beat down men and women of all shapes and races. Wouldn't happen nowadays.