Let's see...how can I say this without sounding like a troll or a sexist douche? Hmm...
I can't. So I'll just say it: men and women are not the same and when a clear male role is filled identically with a female it becomes stupid. Let me explain. I've played the Mass Effect games a thousand times, always as a male Shepard, and loved them. The dialogue was funny and compelling and while the universe was a fantasy, no absurdities shocked me from immersion.
Then I tried to do a playthrough as FemShep. It was painful. Every cutscene was an exercise in endurance, watching this chick try to be an intimidating wartime leader. Please. I don't mind a tough, female warrior who fights with magic, or with stealth and guile, etc. But every time I see a size zero beauty queen solve a problem with her fists or a staredown, or wear plate armor and swing a claymore, the only thought running through my mind is "spare me."
Realism is always preferable to nonsense unless the nonsense adds something distinctly enjoyable that realism would prevent. For example, the notion that one laser sword can obstruct the path of another, or the idea that by magic skeletons can be raised from corpses to serve the caster. What exactly am I supposed to get from Lara Croft roundhouse kicking musclebound fighters twice her size, or Devona beating grawl with a hundred and fifty pound hammer? Am I stupid or is this stupid? People tell me that there's some kind of sex appeal behind this Charlie's Angels/Bayonetta bullshit, but that doesn't make sense either. If you're looking for sex, uh...get laid (duh?) or go watch porn. Why try to mix it obnoxiously into a video game in such a way that it breaks immersion.
I know all kinds of hard women. My family's full of them: soldiers, construction workers, marathon runners, trainers, etc. I'm stronger and faster than every one of them. That's not because I'm a superhuman, it's because I'm a man and they're women. Hell, most women can't get the cap off a jar of pickles without a rubber grip. Not only are women smaller and weaker, but they are equipped with estrogen-induced behavioral traits while EVERY adventure storyline is driven by testosterone-induced behavioral traits. This just adds to the jarring discord that occurs when an action protagonist is female, usually in the form of her dialogue, which, even if the words are right, is just too high pitched to carry the weight of threat or conviction.
Now, I can understand the presence of these heroines. More ladies join our ranks every day, and they should be given a character option with which they can identify. But even female gamers must detect the nagging sense of impossibility that the utterly unchanged application of a female hero to a male role creates. So why is it that so many men choose to play as a chick? You and I both know there's no way a female is going to be humanity's first SPECTRE when women can't even make the Navy SEALs, and every time FemShep knocks a Krogan down with the butt of her Assault Rife it breaks immersion. So why do you do it?
Addendum: don't give me that "I'd rather look at a girl's ass" excuse. If you say that and truly mean it, you're an idiot. Also, I have complete respect for the female of our species. You are all beautiful and I adore you. Women's inferior physical strength often leads to greater respect on my part because it takes more courage to do everything in this world. On an almost daily basis I see women exhibiting a sort of courage men twice their size will never comprehend.
There - I expressed myself. I'll turtle up until VoD.
I can't. So I'll just say it: men and women are not the same and when a clear male role is filled identically with a female it becomes stupid. Let me explain. I've played the Mass Effect games a thousand times, always as a male Shepard, and loved them. The dialogue was funny and compelling and while the universe was a fantasy, no absurdities shocked me from immersion.
Then I tried to do a playthrough as FemShep. It was painful. Every cutscene was an exercise in endurance, watching this chick try to be an intimidating wartime leader. Please. I don't mind a tough, female warrior who fights with magic, or with stealth and guile, etc. But every time I see a size zero beauty queen solve a problem with her fists or a staredown, or wear plate armor and swing a claymore, the only thought running through my mind is "spare me."
Realism is always preferable to nonsense unless the nonsense adds something distinctly enjoyable that realism would prevent. For example, the notion that one laser sword can obstruct the path of another, or the idea that by magic skeletons can be raised from corpses to serve the caster. What exactly am I supposed to get from Lara Croft roundhouse kicking musclebound fighters twice her size, or Devona beating grawl with a hundred and fifty pound hammer? Am I stupid or is this stupid? People tell me that there's some kind of sex appeal behind this Charlie's Angels/Bayonetta bullshit, but that doesn't make sense either. If you're looking for sex, uh...get laid (duh?) or go watch porn. Why try to mix it obnoxiously into a video game in such a way that it breaks immersion.
I know all kinds of hard women. My family's full of them: soldiers, construction workers, marathon runners, trainers, etc. I'm stronger and faster than every one of them. That's not because I'm a superhuman, it's because I'm a man and they're women. Hell, most women can't get the cap off a jar of pickles without a rubber grip. Not only are women smaller and weaker, but they are equipped with estrogen-induced behavioral traits while EVERY adventure storyline is driven by testosterone-induced behavioral traits. This just adds to the jarring discord that occurs when an action protagonist is female, usually in the form of her dialogue, which, even if the words are right, is just too high pitched to carry the weight of threat or conviction.
Now, I can understand the presence of these heroines. More ladies join our ranks every day, and they should be given a character option with which they can identify. But even female gamers must detect the nagging sense of impossibility that the utterly unchanged application of a female hero to a male role creates. So why is it that so many men choose to play as a chick? You and I both know there's no way a female is going to be humanity's first SPECTRE when women can't even make the Navy SEALs, and every time FemShep knocks a Krogan down with the butt of her Assault Rife it breaks immersion. So why do you do it?
Addendum: don't give me that "I'd rather look at a girl's ass" excuse. If you say that and truly mean it, you're an idiot. Also, I have complete respect for the female of our species. You are all beautiful and I adore you. Women's inferior physical strength often leads to greater respect on my part because it takes more courage to do everything in this world. On an almost daily basis I see women exhibiting a sort of courage men twice their size will never comprehend.
There - I expressed myself. I'll turtle up until VoD.
