Poll: Bayonetta

[9tailedflame]

I'm disappointed that so many people believe Bayonetta is a feminist character.
Really now? I had no idea feminism meant to shake your butt, spread your legs, moan in pleasure, undo your clothes, and have ludicrous body proportions.
Much feminism, so progressive!

I think it's more about the fact that bayonetta is strong, independent, heroic, and will kick the ass of anyone who tries to say otherwise. I really don't see how having a certain body type can make you sexist, to me, that's just a ludicrous notion. Does somebody with curves automatically become disqualified from being a feminist because of the way they look? Seems pretty absurd to me. As for the sexual part, there's never been anything wrong with sexuality, if you think there is, you're wrong, and you can go wiggle around in the stale pond water with all the other asexual organisms, simple as that. This modern "sexuality is evil" feminism might as well be faith-healing for as much sense as it makes or as much respect as I'm going to give it.

If modern feminism is just about being anti-sex, then it's shit. If you don't agree, the pond water's that way.

 

[prowll]

Part of this arguement is because there is a huge misunderstanding between sexy and sexist. If a girl wants to wear a little micro-mini skirt, that's sexy. If a guy MAKES her wear it, that's sexist.

So Bayonetta, as a character, is sexy. The programmers may be sexist.

 

[MrFalconfly]

Let's just put some definitions down so people can follow my conclusion.

Feminist character := A character that is strong, independent, and most likely female (can be male, but this is merely just a commentary on statistics).

Sexist character := A character which reinforces prejudices based on sex ("oh it's a female character, so she's whimsical, and likes shoes", I think you get the picture).

From these two definitions I'm concluding that Bayonetta is most definitely NOT sexist (I imaging, that if she stepped out of the screen, no one would get two syllables of prejudice out before she served them a good spanking followed by them profusely apologizing "yes miss, no miss, I'm sorry miss, it'll never happen again miss". But that's mainly because I hold low opinions of people who judge people based on what chromosomes they have). Is she feminist? Well I think so.

 

[rayman 101]

I'm the only person it seems who hated Bayonetta. To me it was more like a memory game with how you had to try and remember an insane amount of button presses for the combos. It was brain training or falling back on a small handful of moves.

Hopefully she is easier to play as in Smash Bros.

I got to a point in the game where basically, I just couldn't be arsed more or less for those reasons.

I had a lot of fun with Devil May Cry when it first dropped. It's possible I'm just a different person now.

I used to be very much into DMC3. I dislike the genre now. I find it shallow and monotonous. Platinum Games is the perfect example. I haven't played Bayonetta, but Metal Gear Rising was mediocre.

man you deserve a life time achievement award for shit taste dont you?

 

[Czann]

I don't care and I point and laugh at the ones who do.

 

[ThatOtherGirl]

I think it's more about the fact that bayonetta is strong, independent, heroic, and will kick the ass of anyone who tries to say otherwise. I really don't see how having a certain body type can make you sexist, to me, that's just a ludicrous notion. Does somebody with curves automatically become disqualified from being a feminist because of the way they look? Seems pretty absurd to me. As for the sexual part, there's never been anything wrong with sexuality, if you think there is, you're wrong, and you can go wiggle around in the stale pond water with all the other asexual organisms, simple as that. This modern "sexuality is evil" feminism might as well be faith-healing for as much sense as it makes or as much respect as I'm going to give it.

If modern feminism is just about being anti-sex, then it's shit. If you don't agree, the pond water's that way.

I am most definitely not against sex, and I am not against sexualization. It's only sexism that I can't stand. Remember that sex and sexism are two different things.

However, I think someone else explained it better than me:

Part of this arguement is because there is a huge misunderstanding between sexy and sexist. If a girl wants to wear a little micro-mini skirt, that's sexy. If a guy MAKES her wear it, that's sexist.

So Bayonetta, as a character, is sexy. The programmers may be sexist.

....I think that hits the nail on the spot.

Pro tip, if you don't want people to assume you think overt depictions of female sexuality and feminism are incompatible your reasons for why a character isn't feminist shouldn't consist entirely of pointing out that she is overtly sexual.

 

[Story]

I thought a feminist is someone who actively fights or believes in the rights of women. I fail to see how Bayonetta has exhibited those things in her games, taking control of her sexuality is another thing altogether.
However, I agree with those that say she's a sexploitation because she is and I believe her creators openly acknowledged that she was designed to titallate (what with her long legs and other exaggerated proportions).
I choose the I don't have enough information option though as I haven't played any of the games, only watched boss fights on YouTube (which are awesome). So take my opinion with a grain of salt a guess.

 

[Ikasury]

its Bayonetta, she's the female Dante, she's all about that confidence and looking good while making enemies look like chumps!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

She's a fetichist, if anything.

interesting backstory

Say what?

 

[CaitSeith]

She's a fetichist, if anything.

interesting backstory

Say what?

interesting backstory

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

She's a fetichist, if anything.

interesting backstory

Say what?

interesting backstory

I might as well reply with "say what" again, but indulge me - what part in this rambling, foaming mess are you referring to?

 

[9tailedflame]

I think it's more about the fact that bayonetta is strong, independent, heroic, and will kick the ass of anyone who tries to say otherwise. I really don't see how having a certain body type can make you sexist, to me, that's just a ludicrous notion. Does somebody with curves automatically become disqualified from being a feminist because of the way they look? Seems pretty absurd to me. As for the sexual part, there's never been anything wrong with sexuality, if you think there is, you're wrong, and you can go wiggle around in the stale pond water with all the other asexual organisms, simple as that. This modern "sexuality is evil" feminism might as well be faith-healing for as much sense as it makes or as much respect as I'm going to give it.

If modern feminism is just about being anti-sex, then it's shit. If you don't agree, the pond water's that way.

I am most definitely not against sex, and I am not against sexualization. It's only sexism that I can't stand. Remember that sex and sexism are two different things.

However, I think someone else explained it better than me:

Part of this arguement is because there is a huge misunderstanding between sexy and sexist. If a girl wants to wear a little micro-mini skirt, that's sexy. If a guy MAKES her wear it, that's sexist.

So Bayonetta, as a character, is sexy. The programmers may be sexist.

....I think that hits the nail on the spot.

But she's a character. A character can only ever be made to do things, since characters don't actually have agency, so by that definition, wouldn't ANY character in a game wearing a micro-mini skirt make it's programmers sexist, regardless of the context of the game or the character? That notion doesn't sit well with me either...

 

[Fox12]

I don't know if I'd call her sexist. It's a bit strong. You could probably make an argument for objectification.

She certainly isn't feminist though. It still impresses me how far people will go to justify their spank material. It's kind of like Kill la Kill and Sucker Punch. I wouldn't call them sexist at all, but they certainly aren't feminist just because they have a strong female character whose rubbing her cooch on a stripper poll for the enjoyment of the predominantly male audience.

So neither, I suppose.

 

[Erttheking]

If by sexist you mean, is fun with an actual personality, then yes,

Really? That's your criticism of people who have problems with sexism? That they don't want fun characters with actual personalities? Bit of a strawman there mate.

OT: Ugh. I honestly would've been happy to have this conversation a long time ago but now the conversation couldn't be more loaded. I'll just say she's feminist and call it a day before I get angry replies.

Maybe a couple of years ago I'd have taken accusation of sexism seriously, but now sexism is just a throwaway word. With Bayonetta she's a character, any attempt to label her either as a result of sexism or icon just shows how ridiculous this sexism topic got to.

You know, sexism is a term that rarely gets said around here anymore, mainly because you can't bring it up without someone getting on your ass about it. And last time I checked Bayonetta tended to be loved by feminists so I'm not sure where you got the whole "people who talk about sexism hate fun characters" shtick.