So I felt like getting my inbox flooded with different variations of "u r wrong an dis is why".
Yes I realise that this is well trodden ground, so trodden our feet are probably being burnt in the mantle. But please if you are that sort of person and feel the need, then leave a comment along the lines of "oh this again" they are endlessly witty and people will love you for it.
So people are whining on about how women are overtly sexualized in games 'n' stuff. In my experience the people moaning are feminists, those who are trying too hard to be politically correct or someone who has a chip on their shoulder and fancies an argument. (I see the irony btw)
Friends are men not overtly sexualized in games n films also? Women are considered sexualized if they have large breasts. But men are not considered sexualized if they have large muscles! they should be! women find muscles on men sexy, Just like men find boobs on women sexy.
Lets look at it like this. Here is a list of male characters, if they are are sexualized they get a yes, if they are not they get a no.
Ryu (street fighter): Yes
Kratos (god of war): Yes
Marcus Fenix (gears of war): Yes (he is a muscled guy)
James Sunderland (silent hill 2): no
Commander Shepard (Mass effect): Yes
Snake (metal gear): Yes
Mario (seriously?): No
Hawke (Dragon age 2) Yes
Tidus (FF X): Yes
Master Chief (Halo): Yes (...Fuck off I find him sexy and I will bet you any amount of money he is well muscled underneath that armour)
Ok yes I did choose those Characters but you see what I mean, most male video game characters are muscled and that means they are 'sexualized'. There are some less toned male game characters but they are mostly well built.
Then there is what women wear in games, I have never had a problem with this. In fact I nearly always find myself saying "I wish this asshole would find a shirt and the girl he is talking to would take off hers" (I am a classy fellow). Men are equally guilty of skimpy clothing, take for example Conan the Barbarian this lad runs around in only his furry pants and boots. Many sets of male armour do this in games, typically the barbarian style stuff. If you want to replicate this, go into almost any rpg and un-equip everything but your boots, unless you are playing a particularly good rpg you will be wearing brown pants and boots. Congratulations you just solved the skimpy clothing problem.
However I do think this would be concerning (not an issue) if a game was made where men wear only full plate armour and women only wear bikini's.
Attractiveness however is something to consider, if the main character is a girl 9 times out of ten she will be hot. This in my mind is the only issue for consideration here. Consider this "would Max Payne be taken seriously if the protagonist was a middle aged greying woman?" no of course it wouldn't, no one would play it. You can jokely say "dunno flying through the air as a 43 year old mother, with two guns would be funny" yeah it would for about 3 seconds then the novelty would be gone, so fuck off you would not really spend £40/$60 on it.
Men can get away with being grim Women cannot, sad but true. I will hold up my hand and say I would not be overtly excited to be paying as an ugly woman, but I would not think deeply about being an ugly guy. We will get a few 'White knights' saying "oh well I wouldn't even think twice about playing as an ugly woman" they are liars they may not be bothered but they would at least see it was breaking the mould.
I think it is like this. Gamings target audience is males 10-30 and they will find it harder to relate to female characters than male ones in the first place. However if said female character is aesthetically pleasing, said audience will find them more appealing.
So all we need is a game where we play as an ugly/ average woman. Like silent hill 3 the main character Heather is average looking. There so that is a good example of an average game woman. However this is not the main issue and there are ugly women in games but they generally don't take centre stage (thankfully).
With regards to sexualized characters I think they are a good thing, if you fancy staring at normal run of the mill people fuck off down the local super market, don't try and muscle them in on games which as a rule should not usually be realistic but a form of escapism from the norm.
So basically men are sexualized just as much as women are, and if you dont like it Conan and his hairy pants want a word with you.
(Edited bit) I probably should have mentioned this before but I think there is a point where ssexualisation becomes a bad thing, and a stupid thing, and worst of all a selling point. Women with massive titties are unrealistic and get in the way of immersion. That is to say large breasts are fine but they can be too large if you catch my drift.
Yes I realise that this is well trodden ground, so trodden our feet are probably being burnt in the mantle. But please if you are that sort of person and feel the need, then leave a comment along the lines of "oh this again" they are endlessly witty and people will love you for it.
So people are whining on about how women are overtly sexualized in games 'n' stuff. In my experience the people moaning are feminists, those who are trying too hard to be politically correct or someone who has a chip on their shoulder and fancies an argument. (I see the irony btw)
Friends are men not overtly sexualized in games n films also? Women are considered sexualized if they have large breasts. But men are not considered sexualized if they have large muscles! they should be! women find muscles on men sexy, Just like men find boobs on women sexy.
Lets look at it like this. Here is a list of male characters, if they are are sexualized they get a yes, if they are not they get a no.
Ryu (street fighter): Yes
Kratos (god of war): Yes
Marcus Fenix (gears of war): Yes (he is a muscled guy)
James Sunderland (silent hill 2): no
Commander Shepard (Mass effect): Yes
Snake (metal gear): Yes
Mario (seriously?): No
Hawke (Dragon age 2) Yes
Tidus (FF X): Yes
Master Chief (Halo): Yes (...Fuck off I find him sexy and I will bet you any amount of money he is well muscled underneath that armour)
Ok yes I did choose those Characters but you see what I mean, most male video game characters are muscled and that means they are 'sexualized'. There are some less toned male game characters but they are mostly well built.
Then there is what women wear in games, I have never had a problem with this. In fact I nearly always find myself saying "I wish this asshole would find a shirt and the girl he is talking to would take off hers" (I am a classy fellow). Men are equally guilty of skimpy clothing, take for example Conan the Barbarian this lad runs around in only his furry pants and boots. Many sets of male armour do this in games, typically the barbarian style stuff. If you want to replicate this, go into almost any rpg and un-equip everything but your boots, unless you are playing a particularly good rpg you will be wearing brown pants and boots. Congratulations you just solved the skimpy clothing problem.
However I do think this would be concerning (not an issue) if a game was made where men wear only full plate armour and women only wear bikini's.
Attractiveness however is something to consider, if the main character is a girl 9 times out of ten she will be hot. This in my mind is the only issue for consideration here. Consider this "would Max Payne be taken seriously if the protagonist was a middle aged greying woman?" no of course it wouldn't, no one would play it. You can jokely say "dunno flying through the air as a 43 year old mother, with two guns would be funny" yeah it would for about 3 seconds then the novelty would be gone, so fuck off you would not really spend £40/$60 on it.
Men can get away with being grim Women cannot, sad but true. I will hold up my hand and say I would not be overtly excited to be paying as an ugly woman, but I would not think deeply about being an ugly guy. We will get a few 'White knights' saying "oh well I wouldn't even think twice about playing as an ugly woman" they are liars they may not be bothered but they would at least see it was breaking the mould.
I think it is like this. Gamings target audience is males 10-30 and they will find it harder to relate to female characters than male ones in the first place. However if said female character is aesthetically pleasing, said audience will find them more appealing.
So all we need is a game where we play as an ugly/ average woman. Like silent hill 3 the main character Heather is average looking. There so that is a good example of an average game woman. However this is not the main issue and there are ugly women in games but they generally don't take centre stage (thankfully).
With regards to sexualized characters I think they are a good thing, if you fancy staring at normal run of the mill people fuck off down the local super market, don't try and muscle them in on games which as a rule should not usually be realistic but a form of escapism from the norm.
So basically men are sexualized just as much as women are, and if you dont like it Conan and his hairy pants want a word with you.
(Edited bit) I probably should have mentioned this before but I think there is a point where ssexualisation becomes a bad thing, and a stupid thing, and worst of all a selling point. Women with massive titties are unrealistic and get in the way of immersion. That is to say large breasts are fine but they can be too large if you catch my drift.
