I would like to bring up the issue of "agency in games", as in, "Who is the character the player controls, and what are his or her motivations?". Unless the gameplay itself does not require the player to assume a character role, like say for puzzle games or RTS, the game creators will make a series of assumptions on who they think will buy the game. First-person-shooter players are all expected to be white men, and time-management game players are all assumed to be white women (especially those with aspirations to open a café or bakery).
This is the kind of thing that bugs me when people make the argument, "Well, if you think the game is sexist, you don't have to buy it!" When I want to play an FPS, I want to play it for the gameplay (shooting things, shooting more things, running missions, cooperating with my friends to take down the opposing team, etc.). When in the course of my FPS-playing, I am greeted with numerous romantic advances from curvaceous women, or worse still, encounter no women at all, I keep getting the overarching message from the game, "What are you doing here? It never crossed our minds that a woman would buy this game, despite the fact that we know you have money. You don't belong." I wonder if a man gets a similar feeling if he tries to play something like Diner Dash or Cake Mania.
Sexist assumptions can make what is otherwise an enjoyable game-playing, comic-reading, or film-watching, entertainment into yet another reminder that, as a woman, I primarily exist to be a secondary character, and while I can be the protagonist, I must at all times be good-looking, or that because lots of other women like something (Twilight, Justin Bieber, etc.) I must like it too and that it accurately portrays what all women want.
P.S. For those who have been bringing up the "sex sells" counter-argument, I would like to say that yes, sexy men and women are used to sell things, but sexy women are used far more often and are often used to sell things not even related to sex. For example:
* The Price Is Right, the advertisement showcase/game show, has women showcasing the prizes. Men sometimes show off the prizes, but they are not a part of the regular cast and are usually on to promote something else, like a soap opera.
* Ads for women's shaving products feature almost always feature only women in the ads. Ads for men's shaving products feature men until the ending shot, where a woman appears, seemingly from nowhere, to stroke a man's face.
* Men in fast food ads not depicted in sexy clothing or eating food in a "sexy" way. Women are (although eating that is supposed to come across as "sexy" mostly just comes across as "I can't sit up straight at the table").
* Men in automobile ads are depicted in regular clothing or business attire. Women also appear in regular dress or business attire, but it is also not considered odd for them to be in skimpy clothes or bathing suits.
* TV ads for women's underwear either make the main selling point comfort or sexiness. Men's underwear ads only sell based on comfort.
