To Only Examine Inaccurate Portrayals of Females And Not Males Is Sexist

[Jangles]

*READ THE ENTIRE COMMENT BEFORE QUOTING ME

Along with the seemingly renewed vigor of feminists everywhere, writers of gaming articles have begun to pander to the push for "equality" in every single aspect of life and have begun to ask "Why are females in games made to be extremely attractive to the vastly male majority of core gamers?" and "Why is Lara Croft wearing a tank top rather than a hoody? Wouldnt that be less sexist? Why are fantasy characters in fake looking armour?"

just because gamers like to see a sexy woman in a game does not mean they think of women as mere objects.

However, what they are purposely overlooking is the fact that males are inaccurately portrayed as all being adonis like. All male characters are the equivalent representatives of their female counterparts.

This is because there is no male rights groups to pander to. The hard questions to ask are no longer about why women are being "subjugated", "exploited", or "sexually harrassed", but why are fake problems being brought up and why is all common sense, not to mention the other side of the story.


Now, to all those griefers, trolls, and close minded people who think subjugation only happens to females I would like to answer questions for both genders.

---> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games because if commander Shepard was 20 pounds overweight, if he had bad acne, or if he was too skinny and short, then no one would be immersed in the story Bioware creates.

--> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games becuase if Lara Croft were 105 pounds, had glasses, wore sweat pants, and had a eating disorder, no one would believe that she is an ass kicking,well, tomb raider.

--> They do, however, use obese, weird, or deviant people to create comedy, or sentimental stories that break away from the norm..like the TV show "Mike & Molly" a show about obese people being happy

Also, I will say that there are numerous definitions of "happiness" and "beauty", but we are obviously discussing physical beauty here.

Games are simply pandering to the crowd that makes them the most money. Period

just because gamers like to see a sexy woman in a game does not mean they think of women as mere objects.


You pander to the crowd that makes you the most money. TV shows, businesses, banks, games, movies are beginning to pander to the increasingly "outed" homosexual population because the sight of a man kissing a man is becoming more accepted. Therefore, there is more money in it.

 

[Brundlefly]

if Lara Croft were 105 pounds, had glasses, wore sweat pants, and had a eating disorder, no one would believe that she is an ass kicking,well, tomb raider.

How does having massive breasts help in being an acrobatic tomb raider?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Probably has something to do with the whole, treating women like second class citizens for a few hundred years, incident.

Also, Commander Shepard is a Spectre. We're talking better than the freakin' S.A.S here.

And fatties are not allowed to join the S.A.S.

I don't think men really care about how we're portrayed in games (I certainly don't), because the vast majority of games are based around men, so there are far more examples of good/bad portrayals to choose from.

There are fewer females in video games, and as such, there's obviously going to be harsher criticism of their portrayal.

 

[F'Angus]

Well said. Men are all depicted as having huge muscles and being incredibly fit (well in most games) because that is the only way the game would seem realistic and that is what sells.

 

[Scabadus]

---> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games because if commander Shepard was 20 pounds overweight, if he had bad acne, or if he was too skinny and short, then no one would be immersed in the story Bioware creates.

--> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games becuase if Lara Croft were 105 pounds, had glasses, wore sweat pants, and had a eating disorder, no one would believe that she is an ass kicking,well, tomb raider.

Well yeah, obviously. I'm not unfit but I'm not the fittest guy in the world either and I couldn't go climb a mountain or hike fifty miles. I'm smart but again not the best mind of all time and I can't speak fifty languages or decode ancient riddles.

The people in our games undertake great physical and mental feats, of course they're extremely fit and intelligent.

 

[Kahunaburger]

This argument doesn't work, because if someone is discussing issue X, they are not obligated to also discuss issue Y.

For instance, if I am discussing why the book Eragon is terrible, it doesn't make any sense for you to jump down my throat with "but the movie Eragon is also terrible, and you are a bad person for not discussing how much the movie sucks, too!" Likewise, it makes no sense to get mad at people discussing sexism against women because they do not also discuss sexism against men.

Also, a minor nitpick:

--> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games

 

[Jangles]

Probably has something to do with the whole, treating women like second class citizens for a few hundred years, incident.

Also, Commander Shepard is a Spectre. We're talking better than the freakin' S.A.S here.

And fatties are not allowed to join the S.A.S.

I don't think men really care about they way we're portrayed in games, because the vast majority of games are based around men.

There are fewer females in video games, and as such, there needs to be better portrayals in that area.

Size doesnt matter for any spec ops unit, its the standard of physical fitness they are able to achieve.

Oh, so women have been oppressed ( for a lot longer than a few hundred years by the way) so it is okay to oppress men now?

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

The inaccurate portrayals of men are also pandering to male gamers. Why? Because we're projecting ourselves onto them. They are our ideal selves. Yes, it's still a stupid dichotomy, but there it is: both male and female characters are designed to pander to male gamers.

 

[Jangles]

This argument doesn't work, because if someone is discussing issue X, they are not obligated to also discuss issue Y.

For instance, if I am discussing why the book Eragon is terrible, it doesn't make any sense for you to jump down my throat with "but the movie Eragon is also terrible, and you are a bad person for not discussing how much the movie sucks, too!" Likewise, it makes no sense to get mad at people discussing sexism against women because they do not also discuss sexism against men.

Also, a minor nitpick:

--> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games

Haha, an equality argument is based of comparing one side to another..

if X=9 you have to mention both X and 9. Just simple math bro

 

[Kpt._Rob]

The reason is because female characters in game are given abnormal amounts of sex appeal to use as a cynical ploy to improve sales, but that's not why male characters are portrayed this way. Male characters are generally designed to appeal to a masculine power fantasy.

To use the most obvious example, take the case of Duke Nukem (and please don't bother to point it out if you feel DN is supposed to be a parody or anything else like that, even if it is a parody, it's a parody of industry norms.) The design of female characters in the game is obvious, to create sex appeal to draw in male customers. But the design of Duke is obviously not meant to be sexually appealing to female customers to increase sales (he is after all a disgusting sexist pig). Duke is an extremely immature masculine power fantasy, a guy with a lot of strength who gets lots of women. "Perfect" male characters are still being used to sell games to men!

The idea that men are being portrayed as sexual objects in games is patently ridiculous. This argument is reactionist nonsense meant to help people rationalize to themselves why they shouldn't be bothered by the pixilated tities they enjoy watching so much. Ever wonder why it's made almost exclusively by men?

 

[Canid117]

Yes it is true that certain groups are going to look at that image and complain that two out of the six people are unrealistic depictions.(assuming they even see the sixth person in the back and realize she is a woman) But hey I am not really bothered by it. Fiction will be fiction and there are some much worse double standards out there in media.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Probably has something to do with the whole, treating women like second class citizens for a few hundred years, incident.

Also, Commander Shepard is a Spectre. We're talking better than the freakin' S.A.S here.

And fatties are not allowed to join the S.A.S.

I don't think men really care about they way we're portrayed in games, because the vast majority of games are based around men.

There are fewer females in video games, and as such, there needs to be better portrayals in that area.

Size doesnt matter for any spec ops unit, its the standard of physical fitness they are able to achieve.

Oh, so women have been oppressed ( for a lot longer than a few hundred years by the way) so it is okay to oppress men now?

You're right, size doesn't matter. But they still don't let fatties in.

Muscle =/= fat


Men have never been opressed, and we're not being opressed now.

The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of male video game characters are designed by males, so it's not particularly sexist in that regard because they're not designed to be sexually appealing.

The vast majority of female characters are not designed by females, and often pander to the teen male demographic.

See where I'm going with this?

 

[Kahunaburger]

This argument doesn't work, because if someone is discussing issue X, they are not obligated to also discuss issue Y.

For instance, if I am discussing why the book Eragon is terrible, it doesn't make any sense for you to jump down my throat with "but the movie Eragon is also terrible, and you are a bad person for not discussing how much the movie sucks, too!" Likewise, it makes no sense to get mad at people discussing sexism against women because they do not also discuss sexism against men.

Also, a minor nitpick:

--> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games

Haha, an equality argument is based of comparing one side to another..

if X=9 you have to mention both X and 9. Just simple math bro

Are you drunk? There are ways that society is sexist against men, and there are ways that society is sexist against women. It is possible to, in any given discussion, discuss one, both, or neither of these issues. Any of these options are okay.

 

[MightyRabbit]

The reason there's such a harsh examination of women's portrayal in fiction and not men's is because there's a much bigger problem with the portrayal of women. For millenia women have gotten the short end of the stick and now we're seeking to reconcile those inequalities in both the real world and fiction.

And yes, it is sexist, but not all sexism is bad. For example when Joss Whedon made Buffy, the whole point of the show was to have the character that's normally the first victim actually be the badass monster hunter. Likewise when the script for Alien was written the screenwriters avoided any indication of the character's sex in the script, and because of it nobody had any preconceived ideas that the character had to be male and science fiction got one of its greatest and strongest female icons.

And fiction is escapism. That's why the site's called the escapist, it's why people immerse themselves in fiction. To escape from the real world and their troubles temporarily. So we do naturally choose to create good looking characters. Not that's there's a wealth of less attractive characters out there, especially in European fiction.

The issue of sexist portrayals of women needs to be addressed. Men can wait until a theoretical time when we're the ones losing out.

 

[Navvan]

*READ THE ENTIRE COMMENT BEFORE QUOTING ME

Along with the seemingly renewed vigor of feminists everywhere, writers of gaming articles have begun to pander to the push for "equality" in every single aspect of life and have begun to ask "Why are females in games made to be extremely attractive to the vastly male majority of core gamers?" and "Why is Lara Croft wearing a tank top rather than a hoody? Wouldnt that be less sexist? Why are fantasy characters in fake looking armour?"

However, what they are purposely overlooking is the fact that males are inaccurately portrayed as all being adonis like. All male characters are the equivalent representatives of their female counterparts.

This is because there is no male rights groups to pander to. The hard questions to ask are no longer about why women are being "subjugated", "exploited", or "sexually harrassed", but why are fake problems being brought up and why is all common sense, not to mention the other side of the story.


Now, to all those griefers, trolls, and close minded people who think subjugation only happens to females I would like to answer questions for both genders.

---> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games because if commander Shepard was 20 pounds overweight, if he had bad acne, or if he was too skinny and short, then no one would be immersed in the story Bioware creates.

--> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games becuase if Lara Croft were 105 pounds, had glasses, wore sweat pants, and had a eating disorder, no one would believe that she is an ass kicking,well, tomb raider.

--> They do, however, use obese, weird, or deviant people to create comedy, or sentimental stories that break away from the norm..like the TV show "Mike & Molly" a show about obese people being happy

Also, I will say that there are numerous definitions of "happiness" and "beauty", but we are obviously discussing physical beauty here.

Games are simply pandering to the crowd that makes them the most money. Period


You pander to the crowd that makes you the most money. TV shows, businesses, banks, games, movies are beginning to pander to the increasingly "outed" homosexual population because the sight of a man kissing a man is becoming more accepted. Therefore, there is more money in it.

I always understood the argument not being about the characters themselves being attractive, but the way they flaunt their sexuality. Females in games typically have two things that are pointed out as being sexists, their apparel and their attitudes. The apparel is an the one talked about the most, skimpy outfits that show off their already unrealistic breast sizes and the like. The attitudes varies a bit more, but many games portray the females in a light that most females find offensive such as only thinking about a male character as their major personality trait.

These things are much less frequent for male characters. That isn't to say it doesn't happen, but its less common and most of the time when it does happen its a problem with both genders within the game.

Edit: Quoted the wrong person

 

[Jangles]

The reason is because female characters in game are given abnormal amounts of sex appeal to use as a cynical ploy to improve sales, but that's not why male characters are portrayed this way. Male characters are generally designed to appeal to a masculine power fantasy.

To use the most obvious example, take the case of Duke Nukem (and please don't bother to point it out if you feel DN is supposed to be a parody or anything else like that, even if it is a parody, it's a parody of industry norms.) The design of female characters in the game is obvious, to create sex appeal to draw in male customers. But the design of Duke is obviously not meant to be sexually appealing to female customers to increase sales (he is after all a disgusting sexist pig). Duke is an extremely immature masculine power fantasy, a guy with a lot of strength who gets lots of women. "Perfect" male characters are still being used to sell games to men!

The idea that men are being portrayed as sexual objects in games is patently ridiculous. This argument is reactionist nonsense meant to help people rationalize to themselves why they shouldn't be bothered by the pixilated tities they enjoy watching so much. Ever wonder why it's made almost exclusively by men?

Everything you are saying is the same point = pander to the crowd that makes the most money. Period. it isn't sexist.

 

[DEAD34345]

Commander Shephard is kind of a bad example don't you think? He's a player-created character, he can be as ugly or plain looking as you like. Also he's a military guy, so it would be pretty silly for him to be unfit.

Other than that though, I mostly agree. However, I think what irks women is that while men are only represented a certain way, they are represented in a much more positive way.

The men are always strong and powerful, generally handsome too but that isn't usually the main point. They normally have many good qualities in both personality and appearance, far more than the average person in real life.

Women always have big breasts.

What does that seem to say about gamers' opinions of women and men?

Spoiler

Nothing good.

(Do note I'm not a woman or a feminist, so I could be wrong about this. It's just something I've noticed)

 

[intheweeds]

if Lara Croft were 105 pounds, had glasses, wore sweat pants, and had a eating disorder, no one would believe that she is an ass kicking,well, tomb raider.

How does having massive breasts help in being an acrobatic tomb raider?

Why are fantasy characters in fake looking armour?

This is where your argument falls apart. Not completely mind you. For the most part i completely agree with you. Brundlefly already spoke to the Lara Croft reference, and I will add that you don't see male fantasy characters running around in 'plate loincloths'.

They do, however, use obese, weird, or deviant people to create comedy, or sentimental stories that break away from the norm..like the TV show "Mike & Molly" a show about obese people being happy

This i agree with completely. I would add that more interesting is the fact that when they do use 'outside the norm' people, they rarely portray them as average normal people and more like caricatures of themselves. They are always funny fat (insert many 'all in fun' fat jokes cause everyone knows fat people are funny) or concerned with their appearance gay (even Will form 'will and grace' was vain, never mind his flamboyant friend. Everyone knows gay men look good). You never see a normal guy riding a motorcycle (Everyone knows only hardcore bikers ride motorcycles and they always start barfights with a pool cue).

 

[tlozoot]

Because the female gender were getting, to put it mildly, a bad bargain over essentially the entirety of human history. Nobody is arguing that women are being opressed via the medium of videogames. People are saying that videogames often still reinforce societal gender roles.

It's not that videogames don't do this to men as well, but seeing as we're still very much the dominant gender in society, I think we can afford to concentrate on the appropriate depiction of females before we get all offended that women are getting something first for a change.

 

[Jangles]

---> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games because if commander Shepard was 20 pounds overweight, if he had bad acne, or if he was too skinny and short, then no one would be immersed in the story Bioware creates.

--> Just like in movies, developers do not put average, ugly, or plain people in their games becuase if Lara Croft were 105 pounds, had glasses, wore sweat pants, and had a eating disorder, no one would believe that she is an ass kicking,well, tomb raider.

Well yeah, obviously. I'm not unfit but I'm not the fittest guy in the world either and I could go climb a mountain or hike fifty miles. I'm smart but again not the best mind of all time and I can't speak fifty languages or decode ancient riddles.

The people in our games undertake great physical and mental feats, of course they're extremely fit and intelligent.

I always understood the argument not being about the characters themselves being attractive, but the way they flaunt their sexuality. Females in games typically have two things that are pointed out as being sexists, their apparel and their attitudes. The apparel is an the one talked about the most, skimpy outfits that show off their already unrealistic breast sizes and the like. The attitudes varies a bit more, but many games portray the females in a light that most females find offensive such as only thinking about a male character as their major personality trait.

These things are much less frequent for male characters. That isn't to say it doesn't happen, but its less common and most of the time when it does happen its a problem with both genders within the game.

Your talking about flaunting sexuality and that is to appeal to the male core gamer majority. Not sexist yet again. I dont want a female character who is timid and acts like a man, im not sexist.