ManutheBloodedge said:
What Games do you like to play? And more importantly, what Games would you like to play? What kind of ideas you miss in the more male-centric Game industry?
The problem with sexism in the game industry isn't so much the types of games being made, but the under- and over-tones which make certain games sexist or bizarrely male-centric. For example, I really didn't enjoy Ico. Granted, I never finished it, but I got completely tired of dealing with dragging that little girl around everywhere. If you haven't played it, then let me explain: you LITERALLY pull a girl along with you, by the hand, through what I assume must be a large portion of the game, as many mechanics are built around it. She doesn't move forward on her own, she doesn't defend herself, she does nothing. You can't leave a room without her--you have to go take her by the hand and guide her everywhere around with you.
Escort missions are annoying at the best of times, but this particular escort being personified as a feeble girl with no survival instincts or ability to speak or move for herself got my dander up way too much to be willing to give it more time. It was not only a frustrating and finicky mechanic, but as I continued to fail and die due to her ineptness, I began to take it as a personal insult.
I've been working my way through Undertale recently, and that game is chock-full of female characters. The story wouldn't be the same without them. Not only do I like them being there, but their presence in the story and world doesn't feel token or forced, and their purpose within the story is not contingent upon them being female. One is a very mothering character, but a male caretaker could have done the job just as good (in fact, she has a counterpart very much like her). Another one is the captain of the guard, but nobody ever points out that it's unusual for a female to have such a position, or that she had to "earn" it as a female or something. She just is, because she's awesome. The fact that the game never points it out is very refreshing. And then there's a scientist who is also a female, but like the royal guard her job and quirks aren't contingent upon her being female. She's nerdy, she's insecure, she likes anime. And she's a brilliant scientist. No explanation or excuses needed.
That's the kind of female presentation I want within a game. So many other games treat female characters like the way children treat vegetables--they have as few of them as they can plausibly get away with. And when they deal with them they do it very begrudgingly, constantly treating them like aliens whose presence has to be explained and excused. "Yeah, she's the captain of the guard, but she's REALLY AWESOME and beat ALL the guys!" "Yeah, she's the royal scientist, but she's the BEST at what she does!" It's like no female deserves an important position of any sort unless they're the absolute BEST and have beat EVERY other man competing. To me, those excuses feel like a child saying, "Yes, it's broccoli, BUT if I eat one with a chicken nugget it isn't so bad."
If it's a prestigious position, isn't it presumed that they're the best at what they do? Must it be a surprise every single time a woman happens to fill that position? And if it's not a prestigious position, why must they always be the BEST to have any position at all that isn't a damsel or a mother?
I've thought a lot about this and consumed a lot of media that's female-centric and not female-centric. I suppose what it boils down to is that I hate it when a story, or game, or whatever assumes that every default position in a story is to be filled with a male, unless a special exception is made which can explain why a female is in that role. I'm simply tired of it being some surprise or twist when a main or important character is a female, and seeing a story bend over backwards to make excuses to explain why a female is filling that position.
