Sexism in games.

[BumblebeeCody]

Oh dear...

(07-10-2012 09:52 AM)CFMM Wrote:  The fact that we have (1"booth babes" is reason enough that there's a certain kind of sexism and "sex sells" mentality with gamers. There's a certain stereotype that they're nerdy Spike-TV watching (who ironically hosts the annual video game "awards") sex-starved foreveralones who just want to oogle at boobies, take some hoverhand photos with the models, and then be entertained with dubstep trailers for new games. Whenever massive consumer-oriented and advertiser-driven outlets cover the dog & pony show that is E3 there is consistently a chapter or segment for "Booth Babes". As bad as it sounds (2 I KNOW people who just drool over Ivy (Soul Calibur) and Cammy (Street Fighter) just because they have skimpy costumes that show off their T&A. That is a marketable demographic, and it happens to be the largest. Unfortunately, that is "the norm".

But you don't really see too much of the opposite. (3 Where's all the chiseled hunky guys? Straight girls play games, and gay guys play games too. You can sit us in front of a wall of tits and you'll get yawns and discussions making fun of boob physics, that's about it.

It's really the consumer/retail market that's bad. (4 Independent studios tend not to put too much emphasis on having sexy women and other cliche cookie cutter inclusions in their games. The kinds of games I check out, I don't generally see too much of it.

@1
Saying "Booth babes" is a type of sexism is laughable. If it was then WHY would females be willing to dress in such attire if they find it sexist?

@2
Yeah and? Cammy and Ivy and hot. But that doesn't stop Cammy from being arguably one of the most poweful character in the game

@3
A small list I know my female friends find hot and "chiseled"
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@4
Would love to see where you got these "facts" from.

(07-10-2012 10:15 AM)Beardy Wrote:  Personally, I think there are plenty of impossible male role models in games. Y'know, tough, hardened warriors and that. I think it's telling that they're all wish-fulfillment kind of characters though, if we're honest, firmly aimed at straight dudes.

(1 Are there any women out there who wish they were Ashley from RE4?

Are there any gay dudes out there who wish.... well, there wasn't such a fucking palava over the Mass Effect romance scenes? (as much as I liked Mass Effect... is that really the point? Who you fuck via clumsy dialogue?)

I dunno, I think it's telling that there was such a massive thing made about the women vs tropes thing.

I'm a middle-class, white, straight dude and I'm worried about this stuff.

@1 That's kind of the whole point of a search and rescue. No, I doubt any woman would want to be kidnapped and have a virus planted inside them, but then that's the whole point of being a hostage. I don't get how you can point out Ashley in RE4 who is supposed to be the hostage/victim yet ignore the kickass no-BS attitude of Ada Wong/Jill Valentine/Sherry Birkin/Claire Redfield/Rebecca Chambers and Sheva Alomar.

(07-10-2012 10:20 AM)CFMM Wrote:  I'm into dudes but I have never played a Mass Effect game. I fell behind getting started on ME1, and by the time the hype machine was running at full steam I just started rolling my eyes and ignoring it.

(1 As far as the "warrior" guys you mentioned, yes, that is their purpose. They are wish fulfillment characters and are men in positions designed to appeal to other men, they are not eye candy or fantasy fodder meant to be consumed by other demographics.

edit: That woman who started that Kickstarter project basically stirred up a hornet's nest of trouble and rode it out to a sizeable Kickstarter donation, so I'm not exactly too fond of her. There was a really good "other side rebuttal/explanation" that I read a while ago.

@1
No that comes down to opinion and taste. Samus wasn't designed to be attractive but people ended up finding her attractive regardless. Some male characters are designed to be attractive but end up being so.


Look at the "Who do you fancy thread" and see what females have been noted down. Tifa, Samus, Trip, Jill Valentine, Rebecca Chambers... I get the idea that once a female because attractive it's suddenly part of the sexism in videos games, yet, how many of those females are weak defenseless push-overs?

I think you guys are getting confused with "sexism" and "mis-representation of women".