Sexism in Video Games? What do you think?

[MajorasMask]

Some of us may have seen a recently uploaded video regarding the role of women in video games, published by Anita Sarkeesian of ''Femenist Frequency'':

I want to know, what do you think about this?

(I know this is a little random. If the staff don't want such threads, then remove it.)

 

[Barnubus]

Watched the whole thing.
I agree, mostly, with what she's saying. Though I simply don't have much to say on the topic.
I don't really care for video games with female main characters, that's just how I am. I suppose it's to do with the way they are portrayed.
If they could find a different way to come up with a plot, instead of putting females in a helpless role that would be super, but I doubt it'll happen.

Either way, I'm sticking with The Legend of Zelda, though if they could change it to "Legend of Link Does Everything" Might be more helpful.

Though I like how she didn't mention Samus Aran.

Apherdite - I wanna know what you think, to be honest <3

 

[MajorasMask]

-snippy snippy-

For me, it doesn't matter if the main protagonist is male or female. I usually play games for the gameplay, so I really don't mind which gender I get (or none, if i'm playing as a robot).

I get what she is saying about how women are sexualised, although I don't see why it is important. I doubt gamers are going to care, and it seems to be a very trivial issue she is talking about.

I too find it funny how she fails to mention any female protagonists or playable characters which are not sexualised in any way, who, really, function as normal people.

 

[Kainzo]

Uh... Final Fantasy 3/6 had female main characters on both parts. As well as the other ones I didnt care to play because the graphics were just too anime-ish.

 

[Bob_de_Blastoise]

Metroid biggest old game moment of all at the end when u discover you a girl

 

[Apherdite]

I hate this video. I watched it for like 1 minute and then shut it off because it's stupid. I thought this was a different sexism in video games thing. Who cares if the main character is male or female. This only pertains to single-player games anyways, and their audience is mainly males... and not the weird ones that play female characters at any given opportunity. And in any case, most games have made it to where you can be either male or female anyways. Every game I've played in the last... oh... like 9 years probably has all had this option. And even if I couldn't be a female, I don't care, it's a game. I don't play games to be politically correct, or anything. I play games to kill bitches and have a good time.

tl;dr - I don't care and I hate feminists.

 

[Paul_Bakken]

[snip]

 

[Kainzo]

Really has no bearing on the gamer whether you are m/f tbh.

People just want to cause drama and hype over stupid shit imo

 

[Barnubus]

Also, her earrings bothered me for some reason, I watched them the entire video. Drove me crazy...

 

[MajorasMask]

Mmmhmmm. Her big ass earrings, trimmed eyebrows, makeup and hairstyle all do contribute in giving her a stereotypical female look. Oh.. wait..

Oh but it doesn't matter. Most women these days look like that. So it is fine. Oh.. hold on again.. xD

 

[Dsawemd]

I think the two genders stereotypically expect different rewards from their playtime.
I am NO expert, but off the top of my head I would say boys have an evolutionary need to compete, while girls have an evolutionary need to organize/structure. IMO, much of the marketing and resultant products are directed at these basic instinctual levels.

 

[Apherdite]

I think that's quite far off-base, Dsawemd. You're taking the tiny amount of people that you've known and making a broad generalization. I am personally extremely competitive and I know a lot of other women who are. It depends on what you focus on. Myself... as a student and gamer... no. I focus on owning balls and killing bitches, as I said previously

 

[Dielan9999]

Appropo of nothing,

G*d D*mn FF7. To date, it is the ONLY time that a VIDEO GAME has caused me to get choked up:

It's people like you who don't put that shit in spoiler tags that make that game not age well. It's like when I watched The Empire Strikes Back for the first time, I already knew

Spoiler

Vader was Luke's father

so it wasn't as special to me so I liked Return of the Jedi better!

Anyway back on topic: I didn't have time to watch the video in the first post but I agree with Aph on this one. For example, Assassin's Creed is a game you play to feel like a badass, the enemies fall before you en masse because your character is so badass 1v1 combat is a cakewalk so they have to jump you to win. It makes sense for a male character to be the character you play, because it's mostly men who are gonna buy those games to feel like badasses; while picking a female character (with the exception of the online mode) is not an option! I don't find that offensive.

As for playing as female characters in video games, I don't mind. I don't feel any less manly when I do. I mean, have you ever played the original Metroid? If Samus was a guy I would have enjoyed the game just the same.

When it comes to games with a heavy focus on story progression and development, gender doesn't make or break a character for me. There are strong characters, and there are weak characters regardless of gender. With that logic in mind I can say with confidence that I absolutely can't stand Final Fantasy X-2, but Final Fantasy XIII-2 is my favorite game in the series (and I've played them all!).

 

[Paul_Bakken]

[snip]

 

[victim130]

Uh... Final Fantasy 3/6 had female main characters on both parts. As well as the other ones I didnt care to play because the graphics were just too anime-ish.

Yeah I mean I agree with a lot in the video, but I find its still got bias material in it, especially when it comes to not mentioning things that may make her cause look flawed. She's too persuasive in format rather than factual.

 

[Dielan9999]

Darn, sorry! The game was released in 1997 when you were like -- what? 5, maybe? -- so I had figured that this had passed into the "generally known" category by now. I apologize for any anguish that I may have caused you.

Also, in the movie Citizen Kane, Rosebud was his sled.

Well I played it a few years after that, back when the internet wasn't really accessible or desired by kids. I didn't have anyone to spoil it for me and I liked it alot. Whenever people play it in today's day and age they already know all the plot twists and are left with a game with dated graphics and gameplay mechanics that did not age well. Much like watching the Empire Strikes Back in my example in my last post We have no one to blame but ourselves!

Anyway, spoiler tags are a thing

Back on topic: I think femenists on the topic of video games are just nitpicking at shit that doesn't matter.

 

[MonsTheSexy]

Uh... Final Fantasy 3/6 had female main characters on both parts. As well as the other ones I didnt care to play because the graphics were just too anime-ish.

Those graphics are awesome for me i never see any glitched movements. Wish a mmo ha those graphics too.

 

[Dsawemd]

I think that's quite far off-base, Dsawemd. You're taking the tiny amount of people that you've known and making a broad generalization. I am personally extremely competitive and I know a lot of other women who are. It depends on what you focus on. Myself... as a student and gamer... no. I focus on owning balls and killing bitches, as I said previously

I am not saying that I agree with these generalizations, just that they are often used to market to children, which is the main market for video Games.

 

[EvilThor]

*cough* Legue of ledgends *cough*
I may just be a wierdo, but I keep seeing shemales in there.

But TBH I don't think many gamers really care about witch gender you play as.

 

[WitchOnaRampage]

Off-topic, sorry, but just wanted to follow up on these two comments.

I think the two genders stereotypically expect different rewards from their playtime.
I am NO expert, but off the top of my head I would say boys have an evolutionary need to compete, while girls have an evolutionary need to organize/structure. IMO, much of the marketing and resultant products are directed at these basic instinctual levels.

Rather than talking about boys/girls, men/women, these characteristics are considered masculine/feminine. As in Yin and Yang.

And typically yes, a greater percentage of boys are competitive, and a greater percentage of girls move toward organization and structure. I am inclined more toward organization/structure which is why I work on the wiki, take an organizational support role in game, and appear to be inherently hopeless at PvP.

I think that's quite far off-base, Dsawemd. You're taking the tiny amount of people that you've known and making a broad generalization. I am personally extremely competitive and I know a lot of other women who are. It depends on what you focus on. Myself... as a student and gamer... no. I focus on owning balls and killing bitches, as I said previously

Again, competitiveness is considered a Yang or masculine characteristic, based on 1000s of years of experience and observation of people (no, not mine personally, lol). We all have these characteristics - masculine and feminine - in different balances, which is how we come to contribute to society in our individual ways - thank goodness!