Feminism in VideogamesFollow

Haven't heard of the controversy at all, nor the video poster. The topic, however, came up in a discussion I was reading about the final single-player Mass Effect 3 DLC released three days ago. Some feminists were OUTRAGED that as part of a mission, their female character had to wear a dress to go undercover. "A dress!?" They cried, "How sexist! My Shepard is an ***-kicking biotic who takes crap from no one! How DARE they make her wear a dress! Does this mean even in 200 years woman are pigeon-holed into sexist clothing?"

I read the comments with astonishment. Not only is the mission about being undercover, Fem-Shepard even snidely remarks on how dumb it is to wear a dress, but she does so for the sake of the mission. If you play a Renegade Shepard that's pretty much her entire persona: snark, but does whatever it takes for the mission. Is this really what you're getting offended about? There's sexism in games, no doubt. But sometimes I feel like folks just want to be offended. The reverse of that situation was when heterosexual men were freaking out that in ME3, a male Shepard has several gay pairings possible, and they felt like it was forcing homosexuality into their game. What the hell folks, calm down. Don't want a gay Shepard? Romance one of the females. Sheesh.

TL;DR While there is some legitimate cause for concern, a lot of times people are looking to be offended and get off on getting angry.

Can't the same kinds of things be said for male game characters? I bet with ten minutes of effort I could come up with a long list of male character arch types and pretend to be equally offended.

The glasses are so unrealistic. They'd never stay on without a nerd strap.

Sure you could, but you wouldn't exactly be arguing against her. Characters, both male and female, are typically designed around male fantasies, be it sexual with regards to female characters, or power with regards to male characters. Those big Hulkamania characters aren't designed to appeal to women.

Plus, sandvich.

Also, I suggest including "TF2" in your image search if you are going to query "female heavy".

George Foreman is the ultimate sandwich maker.

This is a quote by a state governor made last month...

Video Games got nothin' on Real Life when it comes to stereotyping gender roles.

I'd say there's an equal argument that characters are often designed around archetypes and stereotypes because it's a game and time spent in character development isn't necessarily time spent in entertaining game play. Not that the two are mutually exclusive but not every game sets out to be a study in the psyche of the human soul. Big guy, Big gun -- that immediately sets up all you need to know. Let's go shoot shit.

It's made out of lead and protecting the v-jay from radiation.

Ya know when I first started playing Warhammer i had a real issue with the Witch Elf model. She wears a thong, a bra, some sexy boots and a couple nasty knives. I figured I'd just steer clear of the class - melee isn't really my bailiwick anyways. Eventually however I rolled on all the dps classes. I fell in love with watching the WE fight - her outfit only added to the illusion. I have more sceenshots of her than even my main characters.

Those women aren't the warriors, they're the entertainment.

Yes. Your daughter is probably smarter than your son and doesn't need as much instruction.

Like I said before, I'll buy that. I'm having a party tonight, how much for 3 hours?

I can't see it there either. Mario Bros. doesn't seem anymore offensive than any run-of-the-mill Disney movie that my daughters watch

Good example, what could possibly be offensive about ::Open Credits...Orphaned Girl is sad and put into peril then rescued by rich man she falls instantly in love with...7 mediocre show tunes...ethic stereotype animal...Close Credits::

Edited, Mar 8th 2013 12:56pm by Smasharoo