I feel like I'll be attacked by the females or feminists from our class after writing this because I am female and so people might think I shouldn't be thinking this way, or people might think I'm too neutral.
I do not get offended by the representation of women in video games. I do not have a problem with them, even when they are sexual in nature, even when there is violence involved.
First of all the disproportionate figure (big boob, big bums, tiny waist, little clothing etc):
When I play characters like these all that comes to my mind is "wow, I'm really hot" and think "yea I picked a neat character". To me this isn't real, I do not feel like this is how society wants me to be or feel in any way objectified. I like the fact that I can dress skimpy yet be badass. I'm glad that I don't have to be macho on screen, I embrace that femininity.
Victimized women/ violence towards women in video games:
There is definitely a problem here if in the game the violence is especially targeted at women. I can understand women being offended by this especially with the amount of assaults and abuse in society today. I understand that if you've been personally affected by something like this, you'll be especially unhappy. However, (please don't shoot me) you can always choose not to play/watch these games, ban your family/friends from these games, take it up with the producers of the game. Because in an industry when there aren't yet really regulations regarding content, there really isn't much you can do. So before there is an organisation that has the power to actively take action/until you can create one, all you can do is filter it out from your life.
Some people might enjoy these games, some people might be sick enough, but perhaps for them, this form of game is relaxing, or exciting or therapeutic for them. It doesn't necessary mean that it will encourage them to go out and commit crimes against women. The companies created this and they paid for it, so it isn't entirely crazy for these players to be annoyed at people who try to change/get rid of their favourite past time. Take it up with people who can do something about it, rather than argue with people who are crazy who in this case is the majority.
You've hit the nail on the head with why those female characters aren't all that well liked by some people.
ReplyDeleteMost female characters are created for male benefit (so guys can appreciate them and say 'wow I'm hot'), set up in game plots as creatures whose lives revolve around men (they need a man to rescue them, or they're tough girls who have to be 'tamed' by being married), and on the whole just turned into objects for guys to enjoy, both in their stories and among their playerbase.
Now, that's all well and good in a few isolated cases-- I mean, guys deserve their perfect fantasy girlfriends and wives just as much as women deserve something to ogle-- the issue is that pretty much every female character falls prey to this. Female characters whose existence doesn't revolve around men are the exception, not the rule.
Women in reality, most of the time, dress, act, and exist for themselves-- not for guys. So it hurts us a lot when games constantly boil us down to walking sex machines, weeping damsels, and patient mother figures. It sets up a precedent for players that, in the world of gaming, those are the only places a woman belongs. Sadly, some people listen to that precedent. I've lucked out myself, in that I haven't been told I will be forcibly bedded and wed simply for playing a game, but my other female friends aren't so lucky.
So that's the big argument against these female characters; we're cool with them in moderation, enjoy your Ivys and your Laras, but we desperately need something else as well. Because on the male side of the spectrum, you've got your lady-pandering heroes like Vincent Valentine, but you ALSO have an abundance of Frank Wests and James Sunderlands. Variety is the spice of life, and it'd improve the gaming community's real-life treatment of women a lot.
(also, just to get in a quick word about the 'violence against women' thing, treatment of this in games is questionable because it's generally linked in with fetishization and sexuality. For more reading on why this can get uncomfortable, check out:
http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=1816
http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=6059)
I completely agree. It's just that from what was mentioned in lecture and tutorials, it seems difficulty trying to express your views in gaming forums online, if the forums are full of people who aren't thinking straight. I just want to know if there is a way to put forward/discuss these issues and make some kind of change without being labeled a 'cancer' to gaming and attacked.
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