"surely that title can't be an actual quote by an actual resetera poster," i hear you say. to which i reply: oh my sweet summer child
i used to give a fuck about making these ops seem professional so the Gamers wouldn't be scared away but i dont give a fuck anymore so here's the lowdown:
https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-read-op.4483/
I want to get out of the way that I am a sex positive feminist, and when I criticise sexualized female character designs, it has nothing to do with prudishness or slut-shaming or anything like that; instead, it comes from a place of frustration, because how the hell are we supposed to combat sexism in gaming when one of the biggest examples of that--that serves to both reinforce and reflect sexist viewpoints--is consistently let slide?
Because yes, if you have a game where all the dudes are covered from head to toe and your one female character is running around in a trash bag bikini and looking thoroughly uncomfortable about it, it's sexist. It reinforces the (already widespread, particularly in gaming "culture") idea that women are objects who exist solely for male titillation and pleasure. It's not "puritanism", it's wanting to be treated like goddamn people.
There's nothing wrong with a female character wearing a bikini if, for example, a game is set on a beach, and the male characters are in their swimming trunks. Complaining about that would be prudishness, and a little ridiculous. But it often seems like developers are so desperate for boobs that they're willing to break the audience's suspension of disbelief and hurt their own narrative in the process, and it's like, wow, do you really want to objectify women that badly? Can't you just leave us alone for five fucking minutes? Because Quiet breathing through her skin is not a compelling reason for a trash bag bikini, within the narrative or outside of it. If you really, really want to stick with the skin-breathing, fuck, just dress her in a sports bra and running shorts. At least that would be practical, and not grossly out of character. Cindy is a mechanic in the fucking desert who walks around in hot pants and a bikini top, because she has grease-repelling skin that never burns, I guess. Meanwhile, Noctis and co. roll up in jeans and t-shirts. It's like, okay, we get it, this game is for dudes and the women are there for eye candy. Can we stop now, please? We're just so fucking tired of this. And then we get steamrolled by dudes who barge in and try to insist that this shit is actually empowering and we're just prudes, and, like, we get it, you don't want anyone to take your boobs away, stop pretending it's some righteous cause, thanks.
(I've talked about objectified female characters in gaming before, and I have received some amazing responses: I'm jealous because I'm a fat ugly loser; I have no idea what I'm talking about and Quiet wearing a trash bag bikini is actually empowering and feminist; "ohmygod why are you trying to take away my BEWBS"... you get the idea. Still, hopefully this time will go a little better.)
I want to get out of the way that I am a sex positive feminist, and when I criticise sexualized female character designs, it has nothing to do with prudishness or slut-shaming or anything like that; instead, it comes from a place of frustration, because how the hell are we supposed to combat sexism in gaming when one of the biggest examples of that--that serves to both reinforce and reflect sexist viewpoints--is consistently let slide?
Because yes, if you have a game where all the dudes are covered from head to toe and your one female character is running around in a trash bag bikini and looking thoroughly uncomfortable about it, it's sexist. It reinforces the (already widespread, particularly in gaming "culture") idea that women are objects who exist solely for male titillation and pleasure. It's not "puritanism", it's wanting to be treated like goddamn people.
There's nothing wrong with a female character wearing a bikini if, for example, a game is set on a beach, and the male characters are in their swimming trunks. Complaining about that would be prudishness, and a little ridiculous. But it often seems like developers are so desperate for boobs that they're willing to break the audience's suspension of disbelief and hurt their own narrative in the process, and it's like, wow, do you really want to objectify women that badly? Can't you just leave us alone for five fucking minutes? Because Quiet breathing through her skin is not a compelling reason for a trash bag bikini, within the narrative or outside of it. If you really, really want to stick with the skin-breathing, fuck, just dress her in a sports bra and running shorts. At least that would be practical, and not grossly out of character. Cindy is a mechanic in the fucking desert who walks around in hot pants and a bikini top, because she has grease-repelling skin that never burns, I guess. Meanwhile, Noctis and co. roll up in jeans and t-shirts. It's like, okay, we get it, this game is for dudes and the women are there for eye candy. Can we stop now, please? We're just so fucking tired of this. And then we get steamrolled by dudes who barge in and try to insist that this shit is actually empowering and we're just prudes, and, like, we get it, you don't want anyone to take your boobs away, stop pretending it's some righteous cause, thanks.
(I've talked about objectified female characters in gaming before, and I have received some amazing responses: I'm jealous because I'm a fat ugly loser; I have no idea what I'm talking about and Quiet wearing a trash bag bikini is actually empowering and feminist; "ohmygod why are you trying to take away my BEWBS"... you get the idea. Still, hopefully this time will go a little better.)
i used to give a fuck about making these ops seem professional so the Gamers wouldn't be scared away but i dont give a fuck anymore so here's the lowdown:
- women & women-aligned ppl (henceforth referred to as women for brevity) are sick and tired of being treated like sacks of meat for the consumption of the cishet male gaze
- this thread is a safe space for discussion and venting by and for women. non-women ARE allowed to participate but only if they behave themselves. bullshit WILL be actioned by mods.
- despite the title (which is a holdover from the original) this is a thread for feminist discussion of all aspects of video games, not just character designs
- "you'd get more people on ur side if you weren't such a rude bitch" i literally don't give a fuck
- "something something pussy heat sink something something words and deeds" it's time to stop posting
- "but her ass IS part of her character!" "dummy thicc" isn't a myers-briggs type
- "sex sells" repeatedly proven not to be the case but go off i guess
- "lol i love teh bewbs" good for you. fuck off
- "lmao dumb feminazis trying to censor games" it's not censoring. it's criticism. it's asking to be treated like goddamn people.
- "you're a prude" i'm a sex-positive feminist. that means i support women's right to control over their own bodies without judgement. that does not extend to 1000 year old loli dragons designed by and for men to get their nasty rocks off.
- "wHaT iF sHe ChOsE tO wEaR iT????????" she's not fucking real you drooling bottomfeeder, she can't decide anything because she's a fictional construct!!!! she's a bunch of pixels!!!! she has no agency!!!!
- "men are sexualised too" call me when we get dick physics in video games, then we'll talk about male sexualisation.
- "vote with your wallet" gee it's almost like this is an epidemic in gaming and finding games in the genre we like, with gameplay we like, a story we like, characters we like, and no bullshit designs anywhere to be found is a fucking sisyphean task. fucking great games have this problem. skyrim? dragon age origins? boob armour. boob armour everywhere. if we voted with our wallets we wouldn't be able to play fucking anything
- "my wife/girlfriend/sister/daughter/gardener/friend's cousin's sister-in-law's mother's dog's walker's chemist doesn't think it's sexist!" then she can come on here and make an account and speak for her own damn self, can't she? assuming she actually exists, of course
- "lmao typical prudish americans, in MY sexually liberated country we don't care about these things!!" i'm not american. a vast proportion of the women in this thread are not american. this is a universal problem
- "you don't speak for all women!!!!11!1!" neither do you. now what?
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