Sexism in video games.

[Genivaria]

And the last time a woman saved a man in a video game was......?

Yesterday when I played Fable 3. And before that it was two days ago when I played Fable 3. Pretty much, it's only when I play Fable 3. Must be why that's the only game I've been playing for the past two months.

Fable 3 sucks. The female protagonists from Dragon Age and Mass Effect are far superior.
I love the sarcastic voices in DA2.

[Genivaria]

Fable 3 sucks. The female protagonists from Dragon Age and Mass Effect are far superior.
I love the sarcastic voices in DA2.

I love Fable 3! >:O

And I also kind of hate it. I'm very tsundere for the Fable series, and that contradiction only seems to grow wider with each successive game. I like Fable 3 more than either of the other two, but I also dislike it more than either of the other two. It's complicated.

They made a big deal out of being able to rule and you get like 8 decisions. It's a ripoff.

[Genivaria]

If you make strawmen then you can dismiss every opponent with ease.

Show me some sexism in Western Literature.

Please don't make me, I'd be gone for years gathering all the names. It's cold out there.

[Genivaria]

Fuck, much of the great literature of Western civilization is sexist.

I would have a hard time enjoying something like that. How do you manage? I always imagined that social justice warriors would hate life and not be able to enjoy anything, because I can't enjoy something if I don't like the message it promotes.

I know that feel. I know it strongly.

[Genivaria]

Possibly amusing mechanic for a game: Female characters can be put in ridiculous outfits that provide neither support nor modesty nor protection, but they'll limit their movements to compensate. Absolute cleavage without a bra? Sorry, your character's hands are now busy keep her boobs from flailing about painfully or popping out. Equip the mini-skirt item, no more high kicks or jumping around. An enemy spies you wearing Leather "Armour" of I Just Came From A Fetish Club and your character will run rather than fight.

---

Makes sense, such big boobs would probably have a pretty hefty weight.

Actually they're so massive, they affect space-time around them....in video game logic at least.

Pfffttt hahahaha!
And then she bled to death.

[Genivaria]

Well, they would totally die.

Well, not necessarily. High heels are probably a killer, But the Viet Cong, at least, didn't really seem to need armor to survive*, at least some of the time. And your typical sexy female adventurer is more skilled than your typical foot soldier, and generally not facing down the same amount of sheer numbers in terms of attacks.

And let's not forget that in a fantasy world there tend to be a lot of attacks that could, realistically, bypass armor and most "practical" combat gear instantly. That stuff will not help against a fireball, unfortunately.

Irrelevant.
When arrows and crossbow bolts are flying and one of your armored gets fried by a magic missile you don't abandon your armor. The arrows are still there.
A WW2 helmet likely couldn't stop a direct hit from a bullet, does that mean you discard it? Fuck no.

[Genivaria]

Here's a thought. Make the backstory and personality first and determine the gender last.
A swashbuckling pirate, a forest-dwelling freedom fighter, or a chivalrous knight could potentially be either gender.

[Genivaria]

Here's a thought. Make the backstory and personality first and determine the gender last.
A swashbuckling pirate, a forest-dwelling freedom fighter, or a chivalrous knight could potentially be either gender.

I would say make it realistic to the era. In the golden age of piracy, it was largely back luck for women to be aboard ships, and knights as well were almost completely male. Very few women back in history fought in any sort of wars or such, so i find most medieval video games containing female characters to be somewhat of a silly idea.

If it's a historical setting sure make it rare and make the occasional Sweet Polly Oliver a rarity.
But the author is not constrained by history, it could be a fantasy or sci-fi setting instead or even a modern setting.
It is entirely the author's ability to determine the local societies views on gender equality.

[Genivaria]

But it would have to evolve naturally. How do you propose an egalitarian society evolve naturally. (Other than by bringing it to our current level of development and removing population crisis as an issue.)

I find this whole population crisis argument difficult to swallow, especially since Ancient Rome dealt with overcrowding and use of birth control.

Ancient Rome wasn't medieval Europe which seems to be what most fantasy bases itself on.

[Genivaria]

So...at what point are we talking about this "population crisis" that every society much face in its evolution?

It's very early development.

There we go.
Would a Greek City state have this problem? Yes.
Would the Roman Empire? No.

[Genivaria]

Caesar and Alexander forced occupied countries to convert?

Nope. I don't believe a society had to be dominated by one religion to be successful, as the romans succeeded mainly because of their ability to incorporate new societies by acting benevolently and respecting their customs while demanding the responsibilities of being incorporated as a Roman populace.

Of course, Caesar did massacre Gauls by the thousands, so he wasn't very benevolent.

I think the Roman's 'benevolence' is debatable.

[Genivaria]

There we go.
Would a Greek City state have this problem? Yes.
Would the Roman Empire? No.

The only problem is every society can be linked to a small city-state, and every society usually had the patriarchal society established, which is extremely difficult to remove.

Indeed, we know that well. Women are still barred from combat roles in the US military.

[Genivaria]

Indeed, we know that well. Women are still barred from combat roles in the US military.

That's not 100% true. The whole thing is complicated, and women pilots are combat roles.

Granted, though the Air Force are rather progressive and less strict then the other branches.[

[Genivaria]

Indeed, we know that well. Women are still barred from combat roles in the US military.

Ridiculous. I don't care what color they are, I don't care what they have hanging between their legs, as long as they go up there and kill some enemy sumbitches they're good enough to me.

Well I mean there are one or two legitimate obstacles to it but yeah I agree with you, when someone pulls you out of the way line of fire you don't care whether or not they have a penis.
Was browsing google and found this, holy shit.
Won't be till 2016 but still.
http://www.themarysue.com/women-army-ra ... s-marines/

[Genivaria]

Reasons I hate video games:

I want to play as a female. Sometimes this isn't even an option. When it is, each of my boobs are larger than my face. Or there's no musculature. Or boob chest plates (because that's so realistic). Or everything is a skirt. Basically the game screams at me THIS IS WHAT FEMININITY IS. BE FEMININE. BE THIN. BE BOOBS. BE PRETTY. no fuck you, you stupid-heteronormative-gender-role-enforcing-harmful-stereotype-continuing-piece-of-shit. basically everything i hate about the media, being re-hashed and thrown back at me. like no.

and that's only when you can choose to be female. many games don't even include the option, and are always narrated by some heteronormative white man. Fuck that. If I wanted that kind of angst, i'd just go read mainstream news. Seriously, give me a black woman's narrative, or someone's who's LGBTAQ or someone who's got a disability, or any kind of diversity PLEASE.

and then we get to the actual game play, where you get treated like shit by half of the players, while the other half tries to date you, and then treats you like even more shit when you're either a.) not sexy (in their humble opinion) or b.) you're not single, or the worst of them all: c.) you turn them down. You can get used to the same kind of harassment you get walking down the street, and multiply it by ten-fold.

basically this is why i never play games/watch tv/participate in popular culture and this is why. but sexism doesn't exist

This is one of the things that I use to determine whether or not I'll actually play the game.
I make a female character and try some armor, if it looks like chainmail bikini I uninstall the game.

[Genivaria]

This is one of the things that I use to determine whether or not I'll actually play the game.
I make a female character and try some armor, if it looks like chainmail bikini I uninstall the game.

That implies that you've already bought the game, though.

I always run a quick google search before buying a game I suspect of such things.

Buy? I don't BUY MMO's. Not worth it.
Except for Guild Wars, no monthly fees.

[Genivaria]

Buy? I don't BUY MMO's. Not worth it.
Except for Guild Wars, no monthly fees.

Ah. I don't play MMOs.

I'd like to play Planetside 2 though, my CPU can't handle it.

[Genivaria]

FUKUMODERATORDIKSUKERS could you kind of not please.

4chan is a few miles north of here.

Just add him to the Foe list like all the other trolls and move on.

[Genivaria]

I'd like to play Planetside 2 though, my CPU can't handle it.

Go the start menu and type run and then open the program and type dxdiag. It tells you your system model (computer) so you can Google it and find out what motherboard slot you have and find a CPU that can match it if you want.

It's Windows 7. So no it wouldn't work.

[Gordonisia]

Anyone else noticing the ad here that says "male gamers only"? With a picture of a sexually objectified woman of course.

Anyway, me, I'm not much of a gamer. Doesn't interest me. But you'd have to be blind not to notice that video games tend toward the sexist side. I've also frequently heard tell that gamer culture is highly misogynistic, from more than a couple of women gamers.

So. Would anyone like to share their opinions or thoughts on this?

Dr Pepper 10: It's not for Women.



Clearly its sexist.

Damn good soda, though.

[Gordonisia]

I think it's pretty common knowledge that video games are marketed towards the young male crowd.

But as someone said earlier, this is hardly the biggest problem in regards to video games. Most games are incredibly violent, foul-mouthed, sex-filled constructions. I buy a lot of these games, but I'm able to separate acceptable behavior in a video game from acceptable behavior in real life. Problem is, a lot of young people can't, especially teens and pre-teens.

So yeah, games are sexist, but at least gender stereotypes are becoming less of an issue than they used to be. In contrast, I think the graphic violence, language, and sex are only getting worse.

[Gordonisia]

I think it's pretty common knowledge that video games are marketed towards the young male crowd.

But as someone said earlier, this is hardly the biggest problem in regards to video games. Most games are incredibly violent, foul-mouthed, sex-filled constructions. I buy a lot of these games, but I'm able to separate acceptable behavior in a video game from acceptable behavior in real life. Problem is, a lot of young people can't, especially teens and pre-teens.

So yeah, games are sexist, but at least gender stereotypes are becoming less of an issue than they used to. In contrast, I think the graphic violence, language, and sex are only getting worse.

I grew up with Tekken and GTA. Lots of my peers did to. NONE OF US went out and started beating people on the street for no reason. If you think that younger people cant tell the difference bewteen RL and VG you are insulting their intelligence

I'm 19, friend. And I know plenty of pricks who play games in which the characters cuss/fight/objectify women and then they go and do the same thing in real life. Of course, I'm not saying it's the only factor, but it certainly is a factor

[Gordonisia]

I'm 19, friend. And I know plenty of pricks who play games in which the characters cuss/fight/objectify women and then they go and do the same thing in real life. Of course, I'm not saying it's the only factor, but it certainly is a factor

No it certainly isnt a factor. People have been doing the same shit for centuries, long before video games were around.

Read this:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/11/03/healthmag.violent.video.kids/

[Gordonisia]

So... what about the fact that most males in Skyrim are ultra buff and full of muscles. Aint that sexism?

Yes in favor of men empowering/idealizing them and making differences for their own gender's benefit. Most of the time Women are degraded for their loss and for men's benefit. I mean if you are for realistic and not idealized characters then good for you. But the idealization of men isn't against them.

Sorry, but that makes zero sense. A stereotype is a stereotype

[Gordonisia]

Lets compromise, in Skyrim the ladies have giant tits, while still being able to brutally murder you. I think thats a good compromise.

Where are you people getting this idea that the women in Skyrim have giant tits? Have you people ever played the game or do you just look at mods?

Agreed. At the risk of sounding like a complete creep, the ladies in Skyrim generally have breasts that are appropriate for their frames.

In fact, Skyrim is one of the more progressive games I know of. Many of the women in this game are leaders, warriors, and overall important characters. (Side note: the game is also accepting of LGBT gamers, which is still rare in the community)