Sexism in video games.

[Agymnum]

Well, you have to admit that the way tits bounce is quite humorous, and they're fun to play with.

Mine are not especially bouncy....

I find bouncy breasts to be fascinating to observe physics-wise (just to see the extent that game engines can render proper bouncing), but in all honestly I find them aesthetically unpleasing. I prefer that breasts be proportioned to the rest of the female body, and for me proportioned usually means a little on the small side.

[Agymnum]

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars's message was that I need to sell a lot of heroin so I can afford a Hummer.

If we're talking about bad messages, then Zelda is the worst offender of them all. That game teaches you that people are completely fine with you breaking into their houses and smashing all their pottery. You could even find money in them.

Well, to be fair, it balances this with telling you that cutting someone's overgrown grass and weeds is always a good thing to do.

[Agymnum]

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars's message was that I need to sell a lot of heroin so I can afford a Hummer.

To be honest, it's not as though seeing that will spur you to act the game out. I may have implied a relationship between depictions and behavior that I didn't mean to. Rather, the game exposes you to ideas. In this case, the idea that criminal activity can be lucrative. At the same time, I expect the game was quite blunt about depicting the illegality and dangerousness of criminal activity. After all, arrest, injury, and death are all possible outcomes.

If anything I learned in GTA IV not to answer my phone while I was doing something. Lost a helicopter to a building that way.

[Agymnum]

I remember the good ol' days were dying meant you had to restart the entire game back when death actually meant something.

Try dying in Everquest and losing your corpse.

Talk about easy nuclear anger material.

I remember when cities were easy to take in Civilization, and people used to stack 8+ units on their most important ones out of paranoia that someone would try to steamroll their empire.

Those were the days... *sighs wistfully*

[Agymnum]

If admiring the female body for sexual purposes is sexist, human biology is sexist because being sexually attracted to women is basic human nature.

Sticking gratuitous tits and ass into a game or any sort of media just to get buyers (and with no valid reason or back-story for said gratuitous tits and ass exposure) is pretty sexist to me.

[Agymnum]

They're games, it isn't even serious. At all.

And you know what? Just because it isn't serious doesn't mean it can't be rectified.

Oh, sure, I only have a quarter inch deep gash on my leg. It's not serious. But I should probably do something about it if I don't want it to fester and rot.

But if you let it fester and rot, maybe you can use it to commune with Papa Nurgle!

[Ainu Amaterasu]

The male privilege extends very far indeed! I've always tried to keep my world balanced with Samus though. Good luck out there!

[Arkhane]

Most videogames whether online or offline ('specially the MMORPGS) often portray female characters in the sluttiest way they could think of, sometimes not even remotely outfitted to the character's supposed class (i.e a female knight with only enough chain-mail to cover her nips, the government agent sent to the rocky mountains wearing a night-gown and high-heels).
They do their best to make the female as eye-candy as possible while the male attire is given a more than a decent job.



Another thing is the roles of the genders, although today, Heroine and Anti-Heroine games have been wide-spread and popular such as Tomb Raider, Resident Evil etc.
Back then, the role of girls was often the princess to be rescued, someone who'll give the main character a magic item/key, and even a trophy to be won.
Rare are games back then where you'll find the main heroine rescuing a helpless male, or being as well-equipped as the latter.

So yeah, in a sense, sexism still persist in games. I'm not surprised really or angry really, because game companies know that the majority of players are men, and I would be amused if they made a video game or online Role-play where the male character dresses like someone out of a sex-shop.

LOL

[Arkinesia]

Anita Sarkeesian has been doing a youtube series on the roles women play in video games, if you're interested.

Her video series is grossly ignorant of the real problem in games.

Women aren't involved in the business side as much as they need to be.

Women have been developing some of the best games ever (a woman produced Journey, which is fucking amazing, a woman wrote Portal's amazing dialogue, just to provide two shining examples), but they're just not involved enough on the business/marketing side to make a difference, which is disappointing to say the least.

I can guarantee that as more women inevitably get involved gaming, sexism will be on the decrease. Already, sexism is a bad business strategy, with some 48% of self-described “gamers” being female, as well as 51% of Call of Duty players.

(yeah, I don't know why 51% of CoD's fanbase is female either. I don't get it)

[Arkinesia]

Her video series is grossly ignorant of the real problem in games.

Women aren't involved in the business side as much as they need to be.

Women have been developing some of the best games ever (a woman produced Journey, which is fucking amazing, a woman wrote Portal's amazing dialogue, just to provide two shining examples), but they're just not involved enough on the business/marketing side to make a difference, which is disappointing to say the least.

I can guarantee that as more women inevitably get involved gaming, sexism will be on the decrease. Already, sexism is a bad business strategy, with some 48% of self-described “gamers” being female, as well as 51% of Call of Duty players.

(yeah, I don't know why 51% of CoD's fanbase is female either. I don't get it)

Because it's Call of Duty... It's the game where those who claim to be gamers go, regardless of gender, ethnicity or age, it's the default, go-to game for "gamers".

Oh jesus christ.

This thread exists exactly because of closed-minded people like you.

[Arkinesia]

Women are also not served well by annoying "girl gamers" who really make a point of making sure you know they're female. It only makes all women in video games targets for trolls because they know that women attract white knights like lightning rods.

This is an odd bit of collective victim-blaming from an unexpected source.

It's not “victim-blaming,” it's a completely appropriate criticism of a certain part of Western culture.

[Arkinesia]

It's not “victim-blaming,” it's a completely appropriate criticism of a certain part of Western culture.

...apparently, the female part. Or at least the female part that openly acknowledges being female. The nerve of us, not disguising our voices if we want to talk on Vent or Xbox Live! The audacity of us, designing characters that look kinda like ourselves! The sheer chutzpah of us, daring to make an LP while simultaneously possessing breasts!

I have never, not once, heard a male gamer criticized for "making sure you know they're male." Male players are perfectly allowed to sound male, look male, introduce themselves by male names, tell dick jokes, whatever without anyone accusing them of being an terrible attention whore flaunting their maleness in public. Why in the hell should I be held to a special standard in which I must try to hide my gender in order to enjoy my hobby?

There are perfectly good examples of women in gaming, women who use themselves and whore themselves out for the sake of attention are not good examples.

I have no idea why there are women whoring themselves out to “h4rdc0r3 gam3rs” but it's a thing, nevertheless.

But seriously, there are great examples of women in gaming and women who are designing games, at least two of which I've pointed to in this very thread.

[Arkinesia]

There are perfectly good examples of women in gaming, women who use themselves and whore themselves out for the sake of attention are not good examples.

I have no idea why there are women whoring themselves out to “h4rdc0r3 gam3rs” but it's a thing, nevertheless.

But seriously, there are great examples of women in gaming and women who are designing games, at least two of which I've pointed to in this very thread.

Little tip. If you're trying to deny the existence of sexism in a certain segment of society, you really, really should try to avoid refering to the women you've encountered in that segment of society as "whores".

Well, that's a cute effort to turn a figure of speech into a Freudian slip, but that's not really what I was going for.

[Arkinesia]

I mean, did you really think through the argument? Women are supposed to hide their gender to appease trolls? No, that's sexist, victim-blaming garbage.

Yes, that's victim-blaming garbage.

I for one would not suggest that people hide their sex over internet trolls. That's just insane. What's equally insane is using one's sex as some kind of attention-grabbing device.

[Arkinesia]

And I can not fathom how anyone can argue that "teenagers are the core demographic" when a group that exclusively exists to allow adults to get AWAY from teenagers is one of the most successful groups in the game.

Well when you consider that women aged 21-30 make up a larger gaming demographic than boys aged 15-21 it just gets more confusing.

[Ashihara no Nakatsukuni]

Of course video games lean more towards males, because the vast majority of the demographics of the video game industry is male. It is no different then fashion companies are more demographically towards females, as they happen to be, statistically, one of their more important customers.

Is it changing, and is the perception of "games only for guys" stupid? Of course. My wife is an avid gamer, and knows more about games then I, even though I already pour hours into the games we play. We have the same misconception on the internet, and why is that? Because for awhile the demographics leaned this way, and it goes hand-in-hand with the "geek" culture of video games.

The only thing that annoys me to no fucking end, and will literally turn me away from a game at times, is the absolute sexualization of a character. I'm sorry, I don't care how good the game may be, we really do not need the female character having 50FFF tits, with a curvy body, and a rounded ass.

If I wanted to see such things, I would watch a porn. I've yet to play games such a Heavenly Sword because I refuse to play a game where I'm forced to play as a skimpy-dressed character. This, as well, is changing and that part of the industry I cannot wait to get rid of.

Note: I'm not saying they can't exist, but it gets kind of dull of how much it persists in "mainstream", e.g. AAA big budget games.

[Ashihara no Nakatsukuni]

Good luck convincing gamers not to boycott.

The gamers who don't buy into sexist games would gladly join except that, well, we don't really buy sexist games so that doesn't help.

The gamers who do buy sexist games probably don't care if you think that sexism is bad, because hey who are you to dictate to them what they do with their money?

That's why I used the game cost argument for them to join. EA wants to increase the base game price or abandon Sony and Microsoft.

And go where? What other systems will they go to? Their failing software Origins, which will never live up to Steam? Please, EA would kill itself.

[Ashihara no Nakatsukuni]

Note: I'm not saying they can't exist, but it gets kind of dull of how much it persists in "mainstream", e.g. AAA big budget games.

Play someone else's game then? I know VALVe games don't have any hypersexualization, or sexualization at all for that matter.

Oh what a clever response, because I clearly wrote that I can play nothing other than games with extreme sexualization in it. Jesus, of all things to latch on too you choose one and make up misconceptions out of thin air.

[Ashihara no Nakatsukuni]

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?

As I'm reading this thread, I see a link with semi-hot cartoonish babes on the right, and the caption says "male only games". Do you think they picked a good place to advertise? :P

Google Ads know how to pickup on keywords like a pro.

[Ashihara no Nakatsukuni]

That's why I used the game cost argument for them to join. EA wants to increase the base game price or abandon Sony and Microsoft.

But Valve still sells games that are sexist. Granted Valve doesn't make those games but their Steam sales do make them rather enticing.

You simply can't boycott sexist games because sexism transcends publisher/developer. Developers who have been cranking out great games may fall flat and make one that has a bit of sexism in it - then what? Surely you don't expect the fans of said publisher not to buy the game just because a bit of sexism is in it?

What exactly is being argued here? A market will always have diversified tastes, and while the customers keep spending the money for such games they will exist.

[Ashihara no Nakatsukuni]

And go where? What other systems will they go to? Their failing software Origins, which will never live up to Steam? Please, EA would kill itself.

I don't know what they're doing, but they're getting mad at Microsoft and Sony for not charging enough for games now and are setting prices above the recommended price. Sources put EA's demands at 80 dollars a game. Source is here.

That is ridiculous. Who in their right mind, other than die-hard fans, would pay $80 for a game? If they wish to stay in business, they're not going to be able to go down this route. Seriously, 5 games would equal an entire console system on release date.

[Ashihara no Nakatsukuni]

What exactly is being argued here? A market will always have diversified tastes, and while the customers keep spending the money for such games they will exist.

I'm pointing out that trying to boycott sexist games is pretty much impossible since the people who buy sexist games OBVIOUSLY aren't going to boycott them since the sex appeal is part of why you'd buy such a game.

The people who do boycott were never going to buy sexist games anyway and thus the boycott never really impacts the industry.

And I agree with you, it wasn't so much pointed towards you but the other poster.

[Ashihara no Nakatsukuni]

Video games are pretty sexist, but the culture surrounding it is infinitely more so. Drako is a pretty good representation of the video gaming culture, constantly making asinine excuses and talking about breasts like they're so magical artifact, and disregarding female presence with comments like "The Sims don't count." It's a pretty shameful affair. The rampant sexism in video games only helps to perpetuate this culture. I honestly feel like I've heard every one of Drako's sentiments mirrored exactly at least a hundred times by different, random people.

Sometimes I hang out with groups dedicated to individual video games for a while, and it doesn't take long to see how bad it is. Be careful, you might get called the dreaded f-word there. Nope, it's not faggot, that's tossed around with utmost glee. No, if you misbehave you might get called a feminist. Shock and awe. The terror. Honestly, it really annoys me. I'd like to be able to talk about video games without all the sexist self-entitled garbage that accompanies it.

The industry itself can be pretty bad at times to. I know that my significant other got involved with making an indie game before, and pretty much her input on things was completely ignored and they barely even let her do her own job. She's damn creative, so it's a shame they passed her ideas up to go with the usual bland SWM space marine. Bleh.

The industry's not all bad though, and it's certainly getting better at least in some regards. One of the games I'm following the development of, Starbound, has an pretty diverse crew behind it. I don't know the overall condition of the industry, but as the generation that grew up on video games takes a larger part in shaping them, I can certainly hope for the better.

I completely agree, and am very sorry to here about the SO's troubles in the industry. It's changing, but ever-so-slowly. It has to start with the community before anything changes, but the world itself has become with sexualized.

[Ashihara no Nakatsukuni]

Perhaps because most people don't actually know.

Reading this thread makes this fact blatantly obvious.

The only thing I'll agree with their rant on the video is that she does constantly repeat the same information, over and over and over. I only got about five minutes in because I was tired of being explained to what damsel in distress was about and that there was violence. I know! You are already told me four times before!

[Ashlak]

I do think that there is a degree of sexism in video games and entertainment in general, because entertainment is influenced by society, and society states that there are certain ways men and women have to be and act, thus this inevitably finds its way into entertainment. I think it's getting better as time goes on, though.