Sexualization of female characters

[Dumac]

Does nobody find this a little gross? Especially when the character already exists, such as Cortana or EDI.

I just find it a little belittling. It says a lot to note not only the change in Cortanas figure, but also her posture.

 

[Drako]

I love EDIs camel toe

 

[PricklyPete]

These games are targeted at adolescent and older males...what is the problem exactly?

 

[exdeath]

Welcome to mainstream casual gaming. What else is new?

 

[Sulaco]

See; Lowest Common Denominator

 

[CVSiN]

Bah have you not been out at comicons or other gaming/conventions or Halloween? women do a pretty damn good job of sexing themselves up in costume..

women other than crazy feminazis want to be sexy.

hell some women wear what look like porno secretary outfits to work.. sex is everywhere and it does sell and is appealing by both sexes.

 

[Bobisuruncle54]

Do you not think that the vast majority of male characters are sexualised as well? If you don't... well you're never going to see the "issue" for what it really is.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Who the hell cares? This is like those "girl gamers" who put videos of themselves on youtube with a "girl gamer cause" and such.

Nobody gives a damn, and if you do, you're not a smart person.

 

[shortylickens]

This is a very old issue, and not much has been resolved in the 20 years or so its been going on.

 

[Dumac]

None of you find it disconcerting to take a strong female character and turn her into a sexual object?

What if they made Alyx Vance look like this. None of you would care? Not a problem?

 

[CVSiN]

None of you find it disconcerting to take a strong female character and turn her into a sexual object?

What if they made Alyx Vance look like this. None of you would care? Not a problem?

nope..

no problem found..

I prefer my women sexy but strong..
who wants to a play plain frumpy character?

and I'm no 20 something either.. I'm 41 and all for sexy women.

 

[VtPC83]

Men are just as sexualized in games... They are all usually very well built physically, strong in both will and physical strength and are usually the epitome of 'manliness'. They are usually successful in whatever they're doing unless they are villans.

These are all things women look for in men and all things women find sexually appealing in men.

Men tend to find physical attributes more appealing sexually than women do, which is why you see what you see.

It goes both ways, women are just more vocal about the fact that they don't measure up to the image portrayed. Men feel the same way as you but are FAR less vocal about it.

 

[Dumac]

Men are just as sexualized in games... They are all usually very well built physically, strong in both will and physical strength and are usually the epitome of 'manliness'. They are usually successful in whatever they're doing unless they are villans.

These are all things women look for in men and all things women find sexually appealing in men.

Men tend to find physical attributes more appealing sexually than women do, which is why you see what you see.

It goes both ways, women are just more vocal about the fact that they don't measure up to the image portrayed. Men feel the same way as you but are FAR less vocal about it.

For the most part, men created these characters for other men. None of this was done for the sake of females. For male characters, they make represent what the creators or audience wants to be. What they idolize, or think is cool. Like superheros. "Check out those muscles man! Awesome!". This also extends to personality as well

For female characters, it can just turn into what the male creators/audience want females to be. It is imposing expectations on another sex rather than themselves. And usually, personality isn't eve considered or there is a dichotomy between body and personality.

You also have to remember subject vs. object her. How often are male characters subjects as opposed to objects? Is this the same for female characters?

 

[purbeast0]

cortana looks pretty much the same as she did with better texturing and polygons, and some bigger boobs.

out of all the examples you could have given, i can't believe you didn't even bring up the most obvious one - lara croft.

http://www.aeropause.com/wordpress/archives/images/2008/08/laracrofttombraiderevowunderw.jpg

(although not much has really changed either)

and VtPC83 hit it right on the nail, and it is the same exact thing in movies as well.

 

[VtPC83]

Dumac, I won't argue that female characters in games are designed to look the most sexually appealing to men because that is their demographic.

In a weird twist though, the men in games are designed to look the most sexually appealing to women, this makes the guys playing them desire to emulate that and become what women desire most in men.

Edit- Just reread what you wrote, to go along with the above paragraph, men are just as excluded from choice as women are. Men can't see a video game where the male character isn't the epitome of what a female finds sexually attractive.

You have to understand, women are also creating these characters in games, either the actual look, personality or lines of dialog.

It's a never ending cycle, however one that is not often vocalized by men because they accept the fact that they TRULY want to be the men in the games. Women want to be the women but are vocal about the negative aspect of it.

I hate to sound misogynistic but this is how it has always worked. Women want to be THAT woman in the game but can't/won't so they vocalize how unfair it is (this is excluding the fact that the game models are infact not real).

Sorry, rambled a bit there.

 

[Bobisuruncle54]

VtPC83 is right. If one argues for the isolation and consideration of just female characters it only makes for a naive debate because it doesn't include all necessary factors.

Looking at the evolution of Cortana in a bit more detail, her appearance in Halo 4 may be more "revealing" but it is a far more realistic depiction of a woman of decent physical health than the others. She no longer looks as if she is wearing a push-up bra and has larger rounded hips with a realistic body fat percentage. No one seems to have spotted that due to the size of her head in proportion to her body, the first version of Cortana is actually closer to looking like a young teenage girl, which should be what you object to if anything.

Sexualisation is everywhere, it's what drives the species. Granted, I support the idea that as a civilisation we should make ourselves aware of our behaviour based on our instincts, environmental and social stimuli, but that doesn't necessarily mean we should endeavor to control or eradicate every aspect of it. That said, the subject goes far deeper than just the sexualisation of female characters in video games and can only really be used in a symbolic sense for that argument.

 

[rayfieldclement]

The sexual image of women or people are important. To simply dismiss talking about it doesn't seem smart. Luckily some games DO come with ratings. Because of computers you can make someone more sexual than in movies because the sexual person generaly is NOT an actress or actor unwilling to put up with nudity or sexy clothing. It matters because many people have THEIR own sexuality and parts of other people sexuality to go to. (for instance: Who likes big breasts? Do you start liking them since birth or did you see something in the media or real life that made you like them?)

 

[CVSiN]

men in games are sexualized too.. but unless you are gay you care less what they look like.
and on top of that most men in generally dont obsess over looking a certain way..

Women are never happy in their own skins 99% of the time and get all bent out of shape because the media and society wants the perfect playboy playmate body.. they seem to awlays compare themselves to celebs or video games etc.. I dont get it..

 

[cl-scott]

At least with EDI, they made a semi-amusing joke out of it later, where Joker was saying how if he knew she was planning something like that, he would have baked a cake.

But everyone seems to be overlooking Chiropractors here! I mean really, it's not just teenage boys that go nuts for giant breasts. Think about all the long-term back issues that would cause, and the source of steady revenue that would be for a chiropractor! Don't be such insensitive clods!

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'm balding, so I object to almost every male character having a lush, full head of hair. Gross!

They should have a British Royal hairline like mine.

And some belly flab.

I'm 6' so I don't object to the tallness, but that's too bad for you shorties' self-image.

 

[exdeath]

See; Lowest Common Denominator

Oh god that pic says Xbox, Halo, and CoD all over it. Eww.

 

[coldmeat]

Oh god that pic says Xbox, Halo, and CoD all over it. Eww.

They're using ps3 controllers

 

[exdeath]

They're using ps3 controllers

I saw that. Same difference. ZOMG dude I kill3d 3 people with 1 grenade!!!!11!

 

[Bobisuruncle54]

The sexual image of women or people are important. To simply dismiss talking about it doesn't seem smart. Luckily some games DO come with ratings. Because of computers you can make someone more sexual than in movies because the sexual person generaly is NOT an actress or actor unwilling to put up with nudity or sexy clothing. It matters because many people have THEIR own sexuality and parts of other people sexuality to go to. (for instance: Who likes big breasts? Do you start liking them since birth or did you see something in the media or real life that made you like them?)

Nobody is dismissing them, the argument is that everyone gets the same treatment regardless of gender whether the creators or users of content realise it or not. Sexualisation is quite literally everywhere and is not a phenomenon that only affects females, contrary to what many arguing about it in the first place would like to claim.

You touch on the perhaps the main subtopic that people raise when talking about this topic, which concerns the fact that virtual characters can be created by men and women. The theory being that if a man creates a "sexy" female character, it is derogatory as it creates an inaccurate representation of real women, who are then supposedly on the receiving end of more misogynistic men because they play and are influenced by said games.

Perhaps the most interesting target by sites such as Kotaku has been Catwoman in Arkham City, who despite using her sexuality as a weapon, has been criticised for being insulting towards women. Perhaps the most interesting thing is, that despite all this bandwagoning and various parties feeling offended, from Kotaku and others such as Feminist Frequency, none of them adequately describe why they are actually offended or what should be occurring instead. It seems that the fact that they are offended should be enough to warrant change. That's pretty absurd and it seems to be a very popular trend these days - that being offended should be enough to curb free speech and expression when said parties are unable to explain why they are offended in the first place.

 

[Soccerman06]

Thread needs more pics imo