80°

Add Breasts and Stir: On Gender Equality in Videogames

It's no secret that gender is a problematic topic in videogames as well as game culture at large. While some people have advocated for the inclusion of more women in our videogames, there are many reasons why the recipe for gender equality isn't that simple.

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-Gespenst-3823d ago (Edited 3823d ago )

Great piece, and yes, tokenism or gender essentialism is undesired. However, the problem with allowing leeway for "hyper-sexualization& quot ; is that such a thing still largely takes place in the matrix of patriarchy. In other words, a lot of women hyper-sexualize themselves to attract the male-gaze, not because of their own self-determination. Many women, because they've been immersed and implicated in a patriarchal power dynamic for centuries, have internalized their "role" as sex objects. It's therefore dangerous to support hyper-sexualization lest it slips back into the old way of doing things. Women need first to be liberated from the idea that they exist to appease and please men. They idea itself is a social, cultural construction with no basis in reality or nature. Hyper-sexualization toes the edge of the precipice though. It might encourage women to slip back into that patriarchal dynamic.

If you deny hyper-sexualization however, you run the risk of being accused of body-shaming or slut-shaming, but I think the point of arguing against CONTEMPORARY sexualization has to do with how such a practice functions within this social order. We're still not out of the woods with regards to patriarchy. In an ideal world, people can be who THEY want to be without offending anybody, but as it stands, we have to challenge hypersexuality not to deny it, but to deny the exploitative and objectifying FORM it takes in this society. To undo such a historical habit will take a lot of work, and such a denial or refutation still isn't exactly mainstream. A lot of women have still fully internalized the "rules" imposed by patriarchy like a kind of Stockholm Syndrome. That isn't necessarily their fault though, it has to do with the cultural and social force of patriarchy that shapes them and limits the kind of information that they can access.

HelpfulGamer3823d ago

Women's Freedom of Expression shall not be oppresed.

Gender Equality? Everyone should be allow to have Huge Breast! Freedom for All to enjoy Beautiful Videogame Characters!

Liberty for Women to wear what they want! :D

Fishermenofwar3823d ago

I like...I like... :)

I declare...No..I decree every woman should have epic underboob

IanVanCheese3823d ago

I could probably say I love Hitler and get downvoted less than you're about to be.

_QQ_3823d ago

Getting tired of this topic, you wan't more female leads and non sexy women in games then go learn how to make games and do it yourself, don't try to deny developers artistic freedom because you want to play as average jane.

Seriously what do people not get about this? This isn't Politics where every group needs proper representation this is entertainment where the artist creates his vision,if that Vision doesn't Involve an average female lead so be it.

Its fine to want it but people need to stop acting like they are entitled to it.Same goes for "Ethnicity equality in games"

TricksterArrow3823d ago (Edited 3823d ago )

The funny thing is that the world of video-games is as full of sexy women as it is not. I see many articles bashing the sexy ones, but almost NONE saying kudos and putting the "much-so-needed-average-j ane" in the spotlight.

The other way around can be also applied to male characters, to be completely honest. The average male of today has many, if not as much, self-image problems as women do.

Dude4203823d ago (Edited 3823d ago )

I seriously don't get this. Why do some people act like women are the victim of sexualization? Is it because men are stereotypically dogs? Men stereotypically drool at the sight of boobs?

Why does no one talk about the sexualization of men in video games? I guess no one does because apparently every guy in the world actually has 6-packs, hulking muscles and a handsome face, charming personality and is a bad boy. I'm sure that these qualities are almost every girl's wet dream.

Anyway, I'm not going to bother writing an essay, you get the point. This is such a double-standard it's ridiculous.

Dude4203823d ago

I'm not sure what you're trying to get at, but just to clarify, I'm a guy. I actually don't give a crap if there's any sexualization in video games.

All I'm trying to point out is the hypocrisy of the media and all these articles about women being victims of sexualization is getting tiring. If these people can't deal with it, then they got major issues.

TheFirstClassic3823d ago

"Why does no one talk about the sexualization of men in video games? I guess no one does because apparently every guy in the world actually has 6-packs, hulking muscles and a handsome face, charming personality and is a bad boy. I'm sure that these qualities are almost every girl's wet dream"

Eh, yes and no. Take Kratos or Marcus from Gears. These characters are not made for women, nor are women usually attracted to such overly muscular aggressive macho characters. Characters like that are the fulfillment of male fantasy, not women's. Understand that most women find men who are excessively muscular unattractive. I think there are very few male characters that you can say are aimed at pleasing women, they are usually intended to be what the male gamer would like fantasize being.

Dude4203823d ago (Edited 3823d ago )

Yes, but there are also male characters that are "ideal" for the women. I agree that in video games, there are characters as you mentioned that can be unattractive, I've exaggerated about the hulking muscles part.

However, you'd be naive to think that women aren't also attracted to eye candy. Although there are an increasing number of women getting into video games, it's still pre-dominantly male, so there's more emphasis on attractive girls. It might give the impression that women are sexual objects in video games.

However, take a look at movies, men get attracted to hot women sure. But then, what about movies like Thor, Daniel Craig in Bond, TV shows Arrow and Spartacus? Believe me when I say that a lot of women flock and pay just to see the half nekkidness.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if it's not such a big issue in movies, then why in video games?

160°

GTA 5’s cut “James Bond Trevor” DLC was already part-shot, actor says

The GTA 5 Agent Trevor DLC episode could have been a real treat for fans on PlayStation and Xbox, before it was scrubbed sometime before 2017.

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theloadout.com
Killer2020UK2d ago

More interested in money than giving fans what they want. Such a shame

CrimsonWing692d ago

With the amount of money they generated, I just don’t understand the scrubbing of this. It would’ve been fantastic for fans.

Profchaos2d ago

I really want to know who drove the decision to focus on multiplayer was it Rockstar or take two.

Because when online started taking off many of the studio leads began having falling outs and leading including a founder

Demetrius1d 23h ago

Ikr mfs that greedy it's ridiculous

andy852d ago

This makes me sad. Trevor was one of my favourite characters in gaming

Demetrius1d 23h ago

One of the reason I believe once gta 6 release, most of us thoroughly play it, enjoy the world they crafted then after that no offline support, no dlc at all

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50°

Grand Theft Auto V PC Optimized: Best Graphics Settings in 2024

Grand Theft Auto V was released on PC on the 14th of April 2015. That means the game will be nine years old in four days, and it’s still among the most-played titles on Steam. With a 24-hour peak of 145K players, it’s as popular as Baldur’s Gate 3, Apex: Legends, and Destiny 2.

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pcoptimizedsettings.com
80°

The Best Open World Adventures In Gaming History

The freedom to explore large areas, approach objectives in multiple ways, and stumble across amusing distractions will always be an excellent format for video games, but some do it better than others. To celebrate the formula and parse the best from the best, have a look at the best open-world games of all time so far.

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