Well, it has happened again. If you keep up with my blog (or know me IRL) you probably know that I keep as up to date as possible with my game industry news. As such, I frequent several game related sites on a regular basis to keep informed. Once again, however, what I've found has left me disheartened. A while back you may recall I wrote a blog on a deplorable article out of IGN. The latest news outlet (if it can even be called that) to catch my scorn is Screw Attack.
I don't usually go to screwattack.com except on occasion for an AVGN appearance and rarely for the poor mans Napoleon Dynamite: Keith Apicary, but I usually get all of that from the hub I do frequent Gametrailers.com. Out of sheer terror I watched a headlining video today about the top ten sexiest outfits in gaming. Congratulations Screw Attack, for making a little piece of me die in horror.
Why not go the whole 9 yards and tell her to get in the kitchen
This Top Ten list single handedly proves just about every negative stereotype surrounding the term gamer. These are your people, they are; sexist, homophobic, slanderous, chauvinistic, foul mouthed, men-children. What are women for in games? Well that head scratcher is answered within the first 15 seconds, they smell good and they're nice to look at! Really? Is that the important role that the narrator is referring to? Their role can't be more important than that, after all, Samus gets points taken off for TALKING (I understand critical acclaim wasn't so great for Other M, but come on, that's way out of context) Your intellect should feel pretty well insulted by now, so lets just move on.
This was not an exercise in trolling, Screw Attack is one of the many organizations that presents itself as a legitimate face to video games. They exclaim to the world that "gamers" can't go 5 seconds with out something being over sexualized or ultra violent. My best friend happens to be a woman (and my wife) and I like to think she plays a larger roll in my life then just being a pretty face (though she is a very pretty face :P).
As my good friend Jeremy says, lets Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba break this issue down, get ready for the heavy stuff. Art imitates life, now compare the women you know in real life to the ones in games. How many women do you know that dress like girls in games? Not to many, certainly not every girl on the street. How many girls from video games can even hold a candle to a real world counter part? It's pretty pathetic how few. Females can do more than just "get kidnapped" or "sex things up", a woman can be more than just a plot device. One again I will refer you back to Extra Credits for a deeper look into this issue.
We need to try harder people. For the love of everything good and sweet in this world we need to put a little more effort in understanding the world around us and applying that to video games as an artistic expression. Games are not just for children, true, but that doesn't mean they have to be made by pandering to hormone raging teens and young adults. I know I sound like a buzz kill, and I'm not trying to push sexual repression because intimacy is important to art and the human experience and that's what I'm all about at this blog; Games as art.
Fleshed out female character or just a flesh female character?
Great post! wholeheartedly agree.
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