96: Resident Evil's Second Sex

[Arbre]

Yes. Which is exactly why it's a good choice for analysis. If feminist thinking applies only to the highbrow and never to the tabloid then it's not going to achieve much.

It's not what I'm saying. I believe there's quite some room to wiggle between highbrow and lowbrow games.

I don't think the problem is that male heroes can have the bodies of Greek Gods, it's what goes with it.
A *cough* famous philosopher said that sexiness is what you can't see. Or something like that.
Now, let's talk about voyeurism...

 

[shihku7]

Russ Pitts,

There are many ugly and hideous male game heroes. Take Street Fighter games. You can choose from all sorts of freakish male characters, but there isn't a single freakish female character I can think of outside of the character I mentioned before. Out of tens of thousands of female heroes. What gives? Why such an extreme double standard?

And Marcus Fenix is a terrible example of "the objectification" of men. The guy is hideous and has no sex appeal whatsoever. What he does do is achieve the "ass kicking Nazi" look that men want. But he's in no way designed to appeal to women, that's for sure.

 

[Lara Crigger]

And Marcus Fenix is a terrible example of "the objectification" of men. The guy is hideous and has no sex appeal whatsoever. What he does do is achieve the "ass kicking Nazi" look that men want. But he's in no way designed to appeal to women, that's for sure.

Speak for yourself. I think he's a grubby, dirty sort of hot, brimming with testosterone and sweat and chest hair. I can only speak for myself, but you may be underestimating his sex appeal.

 

[Russ Pitts]

I'll let Lara's opinion on that matter stand, but I do think you're overstating your case a bit, saying there are "tens of thousands of female heroes." Although you do have a point: There are not many ugly female game characters. I can't speak to why this may be, although if I had to guess, I would say it had something to do with the fact that most games are made by men, and that most men like looking at hot chicks, not ugly ones. Granted, I'm going way out on a limb here ...

 

[Bongo Bill]

I don't think anybody's wondering why attractive females appear in games, Russ. The question seems to be why there appear to be (virtually) no unattractive ones - which is, of course, a question that can be applied to entertainment as a whole, not merely games.

 

[Joe]

Because people like pretty things to look at, and sex sells?

 

[Russ Pitts]

Yeah. I'm with Joe on this one. There is no separation there. Un-pretty things don't appear for the same reason pretty things do: we like pretty things. Looking deeper is simply an exercise in obfuscatory investigation. And yes, I made that term up. You can use it if you like.

 

[Bongo Bill]

Maybe I was unclear. That's still explaining why attractive ones are so common. The question is why everybody is buying into the "sex sells" rationale - that there is not even a single radical visionary out there who'll make entertainment with an unattractive female lead, even when unattractive male leads are out there.

Unattractive heroes exist. They're uncommon, but they exist. They have even been used in serious, protagonistic, and admirable roles rather than comedic, antagonistic, and pitiful ones. Why can the same not be said for heroines? Is it that men are more easily motivated than women to see sexy things? Is it that women find it harder to identify with a really ugly main character than men do? Is it just that the idea has become entrenched in the business side of entertainment, and the sheer inertia of money is keeping the uggos out of pop culture?

I don't believe that it's just a matter of preferring to look at pretty things. That would explain why attractive characters are more common (and they are), but not why unattractive characters are absent.

 

[Ferrous Buller]

There's no question that (non-casual) videogaming remains an overwhelmingly male-dominated entertainment medium, on both the producer and consumer side of things. As such, most games are made to appeal to traditional male tastes; in particular, your average game is some variant on a male power fantasy, with the usual heapings of sex and/or violence.

When it comes to characters, this usually means badass men and sexy women: both are idealized, but from the perspective of male tastes; the women are far more likely to be reduced to sex objects or McGuffins. So the male hero may or may not be attractive, but he is always confident and powerful (i.e., the sort of guy male gamers want to be); while the women may or may not be able to hold their own in a fight, but they are always sexy (i.e., the sort of gal male gamers want to bang).

That's an over-simplification, of course, but it's a reasonable generalization of the industry, IMHO. Fortunately, there are exceptions to the norm, like the ladies of Resident Evil: they're all attractive young women, but they're also capable and good at their jobs. Rarely are they reduced to the role of token love interest or damsels in distress (Ashley being an obvious exception).

Fighting games tend to represent the best and worst impulses of the game industry when it comes to female characters: Dead or Alive is a prime example. On the one hand, the women are meant to be sexy: physically well-endowed and usually dressed in rather ridiculously revealing outfits. [Personally I find the proportions on the DOA ladies to be disturbing and getting creepier with each release, but maybe that's just me.] So: male gaze. OTOH, they're all capable fighters: usually smaller and weaker than their male counterparts, but faster and more agile; they can outmaneuver their slower lumbering male opponents. So in theory: equal status.

Now as it happens, there are quite a few women who like the same things their male gamer counterparts do. But that's not the same thing as saying the industry is marketing those games towards women. There are women who enjoy good ol'-fashioned violence as much as any man; they just prefer it when the female characters are not a bunch of slutastic window dressing.

 

[Russ Pitts]

I don't believe that it's just a matter of preferring to look at pretty things. That would explain why attractive characters are more common (and they are), but not why unattractive characters are absent.

Actually, I believe it does. When given a choice, one will defer to one's preference. After all, game devs (who are mostly male) have to look at all of those female characters, too. Often for far longer than we do. Why not make them pretty?

Besides, let's not overlook the possibility that even the most pixellated, slightly-not-quite-super-model-esque female game character is attractive in some way to us because we're trained to find certain features attractive (i.e. breasts), and adding them (of any size) to a game character is a sure-fire way to make said character "attractive." Even the hint of a breast can be said to titillate (some would say more so than a full-on view). Hell, there are folks who find Samus attractive (in a full body suit) just because they know there's a woman in there, somewhere.

Are sincerely we looking for a deep philosophical reason why, in a market dominated by the 18-24 male demographic, in an industry predominantly run by males of approximately the same age, there's an overabundance of female eye-candy? I don't want to quash anyone's inquisitive leanings, but fellas, please. This one is pretty black and white.

 

[Ferrous Buller]

The reasons why things are the way they are aren't really in question. It's whether or not they should change - and if so, in what ways - which are the interesting questions...

 

[Joe]

The reasons why things are the way they are aren't really in question. It's whether or not they should change - and if so, in what ways - which are the interesting questions...

I'm not sure it should change. From a business perspective, an ugly hero or heroine doesn't serve the target demographic: human beings.

People like sexually attractive people (of both genders) because they tickle the survival/reproduction part of our brains - you know, the part buried wayyy under the frontal lobe. Having a strong preference toward a visually appealing member of the species is older than humanity. But I'm pretty laissez-faire when it comes to genetic memory. If a 300-pound fat dude becomes a symbol of fertility and survival in the coming generations, that'll become the image of the hero.

As far as exceptions to the rule, they're usually exceptions that prove it. When writers make a point to mention the hero is ugly, it's either to give him something to overcome or to make a statement. The most notable instance of an unattractive heroine I can think of is Brienne in The Song of Ice and Fire series. Martin spends page after page after page reminding us that Brienne is ugly so ugly oh God is she ugly hey guys did I mention she's ugly? He's clearly trying to make a point about the sexy heroine in the fantasy genre, and probably mirroring himself a bit. Also see Tyrion in the same series. They're characters you like more just because they're forced to deal with a handicap - in this case, their appearance. But I sure wouldn't want to be them. And what kind of hero is that?

 

[Bongo Bill]

As I recall, Lancelot was supposed to be ugly, and none of the Arthur authors ever really dwelled on that, just mentioned it.

 

[Joe]

According to our friend on the internet [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancelot], one book makes him out to be ugly. A few others make him out to be bisexual. Ultimately, though, dude killed a lot of stuff but also went around behind his friend's back to sleep with his wife, so I'm not sure he's exactly a classic hero.

 

[Echolocating]

I don't believe that it's just a matter of preferring to look at pretty things. That would explain why attractive characters are more common (and they are), but not why unattractive characters are absent.

Actually, I believe it does. When given a choice, one will defer to one's preference. After all, game devs (who are mostly male) have to look at all of those female characters, too. Often for far longer than we do. Why not make them pretty?

I'm kind of with Russ on this. It's not that I'm disappointed with having attractive characters... I'm put off by the stereotypical attractiveness we see. Ada, in RE4, is stereotypical. Her appearance is unimaginative. The trick would be to present an attractive character in a common, believable way. As we get older, our appreciation of physical beauty matures as well.

I also realize that videogame characters serve to market the game and that the target audience is teenagers. I guess gaming will have to grow up a little more before we see mature takes on physical attractiveness.

However, I'm also a hypocrite... did I mention that? ;-)

 

[Russ Pitts]

As I recall, Lancelot was supposed to be ugly, and none of the Arthur authors ever really dwelled on that, just mentioned it.

Ultimately, though, dude killed a lot of stuff but also went around behind his friend's back to sleep with his wife, so I'm not sure he's exactly a classic hero.

Mallory [http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/1mart10.txt] pegged Lancelot as a number of things, mainly as an honorable warrior of "great prowess," and the best of all of Arthur's knights, never beaten in honest combat (he also has Merlin prophesying that Lancelot will kill Gawaine and bed Gweneviere, perhaps as a result of bearing his magnificent sword, or perhaps through some fated hamartia or whatnot), but nowhere that I found is it mentioned whether he's pretty or not.

He was also (mostly) virtuous, refusing the love of all comers to remain pure for his queen (platonically - at first), and even refusing to acknowledge her affection for him for a long time.

So we basically have a ferocious, unbeaten warrior, honorable to a fault, who plays hard to get and has devoted himself to doting on a woman he knows (assumes) he can't have. Whatever he looks like in the face, he's basically the archetype of the male romantic lead in any girl's fantasy. And in his own time, too - every woman in Camelot wanted him, but he turned them all down. Except, you know, his best friend (and king)'s wife.

 

[Joe]

Fair enough. Overall, I don't think it's a good example.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Fair enough. Overall, I don't think it's a good example.

Yeah, that was my smarty-pants way of saying the same thing.

But I think I had a larger point, that male fantasy characters aren't burdened with the same need to look pretty as their female counterparts. Whether this is some unfair double-standard enforced by our patriarchal society or a Truth having to do with the different wiring between the two models of humans, is irrelevant. It's a fact of life for most of us. Tough, capable men will attract attention whether they're nice to look at or not (I'm reminded here of that quote about power being an aphrodisiac, but I'm drawing a blank on the source.), whereas ladies seem to have the opposite problem.

Perhaps I'm oversimplifying, but it's hard not to when discussing the battle of the sexes. Allow me then to append a "generally speaking" to all of the above.