BioWare Pits Blonde Against Brunette in New FemShep Poll
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
- Start date
I like number 2, I think it fits the character and even if a different one is chosen, number 2 will be my femshep.
Blonde! Or dirty blonde! It'd be nice for a blonde person to be the hero for once... Speaking as one of the golden haired folk.
I actually agree with you up until the very end. I just don't think that her appearance is very relevant. She is still badass, her looks notwithstanding. I don't think altering her face really changes how I personally perceive her character. Yes, it is a prime example of the different standards to which genders are held, I suppose, and she certainly does look a bit young. I did also happen to prefer the model with a crew cut, because, as you said FemShep sporting "three-hours-to-apply styling" is a bit dumb. What I do actually like about this FemShep, is that her expression is both fierce and intense and represents the indomitable determination that characterizes Shepard.Somebloke said:There are other games, which are more blatant in their.. hmm "exposure", but here we have a disappointing kind of... "betrayal", for lack of a better word at hand.draconiansundae said:
Shepard, female option, has, repeating myself here, already gone through two games, enjoying the same natural respect as her male counterpart, based on her merits and personality and to some degree on decades of evolution in society. What she looks like, or even her gender, never really came into question at all. This was mostly because interaction was created neutral, to fit any Shepard, but it gave a degree of strength to the characterisation.
Had a model Shepardess been there all along, that would have been that (although just as "cheesy" as the usual marketing Shep) -- a complete swap two thirds into the trilogy, however: "Why? Why not just add detail to what you have - she'd already taken on something of a life of her own."
I'll admit I kind of liked that the slider preset was kind of "homely", by no means ugly, because, sure; one can be both "badass" and young and pretty and carry three-hours-to-appy styling into battle (and even be blonde), never said otherwise, but EVERY time in a movie/game/etc?
I am sure there was good intention here, on Mr.Silverman's part, giving the audience a feeling of participation, but the way it was done...
Some people try to turn the argument upside down, by suggesting critics of pandering to the male gaze, are themselves perpetuating a stereotype about "bimbos", but that is just hyperbole, more than bordering on an a strawman argument.
You hear people argue that it is only natural that the new marketing female Shepard looks so much younger, in a future where human lifespan has increased considerably. When asked why this doesn't seem to apply to Mark Vanderloo Shepard, they will state that people age differently. Well, that doesn't wash; Shepard is not two different people and at the end of the day, it is pure aplogism.
The real reason: Different beauty standards between the genders.
A man, who is handsome to begin with, can get away some wrinkles, a bit of stubble, a little salt and pepper at the temples - it may likely be a plus, supposedly adding an air of character, experience, sophistication, maybe a little bit of danger, but still: solid reliability.
Women seldom get to enjoy that luxury: young, pretty and fertile is the order of the day - use up and throw away. (I am exaggerating, of course, but still)
These are our base instincts in the moulding and, to some extent, tempering, of civilsation.
It's not solely "the male gaze", either, naturally. The expression: "The women want to be with him, the men want to be him", works correspondingly with the genders swapped.
I'll indulge in the same sort of hyperbole I'm accusing others of, by submitting that by making this a beauty contest at all (that is the big one) and with only a small selection of nigh identical "dollfaces" and on facebook of all places, Bioware has perpetrated a rather douchebag move, in which Shepard's merits are all forgotten and she is suddenly degraded to: "seriously dude: how hot is she?".
I think she looks pretty cool, overall, if a bit unrealistic. And believe me, my opinion is not based on how sexually attracted I am to the concept art.
You think that simply leaving her design alone would be a suitable alternative, and I respectfully disagree. Yes, I am annoyed that it's taken Bioware two games to create a default FemShep, but I'm glad that they are if only because it's fair. Besides, ManShep was also modelled to be attractive, albeit his design wasn't decided by a "beauty contest" as you put it. But he does look exactly like Mark Vanderloo, a Dutch model. Certainly, there are people that voted based solely on looks. However, there are also people who voted for the one they liked the most, like myself, though my choice lost.
If you don't like the new "dollface" FemShep, than just play a more "homely" custom character like apparently 80% of people who play the game do. Or if it upsets you that much, don't play the game at all. But that would be silly.
WAIT WAIT WAIT
this is gaing to be default what about the default from the last two games she wasnt "hot enough" so they change it bah
ill stick with the default form the last two i liked how she didnt look like a hollywood bimbo trying to do action movie. she looked like an army chick like she was supposed to. with a cute nose. male shep looked like an army due but we expect our male heroes/ army dudes to look like that. hence i claim that changing the female sheppard to a preconcieved notion of what a heroine should look like after already having established an apperiance; for the sole purpose of making her look better is...(yes im going to say it)...sexist. Just as sexist as not rendering her as well in the first and second games.
this is gaing to be default what about the default from the last two games she wasnt "hot enough" so they change it bah
ill stick with the default form the last two i liked how she didnt look like a hollywood bimbo trying to do action movie. she looked like an army chick like she was supposed to. with a cute nose. male shep looked like an army due but we expect our male heroes/ army dudes to look like that. hence i claim that changing the female sheppard to a preconcieved notion of what a heroine should look like after already having established an apperiance; for the sole purpose of making her look better is...(yes im going to say it)...sexist. Just as sexist as not rendering her as well in the first and second games.
I think if you look in the Codex (is it called that in Mass Effect too?) it says (in a round-about manner) that Shepard's in his/her 20's, so...Susan Arendt said:
Would it be so difficult to... I don't know... let us choose the hair colour on the character creation screen?
That said, I'm torn between blonde and black but I think I'd go with the black hair.
That said, I'm torn between blonde and black but I think I'd go with the black hair.
