Sydust said:
I guess we couldn't avoid it. Duke Nukem Forever is coming. I bet it'll do wonders for how women are treated in video games.
Am I the only one who thinks that putting out a game with so much obvious misogyny is looking back to a stereotype we're trying to escape as an industry?
Imagine if they put out a game where black people were treated as idiot servants. Why is that more taboo than putting out a game where women are feeble sex objects? They're both equally offensive! Honestly. Are we all twelve? Is treating women as inferior really the type of humor we still think is funny?
Just think about it for a minute. Imagine yourself as a woman. Now imagine that people look at you and treat you like you don't belong, like your only purpose is to be sexy and have sex.
I'm not trolling, I'm being serious. I'm so tired of this stuff. Can't we please grow up? I just want to go to a convention and not be confused with a booth babe. I just want to play in a tournament and not have my opponents mocked for being beaten by a female, or assume that it's because I'm a female the times when I lose.
Am I the only one who isn't looking forward to a game where the women are kidnapped, naked, slutty, and feeble? As a mainstream title?
I'd rather play a game where my gender is portrayed with stereotypes at the same level as the other characters in the game (as Duke Nukem is an obvious stereotype of machismo men and the aliens are obvious stereotypes of, well, aliens) than play a game that takes one of the best women characters in the history of gaming and totally ruin any respect for her independence that I had (
Metroid Other M).
[small]yeah, still grinding my teeth about that one[/small]
This game (and franchise) have always been about taking stereotypes and dialing them up to 11. And to be honest, I don't have a problem with that. I'm secure enough in my own identity and my own abilities (as a gamer and in other walks of life) that I don't even recognize my gender as a factor when interacting with others (except with my husband, of course). I work in an industry that is still almost completely male in makeup, and gaming is talked about (and, yes, indulged in) all the time. I've never felt like they treated me like 'the girl' (when I kicked their butt or when they kicked mine). I also attend one of the larger geek conventions in the US every year, and I have observed a gradual shift from exploiting sex to taking advantage of sensuality (male and female) within our nerdy/geeky hobbies and society at large. I think that, overall, this game is made in the spirit of the new 'let's have fun making fun of stereotypes' trope rather than the old 'heh heh bewbs are cool' mentality.
Is sexism a non-issue? Of course not, *but* we have reached the point where we can laugh at it (in games/movies/etc) or growl at the jerks who still honestly believe in it without getting patted on the head and told to 'just forget about it, no harm done'.
Granted, I haven't walked in your shoes. You obviously have felt the brunt of sexism, and I am sorry for that. Hopefully you will be able to continue just being yourself and dismiss the idiots who treat you that way in a manner which they deserve for their outdated thinking.
This is just my opinion, o' course.
And I do live in SoCal, which I know can be a 'leeetle' different than other areas when it comes to gender differentiation issues. :S
[small]Edit:
for the record, i laughed out loud during the trailer. Did you notice the crawling text sign behind the three-bosomed alien that read 'it's time to kick some ass!'?
hee hee[/small]