Well, I'm a gay gamer, and the first time around my Hawke stuck with Merril. Would I ever sleep with a woman? God, no. But she was just too cute. That accent, the way jokes flew over her head, how she's all sweet and sincere but totally has a dark side. How could you not just want to hug her face?
So I don't understand why a straight male would be offended by a digital male hitting on their digital avatar. I might be a bit more understanding about a straight man being offended if that happened in real life, but the reaction and outcry by ~some~ of the straight, male gamers is so homophobic, it's not even offensive anymore. It's far beyond that, edging on disbelief. I honestly didn't even think that kind of hatred even existed outside of third-world countries anymore. Like racism, I just sort of assumed that kind of open contempt was reserved for the uncultured and ignorant. Though I suppose the anonymity of the internet is notoriously good at making thugs out of just about anyone.
That said, I can't say I expected to read about a straight male finding some amount of affection for a gay character in a game, let alone being open about it. I suppose it's a lot like what I felt for Merril. I wasn't ~actually~ interested in her myself, but for that particular playthrough (yes, I made it through several, 4 in fact before I'd had enough) that's who felt right for my Hawke. I'm glad to see there are open-minds out there, and I do in fact see more people standing up for Bioware's decisions than I see people complaining about them. It's a slow process, but the world is definitely changing.
@GUY JACKSON - You're missing a major point. Nowhere in that game, male or female, good or bad, or ANY kind of playthrough, are you FORCED to pick a gay love affair. What the game offers is the option to do so, but you can easily turn them down and stick purely with a friendly relationship with those people. They gain rivalry points, yes, but it's never enough to swing them drastically in the red. I think I got 10 rivalry for turning Anders down, then promptly got like 40 friendship total for doing his quest. What people are in an uproar about, and what Yahtzee is defending, is ~choice~. Nowhere in Yahtzee's article did I see him say you shouldn't have the option to be straight. What I saw was that being offended that you have the choice to be gay is rather ludicrous, and he's right. You for that matter, are as well. Just wanted to say that so you don't think I'm ragging on you, because I'm not. It's perfectly acceptable to want to be a straight male/female, but if you saw some of the things people were posting in response to the possibility of gay relationships in this game, you'd understand the purpose of this article and those like it.
As for your curiosity about the 'belief' that homophobia is often (not always) in conjunction with insecurities about one's manhood, there's scientific evidence behind that. It would be more than easy to find all the research done on it, but that's not something people pull out of the air. One cannot be a cockroach, but one can be gay. So seeing open homosexuality as someone who is trying to hide from it, is likely something that will offend. Sort of like how people hate on someone who is more attractive, richer, etc., than them when in fact they're living the life they wish they could. Not all people feel that way, but it's not an emotion that's difficult to understand, either.
So I don't understand why a straight male would be offended by a digital male hitting on their digital avatar. I might be a bit more understanding about a straight man being offended if that happened in real life, but the reaction and outcry by ~some~ of the straight, male gamers is so homophobic, it's not even offensive anymore. It's far beyond that, edging on disbelief. I honestly didn't even think that kind of hatred even existed outside of third-world countries anymore. Like racism, I just sort of assumed that kind of open contempt was reserved for the uncultured and ignorant. Though I suppose the anonymity of the internet is notoriously good at making thugs out of just about anyone.
That said, I can't say I expected to read about a straight male finding some amount of affection for a gay character in a game, let alone being open about it. I suppose it's a lot like what I felt for Merril. I wasn't ~actually~ interested in her myself, but for that particular playthrough (yes, I made it through several, 4 in fact before I'd had enough) that's who felt right for my Hawke. I'm glad to see there are open-minds out there, and I do in fact see more people standing up for Bioware's decisions than I see people complaining about them. It's a slow process, but the world is definitely changing.
@GUY JACKSON - You're missing a major point. Nowhere in that game, male or female, good or bad, or ANY kind of playthrough, are you FORCED to pick a gay love affair. What the game offers is the option to do so, but you can easily turn them down and stick purely with a friendly relationship with those people. They gain rivalry points, yes, but it's never enough to swing them drastically in the red. I think I got 10 rivalry for turning Anders down, then promptly got like 40 friendship total for doing his quest. What people are in an uproar about, and what Yahtzee is defending, is ~choice~. Nowhere in Yahtzee's article did I see him say you shouldn't have the option to be straight. What I saw was that being offended that you have the choice to be gay is rather ludicrous, and he's right. You for that matter, are as well. Just wanted to say that so you don't think I'm ragging on you, because I'm not. It's perfectly acceptable to want to be a straight male/female, but if you saw some of the things people were posting in response to the possibility of gay relationships in this game, you'd understand the purpose of this article and those like it.
As for your curiosity about the 'belief' that homophobia is often (not always) in conjunction with insecurities about one's manhood, there's scientific evidence behind that. It would be more than easy to find all the research done on it, but that's not something people pull out of the air. One cannot be a cockroach, but one can be gay. So seeing open homosexuality as someone who is trying to hide from it, is likely something that will offend. Sort of like how people hate on someone who is more attractive, richer, etc., than them when in fact they're living the life they wish they could. Not all people feel that way, but it's not an emotion that's difficult to understand, either.
