Girl Gamer's Opinion

[Fire Daemon]

That's a fair point you made initially but, most JRPG's?

Err, what?

I think that in JRPG's female characters are potrayed as being mentaly stronger then the male characters.

In most JRPG's the female characters are the spell casters, meaning they have a stronger will and are more inteligent then the male characters.

I'm the sort of person that thinks a higher intelligence is better than physical strength. For me when a JRPG is showing a female as the smartest person in the party they are showing them as the "best" person in the parter. (And everyone needs a healer).

 

[Rockerallan]

Ok this thread has gone way off topic and has turned into a psychological debate with what looks like informations copied and pasted it from websites adding up to an argument worthy of a schoolyard. Or maybe you all have degrees in psychology, who knows?

Now back to the topic at hand, the objectification of women in video games is hardly the fault of developers of the games themselves. We can probably assume that todays developers all grew up in similar situations, they were probably the more geeky ones in school that grew up reading fantasy and sci-fi novels (do correct me if I'm wrong, I just woke up and I'm still not sure if i'm making sense) Women have been objectified in this medium for decades theres the elf huntress who hunts in lingerie (sp?) for example, whereas the tough male warrior wears full plate armour carries a big sword and beats the crap out of goblins with it and reward gets scantily clad women.

My point is (and i realise that I haven't stated it very well) that it has been established for years that women in games and in fantasy in general are an object of desire always have been always will be, just don't go blaming todays developers for it.

 

[Fire Daemon]

That's one of the best jokes I've heard thus far :]

I aim to please but can't you make a better response then that. If you disagree with someone, tell other people why.

Criticizing people and/or their posts without adding to the topic makes you a troll.

To avoid hypocrisy: Games that have a realistic women as a main character or games that allow for the player to chose their gender are a step in the right direction for gender equality in games, but it'll be a long time (if not never) before characters like Ivy are gone for good.

 

[Fire Daemon]

Well most JRPGs that have playable female characters usually make them physically weaker but have the ability cast spells or heal other members in the party (AKA Use magic... like a wizard).

In Western RPGs (and many fantasy settings and novels) a Wizard (or other spell casting classes) usually have a higher intelligence then say... your average barbarian. Therefore why is it so absurd to assume that the same applies for JRPGs? Why is it that people can look at a wizard and say "Well that guy is smart" but look at a female JRPG character anyone who thinks they are smart is joking.

Unless you found the "intelligence is better then physical strength" the source of your merriment. If that?s true then I ask you, why is placing intelligence as a more admirable trait then physical strength humorous?

Unless you found the "intelligence is better then physical strength" the source of merrimet. If thats true then I ask you, why is placing intelligence as a more admirable trait then physical strength humorous?

 

[EeveeElectro]

Men need something to look at. Sex sells.
Women have the fair share of hunks in video games too, not that I'm admitting to fancying any video game characters... *Shifty eyes*
The reason why I think men don't complain about the guys being hunks or showing off their bodies is because they don't give what a crap what the guys look like, they're just interested in the game.
Or maybe they think, "That guy's so badass, he's allowed to have his shirt off," or something.
Sorry, I'm not a guy, so I'm just guessing here.

 

[Brett Alex]

These threads invariably devolve into arguing over the existence or non-existence of sexism, claims that certain behaviors are natural and inherited from our prehistoric ancestors, and the assertion that the exaggerated depiction of masculinity in video games is just as discriminatory as the boobs-and-bikini-armor character design of female characters. I'm not saying you should discontinue this thread, I'm just saying be prepared for 7-13 pages of arguing about the above-listed subjects.

Wow, that is quite scarily accurate. I think if this site were a JRPG it would validate Fire Daemons argument, she is a girl, has a higher magical ability and has predicted the future.

 

[tobyornottoby]

I thought you were seriously joking considering you posted this:

I think that in JRPG's female characters are potrayed as being mentaly stronger then the male characters.

In most JRPG's the female characters are the spell casters, meaning they have a stronger will and are more inteligent then the male characters.

I'm the sort of person that thinks a higher intelligence is better than physical strength. For me when a JRPG is showing a female as the smartest person in the party they are showing them as the "best" person in the parter. (And everyone needs a healer).

I would bold for emphasis, but the whole post doesn't strike me as being anything other than facetious.

I've completely lost you here... I read that post and say 'yeah, that's right' :S

To add to it: during conversations/cutscenes, the women are usually smarter than the men, so that further emphasizes it, and shows they really count.

Some even shuffle the roles a bit. I've seen men wearing pink and women carrying trees (thus being the strongest of the party). There's still a lot of 'saving-the-princess' going on, but o well.

Next to that, as far as I know those females aren't disproportionate (and neither are the men).

So please, bold. I agree fulheartedly that JRPG's are among the most progressive, if not the most female-friendly of the 'hardcore' genres (would kinda explain why many girl gamers love em so much)

Why does depicting a man and a woman wearing a dress side by side send two different messages? Culture!

Culture? I'd say again it's deeply, deeply rooted

These threads invariably devolve into arguing over the existence or non-existence of sexism, claims that certain behaviors are natural and inherited from our prehistoric ancestors, and the assertion that the exaggerated depiction of masculinity in video games is just as discriminatory as the boobs-and-bikini-armor character design of female characters. I'm not saying you should discontinue this thread, I'm just saying be prepared for 7-13 pages of arguing about the above-listed subjects.

They're fun! ^^

 

[kinch]

If you think I'm reading 5 pages of this thread, you're sadly mistaken...

But... here we go again. Women good, men evil, we objectify women and it's all our fault blah blah blah. Maybe we should make a seperate sub-forum for all the guy vs girl threads that seem to be appearing around here?

To the girl gamers, talk to Decoy Doctorpuss - he's setting himself as the champion of female gamers, read a couple of his threads, talk to him, and get a petition going or something. In the meantime, why don't you keep this stuff... close to your chest (get it?).

 

[Ultrajoe]

To me the female characters in games is something that gets my gripes, and its from the double standard i observe.

If a male character is poorly developed in character, its a poor character and declared as such.

If a female character is poorly developed (here, developed has nothing to do with cleavage), its suddenly another example of how the gaming industry always underestimates the female mind.

Do i think women are poorly represented on occasion? yes, but it's more than likely to be a poor character than one based on a flawed view of women. If you truly want acceptance, start with the developers, accept that crap characters exist as do good ones (Alex Vance, Cortana (apart from being an AI, she was a great female character, Samus Aran or The Prince of Persia chick). Give us some credit ladies (and menfolk who support the cause), we do sometimes make a mistake out of pure inability rather than a creeping maliciousness designed to undermine the female conscience.

Now, what the females wear... that i can agree on, nothing makes me more helpless in the hands of a woman like chest-stuffing... but some of the games are ridiculous. I like big boobs in games... but not gigantism localized on the ribcage.

Ultrajoe, not sure what he wants but damn sure he wants it since 1956. Thats right, his desires predate him.

Im on page one here, so if this has been covered i apologize.

 

[sirdanrhodes]

Another woman complaining about games... We treat you like we treat each other, like sh*t.

 

[SecretTacoNinja]

I'm saying this as a female gamer:

Samus Aran, Alyx Vance, Joanna Dark, the chick from Portal.

Huh, that's all I can think of. But there is a new female antagonist on the scene, Faith and I think she looks awesome.

You were saying they all have to be beautiful and big-chested but you're forgetting the girl from Portal (I don't know her name lol), she isn't beautiful but she has the sweetest gun ever.

You shouldn't whine too much about women in games, it is more of a guy thing I'll admit that, but there are some awesome females and I hope they'll be more in the future. You're right about the giant tits and wearing thongs and high heels and skimpy outfits FOR FIGHTING, ugh, I know guys like to look at that stuff but come on! How the fuck are you supposed to fight in a thong and high-heels with your tits hanging out?

 

[ThePlasmatizer]

I'm saying this as a female gamer:

Samus Aran, Alyx Vance, Joanna Dark, the chick from Portal.

Huh, that's all I can think of. But there is a new female antagonist on the scene, Faith and I think she looks awesome.

You were saying they all have to be beautiful and big-chested but you're forgetting the girl from Portal (I don't know her name lol), she isn't beautiful but she has the sweetest gun ever.

You shouldn't whine too much about women in games, it is more of a guy thing I'll admit that, but there are some awesome females and I hope they'll be more in the future. You're right about the giant tits and wearing thongs and high heels and skimpy outfits FOR FIGHTING, ugh, I know guys like to look at that stuff but come on! How the fuck are you supposed to fight in a thong and high-heels with your tits hanging out?

With extreme caution? lol

I agree there are plenty of awesome female characters, I think the TC has missed out on a lot of great games.

Another point, It's obvious SC4 is a fan service type game so when people buy it they need to understand that, and if they don't like it they can always make their own character.

 

[daedrick]

Girls are NEVER pure strengh. They are agility. And you cant be agile if you wear 1 tons of armor. >

Oh yeah, and we like pretty stuff, you know. Like everybody in this world.