...have come under fire for being "sexist", and I can't for the life of me figure out why.
Ah, found the problem.
See, the fact that people like yourself can't "for the life of them" figure out why certain things might be sexist? That's exactly
why there is so much discussion about it. It's a real issue, and it really happens. And while there are still so many people who can say, "I don't see what the problem is," there's an obligation to continue pointing out the problem.
Not to equate the two topics, but rather to draw a parallel between the thought process now and an era ago:
There were seriously people who thought that "separate but equal" laws were a solution to the problem of racism. "What, we gave you your own stuff, what's the big deal? Geez, do we have to keep hearing about how it's not
really equal, and the only people who think it is are the people with the
better end of things? Can't these people just shut up and leave "us" to "our" society?"
Again, and let's be very clear, I'm not equating "sexism in videogames" with "racism in mid-20th century America." I'm drawing a parallel between the way people thought about problems that affected another group more than themselves, about which they were tired of hearing discussion. The fact that you want to close discussion before any lasting change has been made? That's
exactly why discussion needs to be forced to continue.