Sexism in gaming, do we really give a f**k?

[hazabaza1]

I've stopped caring about the content in games and how badly it misrepresents whoever for whatever reason.

After the constant "discussion" about it anywhere you went it got kind of tiring so now I'm basically in the position of "fuck it." It's nice to get more characters like Elizabeth or Jade, but honestly the whole industry could fill with Dragon's Crown sorceresses and the only reason I'd care is because it'd make playing in front of people weird.

 

[Frotality]

really, not giving a f**k is what everyone needs to do. the sooner we and developers stop over-analyzing what gender a character design is supposed to appeal to and why, the sooner we can start designing characters that are meant to appeal to customers regardless of gender.

the only problem is a lack of diversity in titles, something that goes far beyond gender wars into the much simpler territory of a struggling industry sticking with what is safe. there are a lot more female gamers now, and they enjoy CoD and GoW just fine, but like prepubescent boys publishers have no f**king clue what to do with these market changes so they chose to retreat into their ivory tower of basement nerds and frat house CoD tourneys that made financial success so damn simple. theyve had some success with social elements as a means to appeal to this crazy 2-gendered demographic, but old habits die hard.

 

[R.Nevermore]

I think people just need to lighten up and vote with their wallet. If you see something that you don't like, don't buy it. I think the art in Dragon Crown looks unbelievably stupid... Sexist ? Who cares? It's art. I just won't buy it because I think it looks stupid.

 

[Andy Shandy]

I must admit, with the same discussion on sexism coming up pretty much weekly now, with the exact same arguments being spouted back and forth, I've becoming so apathetic about the whole sexism "discussion".

Yes, it might be nice to occasionally have a female character that isn't just "LOOK AT MY BOOBS" and I'd wish the women didn't feel as marginalized as they seem to, but the constant bickering for all sides has made me not give a singular fuck.

So I suppose in answer to your title question...No, I don't give a fuck.

 

[flarty]

I've stopped caring about the content in games and how badly it misrepresents whoever for whatever reason.

After the constant "discussion" about it anywhere you went it got kind of tiring so now I'm basically in the position of "fuck it." It's nice to get more characters like Elizabeth or Jade, but honestly the whole industry could fill with Dragon's Crown sorceresses and the only reason I'd care is because it'd make playing in front of people weird.

That's kind of my point. I doubt the same people who say the portrayal of women is sexist in games stood up and complained about the portrayal of poor brown people in modern military shooters. So why should we give a fuck that they are offended by this?

Yes, it might be nice to occasionally have a female character that isn't just "LOOK AT MY BOOBS" and I'd wish the women didn't feel as marginalized as they seem to, but the constant bickering for all sides has made me not give a singular fuck.

But here is a valid point, i didn't expect my ex to be entertained by the expendables, and she didn't expect me to be entertained by sex in the city.

 

[hazabaza1]

I've stopped caring about the content in games and how badly it misrepresents whoever for whatever reason.

After the constant "discussion" about it anywhere you went it got kind of tiring so now I'm basically in the position of "fuck it." It's nice to get more characters like Elizabeth or Jade, but honestly the whole industry could fill with Dragon's Crown sorceresses and the only reason I'd care is because it'd make playing in front of people weird.

That's kind of my point. I doubt the same people who say the portrayal of women is sexist in games stood up and complained about the portrayal of poor brown people in modern military shooters. So why should we give a fuck that they are offended by this?

That's really not what I'm saying.
I've just kind of stopped giving a shit either way.

 

[flarty]

I've stopped caring about the content in games and how badly it misrepresents whoever for whatever reason.

After the constant "discussion" about it anywhere you went it got kind of tiring so now I'm basically in the position of "fuck it." It's nice to get more characters like Elizabeth or Jade, but honestly the whole industry could fill with Dragon's Crown sorceresses and the only reason I'd care is because it'd make playing in front of people weird.

That's kind of my point. I doubt the same people who say the portrayal of women is sexist in games stood up and complained about the portrayal of poor brown people in modern military shooters. So why should we give a fuck that they are offended by this?

That's really not what I'm saying.
I've just kind of stopped giving a shit either way.

I'm pissed just agree please.

 

[Atmos Duality]

So long as the predominant gaming market consists primarily of heterosexual males in their teens-20s, don't expect the focus-tester-based companies to provide anything more than token efforts to appeal to gamers outside of that demographic.

In that, I'm pretty much resigned to looking past obvious pandering, and more towards the good gameplay.
Fortunately, most of the games that most appeal to me right now aren't really pandering.

 

[piinyouri]

Nope.
I saw the sorceress in Dragons Crown about a year ago, long before (I imagine) anyone here was even talking about the game.
Do you know what I said when I saw her design flash up on screen?

"Huh"

 

[ShinyCharizard]

No. I do not care even slightly.

Every time sexism in games comes up it always seems to be over such trivial bullshit to the point that I can't imagine why anyone would care.

 

[Uhura]

I think it's amusing that most of these sexism/feminism threads are started by people who are sick and tired of sexism/feminism discussions. In the Gaming subforum of the Escapist we now have:

-"do we really give a fuck about sexism" thread (criticism of the sexism debates on the Escapist)
- "the final proof" thread (criticism of kotaku-writer's sexism allegations)
- "wow...just wow" thread (criticism of 'feminist rhetoric')

In addition, most of the numerous Sarkeesian threads that have popped up during the past year have been complaint-threads about Sarkeesian and her project... Sure looks like people don't want to talk about sexism and feminism... (and when I say talk I mean complain and ridicule).

 

[Erttheking]

You know that giant beefy men is a common criticism thrown at GoW? Right?

And if you don't like talking about sexism, how come you made a thread about it?

And the homphobic slurs, was that really called for?

 

[SlaveNumber23]

I really don't care, but sexism is a problem in every facet not just gaming. So if anything is going to change, it needs to be on a much larger scale than just video games...

Agreed, sexism in video games is more of a symptom of a problem than a problem in itself.

Honestly, I don't care about sexism in video games at all, all it does is tell us that society in general is sexist, there is no reason to start bludgeoning games and games developers over it. When compared with other symptoms of sexism in our society, sexism in video games is absolutely trivial, its negligible. The real problems need to be sorted out, using video games as a punching bag isn't going to help anything.

 

[Chemical Alia]

Yeah, and I hope people keep talking about it until the industry starts to change. I want to be comfortable with the games I play and proud of the games I work on.

 

[generals3]

Until people realize there is a difference between:
Definition of sexism
noun
[mass noun]

prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex:

and:

Definition of sexualize
verb
[with object]

make sexual; attribute sex or a sex role to:

All debates are just plain nonsense. And people also need to wake up and realize what they're implying when they equate both.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Why don't we concentrate on real life sexism instead.

 

[Soundwave]

I do, but mostly because it stifles creativity.

 

[IceForce]

If no one truly gave a fuck about this, we wouldn't have 20 page threads on it every week.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

If no one truly gave a fuck about this, we wouldn't have 20 page threads on it every week.

And the world would be a better place. Those threads are already time bombs for flame wars.