Sexist gaming moments (that's sexist not sexiest)

[Dahni]

there isn't much sexism in games, I think, or maybe I'm just desensitised to it. Generally, all the sexism I come across in games is from the other players. Guys get intimidated when I pose an actual threat to their manhood by being good at a game typically played by guys, like CoD4. Some of them find it mind-blowing. Both of those kinds of guys annoy me, the latter significantly less so, though.

i've been called a 'lesbian', 'dyke', 'man-beast', etc simply because I'm really not that bad at games. sure, i am not the girliest-girl around - i don't totter around in barely no clothes and heels the height of my forearm like a lot of girls i know - but if being able to play games and play them well makes me boyish and a bit weird, i'll happily accept that. So when I prove myself to be half-decent at a game, instantly guys go on the defensive. I couldn't possibly play a game and still be a fairly nice looking girl, so I must obviously weigh 20st and have a face like a pizza.

As for guys who find it so mind-blowing, I really don't understand that. Sure, it might be cool to have a few hundred more jokes to use to make your girlfriend laugh if she happens to be a gamer but beyond that, is there really anything amazing about it?

I just don't appreciate it when guys go easy on me because they expect me to pick up that controller and take a bitchfit when they attack me. I would absolutely love to sit here and say "i really don't care about sexism in games, i don't mind being stigmatised for what i choose to spend my spare time doing."
If I'm honest, it really gets to me. I can handle people doubting my intelligence because sometimes i say things that are a little less than smart. but I can't handle people assuming that because I am not a butch woman, i am pretty much incompetent when it comes to gaming.

also; this whole "girl gamer" pish annoys me. I am not a "girl gamer", I am a "gamer". nothing more, nothing less, and I do not wish to be separated from every other gamer on account of what I have between my legs, thank you very much.

 

[ineedscissors]

Okay, why do we female always end up as the sidekick? The majority of games have a female sidekick, where's the male sidekick to the female lead?

Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Claire was the ass kicking lead and steve was the whiny sidekick you had to look after.

 

[Bloody Crimson]

Me personally...I think it's the JRPG cliche of female healers and spellcasters. For the love of GOD!
Sure, it can come down to personality details, but when they make this healer a whiny "I can't do anything else so here's more healing".
Probably not relevant, but I had to get this out sometime...

Tales of Symphonia kicks that trend, one of the girls swings around a battle axe bigger than she is (albeit she's about twelve so not that big). The healer is a woman who (quite literally) kicks ass. the mage is a boy etc. ect.

I was remembering Tales of Phantasia...that one sucked...

 

[Macgyvercas]

I haven't tried this myself, but I heard in the God of War 2 sex minigame, if you play the minigame enough times, the women supposedly say "That was SO consensual!" and "I don't feel degraded at all!"

Like I said, I haven't tried it, so don't jump on my case.

 

[epsilon246]

Me personally...I think it's the JRPG cliche of female healers and spellcasters. For the love of GOD!
Sure, it can come down to personality details, but when they make this healer a whiny "I can't do anything else so here's more healing".
Probably not relevant, but I had to get this out sometime...

Tales of Symphonia kicks that trend, one of the girls swings around a battle axe bigger than she is (albeit she's about twelve so not that big). The healer is a woman who (quite literally) kicks ass. the mage is a boy etc. ect.

Instead, there's a female character who's constantly apologizing for everything and always tripping over herself so she's a character no one can take seriously. The healer is still that, a healer. In battle, she kicks very little ass but she sure does heal a lot of ass (yeah, sounds weird). The girl with the axe fits another kind of cliche of tiny girl + huge axe/hammer = lots of fun! Granted, she's still a girl who can fight legitimately but at the cost of being yet another cliched character (one of many cliched characters in the game). But I suppose that's an argument for another thread...

There's some other girl in the game you can use. She's got big boobies. I guess she's the token sexy girl with an attitude.

I never got the constant apoligising myself. And to be honest with that games battle system having the major healer fighting is rather redundant. And since when was small girl big weapon a cliche? that's the only one i know.

As for the last comment i think you're refering to sheena. Who as far as these games go is sensibly sized, this said she's actually a pretty deep charechter if you bother to look. That and she's a ninja which is cool.

 

[Terramax]

Devil's Advocate Warning:

So does that mean that Female characters in games cannot be pretty/scantily clad? Aren't most male leads similarly attractive?

What if the character in question is using her body to make men hesitate? It's not sexist to say that the majority of enemies you're going to fight in the average game are going to be male. I mean, if you look at the typical baddies (Nazis, Gang members, mafia, PMC's, Terrorists, Militaries of all kinds) they tend to be organizations where men are much more prevalent than women. And the average guy is going to hesitate a moment longer when presented with an attractive female as a target instead of a burly dude, if only out of surprise.

You mean like in Commandos 2?
And about men typically being attractive, I think there is plenty of evidence for the contrary.

I agree a lot of men in videogames look unattractive.

Fact of the matter is though 99% of all women live to make themselves as attractive as possible. They spend an hour every morning in the bathroom putting their makeup on, straightening their hair, choosing what clothes match what and whether it's the most appropriate day for it. They spend hundreds on hair dye, beauty magazines, having their nails painted (seriously, what's the freaking point of painting your nails?), boob jobs, shoes, etc - all to sex themselves up. Even the more serious women of society such as politicians, prime minister's wives, etc doll themselves and they're totally up for it.

snip

Doesn't it depend who you're playing against? I mean, if you play games online then I wouldn't take it personally if a 14 year-old boy calls you a 'dyke'. From what I understand if a bloke beats them at a game they're equally likely to be called a 'fag'. That's just immaturity, not sexism.

I don't think all gamers are like what you state above. Both my mother and two sisters (12 and 26) play videogames more than I do and give me a thrashing all the time. I don't hold it against them or any woman I play against.

I will remember not to refer to women as 'girl gamers' though. That I agree is sexist, and if I have ever said it in the past, I whole heartedly apologise.

Me personally...I think it's the JRPG cliche of female healers and spellcasters. For the love of GOD!
Sure, it can come down to personality details, but when they make this healer a whiny "I can't do anything else so here's more healing".
Probably not relevant, but I had to get this out sometime...

I don't think this is a videogame cliche. It's a piece of a much larger picture.

From what I understand in Japanese society girls typically act more feminine than women in the west. Being cute, girlie and dependant on men is still very much the norm. I think JRPGs are a reflection of Japanese society as a whole.

 

[SteakHeart]

Okay, why do we female always end up as the sidekick? The majority of games have a female sidekick, where's the male sidekick to the female lead?
Honestly, it doesn't really bother me.

*cough* Mirror's Edge *cough*

OT: I never really think about sexism in games. I probably should, though, seeing as I am in the prescense of a woman.

/chivalry

 

[rokkolpo]

no rpg without skimpy clothes. i guess it's somewhat sexist. but i don't care... not being a girl and all.

 

[Woodsey]

Does anyone give a shit?

Just throw me in with the 6000 that don't notice it/don't give a crap.

I mean, the only people I can see complaining about this are feminists, and now that near-equality in society has been achieved all they know to do is ***** about how God-awful we of the male species are.

 

[rokkolpo]

Being female I feel that I should be outraged by every sexist thing in gaming.

...I'm not.

Okay, why do we female always end up as the sidekick? The majority of games have a female sidekick, where's the male sidekick to the female lead?
Honestly, it doesn't really bother me.

Women are NOT an item gaming wise, i.e. games where you marry, etc. Or at least, they shouldn't be.
But hey, men what do you think of us as? Other than pleasure objects?
(note my sarcasm)

men are usually the gamers so they need to be able relate to themselves.
and they like having hot chicks standing beside them.(but then again who doesn,t)

in games i usually see girls purely as pleasure objects. in real life only the barbie-girls.

 

[Baconator96]

Lets go against the flow for a moment here.

I find it sexist that games like Gears of War and Halo depict all men as soldiers and borderline superheroes.

 

[Serenegoose]

Somewhat appropriate gripe: I rolled a paladin in Warcraft. I learned how to wear plate armour. I wanted to see how badass my character looked in plate, bought some. Woopsie daisy! Forgot, I rolled a female character, and my 'plate' chest piece only covered my breasts, leaving the entirety of my characters torso exposed.

I mean, wha?

There's plenty of sexism, cutting both ways, in videogaming - Men get to be nothing more than Testosterone transportation, women get to be nothing but eye candy. Part of the problem is that -all- characters in videogames are pretty shallow. That's changing, bit by bit, but games are sexist in both directions. The reason we see it more on female characters is that whilst men get plenty of 'negative' traits in their stereotype, women are simply 'objects' and so rarely get as deep as being actual characters.

 

[chomp.]

I guess Ms Pac-man wearing bow in her hair could be considered sexist. Where do you draw the line?

Come on, that isnt sexist. The pac-man family doesnt exactly have human proportions for us to use, to classify their gender. And besides, the idea that girls wear bows is hardly a discriminatory one.

 

[floppylobster]

I guess Ms Pac-man wearing bow in her hair could be considered sexist. Where do you draw the line?

Come on, that isnt sexist. The pac-man family doesnt exactly have human proportions for us to use, to classify their gender. And besides, the idea that girls wear bows is hardly a discriminatory one.

I've already address this earlier. You're right though, but what about the cabinet art? -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms_pacman

At least it wasn't called Mrs. Pacman I suppose. I'm not attacking games BTW, just trying to generate discussion.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

See:

the entire Tomb Raider series...

for real

 

[dodoman1]

"And you, young lady? What can you do? Perhaps you can bake us all a wonderful cake! Ha ha ha!" -Borderlands

There are relatively few games where the heroines aren't stereotyped sexy-girls. Mirror's Edge and the Metroid games are a few (on an amusing side note: in the first part of Metroid Prime 2 where you find a bunch of dead GF troopers, the only female trooper's log reveals her as a stereotypical feminist who idolizes Samus); Borderlands is aware of the cliche and makes fun of it, but doesn't exactly avoid it.

 

[lleihsad]

Saints Row 2 had the ability to put stripper poles in your cribs. This plays up the 'gangsta' lifestyle stereotype in general, which is historically very sexist towards women. Can't I be rich and successful without half naked sluts roaming around my apartment in nothing but a thong?

Being a dick is kind of the whole point of Saint's Row 2. Your character can look and sound like almost anything, but he/she/it always acts like a crazed Roman emperor.

I don't really have anything to nominate off the top of my head, but the most prominent sexist elements seen these days are often clumsy attempts to be anti-sexist.

 

[badgersprite]

I don't really have anything to nominate off the top of my head, but the most prominent sexist elements seen these days are often clumsy attempts to be anti-sexist.

I concur. Stereotyping female characters as tough bitches in order to appease any perceived sexism is still sexist. If they want to avoid this whole sexism issue they should just write the characters like they're, you know, actual human beings rather than cardboard cutouts.

Then again, maybe they just don't talk to enough women to know how to actually write them.

 

[Taranaich]

Considering Conan was written in the 30's by a conservative Texan fellow, damsels tend to be in distress, with the exception of a few.

When you factor in '30s society, Howard was practically proto-feminist. It's just annoying that Funcom chose to enhance the sexist elements rather than the anti-sexist ones.