Sexist gaming moments (that's sexist not sexiest)

[Thurmer]

What is offensively sexist these days really? Most gamers seem to think that breasts make a game offensive but are most women really offended by breasts? That would make certain practicalities in their lives sort of hard to manage.

As a female, I can say that breasts don't offend me. It's just human anatomy to me...
Sexist is like going back 5 centuries and making women worthless except to produce children.

basically what id put it down to is say atleast 90% of gamers are male, the games are going to be targeted more towards men hence they'll have the buff good looking hero guy for you and a spunky, dangerous yet sensual female to accompany you, it just makes more sense marketing wise

The sex of gamers is not 90% male, 10% female. It is actually a much closer divide.
"Lisa Sikora, of Microsoft's Casual Games division, says women make up 70 percent of their players -- up from 20 percent in 1996." That was written in 2006.
The numbers are much closer than before, being something like 54% male and 46% female. I can't find a solid number, but there are more and more females stepping up and grabbing a controller or a keyboard.

Do not say that males should get games directed at only them. Your not the only sex playing those games.

...im not saying its only guys playing the game but 54 to 46% male female ratio? bahahhah your're clearly wrong, from the sex ratio on this site alone its around 90-10% and im guessing those who frequent these forums are more serious gamers. also casual gamers aren't gamers imho i occasionally play golf but that doesn't make me a golfer.

 

[MiserableOldGit]

Its a difficult one - most examples of sexism in gaming are games that are so thin on the ground in terms of characterisation and storyline that pretty much every character falls into a hopelessly 2-D stereotype- more because youre not meant to give too much of a shit than any desire to reinforce stereotypes.

 

[TPiddy]

Ooooo, wow. You're single line for Little big planet is real impressive when you have nothing to compare it to. Now lets compare it with a real AAA game.

http://www.vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=LittleBigPlanet+-+PS3&reg2=All&game2=Metal+Gear+Solid+4%3A+Guns+of+the+Patriots+-+PS3&reg3=All&game3=&weeks=100

Sorry, but 2.5 million copies is still a AAA title... Metal Gear Solid is the top selling PS3 game ever, so that's a bit of an unfair comparison, but to say that a title like LBP, which scored a 95 on metacritic and is the 3rd highest rated PS3 title to date, is not a AAA is just being naive.

 

[TPiddy]

I don't even necessarily think it's the violence aspect that drives female gamers off, as much as it is the assumption that we're not wanted in the community. Lots of the titles that seem aimed at girls are also lumped in with games designed for casual gamers and children; Those of us who have been questing for the Triforce since grade school don't generally pay much attention to what goes on in the endcaps, but when I bring my cousin into Gamestop to find a game we can play together she's seeing a big sign that says "This is the sandbox we made for YOU to play in, you strange beskirted vagina-haver with no standards and borrowed money from your dad". Long-term gamers have the benefit of knowing that most of these games are poorly-developed software toys that won't provide a satisfying visual or storytelling experience and can move on to meatier fare, but for a newcomer to the hobby, it's like walking onto a playground and being told you have cooties and your brain can't appreciate anything that's actually fun or deep.

That's not to say that there aren't people who do enjoy things like Fashion Designer or Figure Skater, or even that all of them are tweenage female casual gamers with no taste, but it's the same gender-stereotyping that says little girls should play with pink plastic kitchen playsets indoors and little boys should be given sporting equipment outside. It's almost like game developers are so clueless as to what makes a game popular with girls that it's more efficient NOT to, and then just re-make the ones that are popular with that demographic once they've made their money back? Honestly, how long did the Harvest Moon people take to realize it might be a good idea to make one with a female protagonist if a large and vocal portion of your player base is female? Or Persona 3 and its latest re-release as P3P with an optional second storyline with a female protagonist and male social links?

I know there are always exceptions to the rule, but it just seems that women in general are not drawn to violence. At least, not as much as men are. I know there are female sports fans and female mortal kombat players and such, but most women I know really get turned off by excessive violence. Most games not involving violence do not have the same level of effort put into them, that's kind of the point I was making.

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

I guess I've grown so accustom to it, I don't notice.

Pretty much.

I just liek boobiez

 

[ISearchForTraps]

I haven't played it, but I've heard The Witcher is quite misogynistic.

It is, but I think it was to do with period-accurate attitudes towards women. The Witcher is set in the Middle Ages, when Women were not allowed to inherit or own property, join the army, have a say in pretty much anything, speak out against their father/husband, and where pretty much treated as property by men (royalty had more rights, but not many more.).

So yeah it is Misogynistic, but mainly because it emulates old time attitudes.

 

[ISearchForTraps]

Um, no:
Amy: Clothes: Green and Pink (Sonic CD) Red (Modern), Fur: Pink
Rouge-Clothes: Black/Grey/White, Fur: White
Blaze-Purple
Cream-Clothes: Pinkish, Fur: Cream
Vanilla-Clothes: light purple, Fur: Cream
Shade: Clothes: Black, Fur: Purpleish
Wave: Clothes: White and Purple, Fur: Purple
Tikal: Clothes: White, Green, and Light Red, Fur: Orange
Maria: Clothes: Blue
Elise: Clothes: White

True, but Sonic Team is still very sexist in how it portrays its female characters. Elise was a distressed damsel pretty much all the time (and was romantically interested in Sonic, a hedgehog.), Amy is a crazy fangirl half the time, and a distressed damsel the other half (especially in older games) and always mistakes the other boy hedgehogs for Sonic on first glance. Rouge is a materialistic, dubious Spy, Cream is a minor character who needs a Chao for protection, Maria is killed off in a flashback (Tikal arguably was too), Vanilla is a distressed damsel, and Wave is pretty bitchy (telling Storm that his moves SUCK!).

Also out of all the hedgehogs, Amy alone is not allowed to go Super. Most of the girls have to wear dresses while the guys wear gloves, shoes, and nothing else, and very rarely are important to the plot, and never to the extent the guys are. Blaze and Sally Acorn alone seems to escape the worst of this treatment, but was killed off in Sonic 360 and not revived (everyone else made it out alive.), and Sally (who remarkably was as clothed as Sonic in her first appearance, but got a jacket later on.) was only a major character in one cartoon and the Archie Comics, and recently was killed off, only to return a shell of her former self.

So yeah, make of that what you will.

 

[Julianking93]

I guess I've grown so accustom to it, I don't notice.

Pretty much.

I just liek boobiez

And that's all that matters.

And, besides, who doesn't?

 

[Wibble]

in COD4 they call it modern warfare, but im sure in modern warfare you'd see more girls than you do in the game. which wouldn't be hard because there was one, and how fitting that you end up having to go rescue her.

 

[thejoshualee]

I think when compared to similar forms of genera entertainment they are as sexist as an action movie.

I think the adolescence/fratboy mentality is more sexist than any of the games are. My wife is a pretty hardcore gamer and she can't sign on to xbox live without dozens of messages or friend requests... and while less and less of it is "RU a girl 4 real?" or "are you hot?" there is still a lot of pander and condescending remarks. And when she proceeds to hand competitors their asses, or if she tries to assert the same level of leadership a guy gamer may make... out comes the "*****". It's so easy to call a woman a ***** and so many guys do it for so many reasons. If she is sniping the hell out of you, she's a *****. If she wins, she's a *****, if she loses, she's a *****. If she asks for help, she's a *****. If she asks, 'what are you doing?' she's a *****.

She's not a ***** by the way. She's the ultimate gamers dream girl. Problem is, all the gamers keep calling her a ***** when she performs at an equal or greater level.

Not all do, some treat her like a normal person... a girl even.. who may like to cheer and woot if she get's a particularly hard achievement (should have seen her when she one-shot the witch in L4D... it's hard for me anyway).

 

[Wibble]

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.

basically what id put it down to is say atleast 90% of gamers are male, the games are going to be targeted more towards men hence they'll have the buff good looking hero guy for you and a spunky, dangerous yet sensual female to accompany you, it just makes more sense marketing wise

I repeat, honestly, it doesn't bother me.
The strange thing is when you have games with strong female leads (Wet is going to be the most up-to-date reference, but I guess all you guys bought it just for the view )

What does annoy me is the whole MOST GAMERS ARE MALE.
WHY are the majority of gamers male?
The worst thing is when they make 'Girl Gamer' magazines that market stupid, badly designed games to the female population because they think we don't want to play a good FPS or RPG, we'd rather play something to do with dancing or cooking, right?
No. Just no.

Okaaay in the gaming industries defence, i'd say a large percent of girls choose to look like the half naked sluts in most video games so we kinda brought it upon ourselves. and about the magazine deal, alot of girls dont like violence, its a fact of life. by making the girls in video games slutty they appeal more to the male gamers-which is the vast majority-and by making the magazine for girls appeal to the majority of us they have a better chance of getting alot of girls into casual gaming.
Now i like Shotgunning people in the face, chainsawing them into little peices and kicking their hacked up organs down a flight of stairs as much maybe more than the other guy, but I dont expect games to be designed with girls like me in mind, i dont think you should either.

 

[xscoot]

Oh god, have you ever even looked at the music industry? Most male band members of pop groups assure people that they are hardcore gamers and talk about CoD. Now, I'm sure that some of them do, but a decent chunk of that has got to be PR trying to make the band look "young" and "with it" ug.

I didn't even think about that. Why does this have to happen?

At the very least, if they don't actually buy any games, they can't actually influence the industry in any way, which is good.

 

[LackofCertainty]

Ooooo, wow. You're single line for Little big planet is real impressive when you have nothing to compare it to. Now lets compare it with a real AAA game.

http://www.vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=LittleBigPlanet+-+PS3&reg2=All&game2=Metal+Gear+Solid+4%3A+Guns+of+the+Patriots+-+PS3&reg3=All&game3=&weeks=100

Sorry, but 2.5 million copies is still a AAA title... Metal Gear Solid is the top selling PS3 game ever, so that's a bit of an unfair comparison, but to say that a title like LBP, which scored a 95 on metacritic and is the 3rd highest rated PS3 title to date, is not a AAA is just being naive.

Wrong.

CoD 4 has sold more copies on PS3 than MGS 4, and CoD even has the downside of being multiplatform. (to be fair, it's also been out longer, but I think the whole, "It's available for two other platforms and still beat MGS4" more than balances that out)


I admit that I'm just arguing for arguing's sake at this point though. I had always heard that LBP was a critical darling that sold like crap, but it seems like it picked up some steam after the first week or so. Partly, I think I'm still arguing because I hate when the term "triple A" is applied to games I didn't like. (yes, I know that's being overly self-centered)

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...

This is one of the reasons why I've always loved DnD, and more recently Demon's Souls.

You can make a cleric that heals, yes... but also isn't afraid to break your effing skull open with a mace.

in COD4 they call it modern warfare, but im sure in modern warfare you'd see more girls than you do in the game. which wouldn't be hard because there was one, and how fitting that you end up having to go rescue her.

Not really. I mean, if we go by today as a standard of "modern" women in the US military still aren't allowed positions on the frontline. Sure they can do support jobs and such, but the army refuses to let them be the normal infantry that you see most of in CoD. I suppose they could've tossed a woman in as a pilot or something, but really they were just being realistic.

 

[TPiddy]

Ooooo, wow. You're single line for Little big planet is real impressive when you have nothing to compare it to. Now lets compare it with a real AAA game.

http://www.vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=All&game1=LittleBigPlanet+-+PS3&reg2=All&game2=Metal+Gear+Solid+4%3A+Guns+of+the+Patriots+-+PS3&reg3=All&game3=&weeks=100

Sorry, but 2.5 million copies is still a AAA title... Metal Gear Solid is the top selling PS3 game ever, so that's a bit of an unfair comparison, but to say that a title like LBP, which scored a 95 on metacritic and is the 3rd highest rated PS3 title to date, is not a AAA is just being naive.

Wrong.

CoD 4 has sold more copies on PS3 than MGS 4, and CoD even has the downside of being multiplatform. (to be fair, it's also been out longer, but I think the whole, "It's available for two other platforms and still beat MGS4" more than balances that out)


I admit that I'm just arguing for arguing's sake at this point though. I had always heard that LBP was a critical darling that sold like crap, but it seems like it picked up some steam after the first week or so. Partly, I think I'm still arguing because I hate when the term "triple A" is applied to games I didn't like. (yes, I know that's being overly self-centered)

Yes, I should have noted that MGS 4 is the top selling exclusive PS3 title to date, so you have a point there. However, that doesn't stop Playstation from shoving sackboy in our faces in all of their commercials... that's one of the reasons I had such a big problem with PS3.... Their major selling point is making french fry rocket ships with Sackboy.... while 360's was killing aliens with Master Chief.... kind of seems like 360 wants my business, and PS3 does not. Granted, they've been making great strides with titles like Uncharted 2, Demon's Souls and the upcoming Heavy Rain which are totally aimed at a gamer like me, but it's too late for them now...

When I made my decision 360 was the clear winner and, yes, those are great titles, but that's not a compelling enough reason to switch, especially considering I have a Blu-Ray player now, and 360's lineup of "games I can't get on PS3, but won't play on PC" (I have to phrase it that way or the Sony fanboys flip out) is strong enough to counter those titles.

 

[YuheJi]

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.

Spoiler

or

or

and one more

 

[badgersprite]

I haven't really found one but there's no girls in TNA,

Which is a weird decision when you consider the fact that they, arguably, have the best female wrestling division in professional wrestling today. Seriously, I was looking forward to playing as Kong. <_<

Girls cannot bleed in wrestling games. Equal rights my ass

But the entire 'physics engine' will be geared towards making their breasts bounce up and down like they're made of jelly. In fact, the bouncing bosom animation in that game (I think it was WWE Smackdown) just looked so ridiculous that I couldn't get through a match as my custom female wrestler.

 

[Deleted]

Gears of war with their tough macho subwoofer-wearing manly men. They make me look like a pathetic skinny nerd. And I am most certainly am not.

On the flip side, I've mastered playing WWE Smackdown 2009 with one hand playing as my custom made Princess Daisy. My other hand is used to type forum posts.

 

[Mirroga]

You witness sexism whenever a girl joins an online game, particularly Halo 3...

Pretty much this. Frat boys populating the Halo multiplayer have no clue that women in gaming actually exist naturally. So much so that it feels that it's way too stereotypical.

 

[Ironic]

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?

Interesting fact. Those stripper poles were optional. You didn't need to put them in, therefore, you clearly put them there because you wanted them there. Just sayin'. I put them there 'cos I wanted my homies to be respectin' me, aight?

Hmm, sexism in games... Uhhh... In Sonic, the guys were all the colours of the rainbow, but all the girls were pink?

Exactly. I'm pretty sure you can't take saints row seriously AT ALL, because its the most over the top, silly gangster game ever.

[sup]'spect holmes on the *****-sticks[/sup]

As far as sexism goes in gaming, i'd probably have to say its just targeted marketing. Most games with male leads mean you don't OFTEN see the lead character, (FPS, RTS, etc) for the majority of the game, or, not in any meaningful way. This leaves the developers with a need for a visual hook. Target demographic of most first person shooters/beat em ups? Teenage - Adult males, who mostly like boobs.

Boobs + Violence + audience who LIKES THOSE = profit.

Also, just because a character has less hierarchical status, (like a sidekick), and is a woman, doesn't mean that they have less LITERARY status, or power over the audience. Take Alyx from HL2 for example, Gordon is a mute, Alyx fills in the story, the tension, the humour and the drama. Gordon has absolutely no power over the story, because Alyx is the one illustrating it. Gordon is following blind, gamer-driven orders, whereas Alyx has her own situation connected to others around her.

Spoiler: Game Spoilers

Who rescues Gordon at the start? Alyx
Who gets gored and needs rescuing? Alyx (admittedly stereotypical)
Who's dad dies at the end of EP2? Alyx's
Who SPEAKS? Alyx

Just because a character is less important as far as being a protagonist goes, doesn't mean that they're less important as far as the whole story goes.

Also, to the princess peach comment up above somewhere,

"Can you have a rescue story without someone to be rescued, if so, who has more power, the character fighting to rescue, or the character that has enough influence over others, that s/he can be rescued?