Skullgirls Dev Dismisses Cries of Sexism

[Neonit]

just a question, were paintings depicting women with large breast sexist? were sculptures of naked women sexist? no? then stfu and grow up.

nowadays everything is sexist racist and god knows what else, beause whatever you do SOMEONE is going to be offended. the true art is to not give a damn.

you know what? its time to treat games like art. the common people just dont understand art, those filthy philistines! hmmm, yes, quite, most indeedly......

 

[Jeremytroid]

The game is infinitely more modest than Soul Calibur :/
I think the fact that the devs aren't Japanese is what makes them uncomfortable. To the people who are offended, they've likely come to expect this from Japan but since it's an American (?) now, they see it as sexism and off-key.

 

[MrHero17]

Game looks fun to me. I kind of like the jokes too.

/shrug

 

[Screamarie]

I think Skullgirls is a cute game. I'm not into fighters so I'm probably not going to play it, but I don't think it's essentially sexist. At least not what I see in the trailer. Is big boobies and flashing panties a stupid gimmick and kind of annoying? Sure, but this one doesn't seem near as bad as some and as long as no woman in the game is a weak-minded slut who bows to any man's will because "that's her place" I don't see sexism.

But that doesn't mean that Bartholow doesn't kind of piss me off. I mean stop trying to make excuses as to why it's okay. The fact that the designer is a woman doesn't mean a damn thing, women can be sexist against women too. If you're going to make a game like that you have to admit, yes, we are using women's bodies to bring in customers. Just because the women don't use sex in their moves, doesn't mean you're not still trying to draw in customers based on sex.

 

[Sunrider]

"Oh look! Another opportunity to act offended! Hurry up, before it gets cold!"

Cry me a river already.

 

[Char-Nobyl]

Bartholow puts a lot of stock in the fact that a woman, not a man, was the one who handled the animations. "She intentionally lavishes attention on the breasts herself because she thinks it's cool," he explained. "All the people who seem bothered by it are guys. It's a weird chivalry intent thing that's sort of misplaced and maybe shallow, even, because they see breasts and panty flashes and they go, that's sexist, but I've yet to meet a woman who has complained about it. They're over-thinking it."

It doesn't sound like that to me. It seems like he's just saying it because it's true, and because it works. People stop complaining afterward, and he'd been using other arguments beforehand, so why not stick with this one when need be?

Personally, I think some of Bartholow's arguments are weak, but the better question is, does he need to be making them in the first place? If you're going to design a game starring nothing but cute girls in revealing outfits, you need to be prepared to own it, not justify it. Skullgirls isn't the first game to feature big-breasted women, and certainly won't be the last.

Wait, what? I'm...not sure how that's supposed to work. Does he "own it" by nodding and saying, "Yes, it is sexist, but I like boobs more than I dislike sexism"?

He's not saying the game is any different than what we see: he's refuting a claim about his (and the entire team behind the game) intentions in making the game. Being accused of any sort of 'ism' isn't a laughing matter. Why shouldn't be be allowed to give a rebuttal? And a damn good one at that, frankly.

What do you think Escapists? Based on what you see in the trailer, do you agree that the game looks like nothing more than offensive fan service?

Leading the witness!

More seriously, though, that really is a pretty leading question. If your final prompt is "do you agree that the game looks like nothing more than offensive fan service?" it seems clear what your take on the article is.

 

[Aureliano]

Much like the Hollywood of yesteryear, video games have a larger standard cup size for skinny girls than in real life. But much like in real life, larger breasts do not by themselves make a woman a less interesting person. They just don't.

Sometimes they serve as an excuse NOT to give a woman any other character traits (see pretty much any Japanese video game with a woman with huge knockers), but that doesn't seem to be the case with Skullgirls. So...yeah. Lighten up, haters.

 

[Eekaida]

Holy shit, I know a woman who animated on this game - not the lead animator (at least I don't think so) and she is all about the boobs!

 

[Belated]

Actually, scantily clad anime chicks with huge bososms isn't sexist or offensive because it just isn't, regardless of who drew them.

What's wrong with dressing scantily or looking sexy? To say there's something wrong with that is an act of discrimination against those who are sexy. The answer isn't to get rid of games like this. The answer is simply to make even more games like this but with scantily clad men to balance things out. There's nothing wrong with games that try to arouse its audience. Why would there be? The taboo we have against sexuality is completely arbitrary.

 

[Mike Kayatta]

Bartholow puts a lot of stock in the fact that a woman, not a man, was the one who handled the animations. "She intentionally lavishes attention on the breasts herself because she thinks it's cool," he explained. "All the people who seem bothered by it are guys. It's a weird chivalry intent thing that's sort of misplaced and maybe shallow, even, because they see breasts and panty flashes and they go, that's sexist, but I've yet to meet a woman who has complained about it. They're over-thinking it."

It doesn't sound like that to me. It seems like he's just saying it because it's true, and because it works. People stop complaining afterward, and he'd been using other arguments beforehand, so why not stick with this one when need be?

Personally, I think some of Bartholow's arguments are weak, but the better question is, does he need to be making them in the first place? If you're going to design a game starring nothing but cute girls in revealing outfits, you need to be prepared to own it, not justify it. Skullgirls isn't the first game to feature big-breasted women, and certainly won't be the last.

Wait, what? I'm...not sure how that's supposed to work. Does he "own it" by nodding and saying, "Yes, it is sexist, but I like boobs more than I dislike sexism"?

He's not saying the game is any different than what we see: he's refuting a claim about his (and the entire team behind the game) intentions in making the game. Being accused of any sort of 'ism' isn't a laughing matter. Why shouldn't be be allowed to give a rebuttal? And a damn good one at that, frankly.

What do you think Escapists? Based on what you see in the trailer, do you agree that the game looks like nothing more than offensive fan service?

Leading the witness!

More seriously, though, that really is a pretty leading question. If your final prompt is "do you agree that the game looks like nothing more than offensive fan service?" it seems clear what your take on the article is.

First, what was his immediate defense to the person who accused him of sexism? "But a woman did it." Seeing as how that was his first response, and he spoke about it twice in five points, that counts as stock in my book.

Second, you own it by not coming up with dumb points to defend it, i.e. "But a woman drew it," and "they just so happen to be attractive." As many people have pointed out and explained in further detail in the thread, both of these are illogical points.

Third, I wasn't trying to lead anyone. That would imply that I personally thought it was offensive fan service. Reread my article and you'll see that I clearly do not. I do like anyone who uses that objection picture though, so we can still be friends.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Have these people ever watched the titles of Baywatch?

Pammie had it in her contract that she REQUIRED at least 4(?) close ups of her cleavage per show.

But people will get offended over anything these days. Especially if "OMG" it's not realistic.

Like shouting at Dragons. Or winning Harrier attacks. Or being discovered from nowhere to win a singing/modelling/baking contest.

Because they're all real.

Like your country's elections.

 

[cthulhuspawn82]

People are so accustomed to shouting sexism/racism at everything they see, that it becomes a force of habit.

"This game is sexist."

"Why?"

"Because it uh... Actually I just say that about everything, it's kind of like tourettes."

 

[skullduggery]

Feminists aren't what they used to be you reprobate(since we're using ad hominems). Todays feminists are sexists and nothing else.

Ok, how? How are feminists sexist, at all? I'm actually curious. Feminists have been arguing for gender equality since day one. That continues on to today.

And thats your male ideal, and that makes you a sexist. Even if you are male yourself.

That's not my male ideal. What I'm saying is that the alpha male has been glorified for an incredibly long time. Think about what most would consider a "manly man." Cowboy, soldier, boxer, etc. Someone who would kick ass and be a badass. I'm saying that GoW plays to that, and let's people pretend they are that person. You're 100% right, that ideal sucks, it's wrong, and it's damaging. But it's what boys (and men) aspire to be. A cold, emotionless (no crying! And none of that queerzoid bromance stuff!) explosion-facilitator, and we're (if you're male) worse off for it. This "male ideal," however, was not created by women.

Men SHOULD be portrayed as more realistic, but then they'd be slandered as "being gay." An equivalent to this game would be a bunch of rippling-muscled men jumping around while their unrealistically-sized scrotum freely bounces in a tight banana-hammock.

Neither gender should have to be anything. So because the female ideal is a quadrouple D big boobed woman with a skinny stomache and broad hips that makes it right because society is patriarchal? What? So fuck that, I can call it sexism, because it is.

YES YES YES. Neither gender SHOULD have to have an ideal. And those ideals SHOULD be broken down into the myths that they are. And that "Female ideal" you put forward is yet again another example of patriarchy, it's wrong and demeaning. However, this game once again has a bunch of EEE-sized women jumping around in skin-tight outfits. They aren't real characters. They seem pretty much designed to be sex-objects. Thus, sexist.

 

[Aprilgold]

"Our characters are strong, powerful women who happen to be attractive," Bartholow said in an interview with Eurogamer. "We don't have anyone like [Street Fighter's] Cammy, who wraps her legs around your leg then beats you senseless with her Kegel muscles - or whatever is going on in that Cammy Super. There was a very conscious decision not to do things like that. None of the characters use their sexuality in any aggressive way. It's just a thing they happen to be."

I like how he's putting it all into light as if it was a huge coincidence that his all female cast fighting games are attractive.
"We never meant to draw them like that, honest!"

Its a parody fighter. Also, don't hear anyone complaining about how Gears of War has zero tolerable characters. This guy probably said what I was going to say best.

Skullgirls seems to me just admiration of the female form. There is absolutely nothing sexist about that.

Who in their left / right wing mind gives a flying fuck. We have to live up to your expectations, madam. Of never being late, always being cordial and giving the flowers, let us have our little guilty pleasure and you can have whatever movie that is tied to your gender now. Can't we all just let each other have guilty pleasures now?

 

[thirion1850]

Ironically, he's right. Thanks for clearing up that elephant that was lingering for a while now, Bartholow.

 

[JasonKaotic]

A roster full of topless men with ripped bodies and muscles the size of the empire state? Perfectly fine. But a roster full of girls with equally skimpy outfits and big boobs? No way man, that's just wrong. How dare they.
Yeah sexualisation is really annoying, but so are double-standards.

 

[PurePareidolia]

Sexist or not I think this game still needs to own up for that many cat puns. It's pawsitively disgraceful.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Sexist or not I think this game still needs to own up for that many cat puns. It's pawsitively disgraceful.

Come on, that's just pis-paw.

 

[jawakiller]

Wait, JAPAN HAS A GAME WITH SEXUALIZED VIOLENCE???!!!!

NO WAY!

We must not be talking about the same Japan. Only explanation.

Wait, is this Japanese game? Looks like one but that doesn't mean much.