Moeez said:
This is an awful argument, it's basically "it's just a videogame, guys" and you're diverting attention from the subject.
That is not what I meant and you know it. If you're going to respond to me, please refrain from misrepresenting my arguments. That being said, yes, it is just a video game, in the same way that it's just a film or a TV series. We have nothing to gain from exaggerating perceived inequalities in fictional media.
Moeez said:
Idealised men is a valid thing but the frequency is negligible, which is an important point to make. Plus, it's not equal because those idealised men are male power fantasy design, not female sexual fantasy like most female characters are male sexual fantasies.
I don't disagree with you. Had you read my post properly, you would've noticed that my argument was not that MovieBob was wrong about what he said but that he's debunking an argument that isn't valid to begin with. The fact that men are also idealised is irrelevant; two wrongs do not make a right. One does not excuse the other.
Moeez said:
Yes, there are higher-ups that DO have sexist bias in giving women jobs. Video games are the biggest entertainment industry right now, and have a big influence on culture. As such, the industry is responsible for its image. We should focus our energy on making our media more fair because there are all kinds of people that engage in this activity, not just white heterosexual males.
If someone is sexist, they're going to do sexist things. If someone is violent, they're going to commit violent acts. Violent video games do not make people violent and video games with stereotypical female characters do not make people sexist.
You are switching cause and effect around. You also seem to highly over-estimate the indoctrinating power of big boobs. The male sexual fantasies that led to the way women are portrayed existed before video games, before TV series and films, before books, before any fictional media of any kind, and they're going to exist regardless of what you do with fictional media. It's biology. Men are programmed to by default want gorgeous, big-breasted women. Those features evolved to attract men and men evolved to be attracted by them. This is just reality.
Is it still a problem that women are portrayed in this way? Of course, but not in the way you're making it out to be. It's tacky pandering to a false idea of what gamers as a group want. We're no longer all straight white guys. If someone wants to make a game targeted to straight white males, sure, they can use the stereotypical hot girl. It's not what I personally prefer but I'm not going to disabuse them, nor am I going to call them sexist for pandering to an audience.
What I would want is for that to be the exception rather than the rule, which is where the problem lies today; video games that are made for the benefit of wider audiences are crafted to appeal primarily to white heterosexual males. This we should do away with. It makes us look immature, just like the windbags on X-Box Live.
You seem to think that if only we could make entertainment media perfectly "fair," whatever that is, then we'd see less sexism in the world. You, my friend, are very naïve. Moreover, social attitudes towards women have been steadily progressing, in spite of what you call "sexist" media becoming more and more prevalent each passing year. The US is quite far behind Europe in this matter, as it is in many other areas, primarily religion and politics. We're not finished, certainly not, we still have some ways to go, but we are getting there.