So I just dropped a post about the sex scene in Mass Effect, and told a story about trying to sell Mass Effect to a couple of parents for their 12 year old. The gist was that they saw ?Partial Nudity? on the back, and went w/ Bioshock instead.
I know I?m not the first person to notice or comment on how violence is so much more acceptable in our society and anything sexually related, but it still kind of boggles my mind. While both Bioshock and Mass Effect are great games, I loved the story in Mass Effect more, and was recommending it based on that really. It reminds me of going to Europe this past summer. For part of our trip, we spent a week in Greece, and I couldn?t help but notice how most women chose to sunbathe, sans top. And you don?t have to go all the way to the Med to find this, as soon as you get away from the US controlled/influenced islands in the Caribbean, the standard relaxes as well. I saw similar things on Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles (as my wife was quick to point out, saying such things as ?Oooo, she has pretty boobs? as often as she could to see me squirm).
My point is this, in America, 1 in 3 women will experience some kind of sexual assault in their lives. In Europe, it ran roughly 20% of women, so 1 in 5. I know I?m not the only person to postulate a possible connection between societal sexual repression and increased incidence of sexual assault, but as gamers, can?t we trend toward the less prudish? The scene in Mass Effect was nothing, you see more risqué things on CSI every week night in prime time. I don?t mean to say that we should have jubblies just hanging out everywhere, I certainly have seen enough of Lara Crofts digital udders to last the rest of my days, but supporting games with women as real people instead of merely sexual objects isn?t that hard, is it? The reason the scene in Mass Effect worked so well, at least from where I was, was that I had built up a relationship with this other character. We flirted, and while it wasn?t Oscar worthy material or anything, it was rather romantic, and it worked with the story. In other words, Ashley (in my case) became a person my character in game was interested in.
I don?t know, am I way off? Can we as gamers rise above our base instinct of being draw to boobs over brains?
I know I?m not the first person to notice or comment on how violence is so much more acceptable in our society and anything sexually related, but it still kind of boggles my mind. While both Bioshock and Mass Effect are great games, I loved the story in Mass Effect more, and was recommending it based on that really. It reminds me of going to Europe this past summer. For part of our trip, we spent a week in Greece, and I couldn?t help but notice how most women chose to sunbathe, sans top. And you don?t have to go all the way to the Med to find this, as soon as you get away from the US controlled/influenced islands in the Caribbean, the standard relaxes as well. I saw similar things on Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles (as my wife was quick to point out, saying such things as ?Oooo, she has pretty boobs? as often as she could to see me squirm).
My point is this, in America, 1 in 3 women will experience some kind of sexual assault in their lives. In Europe, it ran roughly 20% of women, so 1 in 5. I know I?m not the only person to postulate a possible connection between societal sexual repression and increased incidence of sexual assault, but as gamers, can?t we trend toward the less prudish? The scene in Mass Effect was nothing, you see more risqué things on CSI every week night in prime time. I don?t mean to say that we should have jubblies just hanging out everywhere, I certainly have seen enough of Lara Crofts digital udders to last the rest of my days, but supporting games with women as real people instead of merely sexual objects isn?t that hard, is it? The reason the scene in Mass Effect worked so well, at least from where I was, was that I had built up a relationship with this other character. We flirted, and while it wasn?t Oscar worthy material or anything, it was rather romantic, and it worked with the story. In other words, Ashley (in my case) became a person my character in game was interested in.
I don?t know, am I way off? Can we as gamers rise above our base instinct of being draw to boobs over brains?
Yup, that guy speaks some sense alright