I have found when discussing things like female characters in video games, men seem to think that I am attacking their sexuality in some way. What many people fail to realize is: this is not about men. The reason I am critical of how women are portrayed in ANY media source is because of what looking at those images does to me. I could care less about how a man reacts to it.

“Women have two choices: Either she’s a feminist or a masochist.”

― Gloria Steinem

It’s really not about the miniskirts, perfect skin and absolute gorgeous bodies; its about the sheer amount of it. If I had my way, this kind of ‘woman’ would be a stylistic choice, not the norm. For example: I have no problem with Lollipop Chainsaw but Morrigan from Dragon Age: Origins bothers me. I know the gaming community often makes fun of Cloud from Final Fantasy VII because his sword is so unrealistic. ‘It would never work in battle!’ people often say. Morrigan (and characters like her) are equally as unrealistic to anyone who understands the time, commitment and products it takes to look that gorgeous. (I could continue further, but in talking with Yuji about this he was inspired to do a comic. REZ will expand on the kind of time and effort it takes to look gorgeous on Thursday 🙂 ) What kind of message does it send when developers say: ‘Who cares about the world we have built or the incredibly amazing story that we are trying to tell, its more important to have eye candy!’?

Then there is the problem in understanding what a strong woman is. It seems people think that giving a weapon to a woman makes her strong. The worst offenders are the female characters who act ‘strong’ but only to the degree where it makes them attractive. These characters are easy to recognize because even their faults are attractive.

I wish to see characters that act like human beings, regardless of gender.

Panel 1: Princess Peach from Mario Bros games and Princess Zelda from Zelda games

Panel 3: Laura Croft from Tomb Raider

Panel 5: Sorceress (Diablo II) and the Neverwinter Nights lady

Panel 7: Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII