Well, I'm noticing that I have somewhat of a theme going about women and how they are portrayed and such... so since this week's blog needed to be something relating to video games, I'll continue my theme.
I honestly never really noticed how sexist video games are until a class discussion about them; I don't know if I have been desensitized to it, or if it's because of the video games I play. I love the Final Fantasy games, and usually, the female character is at least equally as strong and important as the male character. Mortal Kombat is the same; female characters are equal. Other games I enjoy don't really take on any sexual role; in Little Big Planet, the player has the choice on how they want to decorate their little Sack Person, and can make it male or female.
I remember, however, getting really frustrated while watching the boyfriend play Resident Evil 4; especially when he unlocked the "special" outfit. The main character, Leon, has to save the U.S. President's daughter, Ashley. Can we say little bimbo? Especially when she gets her special outfit. She's almost totally helpless, completely dependent on Leon to save her. It's almost like she's some sort of prize; like she is this super sexy but fragile thing that needs to be rescued and protected. Chivalry is cool and all, but it's old. The only reason that women are not as capable as men are when it comes to fighting and defending is because society limits them; until recently, it was unfit for a women to be tough and physical. Games like Resident Evil 4 don't help this; how can women ever really learn to stand up for themselves if they are constantly being drilled with the message that they need to be protected?
The whole sexualization thing is also a big issue when it comes to video games; it's the Barbie scenario all over again. The majority of female video game characters look like Playboy models (and, we're talking, straight from the magazine, photoshopped and all). Big boobs, little waist, long, lean legs... will society ever learn?! I'd like to see a report on how many women look even relatively close to this fake image (and we're not counting the ones who have been altered in any way).
The somewhat comforting thought is that, even in the smallest way, game producers are slowly catching on to this. After many complaints of the characters in Final Fantasy X-2, the creators of Final Fantasy decided to make some changes. There are three main characters in FFX-2, all three being women. While they kick butt and do a lot of neat things that most female characters don't do, it's their appearances that's disturbing. All three are extremely, almost unrealistically thin. For sure not average female proportions, and no curves (with the exception of nice sized boobs). Also? You can change their outfits- and the majority of the outfits are, well... skimpy. While they're pretty cool concept wise, they're very revealing. And how necessary is that? Not very. However, because Square Enix received complaints about these characters, they decided to use French women to model their female characters after for Final Fantasy XII. The female characters for FFXII look much better, much more like real women, then do the girls from FFX-2.
Regardless, now that it has been brought to my attention, I really believe that sexism needs to be reduced in games big time... especially since almost as many women play video games as do men.
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