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| This girl deserves a character like her |
Just in case you haven't noticed, let me be the first to tell you: There aren't enough female characters in video games.
Now, I'm not talking about damsels-in-distress or barely dressed sexual objects because everyone knows that we have enough of those to last for several lifetimes. This is about strong well-developed female leads that save the day or maybe even come to a helpless male's rescue. It should be obvious that those characters are rare and highly undervalued.
A recent article about a father who took the time to switch all the male pronouns in his copy of Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker so that his daughter would know that girls can be heroes too just makes this fact all the more upsetting. Just like the 3 year old from this story, I always change Link's name to match my gender, but the game never shifts to match me. No matter what his name happens to be, Link is still a boy hero that has to rush in to save the defenseless young princess.
What this man has done for his daughter is highly commendable but no one should have to hack a game in the name of gender equality.
How do you feel about the presence of female characters in video games?
This post reminded me of this article: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/recroom/145892-one-womans-battle-against-the-anxious-masculinity/?page=1#TOPCONTENT
ReplyDeleteIt's like video game producers don't care to make an even playing field for female gamers... probably because they know if they lost us all they wouldn't be in as much trouble if all men stopped playing video games :(
Just because the market isn't as large doesn't mean you shouldn't invest time in it. I would think that you would work harder to reach that audience, but I guess I don't think like the average game producer.
DeleteThanks for that link by the way!
This reminded me of the Nerdist's Nerd Girl special a few months back. It is really unfortunate that if you're a girl and you are a gamer that you still get looked at weird but there are SO MANY girls that play! I think that's why I love WOW so much because I can create girl toons that are just as awesome as the male ones (even if the male dances are so much cooler than the girl's dances...baby steps...) :)
ReplyDeleteIt feels like more people are realizing that girls play games and it becoming less of a shock, but society in general still has a really long way to go. The more companies that have cater to females (in a non-sexist way), the better!
DeleteThanks for the comment!
You're absolutely right, there are a profound lack of strong female protagonists in gaming. If you do happen across a game with a tough chick taking the lead, odds are they're oversexualized to the point of ridiculousness - clearly not meant to appeal to the female gamer. There are exceptions, of course, but this seems to be the rule.
ReplyDeleteAlthough my fem-Shep in Mass Effect was awesome. ^_^
Now that women are getting in on the action, companies need to realize that females can be more than damsels or sexual objects. Even the most dynamic characters that appear are flawed because of the way they are designed to appeal to the male gaze. You would think that the genre would evolve with the times, but maybe more changes will come with time.
DeleteSpeaking of fem-Shep, I vaguely remember reading an article about how her connections with the other female characters were flawed...There was something about how there were characters that can't finish their personal story arc without having a relationship with the male Shepard...I can't remember the name and I've never played the games, so I don't know how much to read into that idea...But it's still nice to have a strong female lead regardless. Though it would be nice if she wasn't seen as just the female equivalent.
I really agree with you here and what a great dad that guy is! I'm not very video-game-literate so the only female character that springs to mind is Lara Croft, and even she doesn't seem like a great video game heroine with boobs a wagging and all!? You should design a game to change all of this! I think there is definitely a hole in the market there . . .
ReplyDeleteI feel like there are too many guys working on Lara Croft for her to be a strong character and it's sad because the games are so well known. I have dreams of writing a storyline for a game with a cool heroine...there really isn't enough of them.
DeleteGah, I completely agree. The one game that I think has done a pretty brilliant job is Fallout: New Vegas (I'm not entirely sure about the other editions because I haven't played them). When you play a woman in the game, you actually get your own set of perks that are unique to your gender. All factions also have an equal amount of both males and females (although I'm not entirely sure if it's equal with characters that are part of main quests or ones you can have dialogue with). Since the game is New Vegas, there are also lots of strippers and hookers romping about, but they're both male AND female. One of the main characters is also a lesbian, and one of the prostitutes in a quest mentions that he's gay. I think it's pretty awesome for a video game to be that inclusive! Unfortunately, Bethesda's other popular game Skyrim isn't as equal.. too many 'damsel in distress' characters in my opinion (although there are some pretty badass female leads).
ReplyDeleteI have definitely heard more about Skyrim than Fallout, but Fallout seems like a pretty cool groundbreaker. I might have to check that one out sometime because that kind of detail in terms of equality is amazing!
DeleteThanks for the comment!
This pisses me off all the time! And it's not only the fact that the companies aren't making female leads, but I'm also bothered by the fact that, when given the choice in a multi-player option, most guys will ALWAYS choose to play as a male character. Like it wouldn't even occur to them to play as a female character despite different stats and whatnot.
ReplyDeleteI find that this gender difference is even more pronounced on pc games - for example, TF2, half life, deus ex, far cry; games where there are NO female characters, or none that have any purpose or agency, and every pronoun directed to the player is masculine. ughhh.