Depictions of Women in Gaming (and other related issues)

[Sketchasaurus]

As I read your post more, Goemar, there's a lot of stuff I want to touch on, but this is what stuck out to me first:

I don't know why Tomb Raider gets so much flack. Lara was a good character (regardless of her sex). Yet the Mario games are basically 'Useless woman, Awesome men' and no one bats an eyelid. Yes they are kids games but when do you think people are most likely to learn?

I would even venture to say that the Mario Brothers aren't so much characters as they are avatars. (moreso Mario, Luigi actually does get some characterization and reacts to things in a more believable way.)

Peach basically embodies the 'princess' archetype and is hardly, if ever, fleshed out as a character. for all intents and purposes, Peach is simply the end goal in the "story" that is the Mario games. I think Rosalina has had more "development" in one game (Super Mario Galaxy) than Peach ever has throughout the 25+ years the franchise has been running. (at least in titles developed by Nintendo, the Mario RPGs are a little different, but there's still a lot of characterization that is lacking.)

At its core, the story and characters take a back seat to the core gameplay. Sure, the skin in which the gameplay takes place is generally appealing, but as it pertains to characterization as a whole, the Mario Franchise (and a lot of Nintendo franchises, in my opinion) there isn't much there.

Mario and Peach are essentially icons, and are handled as such; Nintendo has essentially minimized any commitment to specific character personalities so that they can fill whatever role they need to in the scenario of each game.

In regards to the avatars of manliness Devicho mentioned: These characters are also thinly developed because in a sense, I feel that they want the player to "be" the character. They usually take on the role of being a fulfillment fantasy for the player. These "characters" are also reliant on portraying the common trope of the "epic hero" basically stemming from examples such as: Hercules, Beowulf, and Basically every stereotypical Viking ever. I feel it's very common for dudes to want to be "macho" and these games depend on that in order to sell games by saying "hey, you can feel manly if you play this game"
It's a different problem entirely because it's such an easy marketing ploy since the idea of being "manly" is so strongly ingrained in western culture, and part of that supposed "manliness" also entails the acquisition of culturally attractive females. (I say culturally because different cultures have different values on what determines attractiveness, though it's common for large breasts and wide-set hips to be considered desirable)

Unfortunately, with that sort of "badassery" in female characters, it's almost like some of it is badass because of the notion "Oh, she can kick these mens asses, it's badass because she's a girl" it's still measured by how a woman can stack up against men. And this encounters a problem because it often comes packaged with (in dialogue or even simply the player's values) the fact that the men she defeated are "less manly" or "wimps" because they "lost to a girl." It diminishes the badassery of a character because it treats gender/sex as a handicap. In addition to this, it adds more insult to injury by establishing another precedent that "all female badasses have to be physically attractive and show off as much cleavage and sexual characteristics as possible to make our straight male audience more inclined to buy the game"


Personally, I'm not a huge fan of giant flesh-colored waterballoons that flop around in the wind, and I think functional wardrobes are far superior than flashy ones (metal bikinis are dumb, and people who try to justify them are dumb) If I can't relate to or feel like I have a personal connection or understanding with a gal, there's very little attraction. I can think that a particular gal is pretty or cute, but if I don't get to know them, I don't fawn over them. Unfortunately, a lot of these lazily designed (and I say lazily because they just rely on base sexuality for attention) avatars gain a lot of popularity and rabid fandumb because they're empty slates: you can totally fantasize them in whatever way you want them to be because they're not really handled like a person.

I'm not surprised that these sort of depictions exist, though, unfortunately: many people who buy into these characters because of sexualization often approach games as an escape from the reality of their shortcomings. I'm not saying that it's inherently bad for someone to want to escape, but the fact that this demographic is so large (and I feel that it's also expanding) is I think a huge failure of society. The world is a confusing and troubling place and people are less inclined to confront their problems because they don't have to: So much focus has been placed on the avoidance of issues and ignoring them. "Oh no, I got rejected by all the girls I've asked out, at least I still have this busty character to spend time with" no problem has been solved, it's only been avoided, it's easier to avoid issues by turning to these sorts of distractions so people do it, it makes their lives more manageable.

I apparently have a lot to say about this subject. Hopefully I'm not coming across as judgemental or rude. I could go on about this stuff at great length, but I don't want to overwhelm everybody with what I've got to say, so I'll try to keep my responses a little shorter next time.

Also, It's worth noting that playing as Peach is kickass because you can float, it allows me to indulge in my need to overcorrect my jumps in platformers.