Posted February 21, 2016
Sorry for misinterpreting. But I've seen many people attack games as if its still the 50s and putting a voice recording of someone saying ''kill'' will make someone a killer.
I'm also all for better written characters. But saying things like only x% of games have a female character option or saying x more games at this year's E3 had female characters seems like what many people in the industry are doing in terms of diversity. As you said, gender is not the only factor, and condemning a game for not having female characters is absurd, because many games have a single protagonist with a personality, and not an entire RPG character creation system.
I feel your point addresses both sides in this argument. Some people from one side there are people who would slam any character they don't like a diversity hire, and then there are others from the other side who always talk big of diversity and representation but claim any woman who shows skin is designed to cater to the sexual interest of male players. One side doesn't take into account that there are non PC inspired genuine ''minority'' characters (I hear Street Fighter has a wide variety of fighters who are different personality wise and mechanically and in race, but some ''pro diversity'' journos still call it racist). Some stereotypes are funny and are worth exploiting, and many have been. Look at the billion evil Russians in history. Anyhow, I say that there should be sexy characters who aren't criticized for being sexy, because again, it is still the decision of the artist to write characters according to their vision, and ''minority'' characters who aren't put in to check boxes. Sexiness does not equal sexism and ''inclusion'' does not equal SJW pandering all the time.
I think that it is the role of education and people around us to help us see through cultural barriers. Because we still shouldn't say what other people can and cannot represent in art, especially when its rated 18 or above like many games. After all, media is not a parent nor a babysitter and at the end of the day prejudicial views people hold are their own, and cannot be excused as media influence when any normally socialized person would think more clearly.
Gender is not a social construct. Gender identity is, but not gender itself. Ie sexual orientation. Both sex and gender are biologically determined. If gender was socially constructed, it would be possible to change someone's sexual orientation through social conditioning, which we know is impossible. There were quite long discussions about gender and sex much earlier in the thread :D
I'm all for trans equality, and so are most people in this thread. But there needs to be proper evidence first. There are people who classify their children as gay or trans even before puberty, or there are people who take the non discouragement to extremes. If there is scientific proof that something is as anyone says, I'll most likely believe it. But someone saying trans women are women without any proof is just insulting to accept. Just think, don't trans people deserve better than to be infantalized with whatever is considered PC at the time? I have no problem in referring to trans people I respect as what they wish. But what they say, what I think, what other people think and what their sex chromosomes say are entirely different and each should have the freedom to say what they want.
I'm also all for better written characters. But saying things like only x% of games have a female character option or saying x more games at this year's E3 had female characters seems like what many people in the industry are doing in terms of diversity. As you said, gender is not the only factor, and condemning a game for not having female characters is absurd, because many games have a single protagonist with a personality, and not an entire RPG character creation system.
I feel your point addresses both sides in this argument. Some people from one side there are people who would slam any character they don't like a diversity hire, and then there are others from the other side who always talk big of diversity and representation but claim any woman who shows skin is designed to cater to the sexual interest of male players. One side doesn't take into account that there are non PC inspired genuine ''minority'' characters (I hear Street Fighter has a wide variety of fighters who are different personality wise and mechanically and in race, but some ''pro diversity'' journos still call it racist). Some stereotypes are funny and are worth exploiting, and many have been. Look at the billion evil Russians in history. Anyhow, I say that there should be sexy characters who aren't criticized for being sexy, because again, it is still the decision of the artist to write characters according to their vision, and ''minority'' characters who aren't put in to check boxes. Sexiness does not equal sexism and ''inclusion'' does not equal SJW pandering all the time.
I think that it is the role of education and people around us to help us see through cultural barriers. Because we still shouldn't say what other people can and cannot represent in art, especially when its rated 18 or above like many games. After all, media is not a parent nor a babysitter and at the end of the day prejudicial views people hold are their own, and cannot be excused as media influence when any normally socialized person would think more clearly.
Gender is not a social construct. Gender identity is, but not gender itself. Ie sexual orientation. Both sex and gender are biologically determined. If gender was socially constructed, it would be possible to change someone's sexual orientation through social conditioning, which we know is impossible. There were quite long discussions about gender and sex much earlier in the thread :D
I'm all for trans equality, and so are most people in this thread. But there needs to be proper evidence first. There are people who classify their children as gay or trans even before puberty, or there are people who take the non discouragement to extremes. If there is scientific proof that something is as anyone says, I'll most likely believe it. But someone saying trans women are women without any proof is just insulting to accept. Just think, don't trans people deserve better than to be infantalized with whatever is considered PC at the time? I have no problem in referring to trans people I respect as what they wish. But what they say, what I think, what other people think and what their sex chromosomes say are entirely different and each should have the freedom to say what they want.