Do Video Games Turn People Sexist?

[Her]

But is it a feminist issue though? There are just as many muscular male characters in games that lack personality. Maybe if there were more female gamers more of these characters would be sexualised, who knows. And there's nothing wrong with that. Being sexy never dehumanised anyone and I find the concept of that more sexist than anything. Bayonetta (I know, she gets brought up all the time in these debates) having curves and being flirtatious doesn't detract from her humor, backstory or her b*dassery. There's much more to the game than sex.

(jsyk in regards to the topic itself, I don't think video games MAKE people sexist and p much agree with Psychic on the issue, I'm just on my phone until further notice and don't feel like typing everything out)

Well, given that a significant number of women have raised issues with the portrayal of women in games (or how they're treated by the community), there's clearly an issue at hand. I'm gonna focus mainly on sexuality in this post, I don't have enough confidence to focus on other related subjects.
I'll probably be briefer than I would normally be so I'm sorry if things aren't as in-depth or clear as I would normally try to be.

- male sexualisation isn't anywhere as rife, nor does it tend to dehumanise as dramatically, on the same scale that is present throughout the portrayal of many female characters in the gaming world. as said previously in this topic, gaming is a boy's club. not as much as it was before, but still very much stuck in old attitudes. that's common throughout all mediums and not at all exclusive to gaming, but anyway. more often than not the (primarily male) developers have made him in mind of their ideal reflection of masculinity, which provides an interesting look into just how fragile masculinity is and (takes breath) how patriarchy has doubled back on them. of course, that could be a whole other discussion. the point is that these sexualised male characters are who the developers want to be, the sexualised girls are who they want to fuck.

- there will be an increase of self-proclaimed female gamers when there is a decrease in resistance of the gaming community to their presence in, well, anywhere

- the problem with sexualisation is that it often goes hand in hand with dehumanisation. sexualisation isn't an automatically bad thing, it can be perfectly fine at times. sometimes girls can just be eye candy. the issue lies in the tendency for their, uh, feminine attributes to become their sole defining feature at the expense of everything else. there's being sexy and having agency over it, and then there's being a devoid avatar for horny gamers to lust over and drain the $$$ from their wallets. and when the latter is exceedingly more common than the former then, yeah, i am confident in saying there is indeed a problem. dehumanisation is a big problem when it leads to widespread poor treatment of women, which is what happens (and is happening) when people aren't provided with alternative, or healthy, depictions from the whore/virgin/mother/bitch categorisations. sex sells but you can sell it and not have your female characters as devoid blow up dolls.

- bayonetta is brought up so often because she's an example of Sexy Hot Girl With Autonomy. she's incredibly sexualised and it's arguably her defining characteristic, but it's very clear that she owns it and has full autonomy over herself. it's quite literally a weapon, metaphor aside. i loved bayonetta and it's a great game, though it's been a while since i played it and i don't remember the specifics.

- i should be clear that this isn't unique to the gaming community, i don't think i've come across as saying that it is, but i have to be sure. it's a more easily identifiable representation of a wider systemic issue across all media, the gaming community is just easier for people to keep in the crosshairs because their community tends to, uh, be more vocal about the subject.

so while there are many intricacies in the topic, and while there have been improvements, there's still a long way to go. i hope i've been careful to paint that it's not black and white and you can most certainly be sexualised without being dehumanised, but trust me, it's still a feminist issue.

 

[Fannie]

snip

Can I ask you, as a female and a gamer how any of this has negatively impacted your life? The worst thing I can think of my end is being told to get back to the kitchen while playing CoD. You know what I did? Ignored it. Because whether I'm a guy or a girl these type of people would sh*ttalk anyone. And I'm a grown up.

 

[Her]

Can I ask you, as a female and a gamer how any of this has negatively impacted your life? The worst thing I can think of my end is being told to get back to the kitchen while playing CoD. You know what I did? Ignored it. Because whether I'm a guy or a girl these type of people would sh*ttalk anyone. And I'm a grown up.

Whether it has personally affected me is irrelevant - I'm not going to write off an entire argument based on a single person's experience, or lack of it. Not everyone is going to experience similar things.
(On a side note, the status of my gender makes your question a wee bit more complicated than you would think and so I'm not really the person to ask)

 

[RegalSin]

OP women in other nations are far better off then you think. That is there nation and way of life. People have the right to live whichever way they want as well in terms of couples. That is called privacy. The womanist ( women worshiping women ) and supremacist ( simular to the posse from the "Help" ) are abusing feminism in order to destroy non-European lives and take away rights from men.

In short I am sexist not because I choose to be but because I am a dude. So OINK!!! Seriously women ( like those girls who have been with somebody since they were eleven ) experience all levels of immaturity from there spouses. It is called love.

One day these 30 year old virgin witches might be able to feel that love but alias. My advice is embraces the sexist pig your man/boy is and enjoy it. Because it is only way to get a normal household and normal relationship. Last thing you want is a wuss of a man

 

[Fannie]

The womanist ( women worshiping women ) and supremacist ( simular to the posse from the "Help" ) are abusing feminism in order to destroy non-European lives and take away rights from men.

Yeah, I may not think much of feminism but I think you might have missed the mark a bit.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

I would also like to point out that the U.N. was trying pressure Japan to ban their video games, as well as manga and anime, that sexualize girls and women. However, female Japanese representative Kumiko Yamada refuted the ban because the girls and women in these games are fictional. And now, various Japanese artists and University professors are supporting the rejection of this ban suggestion by the U.N., so this should tell us that even the higher ups of Japan agree that video games don't turn people sexist.

 

[Fannie]

I would also like to point out that the U.N. was trying pressure Japan to ban their video games, as well as manga and anime, that sexualize girls and women. However, female Japanese representative Kumiko Yamada refuted the ban because the girls and women in these games are fictional. And now, various Japanese artists and University professors are supporting the rejection of this ban suggestion by the U.N., so this should tell us that even the higher ups of Japan agree that video games don't turn people sexist.

Good for them. Bans of this sort would be a step backwards. Image if some gamers used these types of games as an outlet. I'd much rather someone ran over a prostitute in a game than in reality. Much like I'd rather someone drew scandalous pictures of children than seek to act upon those urges.

Because the western world has few notable gender-specific issues anymore there are people out there trying to make a problem out of something that merely offends them. I pray a ban like this never comes as it will help nobody, women included. Trying to censor something harmless isn't exactly going to heighten anyone's opinion of women. No thanks.