People complain about how women are portrayed in games. But look at the male characters. They're often potrayed in this unrealistic, "male power fantasy" way that makes the audience appear juvenile.

Just putting these hulking, alpha male protagonists (Kratos, Gears of War, CoD...) in most games is kinda' insulting to the male audience. It's as if the devs/publishers are saying, "We know you're feeble and insecure. So come get your egocentric, power fantasy!" Being 36 years old, and comfortable with myself, I'm put off by alot of it.

Excellent commentary. Well-written and to-the-point. Good job.

I'm glad this is being heard.  Sexism is just a part of it all.  I just went on a slight rant in a blog about homophobia in gaming.  There's also racism, and pretty much any other thing that deviates from the mainstream.

Ultimately, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.  Which is bullcrap.  We all enjoy games, that is the main point.  Developers should stick to that and not be sidetracked by marketting and other crap to appeal to the majority, because that majority is always changing.

The emphasis should be on story-telling and options, because that is what people want.  They want to be immersed in a world, and gaming offers the chance for anyone to immerse themselves- when given the tools to create that.  Stick to that concept and you can create any game that can appeal to everyone.  This is one of the few forms of entertainment with that capacity.

Hear, hear!

A few comments that I'll type as I read through your blog. 

In real life, boobs do bounce. And, in real life, men (and to a lesser extent women) do like to look at boobs. 

Yes, sexual objectification of women does occur in games, as it does in every other media. EVERY. OTHER. MEDIA. Can anyone think of a single form of media in which women aren't sexually objectified? I can't. 

Tomb Raider is an interesting example. From my perspective, Lara was portrayed as a girl in short (but not hot) pants and a tight fitting top showing off her large bust. Or huge bajoinkas, which everterminology you find more appealing. Now, the latest adaptations of Lara, in the upcoming game, she is still very much an attractive young lady, but she's not the over-sexualised boob focused entity that she was. From this it appears that the representation of women within games IS maturing. And it's fair to deduce that this is occurring because that is what the market wants. And the market is maturing, as is the industry. We're no longer 13 year old boys panting at every pair of boobs we see, real or otherwise, we're notw boys in our mid to late 30s panting at every pair of boobs we see, real or otherwise. 

Is it fair that womens boobs are focused on, but mens junk isn't? Probably not, but then that issue appears to be society wide - and not limited to games, or to gamers. 

I think you make a very good point in stating that you've never bought a game because you think there will be a sexy girl in it. Nor have I. Yet. That could change in the future with how amazing graphics will be. And if I do buy a game because of a sexy girl in it, is that any worse in going to see an Angelina Jolie movie because of the actress, or sitting through a Beyonce video because of the booty?

Thank you! I completely agree with this article and you have justified the argument exceedingly well! It

Too many women claim to want equal treatment when they clearly want preferential treatment. They're all for more female heroes in games but when devs make female villains, they throw a fit and say the game 'promotes violence against women'. Thankfully, not all women are like that.

Excellent post.

Right on the money sir.  There is often sexualization of women in games, but it's because sex sells.  Movies and television do the same thing.  Seriously, watch one of those "cool, hip" movies like The Fast and The Furious and see if you can find even one main character (male or female) who is unattractive and dresses modestly.  I must also point out that the most blatant example of nudity I have ever seen in a game involved a man, not a woman (GTA4: The Lost and Damned; full frontal nudity, dangly parts and hair and all).

I dont agree with everything you said but you raised some very important points.  The one thing I want to add is that when you are in competition with someone and they are worried about losing it is common for then to say anything possible to insult you.  They are trying to get in your head, voice their frustrations, or piss you off.  Thats just the environment of anything competitive. They will look for any insult they can think of. The less they know about you the more generic the insult.  But if you are competing with someone and they can figure out your race, age, gender, physical features, weakness, etc, they will attack that.  Its not because you are a woman, its because they are afraid to get their ego hurt.

This whole article and 90% of the comments are embarrassing 'how dare people attack my male privilege and my right to objectify women'. Do you really feel attacked by articles pointing out the sexism in video games? I mean if so you've got very thin skin. Isn't it amazing that from your male perspective women are just kicking up a fuss over nothing. I think you should re-examine your attitudes to Anita Sarkeesian as well because it's funny that when a woman actually intelligently and reasonably explores representations of women in videogames and points out things that challange your perspective you all dismiss her as 'extreme' or 'ridiculous'.

As someone who has done academic work in this area I can assure you that there is nothing 'extreme' about Miss Sarkeesian's views at all. I mean seriously name me three different fighting game series in which women have not been overtly sexualised at some point. And you claim that the bouncing boobs are ok in Dead or Alive because it's a generally over the top series, but if all the males characters had bouncing and accurately rendered packages there would be an instant outcry from videogame fans about it being gross and stupid etc. But women just have to live with tits everywhere because for.

Oh and the wonderful 'stop complaining about sexist abuse online when you can just ignore it' I mean really? How backwards can you be?  All of you need to grow up because it's embarrassingly immature attitudes like this that make people think that games are for children or half wit teenagers and can't be enjoyed by adults.

LOL better then most of game-spots articles, bravo

Well said good sir. I have multiple girls on my friends list i say this just so you know not all guys online are douches granted 90% would be a good estimate but us 10% guys are there.

I'm a female gamer and I don't mind the way females are portrayed in videogames. :-)

I think you're right on the mark sir. 

Plus, I like seeing intelligent, beautiful women kicking ass and taking names as much as I like seeing handsome, intelligent men doing such. We're all human, nothing wrong with a bit of eye candy.... >_> *cough*

And as far as multiplayer sexism goes: I only play with friends (most of them guys) and they treat me fairly. Quite the gentleme, they are. And we all get along great. Flowers and rainbows. And death.

And a little message to any girl gamers afraid to hop online and give it a go: IGNORE THE JERKS. Play only with people who treat you fairly. Leave the lobby if you are uncomfortable, but do not believe for a moment that all guys playing online are going to discriminate against you. There are so many great gamer guys out there, so go you! DO IT. :D

Looks like I'll have to buy this chap a drink, well said! :)

Maybe it's because you're playing with friends, but I can say in most FPS games i've played, and a few strategy ones (only 2 i really play online), any player that managed to get identified/revealed as a girl got harassed and insulted. I'm not talking about the usual insults. I get those all the time. I mean full on harassment. If anything, I feel that playing with friends does reduce this, but even the girls I play with it admit that this is the case. Yes they can mute and report etc etc, I'm just stating that from my experience, it's more prevalent than you think. Then again, you and I just have 2 different experiences. Kinda why this is a debate, some people see it, others don't.

amazing blog :)

Very good blog. You make a lot of strong points and I even learned a few things from it.

amazing blog!

what the hell is this, an intelligent argument based on reason and logic, you have no place on gamespot(or the internet for that matter)

all kidding aside great article

I think there is a fair amount of sexism in games, but only isolated to a few games I can think of.  So why should anyone be saying the games industry and the games they make are sexist, why point the figure at the whole industry, this I can't agree on. Its straight up character assassination and another attack on men.

Sex has been used to sell stuff for a very long time, but you know what I think the product is misrepresenting itself, because the game contains no sex! so why even bother. So some examples of sexism. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, I thought the female antagonist at the beginning had this aura of cheap adolescent sex, actually made me disappointed in the game as a I preferred the original more as it was more about gameplay and less about action and violence. Golden Axe beast rider, the game featured Tyris Flare only, so this is sexist right? I wanted to play as the dwarf and the barbarian but could not. The game sold poorly. So a sexy female character didn't sell the game well enough!

I used to like Kerrigan in Starcraft , but dislike her in starcraft 2, I also hate her action figure. Maybe a change in her image, and some sexiness ruined her character for me.

Also Dead or Alive 5 ? having all those character with big boobs is fan service for the male audience, I guess this is ok.  Its a fighting game, characters are meant to stand out. Still I wonder maybe some variety is in order, so the game is remembered for other aspects as well, not just females with big boobs . I'm sure it does.

There are plenty of female characters which are outstanding and my favorites, Alyx Vance from Half life 2, Cate Archer from no one lives forever, Viktoria from the thief series, Jade from Beyond good and evil.

good humor, good point, good blog

I have to agree with this entire blog.

May I just add something I think is extremely relative. You mentioned an interview with Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency. To me, interviewing a person such as Anita whose opinion on this topic is so extreme seems pointless to me. It's like reporting on gun control and interviewing a victim of gun crime and a hunter, you end up only hearing the extreme ends of the argument. I don't find this helpful or informative. I would much rather hear more from the average gamer/joe public on these issues. Sure the extreme opinions are also relative, but a lot less so as these people are far less likely to be objective.

Well written article mate. Hopefully we can hear a few more opinions on the matter on both sides of the issue from intelligent people like yourself.

 @tizmond Very well said. Good blog.  :)

This encapsulates everything I've always thought about this subject. It's such an obnoxiously over-hyped "issue" that I'm sick of hearing. If everyone could just be redirected to this article when the issue rises it would be perfect!

You make alot of sense, and this was a great read. I completely agree with you. Sadly, I happen to live in Sweden, where this debate has gone so far that certain people want to completely remove ALL gender differences (that aren't natural... for now). Actually, let me rephrase that, where I live, many companies are FORCED to employ a certain percentage of women and men, disregarding potential employees that might fit the job great because they happen to be the "wrong" gender. God, Sweden sucks, but enough about that. I'm glad to see someone raising valid points and not speaking seemingly out of blind rage.

All this fuss about sexism seems to be started by people who have a lot of free time to think about bullshit.

I like your point of Tomb Raider killing stereotypically dumb, MALE, henchmen of an evil baddie.  The whiners always appear to conveniently over-look that point, don't they?  And besides, the Tomb Raider team uses her female.... um, attributes..... to their advantage.  Let me explain, for the first Tomb Raider, how many men would have played it if it weren't for Miss Croft's attributes?  A lot less than those who did! This allows them to make more money (although you probably don't need to be told that).  

I also agree with you on the fact that the vast majority of male gamers do not buy games to simply "drool over their control-pads".  I am male, and I don't buy games because it has a picture of a suggestive-looking woman on the front cover.  I buy it because I think that it's going to be an enjoyable experience that is worth my money.  A hot chick is just an added bonus, not a main selling point (or, at least, it shouldn't be). 

Also, women in modern-day games ARE usually the damsels in distress, granted.  A prime example of this is in MW3, when the Russian President's daughter is hiding from Makarov's forces in Berlin, Germany. THIS IS NOT SEXISM, IT'S REALISM (at least, on-the-whole it is)!  Most women would not be able to beat up or outrun most men.  Obviously, there are a few exceptions (e.g. a female boxer/bodybuilder would easily beat up an ordinary, 'Average Joe' of a man).

Overall, then, I agree with you! :)

Dude, you're my freaking HERO! This is pretty much everything I've been thinking since this sexism debate started. Bravo. 

Ah, completely missing the point. Nobody presumes all male gamers are like this. If you are feeling secure about your personal views and simply like to enjoy a mindless fun game once in a while (like most of us do), no need to feel attacked. But let the discussion go on. We gain nothing by smothering it, but we lose a lot. Vocal minority only seems vocal. Of course we don't need censorship (a different kind, but still a censorship), but we do need more variety. More thought put into constructing meaningful stuff. Actually, and for some reason this thought is hard to digest for many - brainless games and meaningful games can coexist. Just don't forget you are a part of the privileged. http://kotaku.com/5963528/heres-a-devastating-account-of-the-crap-women-in-the-games-business-have-to-deal-with-in-2012 

What an excellent blog, truly a fascinating read after that horribly written one Gamespot published Wednesday.

I'd just like to point out that there's a reason women and men aren't fat deformed trannies (inb4 tumblr) in the vidya, and that's because the majority men AND women don't want to sit and play a game where the character looks like the demon offspring of Gabe Newall and Hamburger Hepler(Funny how only one of those remarks is considered sexist). Games are fantasies, they're meant to be over the top, ridiculous, unbelievable. If I'm going to invest time in a game then at least make the thing I'll be staring at for hours visually pleasing.

The whole "the gamer community is sexist" is  a narrow-minded view at what the gaming community is. When anonymity is a factor people tend to say and do things they wouldn't in real life. The N word is shouted hundreds of times, black people call whites crackers, females get lampooned, it's a very hateful place for everyone, not just women.

And in regards to employment, that whole Twitter thing was absolutely nonsense, we had 0 verification if those people were telling the truth, and it's not if men aren't turned down in droves. The vidya industry is hard to break in to, and we shouldn't hire more women to hire more women. That's stupid. We should hire more TALENT, that's how the industry will get better. Not  by 50/50ing the gender role in it. It's not like talent is exclusive to any gender when it comes to the VG industry, and people like Hepler, Every GS writer that isn't Van Ord, the entire ME staff, and Cliffy B prove that the same is true in regards to those that have a lack of talent.

In regards to female characters getting better roles, I agree, that'd be lovely. But let's face it, seldom do we get a well-rounded character in a game. For every over sexuallized bimbo there's your Gears of Bore "Me have muscle!" character. For every damsel in distress you have male red shirts. And for every Alyx Vance you have a Leon Kennedy (re6 doesn't exist. Don't know what you're talking about.)

Again, we don't need more well rounded female characters. We just need more well rounded characters.

Once again, Excellent blog man, Carolyn, if you're reading, please take some notes. You're in dire need of an improvement in your writing abilities.

The reason I hate almost all articles about sexism in gaming news site, its not the I do not agree with them, its that they point their finger at all of us. That alone will get a lot of people really angry.