While this will be seen as something controversial, I don't think it should. It's a real issue that deserves real attention and introspection. As we grow as a culture, and demand more respect in the eyes of others, we should take a hard look at how we treat women in our community (not just MK) and the way we look to the outside world when we over-sexualize our female characters. If there is to be discussion about this video, I'd ask that it be mature and not simply a reflection of the problem.
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I really don`t want to hear "Jax has muscles and that`s a stereotype too so it`s all fair!"
No. When an ugly fat man can`t get a good serious role in a TV series, then we`ll talk. But don`t BS me and say that this is the same. Women nearly always have to be physically appealing to the male demographic if they are going to be considered marketable. Meanwhile, male characters and actors can be fat or hairy or old or scrawny or just all together ugly, and it doesn`t hurt sales.
First of all, obviously games aren`t the only medium where this issue persists. It`s everywhere. But there`s something unique about games, and comics as well. It`s the standard. When you look at movies, tv shows, magazines, or books, sure there are oversexed portrayals of women. And of men too, taking something like Magic Mike for example. But I can find you thousands of movies and shows that feature women in ways that are not supposed to appeal to sexual desire.
However, games are the opposite. We have to have a game like Heavy Rain to have a female character not running around in a skimpy outfit. (And even that game had to ruin it with a gratuatous shower and sex scene.) If you`re here to defend the persistant portrayal of woman as physical objects to gawk at, do it without comparing it to other mediums. Games are way worse, and we know it. And the existence of the problem in other places doesn`t justify it all together.
You see sex appeal overload in action and horror movies. And games are almost all universally action, so I can see why sex is so often thrown in. But that`s the whole problem. Our medium then becomes 95% saturated with female characters bursting with cleavage and thongs up their asses. For girls growing up with a film interest, at least they aren`t bombarded with sexual imagery at every turn. If they grow up gamers, they have no choice because sex is in their face at every turn. Is this really healthy for them? And is it healthy for our culture overall?
How does constantly being fed sex in order to peak our interest not just feed into the stereotype that we are a bunch of children?
We don`t have to strip sex from everything. I`m not saying MK has to change and that Jade needs a sack thrown over her. It`s not about one game. But maybe we could rise above our own horomones and personal tastes to ask for a higher standard for the greater good. Let there be sex in games,
but don`t make it to where sex and games are synonymous.
We should can see a sexed up female character and love it. But we should reject when characters are turned into sex objects. The perfect example would be Jill Valentine from Resident Evil. She was a heroic woman that overcame a terrifying scenario, in a fully clothed Special Forces uniform. She never needed to flirt with anyone to get her way. Her clothes were never ripped off. She never made sexy one-liner jokes. Yet she was still entirely feminine. Then as the games progressed (or regressed, rather), she donned mini skirts and tube tops, doubled her breast size, and fell into the mold of modern CGI sex toy.
There`s something wrong with this. It`s alienating. It`s unimaginitive. And it simply pushes the idea that we have to appeal to the lowest common denominator every time.
I`m glad people are talking though. I don`t just stir up shit for laughs. Discussion is good for everyone.
