GO MAKE ME A SANDWICH: SEXUALITY IN BAYONETTA (AND OTHER GAMES)

Yeah.

Well.

I want to comment but the thing is I'm really, really bad at sexuality. But yes. I'd like games that were more. Or less. It's not like stuff like DOA doesn't annoy me but on the other hand the heterosexual male in me doesn't mind at all.

It's the Bechdel Test thingie. Movies can't pass it. Games probably can't pass it either. But it's awesome if they do. The problem is that I'm fairly passive in this and that's probably the point I want to make.

It's all well and good to point out how skewed things are. But as long as I (the hetero male) is enjoying myself... Well screw all the others right? I won't be a bringer of change. I couldn't do it even if I wanted to (and I want to a little bit, but since I'm so bad at it my way of making "good" female characters is by making them male and then changing their names at the last moment).

Yeah I didn't come with much worthwhile. Only that I don't know how to pull it off but would like to see it pulled off by others.

I don't seem to take it as seriously as others. Why shouldn't he be able to create something like that? It is his game, after all. I really don't mind it and that's how I feel about it.

Also, I'm finding it quite common nowadays to see male's sexual desire vilified as perverse and disgusting morally while a woman's is seen as somehow pure. I wonder what would happen if a woman were to create her dream man with the ultimate sex appeal in a game? Would men accuse her of sexual objectification? Truth is, I don't really care. If that's the character they want to make, more power to 'em. I don't find it appalling at all, and as long as the character's physical attributes aren't in the way of characterization or function, then I'm fine with it.

Before you edited your post, since I saw what you wrote, I would not be adverse to a female centric game in which the male protagonist's sex appeal is maximized for female players. I'd have no problems with it.

You were right the first time, since you mentioned that this is a male dominated field. However, some men in video games are designed and tailored specifically to women, but they're usually a lot more subtle in depiction than most fanservice females in video games. I think a lot of what it has to do with is subtlety. Bayonetta was anything but subtle, but again, it was not trying to be.

I'm not sure if I even made any sense, but there ya go.

Crimson, you made sense. =P

author=Fallen-Griever
Sex sells, what more can you say? It doesn't bother me so long as it doesn't detract from the believability of the character (in the case of a story driven game) or from how fun the game is (in the case of a game that isn't leaning heavily on character development).

EDIT:

I've never played Bayonetta so I couldn't possibly comment on that game as an example.

Basically.


I don't think it's consciousness decision to put the female movement back by 75 years, or to present female characters as nothing more than sex objects. And let's be real, it's not as if there's a shortage of male characters with long white hair and/or muscles like Dwayne Johnson.

Some designs can be OTT (Mortal Kombat), but the same typically applies to male characters. I personally never had an issue with it. It's just a game.

author=Craze
I am not a female, but a gay male. My idea of a very sexy videogame male would be Balthier or Basch, or even Fenris from DA2.

These men are wearing clothes, even though Basch shows... some undershirt. Compare to Fran, Rikku-2, or Tifa's boobies. (I wouldn't mind more of bubble butt on Balthier, though.)

There's the subtlety I was talking about. Women portrayed in video games tend to be... less than subtle, but not every time. As a straight male, I would welcome some more Balthier or (shirtless) Basch, to be honest. I'm not the Vaan or Tidus kind of guy, though. And yes, I'm being serious. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. Video game mancrushes happen.

Again, however, I do feel that Kamiya was free to do what he pleased in the design process. It's not as if Bayonetta was explicit in any kind of way. He also mentioned that it was a parody of oversexualized females in games, but whenever someone uses the word parody in an interview, I tend to be skeptic of their overall intentions.

http://www.browserbeware.com/images/me.jpg
no wonder she writes about sexism in videogames

by the way some videogames have a special "target audience" and that's why Bayonetta
is obviously for japanese otakus

author=Craze
I am not a female, but a gay male.

Ok.

Well we get a lot of people who would be considered outcasts in a sexual aspect, talking more about being sexually objectified. Because if they don't get people acting any such way towards them, they cry. Again, it can be wrong, but most of the reasons they do it, is to get even.

bahleted

Most of the world is petty. You get many petty people, and a small bit of good, humble people who act out to help and to be truthful.

Not only was Miranda ugly but she was a stuck up bitch who never stopped smiling.

*Forced to sacrifice 300,000 people*
Miranda: :}

*Her sister is in grave danger*
Miranda: :}