Sexism in Games: An Argument that Should Fuck Off

DISCLAIMER! I'm not suggesting by the title that it doesn't exist or should not be talked about, there is a decent issue to discuss here, but my problem lies with the way in which people discuss it.

So with that shit out of the way, let's get down to it.  I hate this fucking topic too, you go on any website that has an article about sexism in games and the arguments are all the fucking same, claiming this that and the other is all super bad and horrible for women and no one gets any respect etc. etc.

At the end of the day, it's all a load of fucking toss anyway, people are getting mad at all sorts of stupid shit like how a character looks as opposed to anything else.  Sure, this is a multi faceted debate, but to keep this blog post from becoming an essay, the depiction of women in games is what I'll be focusing on.

First of all, I'll make a blanket statement about the whole damn issue, SEX FUCKING SELLS, DEAL WITH IT!  Almost every industry that is trying to sell something will use sex appeal to push goods.  Music, movies, games, fucking shaving razors, perfume and cologne are all fucking guilty of this shit, it's not sexism it's just people like to see a sexy woman or a sexy man doing sexy things, we're programmed as human beings to enjoy seeing that kind of shit.  I mean, look at this fucking music video

or this fucking advert

The song is a bunch of women in sexy outfits, using those sexy outfits to attract people to the video, therefore making them money.  Also look at that fucking advert, there's a attractive bloke running around with his top off because that's the kind of men women want to attract with that perfume.  Is it sexist? NO OF COURSE FUCKING NOT YOU CLOWN!  Sex appeal just helps to sell things, it's the same for fucking video games too.

Now, before I go into why the argument itself is a load of arse, I'll say why it needs to fuck off.  It needs to fuck off because the people talking about it don't have a fucking CLUE what they're on about, ever.  I did a quick google of the issue and found this quote (http://www.vg247.com/2012/04/12/enough-we-must-all-try-to-kick-sexism-out-of-gaming/)

"The truth is that games are sexist in their depiction of women to a depressing degree. I raised the point on a press trip dinner last year: how many female characters can you think of that aren’t obviously designed to be sexually attractive to men? Apart from Shepard, no one around the table could suggest a single one."

Really? Fucking really? Not a single one?  They think that just because is a character is designed to be appealing to a man, it's sexist? FUCKING! BULLSHIT! While it's true there are a lot of female gamers out there, it never used to be that way.  For years and years and years, gaming was a male dominated hobby, and probably still is.  So if you're a company trying to push products, who are you going to aim the sex appeal at? OH YEAH! FUCKING MEN! 

But even if you ignore that whole side of it, this argument is so fucking shallow, most arguments I've seen about the depiction in women in games only EVER focuses on the look of the character, and not what the character is like personality wise or what they are capable of in the context of the game, let's look at one that the "gaming is sexist" crowd would have a field day with.

This is Alice, from the game Shadow Hearts on the Playstation 2.  Now look at this shit, if you were making the argument that games were sexist using this picture alone, you'd have so much to say.  She's innocent and weak looking, shes wearing a mini skirt and thigh highs, she's designed in such a way that makes you think she needs protecting, thus empowering men etc. etc. etc.

Well guess what? You'd be fucking wrong, on almost every count.  Sure, OK, for the daughter of a priest, her skirt length is a little suspect, but it's not like shes oozing sex appeal from every orifice, and there is nothing inherently sexist about a short skirt, I see women in short skirts every time I leave the fucking house.

But let's really think about her character here for a second.  The main character, called Yuri, makes a big deal about protecting her yadda yadda yadda, but then spends most of the game having to have his ass saved by Alice.  Hell, she gives her soul to a fucking Devil to save this guy, only to stand up to it and attempt to reclaim her soul by killing the devil, USING A FUCKING BIBLE AS A BLUNT WEAPON.  Sure, she needs help from Yuri in the end, but not because shes weak and helpless, but because Yuri is holding the magic mcguffin that stops the devil from being immortal.

On top of all that, she fights using a fucking bible, a sodding book.  She spends an entire 30+ hour game killing Gods, with a book!  Sure, her final attack gives a panty shot, but the game has this feel to it that makes it more anti-men than women.  It feels like the game is saying "yeah, you worked SO hard levelling up one of the best characters in the game, here, have 10 pixels worth of panty for your "effort""

If Shadow Hearts is sexist in any way at all, it's against men, not women.  Every man in the Shadow Hearts universe is characterised as dirty, clumsy, pathetic, perverted, weak, helpless as well as a load of other negative adjectives.

This whole thing isn't true for just Shadow Hearts, it's true for a fuckton of games where people just see a sexy woman on the box or in the bonus features and write the whole thing off as sexist trash. 

Yes, there is sexism in the gaming industry (against males AND females), and yes, it needs to be discussed and eventually put to rights, but the problem is that the vast majority of people I've seen talking about it, don't have a fucking clue and need to fuck off so that this discussion can progress, and not remain as a pathetic playground argument.

Note: I may do some other posts on this issue, regarding not the characters, but the way women are treated in the industry or whatever, we'll see how I feel.