Female sexualization sparks new culture war in video games | Culture

Her breasts are disproportionate and bounce with every step. The camera focuses on her butt every time she walks up the stairs. Despite the rugged terrain, she wears heels, a detail that also catches the spotlight. Additionally, one of the options allows her to wear a flesh-colored suit, further suggesting that she fights naked. Her name is Eve, and she fights giant insects. …

Her breasts are disproportionate and bounce with every step. The camera focuses on her butt every time she walks up the stairs. Despite the rugged terrain, she wears heels, a detail that also catches the spotlight. Additionally, one of the options allows her to wear a flesh-colored suit, further suggesting that she fights naked. Her name is Eve, and she fights giant insects. She is the main character Star Bladea successful Korean video game released a few weeks ago, and its appearance has started a war among internet users.

But Eve is not the only example of this type of recent hypersexual representation. Tifa from last fantasy VII, with an extremely exaggerated bust; silence Metal Gear Solid V, the sniper who had to wear a bikini because she was breathing through her skin; or the impossible forms of Lady Dimitrescu from Abode of the Evil Village and from Bayonettaabout games of the same name, has reignited fears among those who suspect that video games are once again featuring hyper-sexualized female characters, in contrast to the evolution the sector has been making for years.

“Most of the visual arts—photography, film, comics—have always developed from a male lens. The man looked, and the woman was the object of the gaze,” says Martha Trivi, a video game journalist and co-author of the book. I protest! Video games from a gender perspective (Anait). “But there have always been artists who realized this. It has been criticized in second wave feminist art, in film, in comics… it’s a recurring theme. This has happened in video games in recent years: a movement has emerged that has discovered that the objectification of women is not only constant, but also very obvious, and has fought against it.”

“After 2010, the video game industry entered the era of modern gaming, and female characters began to show noticeable diversity and complexity. Compared to previous times, they became more independent, powerful and distinguished by the manifestation of different personalities. Moreover, there was a tendency to desexualize and neutralize their appearance,” X-ray Lan Luo in a recent study (The evolution of female characters in video games from a feminist perspective) from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. New heroines such as Ellie and Abby from the zombie saga. Last of us, or Aloy from the game with metal beasts Horizon, They are very different: they represent the archetype of a real woman, standing out for her actions and personality, not her physique.

This is evidenced by the very evolution of such a character as Lara Croft: from the restored form that she looked like in the first games tomb Raider Until its real-life redesign in 2013, it has been instrumental in changing the mentality of the industry, with various communities coming together on forums and networks to maintain a critical discourse against the machismo that dominated the industry decades ago. Part of these changes can be attributed to the inclusion of women as consumers. The video game sector is growing every year (consulting company DFC Intelligence estimates that there are 3,100 gamers worldwide, almost 40% of the population). According to the latest reports from the Spanish Video Game Association, the number in Spain has exceeded 18 million. While women already make up nearly half of gamers (47%), the numbers are less encouraging: they make up only 17% of the workforce, and only 20% of female protagonists.

“In recent years, there has been a fight against this sexualization,” explains Trivi. “But at the same time, every movement has a counter-movement that tries to return things to the way they were before. And they disguise it as a riot.” It seems that they are aiming for this not only Star Blade, but characters like Tifa, Lady Dimitrescu or Quiet One. All these characters, by the way, appear in Japanese games. Star Blade This is Korean. This has added another debate to the controversy: is Asia more sexist than the West when it comes to video games?

Trivi remembers certain social demands of recent years, especially in Korea, in the midst of books such as Kim Ji-young, born 1982, a recent feminist mention throughout the region. But he returns to his theory of the countermovement: “Such works strengthened machismo. And I have no doubt about it Star Blade This is one such game that is not only created in a sexist context, but is also disguised as a form of “rebellion”. Regardless of women’s representation, there were ideological movements that were dubious to say the least. As the button shows: In 2019, China (the country in the world that invests the most money in games), convinced that video games are to blame for the falling birth rate, forced some of the largest companies such as Tencent, miHoYo or NetEase to limit the inclusion of “effeminate” » men. “The sole purpose is to generate profit and does not contain violent or obscene content such as the cult of money or femininity,” authorities said at the time.

Disputes about Star Blade caused a strong reaction on social networks, which seems to be a new chapter Gamergate (a fight between conservative and progressive players) that began in 2014 and contributed greatly to the culture wars that took place during that decade. There was a notable episode in this controversy at the end of March, when the name of the company circulated in the digital world: Sweet Baby. Founded in 2018 and based in Montreal, Canada, it offers consulting to several video games during their development to promote diversity in their characters. Although the company has only 16 employees, it has been involved in the development of some of the most successful and expensive games of recent times, such as Spider-Man 2 (which features a gender-neutral scientist), God of War. Ragnarok (in which the giantess from Norse mythology Angerboda is a black girl) or Alan Wake 2 (whose co-star is black). “We are a storytelling company. We are not censors. We are interested in improving stories, developing a clearer narrative design language,” the specialist media defend. Kotaku Kim Belair, CEO of Sweet Baby. However, the very active sector of the Internet has condemned the “forced inclusion” in these games and is now demanding the return of characters such as Eve from star bucket.

In general, video games belong to the world of art. An area where creative freedom and political correctness don’t mix well. Wanting to be a little provocative, Trivi adds one final nuance: “There are games where the sexualization is obvious and annoying, but it’s hard to judge from a feminist point of view because it can be related to what we do in the game. “The most striking example?: “Without a doubt, Bayonetta” “He’s so exaggerated, with those proportions that accentuate his curves…at first I thought it was bad, but over time I saw that many people strange claims it’s a symbol camp (voluntary exaggeration). This is true, but it is so exaggerated that how attractive is it for regulation? Maybe it’s a parody of sexuality,” he evades. Obviously, a dispute has been filed.