If you have written an article, column, etc for somewhere else but you want to share it and you’re free to do you may absolutely submit it (or a link to the original publishing if it’s online and accessible).
– wincenworks & ~Ozzie
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Okay, now we’ve all been assured that Mercy’s sexy witch outfit was not even a little bit sexualized or made to pander to a particular demographic…
…and that Blizzard only makes these special events for “fun” and certainly not as part of a larger strategy to make money and promote themselves…
…let’s talk about the other aspect of the Halloween event: White washing and placing a lower value on characters of color, especially female characters of color (so much so they forget that they’re skin is brown).
For those already frantically typing apologies:
Hanzogot to keep his tattoos, they even recolored them for him to better fit his “demon” persona (and his grey skin tone matches his regular)
So how many of you noticed that Pharah, Symmetra and Hanzo are
Possessed ,Vampire and Demon respectively but generic white guy Soldier 76 is “immortal”? That’s not generic “Immortal” that’s “homage to Michael Jackson’s Thriller” btw.
Now you’ve typed your bit about the Summer Games Event did you happen to notice how Mei got completely left out of that too?
Here’s the reality: Blizzard makes games with a very big focus on making money, and with Overwatch they’ve been promoting themselves as being more concerned about representation – but they haven’t been following through. Not for women, not for other cultures and not for people of color. It’s basically an going mess of glorification of white men at the expense of others, this leads to a certain demographic having a relationship with the media that’s well…
tl;dr: Blizzard’s depictions of women in general are terrible, but their treatment of female characters of color is even worse. Blizzard is pretty blatant about using brown skin tones as an optional accessory in their ongoing quest to make money via highly commercial video games and that is not okay no matter how many half-arsed excuses are made on their behalf.
Y’know, even if there wasn’t a single woman in all of history who had fought in war or a single example of real, historical female armor, there would be no problem in pointing out fantasy armor is unrealistic because the complaint is not based on what women DID wear but what women WOULD wear.
I think it perfectly sums up the basic flaw in the “women warriors aren’t historically accurate, so realism doesn’t matter when portraying them in media” kind of rhetoric.
~Ozzie
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Y’know, even if there wasn’t a single woman in all of history who had fought in war or a single example of real, historical female armor, there would be no problem in pointing out fantasy armor is unrealistic because the complaint is not based on what women DID wear but what women WOULD wear.
I think it perfectly sums up the basic flaw in the “women warriors aren’t historically accurate, so realism doesn’t matter when portraying them in media” kind of rhetoric.
I am really struggling to write academically about this trend of developers making up bad excuses for not including women because what I really want to say is that it sucks and it’s adding insult to injury and could you please just be honest and say you don’t wanna.
Oh yeah, I’m sick of it too. And it feels like it just keeps happening and it’s insulting to our intelligence. Like
Ubisoft: We can’t have a female protagonist because they’re too hard to animate!
Logical Retort: What about all those female characters you already animated?
What they should have admitted: We didn’t want to make a woman protagonist.
~~~~~
Konami: Quiet can’t wear clothes because she’s infected by a parasite that makes her breathe through her skin and she’d suffocate!
Logical Retort:Well then how come that other guy with the same parasite was covered head to toe?
What they should have admitted: We wanted her to be eye candy.
~~~~~
Bungie: Cortana is rendered without any clothes because it gives her a psychological advantage over her opponents!
Logical Retort:Then how come the “male” AIs are rendered with clothing?
What they should have admitted: We wanted her to be eye candy.
~~~~~
Nintendo: Link can’t be a woman because no one would relate to them!
Logical Retort: 48% of gamers would probably love to see a character like them. And much of the other 52% may appreciate the novelty.
What they should have admitted: We really like making the exact same concept over and over.
Stop. Your BS excuses are honestly almost more insulting than the truth.
I am really struggling to write academically about this trend of developers making up bad excuses for not including women because what I really want to say is that it sucks and it’s adding insult to injury and could you please just be honest and say you don’t wanna.
Oh yeah, I’m sick of it too. And it feels like it just keeps happening and it’s insulting to our intelligence. Like
Ubisoft: We can’t have a female protagonist because they’re too hard to animate!
Logical Retort: What about all those female characters you already animated?
What they should have admitted: We didn’t want to make a woman protagonist.
~~~~~
Konami: Quiet can’t wear clothes because she’s infected by a parasite that makes her breathe through her skin and she’d suffocate!
Logical Retort:Well then how come that other guy with the same parasite was covered head to toe?
What they should have admitted: We wanted her to be eye candy.
~~~~~
Bungie: Cortana is rendered without any clothes because it gives her a psychological advantage over her opponents!
Logical Retort:Then how come the “male” AIs are rendered with clothing?
What they should have admitted: We wanted her to be eye candy.
~~~~~
Nintendo: Link can’t be a woman because no one would relate to them!
Logical Retort: 48% of gamers would probably love to see a character like them. And much of the other 52% may appreciate the novelty.
What they should have admitted: We really like making the exact same concept over and over.
Stop. Your BS excuses are honestly almost more insulting than the truth.
