New video!
As always with HBomb’s videos, he lays down a pretty in-depth breakdown of the topic at hand, in this case – the supposed male objectification of video game protagonists and general issue of gendered false equivalence in game design.
~Ozzie
see also: our thoughts regarding how empowered AND problematic Bayonetta is at the same time | thoughts on how sexualized Kratos really is | what do women find sexy in men? | why “but she’s a badass” doesn’t help
So lately there’s been this weird tendency in our responses for people to claim that games deserve a pass because they can rely upon the Thermian argument, put arbitrarily sexualized art/designs into inherently non-sexual games (so are therefore… excluded under porn… for not being porn) or just that we’re too picky.
These responses hinge on assumed power of a quick “gotcha” moment. The idea that a very specific claim will excuse the toxic culture that leads to these problems.
These problems are always symptomatic of bigger issues… which is why we’re always less than excited when people rush in to tell us why it’s okay/empowering/on brand to be a tit ninja.
– wincenworks