Why most video game characters are male

Joenheim · 2015-12-15T02:25:24+00:00

Very well written. Like every Doritos commercial features a borderline retarded male being fooled by a child or an animal. If the roles were reversed there would be outrage.

Dnile1000BC · 2015-12-15T01:40:15+00:00

At this point it's safer for developers not to include any female characters in their games at all. The worst that can happen is that they'll be accused of not being inclusive. At least they won't be forced to spend money reworking things that feminists are offended by.

They can make a lot of noise - e.g Assassin's Creed, Witcher 3 but at least they won't get banned. (see GTA V).

Hamakua · 2015-12-15T02:21:06+00:00

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baskandpurr · 2015-12-15T06:51:50+00:00

I have a different angle on the same issue. Why are all of the enemies male? In every game, the people who get shot, beaten, crashed into or generally come to harm are male. This is because depicting violence against women is offensive but violence against men is entertainment. Although there are quite a few female central characters in games there are almost no female enemy. Despite that blatant sexism you will never see Sarkeesian complaining that there aren't enough female characters to shoot. But we all know Sarkeesian supports sexism.

dungone · 2015-12-15T13:15:43+00:00

Why don't we ask why feminist art is so full of women drawing pictures of their own vaginas? Why don't they draw pictures of penises? Hey guys, let's start "MRA Frequency" to eliminate gender stereotypes in feminist art! /s

The thing about art is that if you don't like what the other guy is making, you should just make your own art. And since feminists complain about the lack of women in STEM fields, here is a perfect opportunity for them to start their very own feminist video game studio, hire all the likeminded feminist game developers they can find, and make all the feminist games that they want. Nobody's stopping them.

Deansdale · 2015-12-15T10:05:05+00:00

Feminists are totally clueless about gender dynamics that influence people's perception of characters and stories. A male protagonist can't fight against a female because the audience will almost invariably see him as brutish, cowardly and so on. There's nothing to gain for a man by beating a woman ("of course he beat her, he's stronger") but a lot to lose if he fails ("how pathetic to be beaten by a girl"). The most frequent female psychosexual fantasy is powerful males fighting for them (it's the same in Twilight and Athlas Shrugged), and that requires more male characters than females. In times of conflict or hardship (which covers most video games) women are sheltered and protected while men take action. Etc.

There are TONS of reasons why most stories include more men than women, and that is fine for most of the female audience as well. Funnily enough in 6oodfella's latest video two lesbian feminists talk about how movies need more female protagonists and then both of them name movies led by males as their favorite movies. The cognitive dissonance and the hipocrisy are off the charts.

Foxtrot3100 · 2015-12-15T05:05:17+00:00

I'd like to see an example of one such character filling that kind of role and inciting outrage before I'd call this a solid argument.

...Then again, I'm not sure if I can think of a counter-example. At least not in video games.

Off the top of my head, I can think of a few dopey or flawed female characters. Mostly in sitcoms. Rosanne, Carrie from King of Queens, etc. But they tend to be less dopey/flawed than their male counterparts. And they're less abused than they're male counterparts too.

Meg from Family is a good counter-example. Pretty much the most abused character on TV. I don't see any outrage over her.

2015-12-15T13:04:29+00:00

I'd like to point to Pillars of Eternity as a game that manages to have female characters of essentially every variety, with a solid "fuck you" to anyone who has a problem with Pallegina, the female paladin in the game, being a classic 'lawful stupid' type who every other character rips on 24/7 (and who you can help be less of a lawful stupid goon if you want).

There's a ton of well written male and female characters. And you can kill all of them. And you will kill many of them.

I think it helps that it's an isometric game. It's harder when the characters are 3D and you see them suffering for their failures. In this game they are just little sprites who you smash into meaty chunks.

apullin · 2015-12-15T06:08:52+00:00

Not just a box for all female character, but all women in the real world, too. This is what I call the "Barbie Expectation", although I sure some more competent people have written more cogently about it: The expectation that women are to lead lives that are free of any sort of negativity, woe, strife, limitation, failure, adversity, or such thing that a regular person might experience in their life. Instead, the state of being a woman is to be constantly in a bubble of crystalline perfection, like a Barbie in her Barbie world.

This comes up all the time in causes that label themselves under the banner of feminism. It is total horseshoe theory in action: what it meant to be all about giving women liberty just reduces them back to a fantastical, fragile life.

Blutarg · 2015-12-15T02:04:24+00:00

Perfect.

TheDude41 · 2015-12-15T06:48:47+00:00

This can be summed up as: damseling and chivalry being total and complete bunk

youhatetruth · 2015-12-15T07:34:17+00:00

Troof!!

FFXIV_Machinist · 2015-12-15T15:50:03+00:00

holy hell i was expecting some waste of time diatribe... this was actually spot on. bravo.

Revoran · 2015-12-15T08:27:55+00:00

I don't think this is "the reason" games lack female characters. It's because games have been marketed primarily to males. And even before games, heroic fiction has always had mostly male protagonists. That's gender roles at work - men are expected to be the heroes. It's not like game designers create their games specifically to avoid feminist outcry, if anything, the chilling effect from feminist nutsos is minimal.

However it's certainly a valid point that this is a double standard. If Galbrush existed, the Monkey Island developers would have come under fire from feminists, but no one gives a shit that Guybrush is treated badly.

Similarly, feminists called misogyny when GTA allows players to kills a woman character, but they don't give a shit when players brutally slaughter countless men. Same with Witcher 3 - a few women get killed and it's the worst thing ever but no mention of how main character Geralt can slaughter countless men.

Electroverted · 2015-12-15T16:40:21+00:00

I really wish we could link to this stuff, so I could share it on social media

alclarkey · 2015-12-15T17:57:52+00:00

Maybe it's also who your target market is. Men play the majority of video games with a "character" and if the character shares your gender it helps you to feel a part of the game's universe.

TheGravyGuy · 2015-12-15T04:23:44+00:00

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Demius93 · 2015-12-15T10:39:02+00:00

Although not always the leads I do believe that Gearbox and 2k achieved satisfactory flawed characters with Moxxie and Lilith from Borderlands.

intensely_human · 2015-12-15T17:02:34+00:00

Just a total aside but I think it's almost comical the reaction you have in any call of duty game to getting shot (well basically any game but I'm picking on COD).

You sort of grunt a little bit and then there are like two heavy breaths and then it's over. You're running across a battlefield and some far-off m4 tags you in the shoulder and your response is "gyuh! hyeh ... hyeh ..." and then you're fine. (those are painful deep breath sounds)

On the one hand I don't want to make it all political because it's just a goddamned game. But it is an amazing example of how utterly the media can minimize war. All of the dying screams of all the hundreds of millions of men who've died in war, reduced to "hyuh .... hyuh ...".

dingoperson2 · 2015-12-15T17:11:10+00:00

A woman NPC accidentally ruining the plans of a man in a game, that would be interesting.

historyismybitch · 2015-12-15T17:26:55+00:00

I thought this was going to go in a completely different direction, but I was pleasantly surprised. Well written, well reasoned, and thought provoking. Everything a good argument should be.

2015-12-15T20:41:12+00:00

This was a great post

2bf1x · 2015-12-15T22:01:48+00:00

And even if developers create female characters that are just as capable, proactive, and nuanced as the male characters, there's still a very good chance that they'll be dismissed as "men with boobs".

corky_douglas · 2015-12-15T22:10:46+00:00

While there is truth to the post, this is a more than just a black and white issue.

We can't ignore that the current market for video games is still very much weighted towards a male audience, and many consumers are more likely to identify or want to be a male character than female, or see male villains.

If catering to men is going to increase a profit margin, you can bet that many publishers will push for that.

victoriasbitter · 2015-12-15T22:39:51+00:00

I agree with what the post is saying, but I think there's more to it than that.

In the early stages computer games were just equally as popular with men and women, but as they were yanked out of the electronics department and in to the gender-divided toy isles, marketers had to choose a target audience, and they ended up choosing boys.

From then on, video games were all about guns, war, cars, racing... you know, "boy stuff." Obviously, most of the characters are going to be male so the target audience could relate.

I completely agree that now it's very difficult to reintroduce female characters, because of the reasons posted.

alexplex86 · 2015-12-17T10:06:08+00:00

Feminists can't complain when a guy makes a game the way he wants.

If feminists want games the way they want then they just have to make the games for themselves. Why is that so hard to understand?

And this pertains to all media. If feminists don't like how women and men are portrayed in movies, why don't they make their own movies the way they want?

grass_cutter · 2016-01-13T18:40:54+00:00

This is completely wrong. You'll find that the vast majority of video game characters (or comic book characters even) are male, even before the current PC era.

Why?

Simple. Most comic book writers/ video game makers are male.

But it's even more complex than that.

People are just more male-focused in general. Most of our leaders and human history involves males. Most of our villains and warriors and soldiers.

They did a study once where male dreams ... their nightime dreams ... contain about 70-90% male characters in general. Women? 50% male characters, more equitable of course.

Assuming 'dreams' are a precursor for your subconscious/ imagination, even a video game firm with 50% female staff (yeah RIGHT! lol) ... would have the women doing 50/50 and the males imagination 80/20, and you'd still ultimately have a 65/35 distribution of characters.

THAT -- not some silly PC society nonsense.

Dalinair · 2015-12-15T11:18:18+00:00

Femenists imo have very little to whinge about these days (not that it stops them), games developers are putting loads of effort into having more female leads in games with both the main character sense (lara type character) or just in making the lead neither sex to a point where both works (mass effect, fallout 4 etc) hell assasin's creed syndicate had both and I much prefered the female character.

The rest of the games that come out these days are all re-hashes of old titles where characters are established already so cant be altered but in many of these cases there are very strong females that join the cast along with them.

Still, much of the OP's image is true.

ExpendableOne · 2015-12-15T14:47:03+00:00

That is certainly a major factor, as it is with movies and television, when shitty things happen to men, they either laugh or don't feel too bad about it. When shitty things happen to women, it's a world-ending tragedy that women need a safe-space from.

But, going beyond that, it would still make more sense to see more male protagonists in video games. A lot of video games are violent and action based, and it just makes more sense to have a male protagonist in these scenarios. Men historically recognized as the fighter/warriors. People are familiar with men fighting, because they have predominantly been the ones expected to do so throughout history, and because they are recognized as being physically stronger, faster and more adept than women. Not only that but, if you were to include gender expectations into it as well, most people expect men to be strong and competent, otherwise they are not considered to be "real men". That is an attitude that women reinforce a lot more than men, and that is prevalent in our culture because of it. Even most female romance novels feature a strong and dashing hero, generally taking charge or rescuing a princess. Women wouldn't want a game with a weak male protagonist, nor would people really identify with a game where a strong female protagonist risks her life to save the life of a man they would already consider to be entirely expendable in the first place.

Going beyond that still, it would still make sense for a lot of video game characters to be male, because video games are an art form created skills that most women would consider to be boring, unattractive and disdainful. It makes sense to see more men as protagonists, when you consider that most programmers, developers and story-tellers have historically been male as well. Those men are creating their own stories. It is their medium through which they can tell stories they want to tell. It would make sense that they would more often than not fall back to characters that they want to relate to or that they would want to embody. Their stories are the result of their fantasies and imaginations. A lot of those will feature women but male protagonists are probably what comes most naturally to them. And women have all the power in the world to change this. They have all the opportunities and incentives to pursue careers in programming, computer science, story-telling and game development. Most, however, don't. If feminists really wanted to change this, they would put in a little more effort into making their own games and getting computer science degrees.

Going beyond that still, it would still make sense to have more male protagonists because the video game industry is still predominantly supported and beloved by male nerds. The vast majority of women still harbour some incredibly negative prejudices towards gaming, men who game and male nerdom in general. All throughout gaming history, the biggest titles who made the most money essentially featured a male protagonist or appealed to those gamers. Male gamers are generally more than happy to play a female protagonist anyway(it's generally female gamers who tend to be the most sexist when it comes to their character creation), so it's kind of a moot point, but the reality is that those games are still inherently marketed to the people who will buy them. Most women do not care about gaming, and until that anti-male, anti-intellectualism and anti-nerd prejudice from women is actually address, no amount of over-feminisation will make a game sell more. If feminists would want to change this, they would be putting a lot more effort into addressing the general man-hating and nerd-hating(which is really just meek/unmasculine shaming) that is so prevalent amount women of all ages, and buy more games.

2bf1x · 2015-12-15T21:21:51+00:00

Also, Guybrush being abused, rejected, and shunned can and will be played for laughs, without regard to how much suffering that kind of treatment inflicts on a person. Galbrush, on the other hand, would be expected to receive empathy and compassion from the audience. Female suffering is never played for laughs.

angrypeon99 · 2015-12-15T10:50:24+00:00

You can display a male Guybrush like that without it being seen as all encompassing of men because there are a thousand other male characters who are the exact opposite. It’s pretty simple.

2015-12-15T21:11:34+00:00

Whod really want to play a game where you spawn with everything there is to offer already and then sit on the couch? Thats life as a woman.

red_rock · 2015-12-15T06:30:50+00:00

I think in some cases this is true. But in most cases it´s not. If you crafted a story where it only makes sense to have a man, then yes. Buy all means. Like the Witcher series, it´s based of a book about a man. No reason to change that. Fallout 4 is a perfect example where it does work! Changing the story to a girl where her husband dies and her kid get´s kidnapped works. The same for the mass effect series. And I think Monkey Island is actually a good example of a good female characters. His girlfriend for example is a take charge kind of gal and is a Pirate captain in a time where women where considered bad luck to even have on a ship.

But there is a lack of games where we have good female main characters, and while it was not obvious back in the day that Super Mario could have had a sister instead, it is now.

In-fact, Japanese games in general are horrendously bad a portraying women.

geniice · 2015-12-15T01:33:22+00:00

Err no. Heavy gender bias existed before anyone was doing any real social critique of computer games. Additionally if they claim was true we would see a lot more robots and aliens.

occupythekitchen · 2015-12-15T17:41:53+00:00

Why are the majority of men heroes and villains in movies and books. Because a woman being a hero or a villain is not as common. Bravery and honor is not something women are raised with as men are.

We feel duty to risk our life when the moment comes. I've heard many stories of men sacrificing themselves jumping on ied or grenades women not as much and when it is its to protect her child.

Why most video game characters are male

Comments

Original Comment:

Original Comment:

Title	Why most video game characters are male
Author	A-voice_of_reason
Upvotes	1218
Comments	191
Date	December 15, 2015 12:42 AM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/3wv0j6/why_most_video_game_characters_are_male/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/why-most-video-game-characters-are-male.965169 https://theredarchive.com/post/965169