The recent discussion on the internet about whether the heroine Aloy from the new game Horizon Forbidden West should be deemed “feminine” and “beautiful” has made our author Jürgen Horn really angry. He wonders: Why do we still have to have this discussion in 2021?
What happened? There was a recent presentation of gameplay scenes and cutscenes for the upcoming action RPG Horizon Forbidden West. This immediately sparked a controversial discussion.
However, the reason was not the displayed gameplay or the graphics, but mainly the appearance of the heroine Aloy. She has supposedly become intentionally “uglier” and “chubbier” and is entirely un-feminine.
A user even posted on Twitter (now no longer publicly accessible) a fan art of a made-up and beaming Aloy next to an image from the cutscene and claimed:
Is it just me or is Sony making their female protagonists totally masculine… Almost no curves or just rough non-feminine facial features. Unlike average women. […] Picture from the game on the left, fan-made picture on the right. Hire your fans lol
Double standards are just annoying!
When I saw the news about Aloy and femininity, I felt cold rage:
- Why, the hell, do we still have to have this tedious discussion about female characters in media and especially games in 2021?
- Why is it still so important to some people that utterly unrealistic beauty ideals must consistently be implemented for all female characters?
Especially the image of the “beautiful” Aloy looks like the perfectly styled (and often photoshop-enabled) profile pictures of Instagram models and doesn’t fit at all with the tough heroine of a post-apocalyptic action RPG.
Where is Aloy supposed to get her makeup and other beauty products in the apocalypse? She crawls through the jungles of the distant future and hides from dino-machines in dirty bushes. I wouldn’t buy her glossy appearance at all, and the immersion of the setting would be severely disturbed.
The same goes for other games. Nothing annoys me more than when female warriors wear absurd “chainmail bikinis” or extra detailed “booby armor” instead of heavy armor. Or completely impractical plate boots with stiletto heels. The list of fashion sins among female warriors is long… This becomes all the more apparent when you compare them to the male heroes in the same games.
That’s why male heroes don’t have these problems: Men in video games do have armors and outfits that allow for epic battles with a clear conscience. Additionally, there is much more diversity in body shapes among male protagonists. There are strong noble athletes just as well as nimble rogues, skinny wizard boys and overweight brawlers.
However, the female heroes are usually of the supermodel type and are intended to impress mainly with attractiveness. When was the last time you saw a tall, strong woman, preferably also overweight, as a playable heroine anywhere? I can’t think of one!
Especially in games from Asia, this trend of overly sexualized and reduced to looks heroines is still widespread, while it is slowly coming to an end in the West.
That’s why the whole discussion ultimately has a silver lining: The reason for this development is probably the discussion that is currently swirling around Aloy and Horizon Forbidden West. Because as tedious as the topic is: The more we talk about it, the more it becomes apparent how unfair and foolish the one-sided ideals and representations of women in games are.
Because while in the 90s even in the West female characters were mainly “beautiful” and “sexy”, a change in thinking has now occurred. With the new Lara Croft, the bust does not immediately stand out as the most prominent feature.
Games like Apex Legends, For Honor, and ESO deliberately refrain from one-sided, sexualized depictions of women and stand out mainly for their diversity and original, relatable, and fitting designs.
Even if we probably still have to have this discussion for a few years: It’s getting better!
By the way, there is also a noteworthy commentary on the differing portrayal of women and men in games on our sister site GameStar.
There, our colleague Heiko Klinge shares a similar opinion and even claims: Anyone who criticizes Aloy’s appearance has never really loved games! You can find Heiko’s article under the link on the GameStar site. Enjoy reading!
