Ha, surprised! The Whiny Wednesday is an hour earlier today because I just couldn’t keep it in my fingers! Okay, the truth is, it’s 6 in the morning and when you read this, I’m still sleeping the demon sleep of the innocent.
Let’s get straight to the point, a real long-standing issue for me: Sexism. Or rather: Where sexism goes a little overboard. Before you read on, take a look at the following posts about Overwatch, as two “offensive contents” were recently removed that players probably shouldn’t be subjected to:
In the two examples mentioned, I can only facepalm. The removed magazines weren’t even real “pornos”, but just some magazines/calendars with images of Tracer and Symmetra – once in close-up, once just the face, but completely dressed and not “in scene”. I would even go so far as to say that these magazines did not serve the portrayal of women, but rather of men, the “bad boys” who lived on Route 66 before we, as players, cleaned up there.
And the fact that bad boys like to treat women as objects does not diminish the strength of female characters in my eyes, but rather makes the villains seem even more primitive.
Regarding Tracer’s removed pose, I find the whole thing even more absurd. The reality in the game is that you see this pose for about 3 seconds, and only if the team with Tracer wins at the end. Even then, you usually don’t see the whole body of Tracer, as in the victory photo, all characters stand closely together (How Schuhmann will whine about this word!) and often overlap.
If that’s too much – then why not this?
Honestly, I wonder why Junkrat still has a “Play of the Game” animation where he painfully fires a ball into his groin. I find that just as offensive and aimed at anatomy, at least as much as Tracer’s butt. But no, no one screams about this, because it’s funny. Ha. Ha. Ha. No, seriously. The gesture is funny and even though many guys might have an uncomfortable memory or could empathize when watching the clip.
If we’re at it, can we please also delete D.Va’s pose, where she willingly writhes on her mech and seductively pops a bubblegum? Please take the legendary skins of Mercy, where she appears as sexy “Devil” or “Imp”, with you as well, because that somehow reminds me of succubi, and I really don’t want to think about that. By the way, I also find crosshairs very disturbing, as they remind me of religion, and I don’t want to come into contact with that while playing. Actually, I want to avoid contact with anything that could evoke any feeling. Because feelings disturb me anyway.
Blergh. So. Enough whining for today.
Please don’t get me wrong. Many representations disturb me too, especially with some female characters in certain games. Especially in Tera or Blade & Soul it is easy to cross some personal boundaries. But I have some really good methods to not get upset about it. Either I create a decently reasonable character, or – if the game is just flooded with that – then I simply don’t play it.
Ultimately, such decisions are of course entirely in the hands of the developers. It is their artistic freedom, and they decide what makes it into the final game. But I really cannot understand what people are getting upset about anymore. A bit of humor and a confident character. Please not! In the end, some might even like it.
