D.Va from Overwatch was a symbol of a women’s movement. The community is now disappointed with Blizzard, as D.Va has increasingly become a sexual object.
The characters from Overwatch have touched the hearts of many people worldwide and occasionally even become symbols for movements. Mei became a symbol of resistance in Hong Kong. However, long before that, another group, FAMERZ, had chosen D.Va and used her as their figurehead.
D.Va was a strong, confident woman who achieved a great career, proudly defends her country, and lives self-determined. She fit so perfectly with FAMERZ’s intentions that they even renamed themselves to ‘National D.Va Association’.
However, the group’s view has since changed, and some of the newer skins released for D.Va are to blame.
What happened? According to Kotaku, many of the newer changes in the form of skins have not been well received by the movement. They believe that Blizzard is not only taking a few steps backward but is also losing all cultural understanding of what has been done to D.Va and what she now represents.
Japanese fetishes are projected onto D.Va: The biggest annoyances are the two skins “Black Cat” and “Academy D.Va,” as these portray D.Va in a rather clearly sexualized context.
School uniforms are a controversial topic in South Korea, as they are clearly sexualized. Additionally, during the peak of the “#MeToo” reports in South Korea, the hashtag “#SCHOOLmetoo” was used to draw attention to sexual assaults on children at schools. A terribly inappropriate time to put D.Va in a school uniform.
Anna from FAMERZ stated in an interview with Kotaku:
I believe they are just collecting all sexual fetishes involving Asian women and applying them to D.Va because they don’t have a female Japanese hero.
This may very well be true, as schoolgirl outfits are particularly popular in Japan, especially in the anime (and hentai) scene. The same goes for D.Va’s “Black Cat” skin, which transforms her into a Gothic Lolita in a cat-girl look. This is also more associated with Japanese pop culture than South Korean.
Not everything was bad: However, there are also a few positive words from FAMERZ, as the “Officer D.Va” skin is said to be well done. It shows D.Va in the typical police equipment used in Korea. At first, there were concerns that D.Va would unnecessarily be put into a skirt, but when she wore pants, as police officers do in real life, it was well received.
Does Blizzard need more sensitivity? In the end, the question remains whether Blizzard should engage more with the individual cultures that their characters represent in Overwatch. Especially when there are hashtags like “#SCHOOLmetoo,” a schoolgirl outfit seems quite insensitive and feels like a slap in the face for most female players from South Korea.
What do you think about all this? Should Blizzard show more sensitivity? Is the criticism from players justified? Or is Overwatch just a game and doesn’t need to concern itself with such issues?
Mehr zu Overwatch: Auf unserer Overwatch-Seite auf Facebook findet Ihr auch weitere News und Specials zum Spiel. Auf der Suche nach Mitspielern? Besucht unsere Overwatch-Gruppe auf Facebook und sucht dort nach Mitspielern.
