Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Mods close this if this is too political. Gonna try to keep this short because I know y'all mofos don't read past the title.
A few days ago, I told my girlfriend to sell me on RDR2 because it's one of her favorite games ever. I watched her play and my opinion didn't budge. In fact, it was strengthened. However, through all her giggling and my grunting, I realized one thing: she didn't play the game the same way I did. What she mostly enjoyed is shit I don't care about; hunting, camping, caring for horses, brushing them, studying animals, going to town to get supplies and make money for the camp, interacting with people and just wandering about. Robbing? Killing? Starting fights? She only did those when she had to. She didn't care one bit for the action and at one point even asked me to complete a mission for her because she's a bad shot. She adores the story, writing, and characters, and cannot get enough of them. This reminded me of when I was younger and trying to get my sisters into video games. They couldn't have been less interested in Goldeneye, Turok, or Mortal Kombat. They found Ocarina of Time alright, and the older one liked Tekken (III?). Mario Party was their jam though. Still, no games really hooked them until we got The Sims 2 for PC in 2004 and we could no longer get them away from the computer after that. My older brother also bought a used SNES with Bust-A-Move maybe in 2002 and both fell in love with this game, especially the older one. To this day, I'm still baffled she has more gaming stamina than I do.
My point? Men and women (I generalize, obviously) are drawn to different things when it comes to games and most things, really. The gaming industry's attempt at creating boss babes and female actions stars because of their lack of representation to attract more women is a fool's errand. You're still getting the same men who for the most part don't mind playing as women. It's not moving the needle, so this crusade is not only moronic, but fruitless and even damaging. Have they stopped to think that maybe women don't like shooting things and punching bad guys as much as men do? So even if it's a woman doing it, they won't be any more interested. Of course, they'll lie to you and state that almost 50% of gamers are women, ignoring that, as I say, they're more likely to play Farmville and Candy Crush than COD or Elden Ring. It's alright for women not to be into action games with big explosions. There's nothing shameful about that, but modern propaganda insists that they must go out there with the boys and play games they have no interest in. Do I have something against all the new female heroes? Not really. However, I do have something against the intent behind the trend that pushes something nobody asked for or want and that tries to convince us that "strong female characters" in action games are just as important to women. They aren't. Men and women aren't the same. Just because it's Jasmine wielding the shotgun instead of Steve won't make a difference.
There's a lot more I want to say, but I'll leave it at that.
A few days ago, I told my girlfriend to sell me on RDR2 because it's one of her favorite games ever. I watched her play and my opinion didn't budge. In fact, it was strengthened. However, through all her giggling and my grunting, I realized one thing: she didn't play the game the same way I did. What she mostly enjoyed is shit I don't care about; hunting, camping, caring for horses, brushing them, studying animals, going to town to get supplies and make money for the camp, interacting with people and just wandering about. Robbing? Killing? Starting fights? She only did those when she had to. She didn't care one bit for the action and at one point even asked me to complete a mission for her because she's a bad shot. She adores the story, writing, and characters, and cannot get enough of them. This reminded me of when I was younger and trying to get my sisters into video games. They couldn't have been less interested in Goldeneye, Turok, or Mortal Kombat. They found Ocarina of Time alright, and the older one liked Tekken (III?). Mario Party was their jam though. Still, no games really hooked them until we got The Sims 2 for PC in 2004 and we could no longer get them away from the computer after that. My older brother also bought a used SNES with Bust-A-Move maybe in 2002 and both fell in love with this game, especially the older one. To this day, I'm still baffled she has more gaming stamina than I do.
My point? Men and women (I generalize, obviously) are drawn to different things when it comes to games and most things, really. The gaming industry's attempt at creating boss babes and female actions stars because of their lack of representation to attract more women is a fool's errand. You're still getting the same men who for the most part don't mind playing as women. It's not moving the needle, so this crusade is not only moronic, but fruitless and even damaging. Have they stopped to think that maybe women don't like shooting things and punching bad guys as much as men do? So even if it's a woman doing it, they won't be any more interested. Of course, they'll lie to you and state that almost 50% of gamers are women, ignoring that, as I say, they're more likely to play Farmville and Candy Crush than COD or Elden Ring. It's alright for women not to be into action games with big explosions. There's nothing shameful about that, but modern propaganda insists that they must go out there with the boys and play games they have no interest in. Do I have something against all the new female heroes? Not really. However, I do have something against the intent behind the trend that pushes something nobody asked for or want and that tries to convince us that "strong female characters" in action games are just as important to women. They aren't. Men and women aren't the same. Just because it's Jasmine wielding the shotgun instead of Steve won't make a difference.
There's a lot more I want to say, but I'll leave it at that.
