Sexualization in Fantasy & Games - PART 1

     Reading a blog discussing the notion of sexualization in an entertainment medium is nothing new, novel, or ( to be blunt ) very unique in this modern time.  I have lost count of the different blogs, articles, web-outlets, and press avenues I have scoured to find ‘research’ for this subject.

I have to begin this here by saying that my interest then in writing this is that you’ll do more than just read this, close the window, and move on with your day.

I need you to start dialogue with your friends, especially if you are a male. Talk to your older friends, or even professors or specialists who work in fields such as Sexual Health and Crisis Counseling. My intent in requesting this is not because you are unintelligent, or that you are not allowed to have your own opinions.

Be knowledgeable. Research your facts and put your opinions in the public view to be played against the opinions of others. Argue! It’s ok, so long as you are respectful. Make sure you are holding onto your opinions because of factual evidence and belief.

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The character design for Quiet

     This blog topic could be seen as having had its genesis in a few topics/sources that have come to my immediate attention over the past few weeks. This is (kind of) an off-shoot of the two blogs about Disney characters that were released a few weeks ago byJulia Bodiford and myself. This subject may/may not touch on sensitive issues for you, however I need to address them in this fashion because it is important for young, college age men to hear this. I say "college age" men because the subject I want to talk about concerns material marketed to them through different companies.

What started my desire to make this blog concerns the upcoming Metal Gear Solid game by Hideo Kojima. In a recent internet-bomb an employee of 343 Industries commented on the nature of a character's design. The character ( named 'Quiet,' either as a literal name or a call-sign ) is a female sniper who will play a role in the game's plot. The designer in question called the character designs "disgusting" and it has prompted a variety of opinions through the net-scape.

What I want to talk about concerns one aspect of this debate - I am concerned with how average college-aged males ( the target of this game ) respond to this. I want to talk about what ( in my opinion ) is or is not important to take away from seeing things like Quiet's character design in popular media. This trend has been very important recently in comics as well, especially with the back-forth issue of DC Comics and their female pants vs. no pants design issues for their characters.

When you play a game like Super Mario there is little to offer up as evidence that PrincessToadstool is a sexualized character. Her 8-Bit sprites don’t exactly hint at a nature which is demeaning to women ( however, some issues can be raised about her constant status as ‘kidnapped royalty,’ but that is another story … ). I bring up Mario as a start because Nintendo, Video Game, and ‘iconic’ game character culture is pervasive among college age men and women. I know many female friends who admire Princess Zelda and who have Tri-Force shirts/badges/pins, as but some examples.

Because of the design and character-nature of Princess Zelda, she is not explicitly a character one ties with sexualization. But when she is put next to the character Bayonetta from the game of the same name? Or Trish from Devil May Cry? It becomes evident that sexualized gaming trends have become a real, genuine issue in the 2000’s, more-so than they ever were in the genesis of video game culture which really got started in the 70’s-80’s.

The idea that “sex sells” is, sadly, a real one. The dominant culture of the kids who played video games at the inception of the culture were men. In my opinion, video game sexualization has reached a bizarre hybrid state that is stuck between being brutally offensive in some areas and yet having women be in positions of genuine power and authority in the games some of the more talked about characters appear in.

One example of a recent character in a video game that has sparked controversy is that of ‘Quiet,’ a female sniper from the next game in the Metal Gear Solid series. Quiet’s character designs have her in clothes that many consider to be highly fetishized and that Kojima himself requested this explicitly to exploit male desires. Kojima’s own tweets do indeed convey the desire to see Quiet as an “erotic” character … however, that wasn't apparently Kojima’s intent. He has designs on sexy qualities that can be applied to male characters, machinery, and even weapons. Given some of Kojima’s other designs, his words do not imply facts that has already aimed for in games past.

   Hideo Kojima’s full expansion on his ideas ( which are worth reading in full ) can be found here.

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   My reading of this situation has to raise a lot of questions, ones which might be hard to balance out. Quiet

Sniper Wolf, another character design used in the
Metal Gear Solid universe in 1998

is a mute character, hence she has a physical disability, however she is also (apparently) an accomplished soldier/warrior who will be pivotal to the MGS universe. Is that worth praising more than her outfit?

   Given that we know of no character qualities of Quiet yet, does it say more about us as gamers or bloggers that there is an outcry that her character is sexualized when we know nothing of how she will behave? Can this character design outcry be qualified as slut-shaming, or is there a genuine need to bring designs like this to public attention?

   These are questions that need to be brought up and answered, both by the college-aged gaming public and by people of both genders. Progress might have difficult issues to tackle, but it certainly does not exist in a single-gender vacuum.

   My desire to tackle this part of the topic has been prompted by my interest in Literary Research. One of the things I have to be aware of now, even in regards to pop-culture subjects like games, is to dig into all sides of issues and how they impact multiple groups and student sub-cultures.

  

   So where does this leave you, the college-aged gamer, regardless of your gender? Sound off in the comments section below!