Feminism and Gaming

[DeistPaladin]

Or, if you expect women to change their basic tendencies, then you should expect the same of men.

No one is saying otherwise. I've not asked anything of women in this thread except to advise on what can and can't be changed about men.

Men also have idealized physiques in fantasy, unattainable for about 90% of the male population even with a strict regimen of diet and exorcise (barring the use of illegal muscle-enhancing drugs).





My question (which was a question and not telling women what to think as your straw man asserts) is how might we change society to duplicate male feelings about such idealizations. Men are not bothered by fantasy images of a shirtless Fabio on the cover of fantasy sold to women nor are we bothered by the unrealistic physiques of male heroes in our fantasy game.

Part of the issue is that women are also sold real life images of what they should look like. This is where the distinction between fantasy and real life is important.

If men were marketed products the same way women are, perhaps we might be having a similar discussion about "why can't we have skinny guys on the cover of these romance books" or "why can't Conan be played by a more slight-of-build guy?" Such a discussion would also miss the mark and blame fantasy for a real life problem.

Are you starting to get the distinction yet?

Let me further add that if your solution is that idealized, unrealistic depictions of male physiques in fantasy are just fine but doing the same for women is unacceptable because, you know, the women folk have much more delicate sensibilities and can't handle what we men can handle, this is a double standard and arguably sexist in its own way.

BINGO! Since it isn't necessary to reinforce these body image stereotypes in games, let's just stop doing it.

You do enjoy dictating to others, don't you? First you want to tell women what they can and can't do with their real life bodies and now you want to dictate to me what kind of fantasy female bodies I can look at. I suppose your fantasies are less about sex and more about you being the grand arbiter of the world.

In any event, your entire point is moot. Right now, I play games like Porto Rico, Pandemic and Chess with friends on occasion which have no images at all. And your point is...?

And what you're missing is that it's not your place to tell women what should or should not contribute to their self image problems.

Which I have not done.

Yes, and? You've already backed well off your initial assertion that sex is only for procreation, so I guess you're making progress.

For many Christians it is. You may not agree with them but it's easy to see why with anti-sex messages like this in the Bible. But you have just now acknowledged that I'm right about them so I guess you're making progress.