Body confidence campaigners try to redesign video game women

[Regina]

The most extreme thing about Lara now is that her hair looks like something off a L'Oreal advert.



Who knew you could get such great haircare products on a remote Island? The girls will be complaining about games giving them hair envy next.

[Pyrrho]

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Although I agree that it would be good to have more realistic choices (and certainly that there should be less objectification of women), I think many people fail to realize why things like Barbie look the way they do.  When looking at something in miniature, it is harder to see detail, and so characteristics are often exaggerated to make them more apparent.  Barbie is not intended to be realistic; she is intended to be obviously female.  She is also way too small to be a real woman.  If she were realistic, she would be several feet tall.  But that would not make her suitable for her intended purpose.

The same idea applies to anything viewed on a small screen.  To make it easy to distinguish between male and female, characteristics need to be exaggerated.  If we were looking at life-size images, then no exaggeration would be necessary to have the normal ability to distinguish between male and female.  But in miniature, in order to have the same immediacy of being able to distinguish between male and female, distinguishing characteristics must be exaggerated.

That is an interesting point.

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Also, the first Laura is from an earlier version of the game. The current Laura is still beautiful but doesn't look so extreme.




This Laura is still fit but her proportions are within the realm of possibility.

Interestingly, she is much more attractive than either image of Lara Croft in the opening post.  Some stylized extremes are not really very attractive.

Healthy, fit, and realistic, in my opinion, is the most attractive.  But, of course, other people have different taste.

Also, taking a look at this link you provided earlier:

http://theathleticbuild.com/the-top-50-h...s-of-2015/

That is not going to help with most women's "body confidence."  Most women do not have the time for the amount of exercise they get, and are not starting with the same inherent advantages.  However, I think many women could look quite good with moderate exercise and being careful about what they eat.  The same is true of men.  Most people, however, will not do these things.

[Longhorn]

Hey, I have a CRAZY idea! How about we make characters look like what they are MEANT to look like! I know, I know, that's insane, but one can dream

Seriously

[Tiberius]

Gamers definitely needs to address the issue of the objectification of women in gaming.

I disagree. I don't think there is a problem at all. All the examples that people tend to give are either taken out of context or just plain wrong.

The only controversial thing about GamerGate is the threats that critics get. I don't condone that behavior. Being wrong or lying about something to make your point is bad, but it doesn't deserve death / rape threats.

[Napoléon]

I disagree. I don't think there is a problem at all. All the examples that people tend to give are either taken out of context or just plain wrong.

I was going to say this myself actually, I don't see much of a problem either.

Then again, the dead or alive franchise looks like the only reason you'd by it is for the bouncing tits.

[Dystopia]

Well creationists say evolution doesn't exist - Can you guess what's the flaw in the proposition? The objectification of human beings to some degree is natural and even necessary, but when people talk about objectification they mean just plain gross exaggerated and unnecessary objectification of people's bodies. Objectification of women is widely documented by literally dozens of scientific studies, as well as its nasty effects like eating disorders, unrealistic standards, etc. It isn't a problem that happens only in gaming, it happens everywhere, so gaming isn't a special case, it's just another one. The fact it seems like a small issue doesn't mean it should be underestimated because it's also useful for corporations to profit from people's unrealistic goals about physical beauty. The fact few people buy games for boobs and ass is just one more reason why it is unnecessary in the first place to exaggerate characteristics when consumers explicit demand and positively critique graphical realism - Resident Evil 5's main character Chris Redfield was horrible because of his large biceps, not only because it was unrealistic but also because those covered a big part of the screen making it slightly more difficult to aim - Seriously.

[Napoléon]

The fact few people buy games for boobs and ass is just one more reason why it is unnecessary in the first place

Eh, I'd disagree. Just because people don't buy games purely for the boobs and ass doesn't mean that a lot of people don't appreciate it.

Mass Effect is one of my fav game series, in no small part thanks to this:

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[Regina]

One thing that really gets me about Gamergate is how they act like killing a woman in a game is the only fucked up thing that happens in video games...

When there are like 100 men being killed to every 1 woman you kill.

*Lara Croft kills 500 men in Tomb Raider (2013)* - "yeah you go, girl power!!!"

*Chris Redfield puts down a female zombie in Resident Evil 5* - "OMG THAT'S SO MISOGYNIST!!!!!!!! PATRIARCHY!!!!"

[Napoléon]

One thing that really gets me about Gamergate is how they act like killing a woman in a game is the only fucked up thing that happens in video games...

When there are like 100 men being killed to every 1 woman you kill.

*Lara Croft kills 500 men in Tomb Raider (2013)* - "yeah you go, girl power!!!"

*Chris Redfield puts down a female zombie in Resident Evil 5* - "OMG THAT'S SO MISOGYNIST!!!!!!!! PATRIARCHY!!!!"

Yeah but in GTA you can kill a hooker after you've fucked her and get your money back.

Except, you pay her 100 dollars and when you kill her she's only got 17. The fuck did the bitch do? Eat it all?

[Dystopia]

you can also conceal all your guns inside your jacket and you'll always be released from fail even if you've committed the worst civilian massacre ever. #JustVideoGamesRealism

For equality, they should put gay prostitutes in there too.