The discussion of the way females are portrayed in World of Warcraft is not new and was not solved in this latest flame war, assuming it needs to be. All media tend to portray idealized--and in many cases stereotypical--versions of both genders. There are often racial issues, as well. As I have written on this blog, I often play female characters in my games, because I like the way they look, a product of my proclivities as a heterosexual male. Other men wouldn't dream of playing female characters, they invest too much of themselves into the character to play a female. I like to think that I portray my female characters positively. But if you read my story posts, Dear Reader, I think you can be the judge of that.
We all have our own opinions. Some people agree with us, and some we will never be able to convince. I have expressed my own opinions--and prejudices--from time to time on this blog. As I said on Righteous Orbs, people frequently misunderstand the First Amendment (or whatever Freedom of Speech clause in their own country) to mean they can say anything they want with no consequence. That “freedom” is only from criminal prosecution. They are not immune from social reprobation. This goes for blogs and all media. You can say whatever you want, but I don’t have to listen.
If you don't like the way whatever facet of a game is being developed, let the developers know. There may be others who like the way things are. But if enough people agree that something should be changed; trust me, the developers will listen.
A note on my blogroll: this is not the list of every blog I read. It is not even the complete list of every blog I hold in high regard. I don't have a super strict set of criteria for who is included, so don't be offended if you are not on there. I did clean it up a bit tonight after reading PPI, because a couple people hadn't posted in a while, or they had changed their URL.
Thank you for reading. :)
Sometimes we all just need to take a deep breath, step back, and realize just what we're arguing about. I have my own opinions, but I admit reading the discussions back and forth have been very enriching.
ReplyDeleteIt's made me look at my own habits. I'll be the first to admit I do give my own characters big breasts in games, but I'm not doing it out of disrespect, I do it because that's the way I want my character to look. It's a game. (If we look at it in any way more than that, what would that say about the real women who get breast implants? Are they all just disrespecting themselves too? And while I'm on this rant, what does self respect and esteem have to do with it, what's wrong with just wanting to look and feel good?) Despite how my characters look, I personally wouldn't want big breasts on my person. We have to realize people's actions and behaviors in a game doesn't necessarily translate into how they would act and behave in real life.
Don't get me wrong -- I am for equal treatment for everyone, and how wonderful it would be if our MMOs can be free from any perceived sexism in the future...but quite honestly, right now I'd rather be using my energy and resources fighting the real discrimination that's happening in our real society.