Comment J9 Re: Of course

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Game Developers and Unintentional Sexism

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Of course (Score: 2, Insightful)

by guises@pipedot.org on 2014-03-14 07:22 (#J6)

I'd say that a work can only be sexist or racist if its creator doesn't mean for it to be. Intentional racism is generally either a bad joke or a troll - done to provoke. The KKK isn't intentionally racist, assuming that they actually believe what they preach.

As for the folks in the article, these people seem to be searching for something to feel guilty about. There are some real negative stereotypes, but smooth skin? Homogenised facial structures (whatever that means)? Their solution seems to have been to make all of their female characters either old or weird looking, and from a player's perspective (male) I kinda like that. Putting so much thought into the portraits seems to have given them more character than most. However, there's nothing particularly enlightened here - no one likes to fantasize about being ugly. Even the grizzled-veteran-with-the-knife-fighting-scars fantasy is just a different kind of attractiveness.

That said, how we relate to our media is an interesting subject. The best article that I can recall was this one comparing four versions of The Office. It's not all about beauty, but that's part of it:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2006/09/foreign_office.html

Re: Of course (Score: 4, Insightful)

by insulatedkiwi@pipedot.org on 2014-03-14 12:27 (#J9)

I think you're using the wrong word. It's not ugly so much as unattractive. Beauty is a part of that, but attractiveness is far more important, as if you're not attractive, you won't find a mate, and your genes will hit a dead end. Attractiveness is a much more complex beast, and involves things like fitness as a parent, which is why wealth makes a difference to women, and so on.

Moderation

Time Reason Points Voter
2014-03-14 23:32 Insightful +1 billshooterofbul@pipedot.org
2014-03-16 03:21 Informative +1 reziac@pipedot.org
2014-03-19 14:15 Insightful +1 kerrany@pipedot.org

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