Why Being Sexy Just Isn't Enough

Let's see more than just pretty faces from our video game heroes.

[linusnc]

Have no clue what game that pic is from.

[Cryptcuzz]

I believe it is from Tomb Raider (fan art, not from actual game)

[GrimDragon]

Most beautiful picture of Lara I've seen in a long time.
Only a feminist would blog this garbage.

"Such reliance on sexualization to create a character is lazy and does not belong in games such as Assassin's Creed and tomb raider."

Speak for yourself missy I love beeewbs...have you seen yours?

"Men are often considered “sexy” the moment they are in some way traditionally feminine. As, traditionally-coded “sexy male."

No missy they are usually mistaken for being gay like ezio. Speaking of which....are you?

"Ezio is the main character of three games in the series and his main appeal is his sexiness."

Again speak for yourself missy....ezio doesn't do it for me seems like demasculated men do it for you though.

As the main characters of their respective games, Ezio and Lara should not be defined by their “sexiness”. There should be a great deal more to them than Lara's chest size and Ezio's accent. There is a time and place for sexualization, and it is not in games about assassins and treasure chest."

Ok ready say it with me now......"SPEAK FOR YOURSELF MISSY!!!"
you want indepth story backgrounds, history and bios go to Starbucks order a latte and read a dam book.
Leave my sexy game babes alone.

[spicelicka]

That's great for you, we all love boobs you're not the only one. But that doesn't mean everyone wants boobs shoved in their faces all the time.

Maybe you just don't have that regulation for it, but me I appreciate something A LOT more when i'm not see it constantly in every other piece of media.

[Bimkoblerutso]

I love bbbeeewwbs too, so it's not even that I think there should be no beeeeewwwbs in video games. It's just that the bbbbbbeeeeewwwwwwwwbs often completely trump all context and meaning within the narrative or game world that the developers have established.

I love me some steak too, but you don't see gratuitous cuts of sexy steak all over the place. It wouldn't make much sense in the context of anything, would it?

[GrimDragon]

@spicelicka theres something for everyone that's why there's a ton of games completely boob free. The few that happen to be around that happen to have a sexy protagonist doesn't constitute as you put it "constantly in every other piece of media"

Fact of the matter is as soon as a character shows one inch of sexiness be it cleavage or form fitting pants or happens to be attractive to people like the writer of this blog suddenly the game has lost all credibility because it's not a realistic portrayal of the women in today's society or men which is a load of horse crap to me. And an excuse to censor the things some people feel too insecure to be around. You see for every 100 games that contain no sexuality just one game somehow becomes too much especially if it's a good game. Look at what a dyke they turned Lara croft into complete removal of what made her special. Now she's a budding dyke and it seems everyone's ok with that because she reflects the reality of the average woman out there. Sexless, strong willed, smart and devoid of any trait of feminity.

So no I say keep the boobs in fact we need more.

[rainslacker]

Assassins Creed was shoving boobs in our face?

Bigger issue I see is that sexy women are thought of as less than capable for some reason, as if their sexiness somehow is detrimental to their other character traits....such as being a capable kicka** assassin or spelunking treasure hunter. I'll leave it up to everyone else to decide who devalues these women more...the people that love boobs, or the ones that are too shallow to see past the appearance of a character.

[Kalebninja]

A woman wrote the article, bro. Wall of text and pretty much all you've said is speak for yourself and go read a book. How about you actually give your opinion on the article rather than showing up repeating the same thing and telling her to go do something else.

[GrimDragon]

Lol kalebninja I can't take nothing you write serious dude. Gonna have to up your troll skills.

[Kalebninja]

@GrimDragon Now I'm a troll? You're really showing you're maturity by now writing me off as that when you're the one shit posting and acting like a hormone filled teenager "loving your bewbs", you're just a common pervert who doesn't like their material messed with.

[rainslacker]

Pretty sure he gave his opinion of the authors opinions.

Do you have an opinion? because you surely didn't offer one....although we all know what it is already, perhaps you could lead by example and state why you feel the author is right in that a character's appearance is the whole of what they are supposed to be, and that focusing on the superficial aspects of a character is certainly the way to go to determine if they are a good character or not.

[Kalebninja]

@rainslacker I just simply agree with the article, GrimDragon did not and didnt bother to state his opinion, at least in his response to me and the original, but rather said how he likes boobs and the author should speak for themselves.

As for his response to Spicelicka it's insane, he's upset they took out lara's exaggerated breasts and sexuality and says they turned into a dyke... Even going as far to says she's sexless and and devoid of femininity now.

[ZombieGamerMan]

Personally don't care that Lara's tits are smaller however they did fuck her up by making her dull as a butter knife

[SinkingSage]

Her lips are horrendous though.

[spicelicka]

You just said people think showing an inch of sexiness makes the game lose credibility, and then you go to say Lara is a dyke because she isn't showing off her sexuality. So basically you're saying the game loses credibility because her boobs aren't out. I don't understand, your whole point went downhill after you said that.

I dunno but I have respect for character portrayal when she is fighting for survival in freezing temperatures and doesn't have her boobs out. But hey covering her boobs makes her a dyke right.

[GrimDragon]

@spicelicka yes apparently people like this blogger feel cleavage equates to loss of credibility and only a dyke Lara croft can be taken seriously. While I say the real Lara knew she was beautiful, knew she had that toned sexy body to use on any villainous man that got in her way.
Remember that level in tomb raider two when Lara had to sneak into a party to get an important file from the villians office. She dressed in a sexy black body hugging cleavage revealing dress to distract and appear like a guest in that party. It was Lara using her assets to her advantage. Lara was a woman that knew what she had and had no shame in using it to get what she needed. At the same time she can wear her booty shorts pull out her desert eagles and take down a bear. That's just who she was kicking ass and looking good doing it.
Not this politically correct Lara dull as butter knife. The game lost its artistic integrity to appease people like this blogger. And as a result the credibility of the real Lara croft as we've known her to be for years.

[spicelicka]

But then your argument should be with the whole theme of the game. It's a reboot and they've gone a very different route with the new series. The previous Tome Raider games were not very serious, and not about survival. You were fighting dinosaurs and dual wielding pistols while diving around.

New TR is a lot more realistic. The dialogue is serious, her acting is serious, the environment is realistic and deadly. She has to hunt for survival, withstand freezing temperatures, and is using stealth constantly. I'm only halfway through the game and so far I see NO reason for her to use her body to her advantage, she's not going to wear a skimpy dress to seduce a guy in the wilderness. For a realistic story they have to go with realistic characters so it makes total sense. And I personally think the whole James Bond style Diva thing where the women seduce men into doing what they want is a bit cliche at this point.

I find her to be extremely sexy anyway. Her voice, her personality, her charm, and the beautiful face mixed with deadly fighting skills is sexy.

[GrimDragon]

Meh to each his own. Just not feeling this Lara croft at all. Maybe it's because I don't need realism in my games. I get enough realism in my day to day life. If everything had to be realistic to be entertaining we'd have no superhero movies, comic books etc.

Lara killing bears in booty shorts was the shit bro at least for me it was. It was rediculous but that's what gave the game it's charm.

See the game was rebooted to appease a bigger demographic of gamers especially female ones. So it stands to reason of course they'd find a problem traipsing along the jungles in a crop top and booty shorts. I see it as a form of light censorship because that's how everything has become today when it comes to how women are represented in games. It's like we can't have some fun with out select females from our favorite gender getting a fit anymore. They hide this crap behind things like Lara is not realistic, but what they really mean is Lara way to hot and iam not put proper clothes on her so I don't feel insecure. Or I'll scream about you being sexist. Its bs bro. But whatever is what it is. Iam sure one day the powers that be will get tired of this bs and realize this attempt to appease this crowd of females crying about sexism has more to do with their own personal issues than it does to correct an industry that was doing just fine before all this feminisistic bs came along.

For the record all the chiseled men with six packs and huge bulges and perfect facial features does absolutely nothing to make me feel anything other than one dam that's pretty cool or two dam wish I looked like that. And a laugh and appreciation for whatever portrayal of the genders may exist female or male because the simple fact is none of it is possible or real. And if someone happened to look like one of these perfect Adonis types I can appreciate that and keep it moving.
But one thing I'd never do is make an excuse to censor it. With dumb ass contradicting statements of equality and sexism.

[rainslacker]

Sexy can be a lot of things. Even if one isn't super attractive, they can still put out sexual vibes.

As far as the new Lara, I have nothing against her look, or even what she wears which covers most things, but I disagree with most of the things you find appealing about her.

Her voice I find too whiny and irritating. She has no personality to speak of, particularly compared to the old Lara. Her charm I've yet to see, because in the setting, what exactly is she going to charm? I don't find it charming where she keeps telling herself she can do something...and then goes and does it as if saying something is difficult adds to the tension after the 100th time. Face, or character model overall is pretty good. She has kind of that girl next door look to her, but nothing about her says sexy...more like cute and attractive in the right circumstances. I can't recall her even trying to be sexy...which admittedly can be sexy in it's own way.

My bigger problem is that people tend to equate sex appeal as the only depth to the character. Lara's character never had a problem being sexy in the past, because she had personality, and charm. This new Lara even if sexy like the old, would still lack any of those qualities which actually make a compelling character.

[thelaughingwiseman]

I agree. Being sexy isn't really enough for the game. Luckily there is a great amount of games that focus on character creation, games that are narrative based where different body types can be used or don't really feel out of place. In action, stealth, other action packed games, I understand why there are a lot of fit/sexy people. They have to be in order to make the stuff they're doing more believable. They don't have to look pretty in the face department, but their bodies always often have to look like they are in peak condition. Yeah, there is that gender model bias (women tend to be lighter, limber, great dexterity). Men (big, tall, strong etc.).
Is it an issue? I don't really know. I don't think there is one. Do some body types make me feel insecure? Yeah, sure. Does it deter me from having fun playing videogames? never. Nice blog post, none-the-less

[annoyedgamer]

We need regulation for this illegal sexualization. Commonse sense regulation. Not one more. #gettalking

[sullynathan]

That's a sexy Lara Croft

[ZombieGamerMan]

Can we start blocking sites like this as punishment? Seriously last I checked most sexy women in games aren't just eye candy

[Kalebninja]

Blocking them for what? Because you don't agree with them? And you really need to take another look because a ridiculous amount are.

[Goldby]

Blocking wont help anything, it just shows that you would rather have censorship towards subjects that are against your views. Next thing you'll demand is time in front of U.N. to talk about how people are attacking your reputation with facts. #AnitaScare

[ZombieGamerMan]

Pretty sure they'd gladly give me the time of day, will tell them about Make Games Great Again and propose we build a wall to keep all the girls out

[rainslacker]

Blocking isn't the answer. You can avoid the articles if you wish.

If you block, then you'll have less chance to see what they're saying if you're actually interested in the debate, and even opinions which don't line up with yours are still worth hearing, even if to possibly give you another viewpoint, or give you a chance to offer a counter-argument.

[ZombieGamerMan]

Ugh honestly after just seeing some clips of feminist and SJW and retards ranting about how oppressed or how this should change for reasons I just take most things of this nature on the base level of their title, and this one's title just tells me what I need to know and how the person is just gonna go on some non sensible rant about how not privileged enough women are yadda yadda. So I respond in a way where I don't care what this person has to say cause what little thought went into the basis of the title means it is indicative of the content and that the content is just going to be fundamentally wrong on 1 or more levels

[Goldby]

i would have to disagree with her main point. Ezio wasn't Sexy because he was Sexy. He wasnt a sexual object because of his Femininity. he was an Awesome character because he was fleshed out. he wasn't just an italian guy with a great chin strap and awesome calfs. He was a Lady's man. he had ego, and rightfully so. he had the best sense of humor in any of of the series.

Now onto her depiction of his body "Flaws" that add to his sexualised objectification.

"Even his body is more slender and lithe than the stereotypically masculine build of Kratos from the God of War series."
This may be news to her, but to be able to pull yourself up rooftops or platforms multiple times is very hard work, and you actually want less muscle than more muscle (The Guardian with Ashton Kutcher explains this with the tredding water scene) not to mention all the running that he does. he is athletic the same way a triathlete is, toned not bulking muscles...

Apparently this writer thinks he only thinks about women and ways to woo them.. i guess the fact his family was destroyed by a murderer and him taking up the role as father of the house, to protect his family and subsequently free italy form the clutches of Templars is just normal Woman Wooing...

[Agent_hitman]

That Lara croft thumbnail tho. :3

[Fist4achin]

It hasn't worked out for me as much.

[TyrantSoul]

You know I somewhat agree with you but...why is it these kinda article mention Tomb Raider games?Tomb Raider since its very 1st title have had great game-play,music,level design,replay and character.Yet you seem to take exception to it anyway just because Lara Croft is sexy.I think the nearest flip side to Tomb Raider would be Uncharted yet nobody takes offense to the hunky Nathan Drake.

This same old agenda is really getting old now.There are far more issues in the world than sexy game characters.If you want to be a new wave feminist or SJW( I think thats what they are called I tend to ignore these silly articles at this point) then how about helping women get rights in countries that seriously oppress women and not focus all this effort on what is no more than a hobby.

Sorry if my grammar is bad guys its 5am here.Congrats to N4G on the launching of the new site.

[spicelicka]

But Lara is just as sexy in ROTR, maybe you should change your definition of what sexy is. Her voice is sexy, her face is sexy, her attitude is sexy, her badassery is sexy, her body is sexy. Just because her ass isn't unnaturally wide and her boobs aren't popping out doesn't make her any less sexy.

Nathan Drake is hunky in his personality and his character. The devs don't have to rely on making his bulge protrude out or make him run around in boxers to show him as an attractive character. THAT is the precise difference. Of course it's up to the devs to exercise their freedom and we shouldn't force or protest into infringing on that, but people can make straight forward criticisms, there's nothing wrong with that.

It has nothing to do with oppressing women or SJW. It's just simple preference and disagreement with certain industry practices. I'm a guy and sure as hell not a feminist but it all makes sense to me, in some cases it definitely goes into SJW spectrum and turns into bullshit, but many times it's not and we need to stop playing the SJW card. There's no space left for people who just want to have a frank discussion, instead it's all about feminism and SJW and gamergate, and all that shit.

Btw I'm not relating this to the article or the author, i didn't even fully read that.

[TyrantSoul]

See you made a somewhat good point ..a shame you started with"maybe you should change your definition of what sexy is" That is SJW all over.You jumped to the conclusion I found Lara sexy because she has a pair of tits.To be honest I find Lara sexy due to her character.As for outfit,why is it only an issue with female characters?Look at a lot of game with male leads,No tops,bulging muscles,open tops,briefs etc.I could go on.You see men don't shout foul play because to be perfectly honest if something that trivial offends you then you really should pick a hobby that suits you rather than changing something to suit you.I would not walk into a museum and say "Oh my,look at that hunky David statue,Change it now"

Gaming is a an optional hobby.And I'm getting sick and tired of people telling artists what to do with their art.It doesn't occur to them to simply not buy it if it will offend them.