Excited about the soon-to-be-published Dragon Age 2, I read Bioware Forum's Dragon Age 2 themed posts. There are certain moments in life, when you hear someone talking and think "does he understand how fucked up he sounds?" This was one of those moments.
So I read a thread called "Isabela? Really?" which started as a wondering if this redesigned character really was the same one from DA1 (Origins). Pretty soon the conversation went hostile. Arguments about the character's appearance were shouted out, and she was called unattractive, manly, and ugly. Sure players can complain, and they most certainly do, as also Aveline and Cassandra have been called ugly. This passionate hate for Isabela however was something very alarming.
A lovely opening of a misogynist member 1 proclaimed: "So the leading lady is a wh*re, and a pretty ugly one at that?" This particular person reminded in various occations that Isabela is indeed a whore and a slut, because she slept with the Warden, Leliana and Zevran at the same time. Warden however wasn't called a slut once, though he/she had done the same of course. Calling Isabela a whore seemed such an easily justified way to insult her. "Well she did sleep around", they yelled from their mothers' basements. Calling someone a whore is of course a classic example of calling genderized power over someone else.
Others joined in. These people patted each others' backs and kept ranting about their right to have an attractive NPC. They also commented with arguments like
-all men like lingerie models so game characters should look like that
-especially ugly about Isabela is her large (?!) chin and thin lips, game characters should have soft features and big lips
-also her head looks like a melon
-her labret is ugly, piercings all and all are gross
Another member reminded the misogynists that women play these games and romance women too, and most of girls did found Isabela attractive. Misogynist member 1 never quit reciting his fine "but most men hate it" -generalization. Versitality was not necessery to these people, nor was reality. Misogynist member 2 said he didn't expect the same from real women, but from his in-game love interests he did of course, adding "I don't think that the standards are really so horrible when you consider them in that context." When said Isabela isn't even that ugly he continued: "As far as ugly -- comparatively speaking, yes there are many, many far, far uglier women out there (in the real world)." Smooth.
There was also complain about "women demanding too much". Men like "standard" beauty and apparently women falling outside that box (along with men/women who like non-standard) should keep their mouth shut and not expect to be treated decently. A misogynist member reminded women can vote, so everything should be fine. "The modern feminist culture is nothing more than a joke. You wanted to vote, rightfully so, and you got it. You wanted job equality, rightfully so, and you got it. You wanted respect as an equal, rightfully so, and you got it." When another member stated that exactly because of comments like these many women feel alienated in video game communities, misogynist member 1 was confused: "You feel alienated when men request that romanceable women look hot? What do you care if they do or not?"
These guys apparently thought they were being extremely sly. "Oh look look, I'm saying these things of a fictional character, I'm not offending anyone." It is interesting these people think games exist in a bubble outside real world. So demanding standard beauty is a situation consisting only game designers and the players?
And how fluently do the slut, the whore, the "I have a right to criticize this woman's appearance" come. The right to say what women should look like.
Every image offered by any media is part of the idea of beauty. The large chin, thin lipped Isabelas with piercings are no doubt in awe of this character. What use would it be to study tv or movies if they had no effect on us? Why would there be "real beauty" -campaigns if we were above all expectations? It's not like you can avoid being let down by your own looks even if you know they are unrealistic. This sort of self-hatred is caused by living in the fear of things assholes like these might think about you.
The game world has gone crazy. Isabela is by all measures gorgeous. But so was Faith, and she was trashed for her small boobs. Why do different rules apply in the gaming communities? Why is it such a nasty place for girls still, in more than one way?
This is scary cause it's true. Welcome to the year 2011.
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