cristheweirdo: Objectification
Objectification and…Men?
by Jimquisition
For any guy that responds to women’s objectification in any media (yes, this video pertains to video games specifically, but it still applies to all other forms of media.) with “well men are objectified too!”, sit the fuck down and watch.
Reblogging this because I’ve had this video submitted to me a bunch, and I conveniently saw this on my dash. :)
Jim makes the important distinction between idealization and objectification. Male characters are idealized in some ways, but as a power fantasy, are much more varied, and are created for straight cis men to see themselves as. They are idealized, but as the subject. Mainstream gaming is still typically created by straight men for straight men. It doesn’t mean there are never any problems with the way that’s done, how characters portrayed, or that that can’t be addressed, but it’s still an important distinction.
Female characters are made for men to want sexually, to look at, fantasize about, and to be attractive to the male gamer, even if they’re the protagonists. They’re meant as objects for the straight male audience. An example of this is when Jim pointed out in a previous video that publishers don’t want developers to have female characters in straight relationships because they’re meant for the (presumed to be straight male) player to think of as a potential girlfriend, and they fear the players would be turned off if she displayed sexual agency of her own.