The Escapist’s “The Big Picture” on the Objectification of Women in Games
I realize that this is a double-post for people who follow my personal Tumblr, but I wanted to say something more here:
The implied viewer is both one of my favorite things in comics/cartoons and a source of this problem. Shows like K-On!, Lucky Star, and Penguin Musume Heart trade heavily on the knowledge that someone is watching to leverage their humor by brushing up against or breaking the 4th wall. The fact that these girls (and sometimes guys see: Takumi Usui) and objects of desire and highly marketable leads them to fall into the sexualization trap outlined at the end of the article. This self-awareness can either be cute when played in earnest (Ladies versus Butlers), funny (Penguin Musume Heart) when lampshaded until it hurts, or creepy (Yosuga no Sora—shut up, Dan!).
In the end, I think the problem of poses and roles is what draws me to Deunan and her soul-sister Leona Ozaki. Sure, they mug for the camera, but it’s generally in riot gear. And that, is probably the way forward for ‘balanced’ female characters. Of course, the realities of our current culture means that feminine representation is complicated. And on that note, I plan to cover Sakura Wars TV Next.
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