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comment by captain_nemo
captain_nemo  ·  3396 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Arkham Knight’s Big Problem: Female Representation [spoilers]

I can understand your issue with damsels in distress in gaming and I agree that it is too common of a theme. But I also think that since the start of gaming, as the gaming demographic changed, views of gamers changed and just people getting tired of the same old story, that portrayal has decreasing and strong female characters are being portrayed more (that's not to take away from female leads from the earlier days like Samus and Lara Croft and it's also not to say that there is still a ways to go to make in further improvements). I just think if that is really your argument, which is one I can agree with in a broad sense, then this was a bad choice of game. In the world of Batman, he does the saving. Seldom is he ever saved. Male or female, in this universe if you are in trouble you are the 'damsel' in distress that batman is going to save. In all video games of this type, you are playing the hero who is out to save innocents and other heroes who are in trouble and being threatened by the villains (who are mostly male but that doesn't seem to be a problem for the author). It wouldn't make much sense if the other characters in a game such as this are self-sufficient and don't need your saving when they get in trouble, IMO. This is regardless of whether the person you are saving is male or female and regardless of if you are playing a character that is male or female. You are playing someone who is the savior of the city. You are supposed to be saving anyone in trouble. However, this is my perspective. I clearly don't deal with the same frustrations you do but I try my best to see the issues and be open minded about the faults of my perspective. So please clarify further if my criticism as far as this specific article/example is misplaced.

Also, I was wondering if you had any evidence of your last claim. I do believe that sexism in the gaming industry (which I do still feel is there but exaggerated by the media and gaming journalists) and the boys club image of gaming is an issue for inspiring women to become game devs (the same as pushing women away from STEM fields). I just figured that what you said would motivate women to become gave devs instead of push them away. The woman-negative tropes as something they want to fight against so develop games that don't show that instead of seeing this misrepresentation and allowing it to continue or grow by stepping out of the industry. Once again, this is just my perspective and I would like to understand the frustrations of female gamers and developers better.