Women Remain the Ignored Audience In Gaming [Slashdot]

[Aussie2B]

Male characters aren't sexualized in games at all. When you see a male character that's chiseled and handsome, it's because the developer is trying to create a character that a male gamer would like to imagine himself as. These sorts of characters absolutely are not designed for the purpose of providing eye candy to female gamers, in the way in which female characters are designed for male gamers. These kinds of male characters generally are in games that most female gamers avoid to boot.

If you want an example of sexualized male characters in games, then you'd be better off looking at Japanese RPGs and such with their bishounen characters. Pretty boys are really big in Japan (anywhere really, among teenage girls), so in genres that get a decent number of female players, like RPGs, you'll see some male characters that are probably designed to appeal to young women to some extent.

[kedawa]

Most of the successful DS and Wii games seem to be tailored to women, as are most of the games on facebook and the like.
If there's any group that's untapped, it's the intelligent gamer. Games just keep getting easier, with more spoon-feeding and obvious puzzles, and there seems to be a trend towards mindless grinding and achievement whoring. And don't even get me started on the tired cliches that pass for characters and plots in single player games.

[allyourblood]

Male characters aren't sexualized in games at all. When you see a male character that's chiseled and handsome, it's because the developer is trying to create a character that a male gamer would like to imagine himself as. These sorts of characters absolutely are not designed for the purpose of providing eye candy to female gamers, in the way in which female characters are designed for male gamers.

Here, in 2011, you can't seriously believe this. The concept of female gamers finding attraction in male characters has been wholly solidified in the last 5 years, at least. Search online with the appropriate keywords, and see a plethora of evidence to this end. Further, even as passive as I am in reading interviews and articles regarding current games and trends, I've read more than one such article regarding sexuality in gaming that supports the fact that male figures are certainly crafted to appeal to the opposite sex.

If you want an example of sexualized male characters in games, then you'd be better off looking at Japanese RPGs and such with their bishounen characters. Pretty boys are really big in Japan (anywhere really, among teenage girls), so in genres that get a decent number of female players, like RPGs, you'll see some male characters that are probably designed to appeal to young women to some extent.

I'm not familiar with the Japanese gaming market nor its trends. I was speaking more specifically of "western" gaming.

I agree that traditionally, male characters have been designed to be that iconic, hero figure; dashing, handsome and without a hint of human frailty or weakness. But in recent years, the focus and target demographic have shifted; developers are aware that females are playing these games more often, and these idealized males are absolutely being built to be hunky as well as heroic. That they've somewhat been that way for a long time, doesn't give them a free pass now that the audience has expanded.

[Letiumtide]

Because, typically, those aren't cues that men use to convey that they "appear receptive to sex". Those are female traits, used to attract males. And just as typically, the brash, gung-ho, tough guy attitude, along with poses that accentuate a male's toned physique are quite often what men use to attract females, sexually, and this is more than apparent in the majority of video games with male leads.

You say that, but such leads are not intended for women to feel sexually attracted to the character, they're that way for men to look up to/live through/etc... Gabriel from Lords of Shadow is as you describe, is he sexualized for women to fantasize about? What about Marcus from Gears of War? Do you think a woman would be all into that?

The difference isn't, these men aren't sexualized in some respect, the difference is... are these men sexualized to appeal to women? The answer is no, they are not, they are sexualized to be a heroic portrayal for men, whether or not that tends to be the case is not the question at hand. It's the fact that women in video games, tend to be sexualized to appeal to men, not to be a heroic avatar for women.

That said, I can see where you are coming from where you say that they are sexualized to some degree, my boyfriend agrees that he's annoyed with the portrayal of men in video games because they more often than not reflect nothing about what he wants to be, sees himself as or cares for.

It's a two way road, that said... the women in video games are hypersexualized for men to be attracted to, the men in video games are generally not for women to be attracted to.

Except of course in some Japanese games as Aussie2B mentioned.

Also sexual reception is actually more or less the same for both men and women. Men flush when they are sexually aroused, breath heavier, and in general show the same reactions. The difference is, men are never shown this way in video games, but women are, you say that they are more visually subtle, but the same cues are actually present in real life.

I don't want to downplay the way men are represented in video games, I'm not trying to... that wasn't within the means of the topic of thread. What I was saying was reasons why women feel segregated from video games and why "games for girls" is the wrong approach.

I personally think sexuality in video games is fine, to a degree, we're all human and humans are sexual creatures. There's nothing wrong with that.

Some women are very overtly sexual, that's fine, but there are a disproportionate amount of hyper sexualized characters in games in general where it's not needed.

I've read more than one such article regarding sexuality in gaming that supports the fact that male figures are certainly crafted to appeal to the opposite sex.

I'm actually interested in reading these articles if you can find them for me.

Search online with the appropriate keywords, and see a plethora of evidence to this end. Further, even as passive as I am in reading interviews and articles regarding current games and trends.

I searched Sexy Male Game Characters and came up with Chris Redfield, Ezio Auditore, Nathan Drake, The Prince from Prince of Persia. Really... the only one of those that is overtly sexual to any degree is Ezio and even then that's only in character. Not really much in his overall appearance throughout the game, he doesn't wear skin tight clothing, or anything revealing.

[Aussie2B]

Some women will find the Vin Diesel sorts sexually attractive, no doubt, but there's a big difference between sexy male characters and sexualized male characters. It's all about the aims of the character design, and I'm not convinced at all that these hyper-masculine games give a damn whatsoever what women think of the characters when most women wouldn't touch those sorts of games.

Pretty much everyone wants to feel like they're attractive, so guys want to play as a male character that they would consider good-looking. If people wanted to play as a fat loser, Virtual Hydlide would've been more popular. :P

[calistarwind]

I would have to say and I have heard this out of several woman's mouths including a much older lady (60's) that find Dante from Devil May Cry very attractive and it was the reason they picked up the game. However, I do believe that most male leads are not put in a role for woman to fantasize about but it does happen. Woman find a way to make things their own and I think it is quite interesting and great that they really don't give a crap if a game is made for them or not.

On another note Play magazine is still doing Girls of Gaming and it truly shows that these game woman are being sexually exploited and some of the pictures are hand drawn by the artist of the particular game to put them in a more "appealing" pose. You do not see the same magazine for woman.

[tubeway]

I have worked video game retail for near 15 years

Good GOD!

Reaction aside, after having seen that much you should be working for the corporate side.

[Gameguy]

Instead of making women in video games hyper-sexualized for men, what if they made them hyper-sexualized for lesbians instead?

Or they should change up the design of male characters to be more appealing to women. That way they won't have to write better stories.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Ugg. That's all.