The Butts

In an episode of Tropes vs Women in Gaming that was at least three years in the making, Anita Sarkeesian brought to light the troubling lack of diversity in female antagonists in gaming, how most of them are either sex pots or old crones, how few video games actually have a woman in the role of the main antagonist, and how too few games show female antagonists that...Wait, no, she didn't. She talked about how many female video game characters have clothing designed to showcase but not exactly show their butts.

Her video can be summed up in one sentence: "Female video game characters have outfits that draw attention to their butts AND THAT'S SEXIST!" Six minutes of content, summed up in one sentence. Anyway, Anita's point is that video games put a lot of focus on girl's butts. I won't deny that, because I have played quite a few games where the female derrierre is often showcased, subtly or unsubtly. Smite does it, Tomb Raider does it, among others. It happens.

But a question: Is that bad? Sarkeesian, as well as several like minded followers, would be quick to say yes, and it is not hard to see why. Emphasizing the butt can be seen as a form of objectification, turning the female form and reducing it to a piece of eye candy, something to watch. Therein lays the feminist objection to objectification: it removes the personhood from the person.

A core tennent of feminism is that women are people, and this has been a central theme to pretty much every work that can be called "feminist". Even works that predate the feminist movement showcase feminist ideals, emphasizing the complexity of the woman figure. An example would be Lanval, a poem from the thirteenth century that showcases not just a female hero AND villain, but presents the female as the romantic pursuer. The point is, feminist works often focused on making the female character, or characters, as deep and complex as a male character could be.

What does that have to do with butts? Simple: it's part of a major critique in regards to how female characters are presented in Mainstream Media. A major critique of female representation is how too often female characters are depicted wearing clothing that reveals a lot of skin, cleavage, etc. The critique comes in the form of the accusation that these articles of clothing are chosen primarily for the pleasure of the male audience, IE, it's eye candy for the boys. It is not hard to see this point of view, and one could well be inclined to agree with it.

But another perspective is available, and needs to be considered. Can women be comfortable with sexy? Yes, of course. Can women enjoy being seen as sexy? No doubt, and many women have even made careers out of their sex appeal. To name a few examples: Jessica Nigri, Yaya Han, etc. Ultimately, many women ENJOY dressing in clothing that reveals skin and cleavage, and often CHOOSE to wear it.

Lara Croft is world famous for wearing short shorts and a tanktop. She has a huge pair of breasts (or at least she had a huge pair, before the reboot. Even after the reboot, she's not exactly flat), and she can be seen as sexy. She's also an unequaled shot (she can shoot two pistols at the same time, at the same target, and not miss her mark. This is next to impossible to do in real life. She's also skilled in many other firearms, including the Uzi and the shotgun). She's a historian, an archeologist, a pilot, and a world trotter who's practically been everywhere. You'd think she'd be the game character that feminists would want to see more of, but you have the likes of Sarkeesian criticizing her over her outfit.

There's a concept called "sex negativity", which means opposition to sexual behaviour because of religious or social perspectives. This opposition to sexy outfits in female characters can be seen as an example of sex negativity, opposition to showcasing the female body because of the perspective that doing so objectifies the woman. The question, though, is "does it"? Again we turn to Lara Croft. Lara's characteristics aren't relegated to supplementary material, they are clearly shown in the game. Her historical knowledge? Right there. Her skill with a gun? Yup. So why not focus on that instead of her outfits? Because of sex negativity.

But sex negativity is not a core tennent of feminism, and in fact many feminists are sex positive, meaning that they celebrate human sexuality. The idea is that the human body is a beautiful, natural thing, and one ought not be ashamed of it. In this way, we can argue that it is a GOOD thing to have strong female characters who are also sexy, and who CHOOSE to dress sexily.

The idea is that the female body is nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to hide away from the eyes of society. Seeing a sexy woman isn't going to turn a man into an uncontrollable rape ape, and dressing sexily isn't a sign that a woman is an easy whore. Sexy is a natural reaction, and what one person finds sexy, another might not. I myself am more of a legs and thighs kind of guy, so I find short shorts to be sexy. Tank tops that reveal the bellybutton? Meh. But that's just me. My point is, sexy is subjective.

I'll have to admit, however, a personal bias. As I am someone who dislikes Sarkeesian, I am inclined to disagree with her, so making an objective counterpoint to her claim is harder for me than it should be. But upon focusing myself on her argument, I found myself asking a simple question: Why are butts a bad thing to see or draw?

A feminist would argue that, as I am a man, my perspective regarding this issue wouldn't be the same as a woman's. This is true. It is also true, however, that a sex positive feminist would have a different perspective from a sex negative one, as Sarkeesian has proven herself to be. A sex positive feminist would be empowered by sexy, but a sex negative one would see "sexy"as patriarchal oppression. Ultimately, though, I am inclined to side with the sex positive crowd.

Gamers ought to have the right to enjoy the games they do, and how they are developed. If gamers enjoy Lara Croft's sexiness, I say let them.If women like to wear sexy clothing, I say let them. If women don't like it and would rather wear jeans and a shirt, I say let them. Just do whatever you like and to hell with what society and authoritarians think.