Originally Posted by Lyrhe
I think if you really believe there's underlying sexism in a pose in a fantasy videogame where everything is highly stylized and designed to be aesthetic you should probably search for a better hobby.

Are you talking about MGSV or D:OS2? The sexism in MGSV should be pretty obvious. I still played it, and it was still a great game, but it was certainly far from perfect. Just because I'm willing to admit that, it doesn't mean I have to quit games forever.

Besides, sexism is everywhere. In some situations, sexism is justified (such as dance) because there is explicitly a sexual component to it. But there is no reason why these attitudes should be transported to an asexual setting, such as a workplace.

Artistically, you can also justify that the setting is distinct to the tone of the work. For example, the TV show Mad Men portrays 60s sexism, but the TV show does not present this sexism in a positive light.

However, the setting does not justify the pose under discussion for reasons 1 & 2 I explained earlier. (This is also why I also don't agree with transplanting the pose to the male, but the inverse would be fine.) Where this gets uncomfortable is when you notice that these non-contextual poses appear to have been introduced in a heavily gendered way to the female characters.

And yes, there are other poses that seem silly (such as leaning against a sword), but at least those poses are contextually relevant to the setting.

Returning to your point, it's ironic that there are so many comments in topics like this about the complainers being "non- gamers" and then there are comments like yours that explicitly seek to exclude them from gaming. I feel I'm committed enough to gaming to consider myself a hardcore gamer. Perhaps more would be joining us if we let them. Maybe that's what you're afraid of?

I've already bought D:OS2, and I'm sure I'll enjoy playing it, but not as much as I would if it could more adeptly negotiate these kinds of issues.