So I’d understand why the asari wouldn’t have gendered anything on their own, but you think that once they saw other races, at least some would choose to present as male. Every asari in the three games is presented as female, and I think it shows a super simple understanding of gender and lack of imagination.

It’s really kinda boring that every asari would choose to be female, especially since I’m sure each individual has their own preferences and attractions. I’m realizing how shallow Mass Effect’s politics are, and how much broader their world could have been, instead of reducing each alien race into Roman wannabes, sexy blue ladies, and the lizard proletariat.

TLDR: No male asari feels like trans erasure.

  • FlakesBongler [they/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    It's because instead of examining the trope of "All aliens act a particular way" they leap whole hog into it

    It's the same problem with a lot of fantasy stuff, where you get "All orcs are savage brutes, except this one who acts more like the Noble Savage"-style racist stereotypes

    It's lazy writing built on the back of other people who also didn't bother to put more effort into it

    • nohaybanda [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      It’s because instead of examining the trope of “All aliens act a particular way” they leap whole hog into it

      That's not fair.

      They also mix in orientalist sexualisation -- the Asari are coded as vaguely Asian, they are sexually compatible with all species etc -- and good ol sexism: the explicitly feminine species is all about psychological power and "magic".

    • Gay_Wrath [fae/faer]
      ·
      3 years ago

      It’s the same problem with a lot of fantasy stuff, where you get “All orcs are savage brutes, except this one who acts more like the Noble Savage”-style racist stereotypes

      Now that i'm thinking about this, this (racist) exceptionalism also reinforces the great man theory of history. They think of us all us as the unwashed masses, except for The Good Ones that "rise to the top" (usually are rich or are particularly talented/lucky and who politically reinforce the status quo).

      • Vncredleader
        ·
        3 years ago

        This is why the Orcs in Elder Scrolls interest me. They are outcasts and "savages" for material (or magical I guess) reasons, and they don't fall into the "the good ones" shit often from what I have seen.