Annoyed by the critics that suddenly feel betrayed by the series because they had convinced themselves the games weren't sexist even when it couldn't have been more obvious. People tried to tell them Bayonetta was misogynist as fuck but they were dismissed as "sex-negative" or whatever.

  • UlyssesT [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I don't actually have an issue with the character myself personally as much as I see the character's inception and the head developer in particular, who is a toxic douchebag, in a critical way.

    Wonder Woman, after all, started as a thirsty guy's BDSM and truth-or-dare fantasies (the lasso especially) applied to comic books, intended specifically for the male gaze, starting with his own. The character didn't end there, but that's how the character began. Yes, lots of women find Wonder Woman empowering today (and I don't mean to criticize BDSM or for that matter consensual adult kink) but that wasn't really the intention or the focus for the creator.

    The character, as-is, wasn't made by you, and wasn't made by a woman at all for that matter. It's nice that you enjoy that particular character but your enjoyment was not the intent or probably was thought about at all during the development process.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jko06dA_x88&t=313s

    As Sarkeesian put it, the character being a product of fiction was originally manufactured for and intended for the gaze and consumption of a specific :heated-gamer-moment: target audience. The "empowerment," however true it personally is to you after the fact, wasn't intentionally put there at an executive or marketing level, except maybe as a smoke screen to avert criticism, especially from women who did find the character objectifying instead of empowering.

    What I was critical of, specifically, was dudebro G!mer types that claim what is empowering without the slightest hint of a woman's presence around or even wanted, but then they themselves want to define what is "empowering" anyway disingenously, when it's all about what they get off to first, foremost, and often exclusively.

    Most of us enjoy problematic things (I absolutely love Dune and the gender politics alone in it are very sus). You're more than welcome to enjoy Bayonetta but the head of the game series didn't have you in mind. It just so happened that you liked the result.