Jezebel 
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New York, 11:17 PM
Sun Nov 8
22 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/06/09
He reads superhero comics (side note: I dislike Uncanny X-Men and was so disappointed in the lack of race, gender ANYTHING nuances. I had heard so many good things about X-Men and it just didn't stack up). I get annoyed with people who draw all the women with the same bodies. Granted, they draw men all the same, too. But this is what's frustrating! People look different! Give them different proportions and faces!
He argues that it's an escape fantasy, and that people want to read about what are essentially wet dreams about what they wish they were - beautiful, strong, superpowered, adventurous, whathaveyou people. I think that's bull. I want to play lots of different people when I game. I always choose a race other than human (or its equivalent), because I find that more fun. I make characters that I wouldn't really ever want to be, but I want to explore what it might be like to be a princess, or an assassin, or have giant-ass horns. He always picks someone who is more or less him.
I don't want a fantasy world full of idealized characters. I want flaws, I want scars and missing limbs, different races, different genders, sexualities, abilities and all of that. It's so much more of an escape fantasy that way, I feel. I don't want to be me, I want to be someone else, to try to figure out what that might be like. I'm wrong, of course, but it helps me relate to people better. I remember playing a deaf woman, and how challenging it was to know that she couldn't hear anything (it was D&D and she was a bard. That was a roleplaying challenge). It made me think about my own abilities, my own prejudices, and my privilege to be able to hear in a way that I probably never would have experienced in any other way. Do I know what it's like to be deaf? Of course not. But it made me think more about what life would be like and made me a little more sympathetic to my own privilege.
I don't think this is necessarily a dangerous thing, but I think it's like erosion. A little is not that big of a deal. But over time, it starts to matter. We start to see this as "normal" - I know too many people who already do. They see this as what men/women should strive to be, and those who don't are strange and uneducated. This is the picture of health and beauty, and they won't settle for less. Sometimes for themselves, but most often for partners. I don't think video games will like, bring down society or anything, but I think it can exacerbate problems that already exist. It doesn't happen overnight, but over years and years of escaping into this fantasy, so many of my friends seem to have trouble breaking out of it. #videogames
11/06/09
Tell him to read Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol. The three main characters are a woman with multiple personalities, a man who had his brain put in a metal body, and a male/female amalgamation. #videogames
11/06/09
I just really want to be a Panda. #videogames
11/06/09
11/06/09
Blame China! I would be a panda person too! #videogames
11/07/09
11/06/09
My point, I guess, is that people already feel like they have permission to be total tools when they’re online, and I think the hypersexualization of female avatars exacerbates that. That dick would have been unlikely to treat my mom like that in real life. These creations don’t look like women, who should be respected, they look like blow-up dolls, which exist purely for the gratification of men. So the men who are already douchebags are even more likely to objectify and mistreat the female avatars. #videogames
11/06/09
I take issue with the idea that they do not look like women "who should be respected."
All women, even those who "look like blow-up dolls" and are dressed in a sexual manner, deserve respect. Those creations may not look like the majority of women, and their body types should not be the only ones to represent women as a whole, but women who look or dress like them still deserve respect.
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11/06/09
That said, most of my Sims are incredibly pretty. #videogames
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I stopped playing much because well.. I do have other things to do... and also, the amazing sculpture-like hairstyles with realistic movements were ruining my graphics card... #videogames
11/06/09
I too am incapable of making a truly ugly Sim. Even the one I made to be the "village idiot" is kind of handsome. #videogames
11/06/09
@purpleshoes reminds everyone to take typing breaks and stretch, ow: OMG, if you have Sims 2, at Mod the Sims 2, they have a ton of ethnic garb from all over, including salwaar khameezes. I even had 3 burkhas from Sims Resource. Damn, I miss that game. #videogames
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11/03/09
11/03/09
Also, declining population translates to increased burden on individuals (due to a decreasing tax base). #capcom
11/03/09
@arginusae: That's a good point, and a problem that we're likely to run into here, too; I suppose there are valid reasons to be concerned about a declining population (and a higher proportion of older citizenry), I'm just suspicious of arguments that present a declining population--or even a drop in GDP, as implicitly bad. #capcom
11/03/09
11/03/09
There are broader trends in Japanese society toward a more suitable work/life balance for men, but it's not some big trend-piece movement. #capcom
11/03/09
So when I read this, despite the fact that I've never been to Japan (and in large part because I've never been), I decided to take it with a huge spoonful of salt. #capcom
11/03/09
Since we're both in greyed-out comment land and hopefully it's not too much of a comment thread derail, could I trouble you for your quick two cents on the hijab issue?
My basic, only-quasi-informed take on the matter is that there's often a higher degree of support for a ban among immigrant women from the cultures that push the range of coverings than Western feminists would expect, because having the 'free choice' in practice too often means 'the choice of the brothers and fathers' who enforce a certain standard at the micro level.
Am I completely off base? I'd love to be filled in by someone with more perspective. #capcom
11/02/09
And I love me some quality yaoi.
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11/02/09
i haven't played this game, but am intrigued by it.
one of the dramas of the season i am watching is called Samurai Highschool.
it stars a popular young actor who is a herbivore type, but transforms into an ancient samurai when in danger.
so, yes, i would say this is definitely a trend. (and i enjoy it)
interestingly enough, japanese female fashion is changing from a cuter pastel style to a more rock'n'roll aesthetic. #capcom
11/03/09
11/02/09
I read about these guys before in a CNN.com article. The Japanese woman (!) who coined the term said, "In Japan, sex is translated as 'relationship in flesh,' so I named those boys 'herbivorous boys' since they are not interested in flesh." #capcom
11/02/09
Did she happen to say what it was? #capcom
11/02/09
See also: nikutai literature, or "carnal literature"/"literature of the flesh" in the immediate postwar period, stories of very, erm, physical and sexual experiences after living under censors and sensory deprivation during the war years. #capcom
11/03/09
I remember asking my friends about it - as I said in my first comment, because "sekkusu" (duh, self) is obviously an English-based loanword, but none of them knew anything. They just shrugged and said, "It's always 'sekkusu'."
And narf, yes, you are totally right on the spelling. A+, self, for spelling with letters that don't exist! :D #capcom
11/02/09
With this, I also see Japanese culture succeeding near as spectacularly as Americans -- both South and North -- at that other widespread and transnational game, "Blame the Women".
11/02/09
11/02/09
I do admit samurais are cool - real life ones, historically. But as hotties? No.
I don't think many women actually admire or fantasize about historically inaccurate video game characters. Have you actually seen what Sanada Yukimura or Date Masumane actually look like in real life?
11/02/09