The Color Purple... Isn't Manly?

I was gallivanting through Facebook earlier and came across this article on The Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/kristen-wolfe/dear-customer-who-stuck-u_b_1190690.html

Yes, the link is crude, but I'm trying out a new app for my 3GS for mobile posting, so whatever.

I honestly cannot fathom how a human, in this day and age, would actually consider an ass whooping to be a proper response to a child wanting to have a "girly" colored controller. Nor can that be an appropriate response to getting a game that has a female protagonist. I was always under the impression that playing a game with a hot female lead was always a good idea (reference every Tomb Raider game, ever, and Bayonetta). Perhaps I was misguided.

In addition, as a little brother to a big brother, I have to give major props (yo) to this young man for sticking up for his little brother, especially against his idiot father. I mean, yeah, maybe not all dads want their boys to show a feminine side, even in video gaming, but that doesn't mean you have to be a dick about the whole process. Slip your suggestion in, make your case, but then let your kid decide what they want to play. As long as the game is AGE appropriate, not GENDER appropriate, it shouldn't matter, right?

Seriously? "I'm gonna whoop you into shape if you don't pick something more manly," is how you get your kid to show more masculinity? Hell, you were even going to let a 10-12 year old play an M FOR MATURE rated game just to make sure he wasn't being "girly." Loser.

Honestly, folks, we could all take a lesson from this teenage, older brother. Protect who someone is, not who you think they should be. Gaming has matured to where all types of players, characters, and worlds exist. Perhaps maybe we could start thinking our real one could learn something from that.