BioWare: Synonym For Sexism?

Well, here we are.  It's a new year and a new day to be a gamer/blogger (after researching a bit more on blogging, I realize that I have a lot more to learn, but that's for another day).  And on this day I learned that I can get some really awesome perks when I pre-order my soon-to-be-owned copy of Mass Effect 3.  Imagine my excitement to learn that when I pre-order from Gamestop I'll be getting some really kickass in-game stuff.  Win, right?  Well, that doesn't seem to be enough to assuage some concerns from some in the gaming community.

Twitter has let me know that some people are talking about the binary nature of all the alien species in the Mass Effect universe. Kris Ligman, host of Dire Critic and curator of "This Week in Video Game Blogging"  on Critical Distance, set my Twitter afire with a discussion about sexism and sexual binaries in video games, namely Mass Effect.  I can't necessarily blame her.  Human sexes have always been split up into male and female.  It's that way in nature, too.  So, video games are made that way, too; male characters and female characters.  Nothing wrong with that, right? Well, if you think about it, we're getting into an age in which it is acceptable that sex doesn't define gender.  And yes, there is a difference between the two.  Sex is what you're born as, gender is more along the lines as what you define yourself to be.

 

Bieber is still deciding.

It's a guy.  Nothing wrong with that.

However, I can't help but think we're not quite at an age where games, especially those made by big name companies like BioWare, are going to introduce title characters that are not ruled by gender.  Granted, there are some decent hits in the past where you could find some androgynous characters (go here to check out the "Top 25 Androgynous Characters in Gaming" according to Ugo.com), but I doubt a high-end AAA game is going to want to make massive waves with a cross-dressing or highly androgynous main character.  And it's not because they think it's bad (nor do I), but it's more so coming from the fact that the mainstream audience of gamers isn't ready for that, yet.  And while I think that is a sad fact, I cannot help but think that it's the safe way to play things, for now.  Hell, BioWare had no issue with putting blatant homosexual situations (both female AND MALE!!) into Dragon Age II (kudos for that, by the way), so I wouldn't be surprised if they were to become the ones that pave the way for a new way of thinking about a AAA main character and its gender.  Hell, they did an awesome job with Bastilla Shan from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.  She was hot in a powerful, "don't-f*ck-with-me-or-I'll-spear-you-with-my-double-bladed-lightsaber" kind of way.  And, of course, everyone loved FemShep, the feminine version of the lead character of the Mass Effect series.  She's so badass, Sylvester Stallone sits in a corner moping about how he wishes he was as badass. Neither Bastilla nor FemShep required cleavage to pull that off.

"I don't care if shit's going down behind me, I'm busy being a badass!"

In the meantime, BioWare is probably worrying about people's concern with the sexism that is seemingly running rampant in their newly released Star Wars: The Old Republic.

A bit of info on SWTOR:
You are a character that has a main story in the Star Wars universe, 3000 years before the rise of Darth Vader.  Your choices affect who you are and what kind of relationships you have with the NPCs (non-playable characters) in the game.  Those decisions could be romantic or twisted in nature.  You get to decide.

Amongst the more popular, or more prominent ones, are those decisions based around the Sith Warrior class.  The Sith Warrior has a companion (a little helper that you get along the way) that is a slave, Vette.  As a slave, she wears a restraining collar that shocks her at your pleasure.  Yep, you get to decide what kind of torture she does or does not endure during your travels together.  Personally, I find it amusing that games still have this sense of stupid power control available, but I guess it's mainly there in the hopes that the player will be nice enough to fall for Vette and remove the collar from her and advance the romantic arc.  However, that may not always happen, so BioWare had to create the options for those in the mindset of pure evil and allow Vette to be abused; verbally, physically, and emotionally.  For more on the subject, reference this article from Forbes.com for their writer's opinion on the matter.

Overall, this is just a small part of what some female gamers have had an issue with.  The bigger problem lies in the fact that BioWare's character creation is lacking overall.  Female characters have no real differentiation in size of bust or in curves ratio on the body, the main things that differentiate women.  And again, this is more so an overarching problem with the lack of options in the whole character creation of SWTOR (male creation included) than it is as a situation directed at female characters.  However, BioWare used this model format to dictate the whole of the Star Wars galaxy and how the characters would look.  Something that doesn't wear well on players and their significant others (yep, my better half really is not thrilled).  This, in turn, has left some people concerned that the good doctors at BioWare, Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk (**edited this due to my incompetence over the Doctors' degrees**) haven't had the female gamers much in mind during the production of their multi-million dollar gaming venture.

"Yep, we're the ladies men you all think we are... Who wants to play D&D?"

Should that be the case, perhaps it's time for the good doctors and the BioWare squad to get together and find a means to draw in more female gamers and/or heal a few of the wounds inflicted by displaying a sign of good faith.  Perhaps a new trailer for Mass Effect 3 which features a very outstanding and brave female Commander Shepard.  I doubt any person would have a complaint about that.  Then again, this is the internet and expecting an unanimous approval of something on here is like expecting a wise decision from the Iowa Caucus.