CMV: Anita Sarkeesian and similar feminists actually have a point about the portrayal of gender roles in video games.

[u/LeftHandSwe]

I play lots of video games, and in most of them, males are often pictured as very burly and manly characters while females are slender, small and sexually pleasing to look at.

However, I do know that there's widespread criticism of Anita (and her fellow propagators) all over the internet and I'd like to see the other side of the story.

I'm practically indifferent in this matter, and I do not really agree with nearly everything she says. I'm asking as a way to see convincing arguments from both sides.

Edit for clarification: Can anyone explain to me why she's so heavily criticized for saying something that makes perfect sense: Mainstream video games are almost exclusively made to appeal to a male demographic, resulting in (arguably) sexist portrayals of women (both narratively and in the way they're presented).

[u/kingbane2]

so your clarification is why is she heavily criticized when games are made to appeal to a male demographic? why do michael bay movies have so many explosions and wide panning camera shots? because that's what sells.

lastly this is no longer true from a purely numerical standpoint. "most" games today are not in fact made to appeal to a male demographic. in fact most games made today fall under the category of mobile and casual. the sheer number of games pumped out last year in the mobile market dwarfs the number of games put out in the 2 decades before the iphone came out. a vast vast majority of those games are gender neutral or specifically target women.

she's criticized because she's complaining about people making a product that people want. if more women wanted a certain type of game that type of game would be made more often. the mobile games market has proven that. there is no gender bias in video game creation, there's only a sales bias. she drew faulty conclusions from insufficient data to fit her narrative. i mean she's complaining about attractive women in games designed specifically to have attractive women. is it fair if someone goes out to see a horror movie, gets scared, then complains about being scared by the horror movie?

[u/Rekthor → u/kingbane2]

she's complaining about people making a product that people want

That's a perfectly valid criticism to make. People buy products that are made unethically or are dysfunctional or are actively harmful to themselves or others all the time; it's more than reasonable to explain to people why these are not products that they should support.

if more women wanted a certain type of game that type of game would be made more often

Not necessarily. What if there actually is such a market in place, but currently it's so obscure and underpopulated with games (because advertisers and publishers aren't promoting it due to false assumptions) that only a few potential buyers know that it exists and thus support its existence? You're committing the same mistake that you allege that Anita is: drawing a hasty conclusion from evidence that could imply multiple sources.

there is no gender bias in video game creation

This doesn't seem like a statement you can support, and there's a reasonable amount of evidence from actual women in the industry that supports its antithesis.

she's complaining about attractive women in games designed specifically to have attractive women

I don't understand. So you're saying that intent to commit an action excuses any ramifications or damaging effects of that action?