A new action-adventure game, Stellar Blade, is on its way to releasing for PlayStation 5. However, controversy over the game has arisen due to men being creepy about the lead character, Eve.
Of course, men being creepy about female characters is nothing new. The hypersexualization of women in media, from TV to movies to video games, is a decades-old ongoing issue. However, it is especially a problem in video games, as it’s estimated about 61% of those working in the gaming industry are male. Additionally, although it has been found that women now make up about half of the gaming community, there are misconceptions that gamers are still predominantly male. Hence, from Lara Croft to Bayonetta, women in video games have consistently been heavily sexualized to appeal to men.
Fortunately, in recent years, video games have done better at portraying women in a more balanced way. Unfortunately, the presence of a few women in video games who aren’t exactly what these men want to see has only resulted in escalating their creepiness. According to conservative men, not approaching the creation of every female character in video games in a way that appeals directly to them is “woke,” and some deeply disturbed men have taken to going on public rants about it. Recently, conservatives formulated a conspiracy theory that Sweet Baby Inc. was behind improving the treatment of women in video games and the inclusion of diverse characters, resulting in them boycotting the company.
Additionally, in their Sweet Baby Inc. Detection Discord, men were praising Stellar Blade for being “traditional” instead of “woke” with its female lead protagonist. Anything that gets the approval of male conservative extremists is bound to give anyone pause, and the creators soon confirmed that one is right to be hesitant about Stellar Blade.
Why is Stellar Blade controversial?
Ever since the marketing for Stellar Blade began, it has been abundantly clear that men are going to be gross about it. When the gameplay overview was released, the comments were overtaken with commenters fawning over the lead character and declaring it the best game ever solely for the protagonist’s design. Meanwhile, Eve has become an “anti-woke” symbol for conservatives. Of course, one could argue that the game’s developer, Shift Up, can’t control men being gross online, and one can’t really call them out for hypersexualizing women without calling out the entire industry.
However, game director Hyung-Tae Kim raised eyebrows when he said of Eve’s design, “When it comes to the design, we put special attention on the back of the character because the player is always facing the back of the character when they’re playing. That’s what they see the most of, so we thought this was pretty important.” It’s already quite strange to hear a director highlighting the extra emphasis that went into a female character’s rear. He also doubled down on the sexualization of women in video games, stating,
“Honestly, when I play a game I would like to see someone who is better-looking than myself. That’s what I want. I don’t want to see something normal; I want to see something more ideal. I think that is very important in a form of entertainment. This is, after all, entertainment targeted for adults.”
It’s important to note that the problem with this whole debacle is not about Eve’s design. Some have claimed that those concerned about this situation are shaming the model that Eve was based on or suggesting that women shouldn’t embrace their sexuality, but that’s not what we’re saying. The problem is quite simple: A game developer and thousands of internet users are bluntly describing Eve as an “ideal” woman—the only woman that men want to see. Hypersexualization in video games is a problem because it pushes the idea that there is only one “ideal” body type and that women should be judged on how well they adhere to it.
Some have also pointed out that Stellar Blade’s design is actually tame in comparison to the company’s other games. It has stirred controversy in the past with its highly sexualized female characters, particularly in games like Goddess of Victory: Nikke. Still, the fact that Stellar Blade isn’t as bad as it could be doesn’t make up for the increasingly creepy comments and behavior arising around this game. Perhaps if all body types and women were represented in video games, it wouldn’t be such an issue. However, Stellar Blade is an example of how male developers continually push only their narrow views of what women should look like into games.
Additionally, it’s just very strange how video games supposedly have to have these “ideal” characters because they’re “adult entertainment.” There are plenty of other outlets where men can access adult content. However, this push to turn video games solely into adult content for men while ignoring all other audiences is outright bizarre. Its suggesting that, despite men having specific outlets for this content, it now needs to be injected into all media to cater solely to them.
While some amount of fan service is understandable for success, it feels very weird to specifically be catering to misogynist men who get triggered if they see a woman in a video game who doesn’t look exactly how they want. It’s hard to see how people don’t find it creepy that men seemingly can’t enjoy video games or won’t be entertained if they can’t see their version of an ideal woman. I certainly have never heard a woman going on an unhinged rant because she feels personally attacked by what men look like in a video game. It also feels very dangerous to be a woman and have men increasingly pushing this idea that any woman who doesn’t look like a hypersexualized video game character is “woke,” triggering, and deserving of their hatred.
(featured image: Sony Interactive Entertainment)
