Video games have been a key element of pop culture for decades. However, over the past ten years, as it has become more mainstream, many have begun to notice something of a hypocritical shift in the way they are designed: Women can’t be beautiful anymore.   

This is a problem arising specifically from Western development studios. Despite many female characters now being modeled after real women, companies are actively altering their faces to make them less beautiful. All the while, male models are being left alone. It has led many to question the purpose of using a model in the first place, if they are going to radically change the way the character appears. 

The stated purpose of this change is to stop over-sexualizing women and incorporate more perceived flaws to make them more “realistic” and relatable, especially to the female gamer. However, women generally do not play many AAA games, where they would see these modern female designs. Women typically play more casual games, like Animal Crossing, so many of them will never interact with those genres outside of seeing people discuss them online. 

Still to this day, the majority of gamers are men, and in the past, women were designed to be more sexual in games to boost sales. However, as more women have entered the gaming industry as developers, specifically women who promote LGBT ideology, many now speculate that female characters look more masculine, or just androgynous, to relate to transgender people. 

Over the years, as these new designs have become mainstream, many people have made mods to their games to make the female character more attractive, which some find offensive. Gamers, even women gamers, are painted as sexist and even sometimes racist, for openly wanting women to be beautiful in their media. Despite the slander, people are not a fan of women getting uglier and uglier in games. 

Female characters have been designed to be more masculine, with many of them now going on to have horrible attitudes that resemble the toxic masculinity traits that feminists have warred against for years. 

However, some have argued in favor of the new female designs, as women have been put in revealing or otherwise sexy costumes in the past. Many argue that these outfits degrade women and remove their individual agency. They have also remarked that male characters have much more variety in body types; however, this is likely because there are generally more male characters in games than females. 

This argument also ignores the fact that men are “objectified” and given unrealistic body types and outfits in games, as well. People often mod games to make the men shirtless, on top of their models already having outlandish muscles and physiques. If it is alright for one to be over-the-top gorgeous, shouldn’t it also be suitable for the other? 

There is no reason why women can not be beautiful, as there is a difference between sexualization and attractiveness. It is perfectly normal for people to look at a woman and think she is lovely; women generally prefer to look at nice-looking people as well. Desiring beauty does not equate to objectifying a person. Having a muscular, fit character is not the problem. 

Some say that all “sexy” characters are made to appeal to the male gaze, but that is not the full story. Handsome men and beautiful women are not designed for any group in particular, as people, in general, are more attracted to pleasantly designed characters. But even when the situation is reversed, and a woman designs an attractive female character, some still claim that it was made for the male gaze. 

Take Bayonetta, for instance. She is a lead female character, designed by Mari Shimazaki, who served as the series’ lead character designer. The director of the game, Hideki Kamiya, provided the core concept, and Shimazaki designed her look, clothing, and aesthetic, aiming to create a “sexy and powerful” figure. However, Bayonetta has a design that many would call sexist or created for the male gaze, yet she was designed by a woman. 

Overall, there is now an inability to suspend disbelief when playing games. Men are still subjected to the unrealistic body types of days past with no issue, yet people get in an uproar if a woman is simply pleasant-looking, now. It is understandable to desire realism in entertainment, but if nothing else about gaming is realistic or normal, why should the characters be? 

Simply put, these changes are insulting to women, as game developers now look as though they perceive the average woman to be ugly. Moreover, they treat women as though they are incapable of being simultaneously strong and feminine. The situation only goes to show the massive divide between what gamers want and what Western developers are trying to push. 

It only makes the developers look sexist, and it hurts the women who, just like men, want to enjoy playing as a pretty woman. Because why play a game for twenty to thirty hours as a character you don’t like looking at? It is as simple as this: Games, just like any other form of media, are an art form, and no one wants ugly art.