Women As Reward Tropes Vs Women In Video Games Analysis

Samus Aran; the most iconic and badass female character in gaming history, and the foundation of the female characters portrayed in video games such as Lara Croft from “The Rise of the Tomb Raider” series or more recently, Aloy from “Horizon Zero Dawn.”

Isn't this good for women’s representation in video games? For Anita Sarkeesian it most certainly is not.

Sarkeesian makes claims out of context. It is clear that she does not even play video games, and she doesn’t talk about the intentions of the developer or the audience. She has been accused of militant feminism, claiming that everything is sexist.
Attacking the video game industry’s big fan base isn't a good idea.

She said that reviewers didn't care about women just because the reviews
Is Samus good enough?

Her first claim in "Women as Reward — Tropes vs Women in Video Games" was about the Metroid series where finishing the game fast enough shows Samus in a "cut-out bikini", which at first might seem misogynistic, principally when as in the first game she would take off more clothes, the quicker you finished.

However, gamers don't really play the game just because we want to see Samus naked

… and this shouldn’t destroy the beauty of the game. At the time it was created, even if it was somewhat misogynistic, it was a huge step for women in video games. In 1986, people not only knew little about this scene since they couldn't look it up, but did they really want to spend HOURS of gameplay just to see the main character in a bikini? Surely
She makes us look at the damsels in distress as if they had no other choice than to kiss or have sex with the hero. That for me is wrong and ruins the whole reward system she is talking about. The real reward is that you are so awesome and heroic that they want to kiss you. So the main idea is that you are earning the affection of a beautiful woman instead of saying that you have the right to do whatever you want with her.

I mean yeah sure maybe a guy hopes that it'll happen, but that doesn't mean they are expecting it.

I don't deny that misogyny in video games exists. There are games such as “Lollipop Chainsaw” or “Dead or Alive” in which the game is misogynistic by sexualizing women and making that the focus of the game. It's a real thing and it happens in all sorts of media.

The aim of this article wasn't that.

The claims of Anita Sarkeesian are far from the truth: most video games are not misogynistic.

Showing off the bodies of women in video games doesn't make men think that they are entitled to women's bodies, which is something that I hope everyone