Dove, the ones from the soap and beauty products, not the Chocolate one are teaming up with women in Gaming and unreal engine to "change the game and boost diversity".
I'm face-palming for real as I read this headline, because Dove, of all people is "trying to fight for women" in the realm of videogames, when they are one of the biggest exploiters of women's insecurities. Even the pic used to promote this idea from Dove is kinda lacking in diversity.
The closest thing to a person of color is the fat latina looking woman that is an avatar to the fat white woman (she's from Argentina, where "there are no blacks", or so they claim. Not all Argentines are racist, but there's an issue of perceived racism in the country. Black people are about 5% of the population and are "invisible" to certain folks. The ones that claim that "there are no Argentine blacks.") This is not an attack on Argentine folks. Just an observation from the outside. Doesn't help when the Argentine President said something along the lines of: "Mexicans came from the indians, Brazilians from the Jungle, and Argentines from European ships". Yikes!
Hell, even the actual black person is one with Albinism. The only black person is one that looks way whiter than I do, and I'm rather white passing. Somehow this obviously racist promotional pic got approved. Yikes in tights!
But once again, this bullshit, because there's no other term to describe this, is a bunch of slacktivists DEMANDING that videogames must cater to their whims instead of actually making games.
They're offering COURSES on how to make diversity... the same people that approved the Ultra white "diverse" pic above are the ones that are going to teach diversity. Again, Freaking classes and not actually making games. This pisses me off way more than it should. It's not a game changer. It boosts nothing, because most folks will take the lectures and when the time comes the lessons won't be applied. Getting flashbacks to Activision's Virtual eugenics tool.
We'll get the "size 0" characters this campaign despises.
 |
| Pictured: Probably a Size 0 according to this campaign. |
I'm going to do a small search on the measurements of various videogame characters and see if they are indeed a size zero:
Chun Li: B: 34.6" W: 22.8" H: 35"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
So, she's a size 0 on her lower body. Her breast might cause some issues with a size 0 top. You won this round Dove.
Cammy: B: 33.9" W: 22.4" H: 34.6"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35
I expected Cammy to be a size 0... but didn't expect her boobs to be too big for size 0.
Sakura: B: 31.5" W: 23.6" H: 33.1"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
Sakura is a 00... being an athletic Japanese teen might be a reason. (Japanese women tend to be smaller than Western Women.)
Karin: B: 32.7" W: 22.4" H: 33.5"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
A size 0... once again "boobs are problematic" for the full size 0 treatment.
Rose: B: 37.8" W: 22.4" H: 33.9"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
Rose needs custom made tops by boobs alone she's a 12!? Otherwise she's a size 0...
R. Mika: B: 38.2" W: 28.3" H: 36.6"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35" Rainbow Mika is a size 2... on her hips. Waist is size 0 but her boobs are bigger than Rose's putting her in size 12.
Dammit, Capcom! It's kinda hard to defend you from the slacktivists...
Now I'll look towards SNK's King of Fighters Hopefully, I can get bigger sizes here.
Leona: B: 33.1" W: 23.6" H: 34.3"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
Aside her breasts, she's a size 0. Dammit! I might have underestimated women's sizes.
Vice: B: 35.4" W: 22.8" H: 34.6"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
Dammit, KOF, you're failing me...
Athena: B: 32.7" W: 22.8" H: 32.3"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35
Aside her breasts, Athena is a 00. I know she's one of the most petite fighters.
Shermie: B: 36.2" W: 24.8" H: 34.2"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
Only at the hips... Shermie is bigger than size 0...
Mai:
B: 33.5" W: W: 21.3" H: 35.4"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
Huh? Mai is barely outside of 0 aside the waist.
Yuri:
B: 33.5" W: 22.8" H: 33.9"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
Like Athena, she's a 00 with breast being the sole exception.
SNK has failed me! I need the bigger guns... DoA! Come on down!
Ayane: B: 37" W: 21" H: 34"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35
Again, size 00 aside boobs. I'm starting to feel like the written measurements don't necessarily match the game models.
Leifang: B: 34" W: 22" H: 33"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35
I know DoA fighters have larger boobs, but this is going the complete opposite way that I expected. Leifang is a 00.
Tina: B: 37" W: 24" H: 35"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
Ignoring her boobs, she's a size 0.
Kasumi: B: 35" W: 21" H: 33"
Size 0 Measurements:
B: 32" W: 24" H: 35"
Another 00 aside her boobs!? Let's give it a spin and say that she isn't a size 0.
Let's look at the first lady of gaming:
Samus: B: 34" W: 24" H: 36"
Only at the hips she's a 0... et tu Nintendo?
Classic Lara Croft: B: 34" W: 24" H: 35"
Really? Huh... Lara isn't as big as I remember...
Tifa you're my only hope:
B: 37" W: 24" H: 35"
You have failed me. I am unable to defend videogame company designs... with your big boobs and tiny waists and hips!! Not cool you big boobed monster!!
I joked that SF6's Marisa was a size 0, but with the disappointment that nearly every other videogame character with different athletic body types is a size 0, I'm going to guess she's a 4 despite being almost 7 feet and built like a Zangief. So I'll concede the size 0 remark... on females. Because Male characters come in different sizes with Mario being an anomaly, not the norm. The norm is very muscular men. Whether it's gymnastic/swimmer muscles or hyperroided out beings that put 70s Schwarzenegger to shame, the variety is much less than the slacktivists claim.
Going back to the picture:
Which of the right hand characters makes you want to play their game?
Be honest here.Which of those designs makes you want to play their game... I await your answer...
Still waiting...
OK I'll go: The fat Latina is the only character that looks remotely interesting for a Fork knife Fortnite Reject. A few more tweaks and she could be an actual playable character. Of coures, I expect an asexual strong female character whose only struggles are the player constantly dying due to bad controls.
It's obvious that all the characters were not only designed by someone who shouldn't be designing characters, but all are made in the same Fortnite style. The rest look like Non-Player characters.
Wheelchair lady is not suited for a playable role for most games. Unless there's a wacky kart racing game where she can use a turbocharged Wheelchair, she won't be playable anywhere else. There's a reason why no one would want to play as a Dalek if a Doctor Who Multiplayer game was made.
Albino Lady looks like a recolor of Generic thug #5 for "insert superhero here" game. At best she could be a mission giver in a GTA game. Unfortunately, these rely on the stereotypical trope of the Evil Albino. They could try to subvert this, but the design doesn't help. Her design screams GTA clone character, which limits her possibilities. They made the albino black woman an "urban" character. So much diversity we're back on stereotypes, which is not cool.
Green-clad Girl, well... it's with standard characters with zero neurodivergence or disabilities and players throw a variety of insults online, having a character with neurodivergence or disability would bring forth a ton more insults. The design itself works for a Zelda-clone, but I'm worried that if this character were to star in a game, the company would push the "look at us how progressive we are for having a protagonist with Down's Syndrome" narrative instead of promoting how kickass their game is. It would feel kinda icky... the promotion and using a virtual person's Down's Syndrome as a criticism meatshield.
Now here is the question:
Why are Women so weak that they require that "in order to enjoy game X, the main character must look like me" crap? I understand that for games with create a character, but then again, wheelchairs are a no go on Tony Hawk and Wrestling games. I'm not an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog and I can enjoy Sonic games. I'm not a 21 year old British archeologist with a nice rack and I can enjoy Tomb Raider, which I'm replaying the Survivor Trilogy and going for 100% single player stuff. I didn't need Ellie or Abby to be like me in order to be disappointed with TLOU2. I made an avatar of ME on WWE2K16 and I didn't enjoy that game! Hell, in over 40 years of videogame history, fictional Puerto Ricans that are TRUE PR Born Boricuas and not Nuyoricans are scarce:
Elizabeta Torres and Mallory Bardas (Roman's girlfriend) from GTA 4 are all I've got and there's no male characters. Where's MY representation!?
Back on topic:
Yes, they're correct that Videogames tend to make aesthetically pleasing women that despite being voluptuous, they are still petite. More variety is recommended. That's the only thing I can agree with the campaign. Their methodology is where I fundamentally disagree. Unilever and Epic games are working together, then MAKE A FREAKING GAME!! I mean a REAL game, not a Roblox game.
The partnership with epic and usage of the Unreal Engine makes for real games. Making MUGEN xharacters requires far more skill than making a Roblox game. Especially since Roblox is made for kids. The fact that Unilever paid a third party to make them a Roblox game is hilariously bad. They should be investing with Epic to make an actual non-Fortnite game. It's easy for them to say "You should do this not that" than actually do it. This doesn't apply to me since I'm not demanding others to make a videogame for me representation... arrrgh! It's almost 2023, but waiting for others to "save you from sexist designs" is insulting to women. Y'all want to "change the game" well, become the change and make the games you want to see! But all you're doing is getting used by Dove to sell more beauty products.
If they make a game for real, cool... for now, this reeks of hollow gesture used to sell beauty products to insecure women
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