Where is FFXIV headed in terms of sexism?

[Colvin]

I'm going to be honest here, I like a little sexy in my games. I agree with some of the previous comments about the reality of sexism not only in anime but in Japanese culture as well. I've been long tired of constantly hearing of people's negative feelings toward sexism in various parties of society. The reality is you can't over sexualize males because to a large part of the population, the male form is not a sex symbol. Women were created to be inherently sexy in order to attract mates and men were evolved to seek after those mates. We can dance around our evolved sensibilities all we want to, but understanding this fact does not make it any less true. I understand our need to place ourselves above all that but it doesn't change reality.

Additionally, there is a vast number of societies in the world (Many Latin cultures for example) in which objectification and cat calling is normalized. If you don't get whistles from guys on the street, you start to think there is something wrong. Various societies throughout time have been seen as sexualizing Women because that is the role of the gender (eg: to be sought after). I find IRL that a majority of the women I know revel in being gawked at. Personally, I think it is just a part of nature.

I think I take more issue with the fact that this comes up so often because America is still such a puritan state. There is nothing wrong with being sexy. If you want to choose not to partake in, then I can see facilities to turn off certain movements or replace certain gears on the client-side but not to be removed from the game entirely.
If you honestly have that much issue with being surrounded by lightly clothed attractive females who are "oversexed", btw, I suggest you stay away from TV shows, movies, High schools, Colleges, Malls, every video game and anime convention across the nation, and all of southern California. Surely, all of these places must also offend you as they also contain this material of which we are speaking.


http://www.jessicanigriofficial.com/

Trust me... she isn't objectified she is empowered and personally, If I could put someone in that outfit in FFXIV... I would.

Just my 2 cents.

[Laiferr]

...

Most of your issues are absolutely not what I'm talking about, also, it seems you did not quite understand the OP or read much of the thread are you are saying things like I am 'offended' by skimpy outfits, which I have never once said. To restate for the umpteenth time: I have no problem of people having the choice to dress however they want.

Also Jessica is incredibly objectified, I have watched interviews with her, people making sexy comments about her, trying to grab her boobs, etc. But this is a non-point as she is comfortable with it, I have no problem with it. It is her choice.

Anyway, I really wanted to just quickly say: people kept mentioning NA and America, for the record, I am not American nor was I thinking anything about America

[Koumoru]

Keep in mind it is a japanese game, and as such it's not a surprise to see it so sexualized.

[Elexia]

Anyway, I really wanted to just quickly say: people kept mentioning NA and America, for the record, I am not American nor was I thinking anything about America

People keep mentioning it because if you take a look at American TV..you'll see much more of it than you would in XIV for example.

[Imoen]

Thank you for the interesting topic and good discussion!

I don't really find the game sexist, even though I have to admit I was a bit worried about the future direction of gear design when they added the coliseum thingies, and the ARR miqote skirt is just embarassing. But I don't mind the game having some sexy and revealing gear for people to wear as an option - as long as it's not the BiS pieces. I guess time will tell.


Yeah, I'd also like them to refrain from doing silly decisions like this.

How are you embarrassed by the Miqote skirt? I'm confused....

[Brynne]

I've never seen myself as a feminist, I just want respect, rights and the same treatment for all.

This comment makes me a little sad, because what you have described is the core of feminism - but there is so much stigma attached to the word feminist these days that people who agree with the values (such as yourself) don't want to self-identify that way.

I feel a lot of what I would respond with has already been said by others (Ryuko's comment on page four in particular). The important thing for me is having options (breast size, fanservice gear vs practical gear, etc), and not being disrespected for selecting any particular option. Final Fantasy MMOs have always made me feel like my female character can be just as badass as any male character. If that ever changed, it would be a sad day for me, but I'm not getting the sense that it will.

I'll finish with this...

Empowered: Even if I choose to wear 'sexy' gear once in a while or decide to go with larger breasts, my character isn't defined by these things, and I don't feel demeaned because everything else about my character, from my battle poses to (most of) my regular battle gear, is designed for usefulness and not for looks.

Objectified: Everything about the character is designed first and foremost to look sexy, from gear to emotes to battle poses. I cannot even take the character seriously, because she's cheesecake with battle mechanics attached. See Tera for some really good examples.

I'd like to be treated with respect, in game or in real life, and I feel that I am in Final Fantasy XIV.

[Kerwin]

It's a Fantasy game. That's all it is. Have fun with it and dont sweat the small stuff.

[strallaalaa]

http://www.themarysue.com/black-cat-cosplay-harassment/

while i agree with you, empowerment can easily with a turn of a coin become objectified in the right situations and people.

the pic you show is a female that makes money showing off herself there is a difference since someone with the right amount of cash can probably get more then a peek from a lot of these women in general (not all just saying). i think that might be an issue not being able to see the diff from a women working or a women just having fun in revealing clothes.

but all in all the usa is a bit uptight i mentioned earlier that other countries have naked women and men in comercials let alone not complaining about breasts in games. you can't even have a little baby bare ass running threw a store without it becoming head line news here in the usa.

this topic on mmo's, what i feel is content over an aesthetics ...so i rather not have any of it then lose any content being made. but i'm ok with big breasts that giggle but i'm a dude.

if your a women that cares that much you probably should realize that the direction this world is heading is opposite of the one your fighting for. nothing wrong with sex or nakedness(with exeption of being harassed but remember there are revealing women working like the pic colvin posted), there is a bigger issue with people telling others how to live. huge issue with that in this world ...don't get me wrong money is the route of all reason for anything that happens usually. but even in a world that money wasn't an issue, sex would be the top reasoning behind a many things.

[GodseijuroHiko]

Somewhat glad SE is an eastern company. Western Feminism won't be able to rub off on it to a high degree~

[Colvin]

To be fair, I wasn't speaking necessarily to just what you were saying but also the comments and side conversations that I read along the thread. I don't have any issue with having the option to turn things like that on and off. Also, I don't think we have the same opinion of the definition or severity of objectification, clearly.