OBJECTIFICATION AND... MEN? (Jimquisition)

Once you get past the goofy intro, the actual substance of this video is fantastic as it clears up the "objectification of men" argument that is thrown at people who are genuinely concerned about the objectification of women in video games. It does this by differentiating between objectification (reducing a character to an object) and idealization (something to aspire to). Big muscled men in video games are idealizations, and though this could be very troubling to some people, it is not under any circumstance the same thing as what happens to women when they are objectified in video games. This video even addresses that there are women who are both objectified and idealized in video games, there are, however, barely any video games where objectification isn't the case (those that are are tokens).

Here's what he says:

"We know that mainstream game development is predominantly designed by men FOR men, and knowing that, we have to ask: exactly who is this hypothetical male objectification being done for? Women? No. Because the industry has a practiced history of not giving a fuck about women. Gay men? HAH! We've not even moved past the 'lol u wanna have sex with a man lol gay' stage of video game writing yet (if only). No, in the same way female characters are being designed to appeal to men, so too are male characters — but not, of course, in the objectifying sense.

Objectification is the reduction of a human being to a thing, an item, a something to possess. This is what's meant when we say women are objectified. [Video games objectify women] by making them the targets of sexual desire while stripping them of their agency in sex. Women are allowed to dress skimpily, they're allowed to be hit on, and they're allowed to be fucked. However, they're not allowed to initiate sexual contact, be playable during a sex scene, or really have any input in a relationship outside of being an objective, a goal, a thing for the male hero to go after.

This is not what happens with male characters. They're presented as tall, muscular, heroic, and brave, and most importantly, they're not supposed to be things we want to own. They're not targets, they're not goals. Their ideals are our goals, but they themselves, as individuals, are not. And that's what men are in the game industry: not objectified, but idealized.

That's the difference in the game industry, and this is where people arguing that we're all equal trip themselves up. Women are objectified; they are supposed to be things men want. Men are idealized; they are heroes men are supposed to want to be."