Yesterday, I gave two examples of what I consider a feminine aesthetic in video games: Prince of Persia (2008) and Silent Hill 2. Today, I’m going to clarify what I mean by a feminine aesthetic, then I’m going to give examples of what is not feminine and why it’s not feminine.

I changed the name of my series from ‘Femininity in Video Games’ to ‘The Feminine Aesthetic in Video Games’ to clarify my intent. This isn’t about how many games portray women or notions of femininity within games. It’s not about how to get more women to play games, or even how women react to games differently than men. However, those are all good ideas for posts… Give me a second while I write them down.

As I related previously, the seed for this series came about when Craig Graff of BioWare posted the Breathe Me trailer for Prince of Persia (2008). It struck me as feminine, as did the game when I played it. This series is my attempt to clarify and define what a feminine aesthetic is when it comes to video games.

Despite my use of the term feminine, I am not suggesting a system in which all games fall into a masculine or feminine divide. This is just one of many. I use the term aesthetic because I focus on stylistic choices as opposed to pure gameplay or genre elements. A first person shooter could use a feminine aesthetic, though I cannot recall any that have.

Lastly, why use the word ‘feminine’ when it comes to this aesthetic? Because I see it as a necessary counterpart to the hyper-masculine aesthetic that dominates many games. There’s nothing wrong with making a video game version of the 300, but there’s nothing write with it either.



(I considered calling this the Persian Aesthetic after the Prince of Persia games and they were the counterparts to the Spartans in 300 and Halo, but that’s too obscure and not evocative enough.)

When I say ‘feminine’ in regards to video games, a few examples might pop up in your mind. These examples might involve large amounts of pink, Barbie, or games about riding horses or vet hospitals.

No.



These are game designed, marketed, and (mostly) consumed by young girls, but ‘feminine aesthetic’ is not about what women (or girls) traditionally like. Moreover, most of these games have a very simple aesthetic at work: cute, cute, and cute. Cute isn’t feminine, it’s infantile. Puppy dogs, kittens, seal cubs, and human babies are cute no matter what their sex. Wikipedia is never wrong.

Feminine aesthetics also has little to do with the common depiction of women in video games, which tends to play up their hotness. Bloodryne or Ivy, for example do not show a feminine aesthetic in as much as a sexualized one. One could even suggest that the imagery here is masculine in style.

There are also games with elements that may overlap with a feminine aesthetic but are from a preexisting style. Some of Japanese and Korean games, such as Ragnarok Online are based on manga and anime, which has its own history as well as refined visual and storytelling elements. Likewise, there are Western games that borrow heavily from cartoons, Clank and Ratchet for example.

I could continue along this vein: the Fallout series shows a post-apocalyptic aesthetic. Many science fiction games envision spaces of the future as an unholy cross between a dentist’s office, a mall, and a trailer house – the main difference between different settings is whether the dentist’s office is a clean and shiny place that you’d take your kids to or some dingy, back alley place where they use a wrench for extractions. So, we could say Halo and Mass Effect have a sci-fi aesthetic. And let’s not forget how much horror games tend to have in common.

After a post in which I explain what the feminine aesthetic is not, I feel the need to add that there’s no reason why these elements and styles can’t co-exist in the same game. While ‘cute and girly’ games are not inherently feminine, mixing in a feminine aesthetic is possible and might improve the games.

First through, I’d have to pin down what I mean by a feminine aesthetic. That's part 3.

Femininity is a complex subject. What it means and what it is and how it’s created is a subject women much smarter than I have analyzed and commented on. Feminists are usually portrayed as being against femininity, but in my experience, feminist are against the idea that femininity is essential or ideal for proper womanhood.

Any female gamer who has played multiplayer Halo or Quake can attest to the fact that some men simply don’t believe women can play Halo or Quake. Only men, the argument goes, posses the prerequisites necessary to play these games because the ability to use a keyboard and mouse (or gamepad) while tracking objects on the screen comes from deep within the testicles. If a woman is playing a FPS, it’s because she’s 1) not really a woman, or 2) not really playing.

I’d suggest that femininity isn’t the problem; insecure assholes are the problem. Insecure dudes feel the need to devalue women and femininity, and it’s very easy for non-traditionally feminine women to fall into the trap of blaming femininity when others devalue them. ‘If this standard didn’t exist,’ goes the thinking, ‘others wouldn’t measure me by it.’ True, they’d measure you by a *different* standard and you’d still fail. A woman who plays against an insecure guy will always fail in his estimation whether she wins or loses, whether she wears a pink dress or a t-shirt and jeans. When it comes to those types, the only way you can win is to be sexxxy and not challenge him. (Apply to non-gamer topics as needed.)

As I quoted in my previous post: “When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less."”

In this post, when I say femininity, I do not mean womanhood (the physical, mental, and emotional attributes of a grown woman). I do not mean being stupid and shallow. I do not mean naïve or suffused with a delicate and virginal purity. I do not mean rushing to the department store to buy pink handbags for your Chihuahua to ride around in.

I want to talk about femininity as aesthetic and feminine elements in video games. What does that mean?

Hell if I know.



I hope you’re not surprised here. I am Lesbian Stripper Ninja not Lesbian Artist Scholar. The newest Prince of Persia inspired this post. From the first time I saw the Breathe Me trailer, it struck me as strongly feminine.

I played the game, and everything felt feminine to me.

Why did it do so? I wracked my brain for another game that felt feminine and it spit out the oddest thing: Silent Hill 2.

Those of you who have played Silent Hill 2 may be wondering where they can get some of the high quality pot I must be smoking. For those haven’t, I pity you but will explain. Silent Hill 2 is a horror game in which a man searches for his dead wife after receiving a letter from her. You don’t gun down zombies; in fact if you want to survive, you quickly learn to run from fights when possible. It’s pure psychological horror.




In order to create an abstraction of feminine aesthetic, it seemed a good idea to compare these two and see where they overlapped. I could also have a few examples of non-femininity in video games. Given enough of these examples of feminine and non-feminine, and I could conjure up a definition, or at least a set of identifiable traits.

Sounds like a plan.