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[Maria Caliban]

First, an overview of previous games…

Unique Women Centric Content!:
Being sexually propositioned by a drunken, unattractive man who starts the conversation by ridiculing you.
Having your sex insulted by a pirate and drug lord.
Being able to solve a quest by sleeping with an elf that looks like this.
Meeting a man you've previously had a relationship with and learning he now has a new wife and has moved on.
Being hit on by a drunken virgin who looks like this.
Being threatened with rape.

Unique Man Centric Content!:
Having a threesome.
Later return to your homeland and make sure your child get his birthright.
Asking an attractive barmaid for a kiss.
Being able to solve a quest by sleeping with an elf that looks like this.
Saving your wife from being raped.

I know topics like this tend to prompt a defensive reaction, so I'm doing to start by saying that I don't think BioWare's writers are sexist, evil woman haters who hate women and want female specific content to suck. Moreover, while this thread is to discourage what I dislike, that’s not the same as saying it should never happen.

Moving on: There are some trends though that suggest women-specific content tends to be less desirable than men-specific content. I've purposely avoided any discussion of companion romances above. (That wasn't a Jacob reference at the beginning.) I think doing so is mostly pointless since you can't say 'Morrigan is a better romance than Alistar' or 'Tali is a better romance than Garrus.' I would ask that conversations about romancable companions or the number of romances straight women PCs get instead of straight men PCs stay out of the thread.

Problem: Why are you so ugly? -

I’m going to start with something shallow. NPC dudes who hit on female PCs tend to be ugly. NPC women who hit on male PCs tend to be good looking. Don’t tell me people have different standards of beauty, I already know that. It’s obvious that not only were the men above made to be unattractive, they are also supposed to be pathetic. Cammen is a whinny virgin who’s ****s dropped yesterday. Emile a desperate virgin who uses cheesy pick-up lines.

These scenes are not made in order for the female PC to feel sexy or charming. They’re jokes.

Alternatively, being a noble and having two women invite you in for a threesome? That’s pimpin. Gheyna is shown as a sexual conquest. When the Redcliffe barmaid kisses you, the men in the bar sit and stare. Why do they stare just because she’s giving you a kiss? So the player knows Bella is desirable and these other men are envious of the PC.

What I’d like to see instead:

If there’s male-specific content where attractive women (or men) hit on the PC and the game makes them feel ‘cool’ or ‘badass’ for having sex. Let there be female-specific content where attractive men (or women) hit on the PC and the game makes them feel ‘cool’ or ‘badass’ for having sex.

Notice, that an interaction where a female PC uses her flirty, womanly ways to get something she wants probably won’t qualify, though it’s better than nothing.

Problem: Sexual harassment is for Women –

This is not so much a BioWare problem as it is a Mass Effect problem, but I’ll mention it. I’m not fond of a guy showing he’s a bastard by making snide remarks about the PC being a woman or just being skeevy toward a female PC. Other women might find it cathartic to punch men like that out or insult them, but generally I see it as a reminder that even in fantasy land, one gender is seen as less than another.

Problem: The Violation of Women -

This could probably be its own thread, but since we’re all here.

Ridley Scott once said that one of the reasons he was interested in Aliens is that it turned the current slasher movie model on its head in that instead of us seeing young women being the victims of these bizarre and horrific acts, you mostly had male victims. IIRC, he specifically talked about symbolic male rape and literal male impregnation.

This is where you tell me “but the broodmother was awesome!” The broodmother was awesome. It was also an extended sequence where a woman narrates how she and other women gangraped, force fed dwarven flesh, and turned into bloated monstrosities whose entire purpose is to pop out babies.

This is where you tell me “but Mama Hawke’s death was touching!” It was touching. It was also an extended sequence (and series of quests) built around a man murdering and mutilating a group of women that ends with you mother being transformed into a necromantic horror.

This is where you tell me “but the City Elf origin showed how oppress the elves are!” And it did that. It also hinges on women, and only women, being rounded up like cattle so men can rape and/or murder them. That the PC can heroically stop this doesn’t change that this is gendered violence.

You even have this duality with Meredith and Orsino. Orsino’s transformation, while grotesque, is an expression of his choice and his power. Meredith never wanted to transform into a statue, and her transformation is tied into a lack of control.

In Return to Ostigar, we come upon King Cailan’s body. We have crucifixion, which suggests a noble martyrdom, and the game treats his dead body with reverence.

In my mind, there is a difference in how women’s bodies and men’s bodies are treated in the Dragon Age series. It makes me uneasy. Women’s bodies are the default for violation, especially sexual violation. And in both games now we’ve had long, unavoidable sections where we are given all the grisly details on how they were horrifically killed and altered.

Again, I’m not accusing anyone of being bad or ruining the game. These are well done and I understand why these choices are made.

At the same time, I would rather not see all of this in the next game.

[Allan Schumacher]

I'm strongly considering stating that the original idea of diversifying and even pushing some types of gender stereotypes and closing this thread, because it's pretty volatile....

[Allan Schumacher]

You see, anyone can play this stupid, vague word game, and type of a whole bunch of words without saying one thing. What are you saying? You list a so called 'problem' but lend no solution. Ohhh, women have it sooo bad, and people who just try to live their lives and treat everyone equally, regardless of sex, are actually part of the problem(gasp)because they do nothing to 'counter' all the BS women put up with. Smh, I suggest getting off your high horse before reality breaks all four of its legs

Describing that someone feels something is a problem does not require a solution to be put forth. Especially if someone may not even know of a particular solution.

As for getting off high horses....

[Allan Schumacher]

Closing this one down because it'd take too much effort to clean it back up. Sorry.