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Do We Need More Naked Men in Gaming?

Do We Need More Naked Men in Gaming?

Despite what certain internet commenters would have you believe, plenty of feminist gamers enjoy a bit of sexiness in their games. I’m one of them. I simply prefer to see it in the form of sex scenes at appropriate moments rather than the inappropriate sexualization of female characters. I also believe that developers should remember that gamers come in variety of genders and sexual orientations. Does this mean that every game should follow a checklist and try to stuff every possible kind of romantic liaison into its narrative?  Nah, but with today’s gaming audience, it’s important for developers to think beyond their own desires and consider what their broader audience might appreciate. If you’re sticking with straight romances with a male lead character, it’s nice to at least consider that a healthy portion of your audience isn’t men who are attracted to women. We might not be looking from the point of view of the male protagonist, but instead relating to the female love interest or looking at the protagonist as the object of our desire.

Although it’s certainly not perfect, The Witcher 3 has some pretty enjoyable sexy-time options for gamers to indulge in.  I think it especially does a good job presenting the Witcher Geralt’s love interests as people with their own needs and life goals beyond simply being Geralt’s girlfriends. That’s important for many female gamers who get turned off when women in games are presented as nothing more than prizes to be won. The Witcher 3 also acknowledges that gay romance exists, though it doesn’t get much screen time. Despite the game’s overall willingness to portray adult situations with maturity, however, there’s one odd bit of prudery that I’ve noticed while playing. While there are naked or mostly-naked women in many scenes, we almost never see men who are naked below the waist.

I’m not even talking the full Monty, here. We almost never get as much as a butt shot of Geralt while he’s engaged in bedroom activities, and those of us who appreciate a nicely-formed male rear can tell you that a few of those would have been appreciated. In general, the game’s presentation assumes a straight male player, with its camera shots appreciating women’s bodies while sparing no thought to players who are more interested in the men. It’s as though the developers are uncomfortable with men’s bodies or scared of causing offence, but that hardly supports their purported desire to be mature about sexuality, does it?

Perhaps developers could take a few cues from Japan’s otome genre of games. These visual novels are aimed specifically at a female audience, and thus aren’t shy about showing men as objects of desire. Though full nudity is uncommon, the men in games like Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom are clearly portrayed with the understanding that a good portion of the game’s audience views them with desire. The artwork and camera work is different, acknowledging that an awful lot of the world’s population finds men sexy, and that’s ok.

Do We Need More Naked Men in Gaming?

I’d love to see more Western developers look at that idea and think about what different portions of their audience might like to see when it comes to romantic and sexual scenes in games. If we’re going to have nudity (again, preferably in appropriate moments instead of having body parts flopping all over in non-sexual situations), it should apply to everybody. If a cutscene camera is going to caress characters in sexual situations, it should caress them as a couple instead of just focusing on the female half of a heterosexual pair (BioWare, for instance, does this well). Then everybody can see who they’re interested in or take the point of view of their preferred character rather than having that character chosen for them by default. And we should have the opportunity to see gay and lesbian romance and sex sometimes. Again, these games are rated mature, and games that do maturity well always give the player character the ability to say yes or no to sexual situations (consent is important), so nobody should ever need to see a nude hetero- or homosexual scene they don’t want to see.

So yes, I think we could use more naked men in games. If that idea makes some gamers uncomfortable, well, perhaps they’re just not ready to play mature-rated games, then? Straight female and gay male gamers have been seeing naked ladies since the dawn of gaming, so providing them with the occasional naked man seems only fair. Having fewer inappropriately-sexualized women and more appropriately-sexualized men in gaming means more sexy fun for grown-up gamers everywhere, and that’s a good thing!

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