Thanks #XboxOne #E3 press conference for revealing to us exactly zero games featuring a female protagonist for the next generation.
— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq)
Above is a tweet I made this afternoon in reaction to the fact that none of the games presented at Microsoft’s Xbox One E3 press conference featured female protagonists. Below are some of the Twitter replies to that observation which exemplify the male privilege and male entitlement endemic in the gaming community today. This is also a window into what it’s like to be a female video game critic on twitter.
These were originally presented without comment. They’re mostly just strawman arguments and sexual abuse, but I thought a few of them were thought-provoking.
The first time I read this, I thought it meant like rolling a d20 to hit in a tabletop game. Now I’ve got a mental image of some dude going “HELL YES I’M A ROLLER” and throwing the dice like a Vegas bigshot while a female GM just calmly tosses a natural 20 and tells him his warlord is at negative five hit points.
25. @Pootslap
I thought it was interesting how half the results on google for “man with boobs” are about men working out so as to negate the “manboob” look which tends to come with being overweight. Who’s got body-type self-image issues now, suckers?
26. @Pokefan1223
One wonders if “pokefan” has ever gone on a message board and ranted about how his favourite series has been ruined forever because it gives you the option to select your gender now.
