Quote Originally Posted by The Summoner of Leviathan View Post
You're mistaking a tree for the forest. Sexism in video games is not about just the sex appeal of the characters. Squall isn't an example of sexism because he is modelled after the Japanese appeal to male androgyny. He is the protagonist of the game. He is given full agency and character growth. Also, I would wager that his looks have less to do with attracting females and more to do with the target audience, male, more reliably identifying with him since as the player you are him. Essentially he was a late 90s idealized Japanese teenager. What Japanese boy wouldn't want to be him?

I am not saying it doesn't go both ways. Merely that it has happened more to women and they have faced much more violence and discrimination within the community. However, dismantling sexist attitudes towards women both in the community and medium will help also to dismantle the problematic portrayals of men.
I never said he is an example of sexism, I"m saying he's an example of throwing in things for the sake of fan service, a thing that happens commonly for both Genders. When looking at it through the lens of an American, however, you'd miss out on that entirely. That's why it's important to look at the culture.

To expand, you'll see a lot more of the effeminate men in RPG's then other genres of video games. There's another thing to notice about RPG's then other genre's of Video games, and that is they have a higher ratio of Female gamers then other genres. If these male characters were to be made more effeminate just to appeal to the Japanese boys, would that higher rate of effeminate men be more present in more genres? It seems fairly clear it's thrown in as a bit of Fan Service for women.

To respond to your previous post, "A sexy male protagonist who is given full agency via a via being the main character/player character isn't the same as a scantly clad female character who always needs to be rescued by a male and has little to no development."

Outside of games with little to no focus on the story (The Original Legend of Zelda, most non-RPG mario games), I honestly don't know many games I could even apply this too. Final Fantasy IV onward about the only character I can think it could be applied to is Rosa from IV who doesn't get much development. Breath of Fire Series (having played all but IV) I can't think of a female this applies too, No way can you apply this to Zelda from either Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess,
Bayonetta doesn't even come close to this either. I can find way more examples of this not happening to women then I can find of it actually being the case.