Thursday, October 16, 2014

Bayonetta 2: Too Sexy for Feminism?

     Creator of Feminist Frequency, Anita Sarkeesian posted on her Twitter account disdain over the recently released game Bayonetta 2, criticizing it as being oversexualized attended for male gamers. She also attacked several sites for "turning a blind eye" and not mainly talking about how overtly sexual the character is. Along with Sarkersian, Polygon in a none accusing sexism manner bashed the new game, giving it a 7.5 for it being too sexy. The question is: Is Bayonetta too sexy and is it too sexy to the point of it be objectifying to women?
      First of all, this is not an attack on Ms. Sarkeesian at all. This is a disagreement. I respect and admire her a lot for exposing a well known problem we have in the gaming community with sexism. Any other time she would be right. There are several games out here that do overtly sexualize women to the point that their only purpose in the game is to just be a big pair of tits that talk. From the bikini ninja women (Kitana, Mileena, Jade, Tanya, & Skarlet) of Mortal Kombat to the women of DOA, which went to a kinda respectable fighting game to just pure fanservice by having them play volleyball and jiggle physics. Again, she would be right any other time, but her tirade against Bayonetta 2 is just over reaching.
      Going back to the original question of whether Bayonetta the game and character is sexy, of course she is. The game screams sex. It is brazen with its sexual themes. It is full of sexual undertones and it is unapologetic for them. Is it sexy to the point where it is objectifying women? No. Again, the character Bayonetta is a very fanservicey character that is sexualized a lot, it's not in the same way as the female characters in Mortal Kombat or the girl in that chainsaw zombie game. Those other female characters are sexualized for the sake of sex whereas Bayonetta isn't. Living up to the origin of her name, bayonet, there is something deeper to Bayonetta's sexuality. It is empowering. Her character is one who is fearless and will put it out there and won't care if you are offended, especially when it comes to being sexy. She uses it and is actually in control with it. She puts it in your face, forcing you to deal with it. Bayonetta uses her sexuality as a weapon. One way you can compare Bayonetta to is a dominatrix. She exuberates sex and also used as a powerful force. She gets her jollies pummeling her enemies into oblivion and doing it in a sexy way.
      Is it possible for a woman to be sexy, in control with it without it being considered to be pandering or her being objectified to men? It is, but some people can't see it that way. There does seem to be an issue with some feminists and women's sexuality. It's almost and still sad to this day that a woman to this day cannot claim to be sexy without being slut shamed, even by the so called people who fight for her rights to do so. It's almost like a few feminist that bashed Beyonce over her recent album for its adult tone. They are wrong for doing so. Sexuality is a good thing. It's not something to be ashamed of. Owning it and not caring what people think is a bold and brave thing, especially if you are a woman. In a way, Bayonetta, the games and the character, are a fine example of feminism. She using something that people are afraid of against them. If that isn't pro woman. I don't know is.

What are your thoughts on Bayonetta being sexual? Is it TOO much and/oris it really objectifying?

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