Absolutely! (Destiny)

by narcogen , Andover, Massachusetts, Monday, September 28, 2015, 01:22 (3389 days ago) @ Ragashingo

Yup, one out of three! Women are 33% of the population, right?
That's a ratio of 11:3. So again, women are 30% of the population, right? That's how it works?
That's ten. Again, women are 30% of the population, right?

Is that how sexism works? We have to have exactly a 50/50 split or the developer is doing it wrong? Or do we need more? To be rid of sexism do two out of every three characters have to be female? Three out of three? Does Bungie need to develop a forth Class not for gameplay reasons but solely so we can have four Vanguard leaders around that table so that two can be male and two can be female?

Not necessarily. However what harm would have there have been in making two out of three of them female instead of the other way around?

Fact is, female characters in Destiny hold pivotal positions of power, command forces, make important decision, are almost exclusively shown to be capable and cunning, and (off the top of my head) are never shown in an inferior or negative light. That's what's important! That the sexes are treated fairly, not that the exact numbers come out exactly even in every single example.

It is important, but not sufficient. Bungie is far, far from the worst in this category. That doesn't make everything about Destiny's portrayals good, or make them immune from any and all criticism.

For instance:
- 6 out of 7 of the Queen's Paladin commanders were female.
- Almost every single Awoken shown in a combat role, except the Queen's Brother, has been female.
- The entire Hive race appears to start out as and identify as female.
Should these example also be brought to a 50/50 balance?

Again, not necessarily. Merely doing so would not be enough if other problems existed. It's also hard to point out that women are portrayed positively, and then show how many of the examples we do have come from the Hive.

Ultimately, you're reducing sexism down to an uneven split of numbers while I see it as a much bigger problem that involves the treatment and portrayal of women.

It is a bigger problem! However, it starts with the balance. The first problem that a game can have is no portrayal at all. Then it can portray women as inferior or subservient, or use them merely as symbols for telling men's stories. Destiny avoids some of these but not all.

Numbers do matter. If we had no or few capable or influential female characters in Destiny it might be time to take a closeer look at why. But we do have them. Several in fact. So yes, there appears to be a few less named female characters in Destiny, but not so few as to be a serious concern, in my opinon. But their treatment? Their portrayal? The things that I would submit are far more important that an exact balance of numbers? I think Bungie is doing just fine.

Bungie is doing better than most, but again, that doesn't mean that no criticisms are valid. The Guardian power structure in the tower, for instance, swings strongly in one direction, both in terms of numbers and screen time and character importance. But the numbers are the start of the conversation, and not the end.

Maya Sundresh who has a good chance to be the Exo Stranger and who almost certainly was the basis of the Future War Cult,

Mentioned only in the grimoire.

Incorrect. She is, at the very least, also mentioned in the Collectors Edition book and in game via the Hunter class item "The Ishtar Dilemma" who's caption says something like: "Never did answer Sunderesh's question, now did we?" Looking further, I fully expect the Exo Stranger's story to be given a full spotlight at some point in the future based on an old interview where someone at Bungie mentioned that there was a tragic or moving death with regards to the Vex. That the Exo Stranger has by and large only been in the Grimoire could have been said about Crota and Oryx a year ago...

That would be nice. So far the best female characters we've been given have been killed (the Queen) may turn out to be evil (Eris) or have been missing in action for most of the game (Exo Stranger). In their place we've gotten Crota and Oryx. As you say, the entire Hive starts out female, but then the two most important characters from that pantheon we get are male. Any reason we couldn't have been fighting the Taken Queen, mother of Crota? Would that have killed anybody?