03-02-2014, 11:41 PM
I think that some people here an conflating "why is this allowed?" and "why is this acceptable or mainstream?". It's not so much wanting to say "hey you can't do this with female characters" but rather encouraging criticism of these objectified portrayals when you feel that they're exploitative or doing more harm than good. It's asking ourselves why this kind of objectification is so mainstream that nobody bats an eye when it happens, and puts up opposition when it's questioned. Gaming culture as well as similar topics (such as technology and comics) have many flaws that make them more inhospitable to female audiences than male ones, and we should, as consumers of this media, be willing to listen to the "little guy" when they speak up about something that both bothers and somewhat targets them.