TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual torture, torture discussion

getbackibite:

I hate when people say that Bayonetta is a bad representation of female video game characeters. She isn’t.

She doesn’t take shit from anyone. She’s confident and can take care of herself. She doesn’t care what you think about how she dresses or acts, and she knows what she’s doing. She deserves respect because she earns it. However, she doesn’t sacrifice being a woman to do any of these things. She’s still a woman.

A bad representation of women would be someone who needs a man to tell her what to do. Someone who can’t take care of herself. Someone who can’t be the hero because she’s a woman. Someone who is scared of her own sexuality and is afraid to embrace the fact that she is a woman.

I get why people don’t like her, especially if they haven’t played the game. But come on, the only reason people don’t like it is because they’re afraid to admit that everything she does is under her own will-power and that she’s not ashamed of her sexuality. The creator himself said that he hates seeing people draw porn of Bayonetta with her being submissive. The reason for this is because SHE’S NOT SUBMISSIVE. She won’t let you have sex with her unless she wants you to, she can make her own decisions and can kick your ass if you try anything that she doesn’t like.

TL;DR the whole point of sexualization being bad is that it makes women into playthings for men. When the woman is confidant and sexualized, it means that they aren’t just playthings and instead are just people who are comfortable with their sexuality. 

I have nothing against ‘sexual’ characters or skimpy outfits, women being sexually proud, strong or liberated,  as long as it’s not the only / almost only available option for games overall, or if it’s only used as gimicky fanservice.

Bayonetta is problematic, but I still find it a great game.My problems with Bayonetta are:

-Overly dramatic, undeniably ridiculous fan service posing, physics and attacks. The whole game is just sexy awkward poses which are silly. The point of the game basically reads to me as: ‘How many ways can I make various attacks into awkward sexual posing and get the main character naked without having her just doing it non stop?’

-Genital torture devices on an ‘angel’ called Joy which has a highly sexualized ‘female’ body- genital chain cameltoe and all. You kill her (not sure if its mandatory) by strapping her upon a whats known as a wooden horse, a variant of the judas cradle, which is regarded as one of the most horrific torture devices. Its sole purpose was to main genitals inside and out. It is a sexual torture device, and I can’t stand the fact that the most gendered angel is the only one who dies via a device that is ONLY used to main genitals- a sexual specific torture.(Video HERE but I DO NOT RECOMMEND WATCHING IT). This is one part of the game I find horrific and absolutely unforgivable. I had to get someone else to pay it for me, and was so horrified I couldn’t play the game for around 2 months after that boss came up. This is the reason I don’t recommend anyone play Bayonetta.

-It’s advertising which was inappropriate and in an inappropriate place. http://www.feministfrequency.com/2010/05/bayonetta-innovative-advertising-or-sexual-harassment-training/

Anyway, I still enjoyed the game. As far as I’m concerned her ‘fuck you I’m badass’ sexy attitude is awesome. I love it. However the way she is represented through posing, dialogue, cut scenes and advertising is sheer sexual objectification. I feel as though they have used sex and how her character embodies it instead of developing her character more. As I said, nothing wrong with sex, sexuality and sexual power but while it’s used by her IN the game, the game itself isn’t about her sexual power. It’s about showing off her junk and fanservice. To me, thats what makes her a bad character.