Sexualization of women in video games has been the subject of several controversies all throughout history and it seems we've come full circle when quite a lot of male gamers complained about Mass Effect: Andromeda's female characters. An article was posted on TGG regarding the matter, heavily complaining about how BioWare has gone "full SJW mode" by changing the model's face and making Sara Ryder 'uglier' to support feminism. The article accusing BioWare of deliberately changing the model's face to make her uglier could be based on the fact that the character's male counterpart looks perfectly fine in the game.
Mass Effect: Andromeda Could Just Be Progressing
Despite the probability that the awkwardness could be from the fact that BioWare simply screwed up their character model for the female Ryder, the author continued to blame 'Social Justice Workers' and 'radical feminists.' Nevertheless, whether making the female Ryder less attractive was a mistake or deliberate is still debatable according to this article from The Zero Review. The author then disagreed with the article from TGG when it called teammate Cora Harper as "masculine."
He proceeded to slam the article from TGG by giving attention to the fact that both the characters are explorers and not super-models. They are women but also career soldiers, hence, it's more realistic if they don't bother trying to look good for anyone and these women looking less attractive is a non-issue or at least shouldn't be at all. "They're there to do their job, which, in Ryder and Harper's case, is to find a new home for their people, not win the Miss Andromeda Pageant."
Mass Effect: Andromeda And Privilege
The women aren't actually attractive but they're not 'puke-inducing' either as the TGG article often times noted. David Ortuso, the author who slammed the article like the hero people don't need but deserves, says that this is not an issue in the context of Mass Effect: Andromeda since it's not a dating simulator. It's an adventure game that gives everyone the opportunity to travel the stars and save the human race, everything else is simply detailed. To read the whole article, click here.
