Hot Dates and fairy-Tale Romances by Mia Consalvo

This article highlights the fact that sex and sexuality is an important part of games, and generally the types of sex and sexuality represented reinforce the mainstream sexual values of heterosexuality and marriage.

The first game Mia discusses is Final Fantasy, which is a role playing game where the main character that the player controls (Zidane), fights monsters and ultimately rescues the kidnapped princess (because “she is pretty”). By looking at the game on a surface level (i.e. reading it like a text), we can see that this theme is concerned with notions of ‘happily ever after’ and ‘love conquers all,’ and works to clearly define and position the two characters as heterosexual subjects, and that there is an idealization of compulsory heterosexuality.

But when Mia takes gameplay into account, this relatively uncomplicated idealized romance may be problematised. By taking the performative aspects of gameplay into account, it becomes obvious that the player can change the narrative and subvert the mainstream heterosexuality that is assumed in the game.

Mia also discusses Eve Sedgewick’s Erotic triangle, which is an explanatory model of how homosocial desire (the non sexual interest and affection between men) can be managed. An example to explain this is a situation where two men compete over the same woman, who can be seen as the conduit of the relationship. The men really desire each other, but fear of being seen as homosexual makes them displace their feelings for each other into competition over a heterosexual love object (the more acceptable object).

Mia argues that in Final Fantasy, the player is encouraged to identify with Zidane. If we assume a male player, then the triangle can be used to show how the player manages any potential desire they have for Zidane by transferring it onto the female love interest character of Garnet.

She comments that potential desire for Zidane is possible because of the fact that the player is encouraged to care about him and to identify with him in order to successfully play the game. For many reasons (including that Zidane is feminized through long hair, small stature and lace clothes), identification may not be able to occur without too much desire for the character. So the triangle spatially collapses the two men into one, hence allowing the player to channel feelings for Zidane into Garnet (which is a validation of masculinity and heterosexuality).

The other game Mia discusses is the Sims. The Sims manual proscribes certain limits on the players’ imagination and desires. Queer Sims can be created (same sex Sims can kiss and sleep in the same bed, among other things) which challenges the hetranormative assumption often found in games. However, one limiting facet of the game is that “only opposite-sex relationships qualify for a proposal of marriage.” This can be seen as a not too subtle coding of heterosexuality as right and normal, as opposed to queerness, which is thus constructed as the ‘other’ of the disjunctive pair, where hierarchical value judgments see straight as good and queer as bad.

Of further interest is that the manual tells you that choosing a sex for your character is the best place to start as “gender is a pretty basic constituent of self from which to build a personality.” Despite the obvious fallacy of using gender and sex as interchangeable terms, it is interesting to see that there is no sexuality box, which indicates that either sexuality is defined within the game as an activity rather than an unchangeable part of identity, or that is assumed heterosexuality is such an ingrained part of everyone’s identity (or should be), that it wasn’t considered an option.

The player can choose the appearance, race and gender of Sims. Through a range of options the player can choose different skin colours, heads, ages and bodies, so the possibility to create radically different Sims is available. Apparently, the options are endless. (To see the ‘amazing’ individuality offered, see this page). Given the normal trend in games to be given a set character, this seems positive, but Mia then critiques the options and questions how real the choices are. We can see that there are some assumptions and traditional ideas about race, and gender inherently coded into the very choices available.

For instance, there are 16 bodies available for women, 18 for men and 5 for children. No obese, disabled or otherwise different bodies are offered, and from this choice it is hard to imagine this covers every possible body. The fact that choices are offered suggests that diversity is important, but the diversity itself is heavily restricted and the body forms that are excluded are telling.

While it is true that exclusion is a practical and financial reality, the options that are “ultimately considered necessary and which (are) expendable” (page 273 of the reader), indicate a definite hierarchy that is assumed in the making of the game. I also find it interesting that some things that are definitely not normalized in our society are included in Sims, such as polygamy and alien neighbors. This shows that the game doesn’t only mirror popular trends in contemporary culture, and makes it reasonable to ask why gay marriage (which is not currently a state sanctioned activity) is not allowed.

However all hope is not lost; Sims fans who do not feel their diversity is recognized and allowed within the Simscape have created their own Sims, as shown by Overweight Sims and
Nude Sims (Sims are not shown naked in the traditional Sims game and by creating nude Sims, players are challenging the proscribed rules set out by the game)

Mia also uses the concept of gay window gaming, which is a term used for advertising that has been designed to appeal to both gay and straight people. These ads, by using coded signs and subtext, suggest to gay consumers they are included, but the coding is not so explicit that straight consumers would pick up on the cues. In this way, both gay and straight consumers are targeted, without the fear that straight consumers will be offended by the intended appeal to gay people. This can be seen as positive or negative.

In the Sims, gayness is not coded in, but it is not forbidden either. So players can create gay Sims if they want to, while homophobic players need not create gay Sims, and they are not forced to read any of their Sims as gay.

So, from the examples used in Mia’s article it is clear that in most games a normalization process occurs when heterosexual narratives, characters and themes are included, whilst homosexual interactions are ether absent, or perverted. This inclusion is a subtle way of reinforcing stereotypes about ‘proper’ sexual practice and sexualities. This can be seen most obviously in Final Fantasy, but is also present in the more radical Sims.

Important Quotes:

“Even if diversity was limited only for financial or practicle reasons, it is important to raise this issue, to better understand which options were ultimately considered necessary and which were expendable.” (page 273 reader, 186 of article)

Regarding the erotic triangle: “But ultimately they are not as interested in the relationship with the woman as they are in their relationship with each other – yet societal fears of being seen as homosexual lead the men to displace their feelings for each other into the safe area of friendly competition over a heterosexual love object” (page 269 reader, 178 of article)