You kind of need to know who yummyfajitas is, first. I didn't know who he was until I engaged him in a slapfight a week or so ago.
I missed the joke entirely at first, but I'm glad I read your comments before posting some obtuse, self-righteous reply like I normally would :) Now I'll have to check out tptacek's "must read" list.
You should totally do that. I don't know how anyone reads HN any other way. (Not with my specific list, but with a list of people who will anchor sane conversations).
I'm not concerned about her not encountering male role models. I wrote "girls can learn leadership and toughness from male protagonists and heroes." That's what I would try to do with Link, not make him into a female. I'm speaking very generally when I say "political purpose". I don't mean that he is advancing an ideology, but rather he is addressing a gripe he has with society, specifically the lack of female heroes…
You view it primarily as "a gripe he has with society." I think he views it primarily as "I want my daughter to be able to pretend she is this character." There is a difference.
Ok, fair enough. I still don't think it necessitates changing the character's gender. I lived vicariously through a number of fictional heroes of the opposite sex. How this father approached this issue just isn't how I would approach it.
I think the idea is that when kids are growing up, they make subconscious connections and observations about the world around them. If a young child plays video games and consistently sees that boys are always the hero, they might extrapolate that to simply: "Boys and always the hero". I don't have a strong opinion on the subject, I just thought I'd try and explain the position as I understand it.
> I think the idea is that when kids are growing up, they make subconscious connections and observations about the world around them. Let me say that, in my experience, this is absolutely true . I grew up in Western PA, in a place where we had to drive 50 miles to visit other asians, who weren't even also Korean. I certainly made subconscious connections and observations about the world, many of which were hugely ske…
This is very interesting! I'm a Bengali raised in a mostly white surroundings, though not as much as say Western PA. I too perecive my parents as not using sarcasm, and it being cultural. Though occasionally my mom will crack a joke, which I find quite startling. I don't really speak the language very well, so I can't really follow very when they talk naturally with other Bengalis. I wonder how much is in there that I'm missing.
Of course they can. Imagine a hypothetical comic with characters of both genders who are all sparklingly excellent role models in the way they behave. Now imagine that this comic was drawn by people who designed all those characters to be blatantly, panderingly sexy -- a fairly common situation, since sex sells, and cross-demographic appeal makes commercial sense. Does this make the characters poor role models, in sp…
These are not hypothetical comics. If the characters are primarly tools to entice male audiences, then they are unlikely to also serve as good role models.
Why is that? Males have poor taste in role models?
I foresee some confusing conversations with her peers about the series when she is a little older.
You mean about how there's no character named "Maya" in the Zelda canon? I think they'll be able to work past the character customization. Somehow even Mass Effect players manage to discuss their game.
Mass Effect players know and expect that players will have their own version of the main character with different genders. Nobody has that expectation about the Legend of Zelda.
Great idea and cool hack. I'm about to be the father of a baby girl soon myself and there is no end to the anxiety I hold for the struggles she's going to face simply because she's a girl. Although if she ever wants to know programming, maths, and how to solder a PCB I intend to be there for her... and perhaps editing hex dumps of games as well. Thanks for the tip!
As someone who is myself about to be the father of a baby girl any day now, congratulations!
I have to admit, it is pretty shocking to realize for myself how gender-normative I am already being. Her room is Tiffany Blue and all her clothes are already pink. I hope I keep it to these superficial things...
I don't understand why parents feel the need to be so politically correct. As 'yummyfajitas is sure to point out shortly, every empirical study ever conducted has shown that males have a statistically significant advantage in slaying Octoroks and Peahats.
It's hours later and I'm just now responding, so this will likely get lost amongst the other comments, but... I distinctly recall playing The Legend of Zelda and having Link be completely genderless. It even led to a lot of interesting conversations amongst 10 year old kids about why Link and who was Link. Unlike Super Mario Bros., there are no stereotypically male or female aspects of Link. You're not rescuing the princess, you're working for the princess. I have always found the design of the original Zelda game fascinating in that regard, it's designed so that any player can project themselves onto the protagonist without any psychological conflicts...it's as minimal as the protagonist in centipede.
I missed the joke entirely at first, but I'm glad I read your comments before posting some obtuse, self-righteous reply like I normally would :) Now I'll have to check out tptacek's "must read" list.
You should totally do that. I don't know how anyone reads HN any other way. (Not with my specific list, but with a list of people who will anchor sane conversations).
At first I thought you were actually encouraging me to post obtuse, self-righteous replies! Your advice (the correctly interpreted and misinterpreted versions) is taken under submission.
This is a very cool hack, and I support the intention behind it. Still, it is something I would never do for two reasons: For one, as an author, I disagree with altering a text for a political purpose. To be sure, this instance is fairly innocuous, and parents frequently change bedtime stories on the fly to suit their kids. Nevertheless I consider the Legend of Zelda to be a text with its own mythology and themes, an…
Both Wonderwoman and Kusanagi are modeled with apparent sex appeal by male authors. Could they really still be good role models? I ask this as someone who don't know much about either comics.
The creation of Wonder Woman is actually pretty interesting -- it was done in collaboration with the creators wife, and she was modeled somewhat after a woman they were in a polyamorous relationship with. She was also explicitly designed to be a good role model for girls.