I foresee some confusing conversations with her peers about the series when she is a little older.
I think enough people confuse Zelda and Link that she'll be able to get away with it
For Zelda-playing daughter, Dad gives Link a sex change
11–20 of 124 posts
Re: For Zelda-playing daughter, Dad gives Link a sex change
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Then again, having the kid realize their parents have been subverting reality could lead to trust and control issues between them. I'll admit it's nice, but at the same time it's delusionment.
I don't think Hyrule is a "reality" that can be subverted.
Re: For Zelda-playing daughter, Dad gives Link a sex change
#13I 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.
I find this an appropriate comment by Hofstadter, in the Intro to 'Godel Escher Bach', on the gender of the Tortoise: The Tortoise turns out never to have been attributed either gender. But when I first read it, the question never entered my mind. This was clearly a he-tortoise. After all, an author only introduces a female character for some special reason, right? Whereas a male character in a neutral context needs…
This is called "normativity" in pyschology/philosophy.
Re: For Zelda-playing daughter, Dad gives Link a sex change
#14I 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.
As usual, a negative post has floated to the top. This time from one of Hacker News' most prolific and highly rated posters. It's not about being PC, it's about a cool hack and supporting one's daughters.
Did you actually read the entirety of tptacek's comment?
Re: For Zelda-playing daughter, Dad gives Link a sex change
#15I 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.
I think the point was less to be politically correct and more to personalize the game towards his daughter. He seems to really care about video games and wants to create the best possible experience for his daughter so that she can share that love. A large part of video games is basically pretending to be the character you're controlling, and a three year old girl who renamed the character after herself is generally going to pretend to be herself.
Re: For Zelda-playing daughter, Dad gives Link a sex change
#16Great 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!
Re: For Zelda-playing daughter, Dad gives Link a sex change
#17I 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.
This isn't about political correctness, and kneejerk dismissals like this aren't constructive.
Did... you stop reading the comment before the joke became apparent, to complain about the kneejerk nature of the comment?
Re: For Zelda-playing daughter, Dad gives Link a sex change
#18I 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.
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'm sorry but I'm firm to believe that the problem lies to the mind that makes the distinction first. If someone sees Link and the first thing that pops in his head is "what a shame he's not a girl" and retcon the intended storytelling to keep the content on par with their expectations then I certainly can't blame the game's creator. Not to mention that the boy isn't always the hero. I'll just bring another Nintendo saga as an example, Metroid which the main character is Samus Aran.
I know that the problem is that there aren't enough games that a young girl can play who offer character customization and that's not just alarming but also shows that there's potentially a market for that kind of games. What bothers me is that parents do not understand that they can't keep their children grow up in a bubble. This is clearly over-protectiveness over something that might or might not be interpreted erroneously over time by his daughter.
What is he planning to do? "Patch" every possible subconscious connections that his daughter might make for the next 5-10 years?
Re: For Zelda-playing daughter, Dad gives Link a sex change
#19I 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.
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 skewed by my environment. For example, it took me until I was in my 20's to figure out that my parents were as sarcastic as any other people. Absent any Korean community in which to observe interactions in that cultural context, I absorbed this notion that Koreans just didn't do sarcasm, which is absolutely incorrect.
Re: For Zelda-playing daughter, Dad gives Link a sex change
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then again, having the kid realize their parents have been subverting reality could lead to trust and control issues between them. I'll admit it's nice, but at the same time it's delusionment.
I don't think Hyrule is a "reality" that can be subverted.
Try the mushroom.