It is obvious to the gaming community that women are often portrayed poorly om games. Women are seen in many games as a goal for the male characters, as sexual objects, and denied any real personality or character.

Now, this is not the case for all games.  Bioshock Infinite is an example of having a strong female character that is not shown as a sex object.  She is a goal in the game, but more literally than most—she is an important figure that the main character has to find.

But that is not the game that is getting all the attention for its portrayal of women.  Beyonetta is a game series that just released its second game, Beyonetta 2, and had revitalized the conversation amongst gamers and feminists and feminist gamers alike.

Is Beyonetta a bad portrayal of a female video game character, or not?  Beyonetta, who is the main character of the game, is shown to have a very appealing body, suggestive movements and phrases, but it is shown to be more for herself than for a man’s.

Jim Sterling of the online magazine, The Escapist, states something similar in his video Stupid Sexy Beyonetta: It’s Okay to like or Not like Beyonetta.

“Beyonetta has agency, her innuendo-laden speech and seductive mannerisms are represented as being her choice….I can appreciate the positives of Beyonetta as a character who embraces smut without provocation. She is sexual, obviously, but I never get the sense that she’s had sexualization transposed onto her creepily…”

Many deem Beyonetta as a strong female character who is in control of her own sexual nature and find her important for that.

Others see the over-sexualized movements and innuendos as soft-core porn for the male players of the games, which is the intended audience.

Watching some gameplay footage, it is very obvious how sexualized Beyonetta is.  Sure, it may not be for the satisfaction of a male character in the game, but it is there for the male satisfaction of the player.  This is what many people find wrong with the game.  It is too blatant and “in-your-face” with Beyonetta’s smuttiness.

In all honesty, there might not be a right side to this argument, but what Beyonetta has shown the gaming community is that it is possible to create a strong female character while also having her be sexy and in-your-face about it without having to appeal to a male character at the same time.

Like Sterling says at the end of his video, “…it’s okay to like Beyonetta, it’s okay not to.  Let’s try to be a little more f***ing okay, okay?”