How to sexualize males for a female audience?Submitted 2 days ago by Kaligalis@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world
Everyone knows how to sexualize female characters in video games.
But how to sexualize male characters and do “fan service” for the female audience?
I saw screenshots of the new Resident Evil. Leon Scott Kennedy is definitely showing of for those that are into it. Capcom has at least figured it out.
Haven’t seen this much thirst from women since Baldur’s Gate 3 dropped Astarion on us.
So lots and lots of cocaine. Got it!
Cocaine doesn’t even begin to cover what happened during Zardoz.
“Gee I don’t know boss, that’s a lot of hair…”
[gunshot]
“The gun shoots death…”
Make them look like Danny DeVito or Shrek.
To sexualize men for women, you have to understand women.
To men, attraction is largely visual. So to sexualize a woman for a male audience means making her look attractive, and dressed in a revealing outfit. Swapping the genders doesn’t work. A visually attractive man in a revealing outfit is far more likely to appeal to either gay men sexually, or men generally as a power fantasy. To appeal to women you need a fundimentially different strategy altogether.
Consider erotic literature. Its a genre that is disproportionately popular with women. Its basically anti-porn, no visuals all story. Male characters in these stories are almost always sexualized by women for women. The attraction mostly from their choices and actions than appearance. You need a completely different approach.
Go read some smut. Talk to straight women about who and what they find attractive. You have to learn a lot about women to appeal to them. What they are looking for, and how they are looking for it is entirely different from men.
I’d also say, there’s definitely a big media push on the idea that “men are simple, and attraction is visual”. It’s not always so true as the marketing world wants, and I think a lot of men like myself have more of a “type” we’re likely to connect more with.
There’s plenty of games out there with giant-tittied, half-naked women, that I have basically no interest in because they all blend together thoughtlessly. At the very least, having an interesting character design that portrays some personality and thought pulls me in. (In gacha terms, the former might be Snowbreak Containment Zone while the latter would be Zenless Zone Zero. The latter still falls back on generous endowment sometimes, but they also have some creative designs)
I guess that’s one of the less-acknowledged reasons why you see more sexualization of women in games. It costs next to nothing in terms of game design. Take any game, slap a scantily clad woman on it and bam, you’ve significantly increased your appeal to male audiences. To do the same for female audiences you have to build the entire game around that requirement.
It is almost impossible to avoid romance novels at the library. There are always multiple men, they are always attractive and mysterious in some way, and if it gets down and dirty it gets really dirty.
Interesting. I have had a fair bit of experience with romance novels, and the ‘dirty’ part is always so bland and rehashed that you could substitute one book’s writing in for another’s with no problems.
Consider erotic literature. Its a genre that is disproportionately popular with women. Its basically anti-porn, no visuals all story. Male characters in these stories are almost always sexualized by women for women. The attraction mostly from their choices and actions than appearance. You need a completely different approach.
Yes, its no visuals. Thats why there isnt 500,000,000 books with fabio ripped and glistening on the covers.
Hey, dont judge a book of smut by the rippling muscled hunk on its cover!
One of the biggest mobile games on the planet is Love and Deepspace. It is a game that appeals to women(and gay men?) and on top of being kinda conventional videogame, it is the modern version of erotic literature.
I have only seen clips and they were much more spicy than most mobile games, even mobile games that appeal to straight men.
For anyone wanting to know more about these books, Reading Smut is a side-project podcast by the hosts of Reading Glasses. It’s really interesting, with lots of thoughtful guests and often odd books. One of the first episodes covered a book about a door that comes to life and lusts after the woman who lives inside.
Same way. Hot bods, tight clothes, show plenty of skin.
Women enjoying the same things as men? Why, I never!
Says Velma with an oversized sweater, just look at Daphne’s outfit… Like, zoinks, Scoob!
Testicle cleavage and beer belly shirts. What’s the slutties hair style a man can have?
Not cleavage. Give 'em the moose knuckle.
Thinning on top with the “monk ring” style cut. Nothing gets the ladies going more.
But serious advice for guys, know when to just shave your head man. People like full heads of hair, people like bald, nobody likes thinning. Make the call and save yourself the embarrassment. Bald is beautiful.
Last year the two sexiest guys were a dwarf who can cook and a mean zombie cowboy.
So I guess write a guy good personality, and throw in giving a shit about people around him.
Oh that’s easy, make them vaugly gay and twinky. Now if you are trying to arouse… Make them REALLY gay.
I like feminine/twink guys, so everyone recommending bug buff guys 💀💀
But I’m a gay guy so not the target of OP’s question 😅 I just barged in because it’s a dry desert in terms of my preferences out there 💀
According to my wife…
Dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbow.
Kilts.
KILTS!
It depends on the genre of the game.
Fighting games like Mortal Kombat? Put the men in skimpy outfits that show their muscles like the women.
Survival game? I don’t need to see the characters sexualized while they’re trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. Give me character depth and growth, empathy, and strong story-telling visuals. I’ll fall in love with man or woman that way.
Nothing like a miniature sized trikini to survive the zombie outbreak.
Ever play Days Gone? I’m a straight dude and even I fell in love with Deacon St. John. Dude is the total package.
Reliable, faithful, and rides a motorcycle… yeah I get it.
Rolled up sleeves. Just trust me.
Can confirm, this drives my partner wild.
I think Hades is an excellent example of a game which just sexualizes everyone.
Watch jojo. Y’all gonna get your answer best way possible
That’s sexualizing men for everybody. He’s asking how to do it specifically for women! It may seem like the same thing but it is different.
I’ve tried to get into Jojo so meny times for the beautiful men, but I kinda get bored.
Regardless ,thanks Araki. I still love the art.
Strange, cause I’m a straight(ish) dude and it hooked me in season 2. Season 1 was cool, but the hyper batshit insanity of the following seasons hits.
Jojo Rabbit? Not sure if Hitler is that sexy…
I’ll cite some examples.
Hades and hades 2 did it right in both fronts.
Kazahn.
Elden Ring. Godfrey/ Hoarah Loux & Radagon. (Crumbling or whatever, I don’t care)
Or give me a guy in full plate with a sexy gait, see: Demon’s Souls Penetrator.
I’m sorry I don’t make the rules.
Geralt from the Witcher fits nicely on this list.
Of.course, plus Geralt knows how to treat a lady. You know what, let’s trow in Eskel as well, for the “rolled up sleeves” people… I see y’all.
I can’t believe you’re into Halsin haha. I don’t know how you manage to make a sex crazed man-bear insufferably boring but by gods, they did it!
(Lol, that’s your objection on this list?)
^True,^ but I’m not exactly going for substance here, and I’m definitely into how Halsin looks (and sounds.)
There’s plenty of well developed characters in BG3 that I’m not really offended by him being bland.
Jiggle Physics Ding Dongs
Conan Exiles has good donger physics.
God I wish I could run that game on my PC. I’m relegated to ginormous goongaboongas on console.
If it’s uncomfortable and disempowering for men, you’re probably doing it right. It’s often a power dynamic.
But to draw back from a sour take: This will also turn off some people. Both ways. For instance: I love sexualized designs, but some games genuinely went too far. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Nier Automata had genuine, serious stories to tell, but fell flat on some people for sexualizing their main (female) characters in such an objectifying way.
I also think for women, the pure visual isn’t quite as important as their movements and actions. That part gets tricky since tastes vary.
There’s a few gacha games out there designed for women that can give an idea of an extreme end to take it to. Again, keep in mind, there’s not one universal appeal for a whole gender (same for guys) so it will often turn out that the most universally appealing designs are the relatively safe ones you already see.
I also think for women, the pure visual isn’t quite as important as their movements and actions. That part gets tricky since tastes vary.
I find Wolf (sekiro) very hot in part because of how his movement is animated. BUT the man looks like he hasn’t bathed in weeks so… He’s more of a "hear me out’.
And also not thinking about visuals… Yeah, a sexy voice can do a lot of heavy lifting for a character.
Love In Deepspace is your example of highly sexualized men for women.
I think you need to check out the genre of Otome games. There’s hundreds of weird dating sim style games catered to women which feature a male cast.
It’s debatable of how sexualized these characters are. But whatever they do appeals to their female audience.
Just have to add on to all the preferences already described… don’t make them vapid idiots on top of the physical preferences, and you’ll be fine.
As long as they’re a cohesive, fleshed out character, they could be an evil pile of shit and quite a few ladies will be thinking, “can I fix him?”.
Same could be said for women characters, but it’s WAY easier to sell to a horny dipshit than a horny lady, since most said dipshits don’t think past hipthrust.
Just look at the sheer number of women who like Severus Snape of all people.
I cannot blame them. Snape is a cool character and not just because he was played by Alan Rickman in the movies.
Easy, Borat’s mankini.
Werewolf bishounen
Watch some episodes of Charmed and look at the characters the sisters are flirting with, they are all different kinds of straight woman wish fulfillment.
Ofc women also sometimes are in the mood to get railed and knocked up, then a big hairy muscular guy is often the thing. But that mood comes upon most women relatively rarely. It’s a kind of comfort and trust that makes you want to melt into a guy.
Seconding the otome comment, and a link to a relevant tag on vndb - you can probably find anything from not very sexualized to pure smut on that list, and there’s often screenshots. vndb.org/g542
Was it Captain America Winter Soldier where Cap pulled that helicopter back to the roof, and did all that flexing?
Watch Bridgerton
Sims 4 is already on it.
Use proper language instead of female/male
Male and female are proper words. OP used them for both. It’s fine.
That’s a you problem, it’s fine to use male and female when used together it’s when they’re mixed it’s reductive “men and females”.
Just to spell it out: There’s nothing wrong with using “male” and “female” as adjectives (e.g. “male audience” or “female drivers”). The problem arises from using them as a noun (e.g., “females want a man” or “males are more likely”) which is a very reductive way of describing a person. It also evokes the way we refer to animals, which is, again, reductive.
We are more than our respective genders, just as we are more than merely animals.
They said males in the title.
What would the proper language be?
What would the proper language be?
Men and women?
silverlightBeing@lemmy.ml 16 hours ago
Image