If all youâre discussing and noticing in Genshinâs misogyny is how sexualized the designs are, how stereotypical âfanservice baitâ a lot of female charactersâ content is or how âthis character wouldâve been better received/taken more seriously if they were the exact same but male!â youâre only scratching the surface of how bad the issue gets.
Thereâs the fantasy that permeates a lot of the Travelerâs relationships with the female characters. On its own, having someone praise you and treat you well isnât a bad thing. The problem occurs when you notice that the female characters pushed by the game as âthe ones who love the Traveler the most and are the nicest people who ever nicedâ are the ones who donât rock the boat. The ones who get called selfless and kind for being unable to say no, even when their safety is at risk from it. The ones who are always eager to help you specifically and be at your service. The ones who donât question you and just tell you how amazing and special you are. The ones who donât need you to earn their trust before they pour their entire heart out to you. And if a character shows even the slightest pushback against any of those things, sets boundaries or requires you to actually earn her trust like, you know, a normal humanâŠshe gets treated like a liar, suspicious, and maybe your companion might even give her an ugly nickname as punishment. Anything to sell that fantasy of not having to put in any effort to get to know someone, earn their trust, or - god forbid - work through conflicts with them, some of which you might actually have to take accountability for and apologize for mistakes, right? Gee, this totally doesnât share any similarities with how women get placed onto pedestals irl and end up paying the price when they get shatteredâŠ
Thereâs the recurring pattern of how a lot of the playable women and girls who break the mold in terms of personality (anything other than bubbly or a people pleaser basically) are gradually worn down until ânice, but to the player specificallyâ is their only shining trait, without any real development or transition periods backing it up. Do I have to spell out why making women and girls to show less of their personality in favor of âniceâ to appeal to someone whoâs supposed to be a trustworthy friend sends a disturbing message, especially towards whatâs meant to be a young audience? And under the guise of heartwarming moments or some cozy or peaceful type setting no less?
Itâs also in how if the above women or girls donât change in one conversation, theyâre often subtly coerced into it by the narrative, with the catalyst being the Traveler or some other bubbly character who refuses to honor the concept of personal space/consent. They might even feel shame for being âmeanâ or upset even when it really wasnât their fault. (Notable examples being Collei, Furina, SkirkâŠI guess Iâll put Ninnin here too even though sheâs a kuuhenki, the way she was treated by Paimon especially was awful)
Itâs in how when a lot of the women and girls show angerâŠit gets reduced down to some cutesy temper tantrum and rarely taken seriously, even when itâs something completely serious like Dionaâs dad and his alcohol problem. Or it gets sanded down because we donât want you thinking theyâre not nice anymore, do we? /s
Itâs in how even when a female characterâs interests, hobbies, relationships outside the Traveler, importance in their community and what makes them feel emotions are all known to the playerâŠthatâs treated as unimportant compared to how nice and reliable they can be for the Traveler.
Thereâs how even when the women are given âstrongâ or âbossâ careers or prestigious positions, that gets treated like itâs the only thing needed to write a feminist character, and itâs often used to excuse the horrible unchecked biases and gender roles that the rest of their writing gets saddled with. Including even excusing questionable actions from white/light-skinned men in similar or higher positions.
Thereâs how Hoyoverse puts a rigid standard on their female characters in terms of appearance and temperament (favoring light-skinned, people-pleasing women who are overly helpful, open with their entire lives and privacy, unable to rock the boat with the Traveler) that affects how theyâll be treated by characters and the narrative, and whether theyâre allowed to be above criticism by other characters.
Thereâs also how said standard is often used to uplift certain female characters at the expense of others, especially multiply marginalized female characters (like disabled, racialized, poor, or child characters) or those with âdefiantâ or âdifficultâ personalities. That kind of dynamic even lets the âidealâ female characters get away with questionable treatment towards those who donât fit that ideal at times. Thatâs actually how a certain type of systemic misogyny manifests within Chinese communities to boot - girls who meet societyâs standards are uplifted at the expense of those who donât, and theyâre often taught to enforce and never question a lot of these toxic dynamics themselves even if they donât realize it. They shape how women and girls are treated at school, work, the media, etc., and every woman and girl involved in this dynamic is harmed in some way.
Thereâs how racialized women and girlsâ struggles often get downplayed and minimized, which is particularly egregious when their problems are similar to that of a white characterâs that the Traveler has shown sympathy for in the past. And that extends to their treatment by the fandom (All the talk about how young many of the Knights of Favonius were but no such concern or fanfare for how Candace was only 8 when she was tasked with guarding Aaru Village on her own; showing so much sympathy for overworked women who had other worries on top of that in Mondstadt, only to turn around and call Sayu and Xilonen lazy when they clearly have a lot going on in their lives that would make them tired; Vennessaâs experiences only being brought up in-game to uplift Jean or show how she was of service to Mondstadt to the point the narrative didnât even think about her in Natlan, etc.)
Thereâs how the playable child characters, all of whom are girls, are almost never get taken seriously and are treated like problems to be solved instead of humans when they do something that - *gasp* - isnât trying to please all the adults around them and the Traveler. Itâs pretty telling that the two who avoid this treatment the most are the ones who are âgoodâ and âniceâ by never getting in the Travelerâs way and being eager to help - Nahida and Kachina. Once again reinforcing the message that girls shouldnât rock the boat if they want to be âgood peopleâ and be treated with basic humanity - and the worst part? This message is often reinforced by the adult women in their lives not taking them seriously (to the point I was surprised when this didnât happen to Aino) - see what I mean when I say power imbalances can even occur between female characters, and some are uplifted at the expense of others?
I havenât covered everything - but really think about this stuff the next time youâre seeing discussions of misogyny in the game, you know?
