There was apparently a recent outrage (another, if I'm to understand the context correctly) of video game women being portrayed with...well, boobs. Inappropriately sized for their frame - and without proper protective coverings for warfare to be sure. Nonetheless, I am far from shocked. Truth is, capitalism - nefarious price fixing and monopolistic endeavors not withstanding - is almost unprecedentedly perfect at self-regulation. Which leaves ourselves the only ones left to blame.
I heard the other day, "I have no idea why they stopped selling the original Volkswagon Beetle." Surprised, I explained it had simply stopped selling in the numbers required to support its production; People had stopped buying it. Because companies are vested in turning a profit, a great deal of effort goes into fabricating or marketing something the public will buy. In the case of the scantily-clad boob warriors, the answer to, "Who keeps purchasing this crap?" is us. We do. And that makes it difficult to justify our outrage as we continue to lay out real money. Each dollar spent is validation to these companies that they are doing something right. We alone are propagating the reinforcement they are making exactly what we wish to buy, which is entirely the point.
Here's a snippet from a timely article concerning Idaho tea-party candidate and Mormon Greg Collett who has his ten [10!] children on Medicaid while protesting government healthcare - "Yes, I participate in government programs of which I adamantly oppose. Am I a hypocrite for participating in programs that I oppose? If it was that simple, and if participation demonstrated support, then of course. But, my reason for participation in government programs often is not directly related to that issue in and of itself, and it certainly does not demonstrate support."
Difference is, in capitalism, participation is support. Want to put these evil misogynist game companies out of business? Stop buying their products. 100% effective in a free-market society. Sadly, the article I read concerning this outrage touched on the real-world impact of "gender imbalance" in which women who played these games appeared to begin objectifying themselves. Now while I don't know much about women objectifying themselves, I do know a video game cannot make anyone do anything - there's bound to be something psychological involved where that's concerned. Nonetheless, while the claim is alarming, there was no mention of how 70-million copies of Shades of Gray is by comparison, harmless escapism.
Subjectively, its difficult to say either point of view is "wrong" especially if its the same group of people praising one while demonizing the other, which awkwardly enough, is often the case. Perhaps the differences are simply nuanced, and we're all enjoying the same thing, albeit in our own individualized way. The prudent thing to do would be to respect other's choice, which immediately allows them to freely reciprocate the same respect.
