Mass Effect on Romance and Sex

The media furor surrounding Mass Effect’s sex scene has long since died down, and I am not writing this to stir that particular pot.  Rather, it occurs to me that a game like Mass Effect might be described as an effective remedy to some of the stereotypical problems with sex on screen.  Namely, those ideas that men are always the instigator of sex, that women are merely objects for the men on screen and the men in the audience, with their passivity and one-dimensionality and inevitable surrender.  I am not suggesting that all women in film or television are like this, what I am suggesting is that women in videogames can be quite directly the opposite.  In Mass Effect, there are a number of opportunities for addressing this stereotype quite directly, without actually subverting the ostensible science-fiction drama.

Some familiarity with Mass Effect is assumed here, but hopefully not so much that this article will not make sense to a non-player. The player occupies a character called Shepard.  Shepard can be made either male or female, and cosmetically customized with sophisticated tools.  As part of a 30+ hour game experience, Shepard can engage in a romance sub-plot which is the main focus here, but is not the main focus of the game.  Instead, Shepard is an elite soldier that is tasked with nothing short of saving the galaxy. Read more »

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