: I disagree, I think there's a perfectly good reason for it. It's because it
: sells. Audiences demand it, and not only male audiences. It's just what
: people want to see - those "one dimensional stereotypes". We're
: familiar with tropes and cliches, that's why they're so pervasive. People
: say they want novelty and diversity, but what they mean is that they want
: to be told variations of the same story with variations of the same
: characters.

: And I'm just not convinced that the burden of change lies on artists. Sure,
: games are art and you can make a statement through them, but art is a
: product like any other, and your primary goal is to sell it (especially
: when it costs tens of millions to produce).

: I guess all I'm saying is that if we want depictions of women in media to
: change, society has to change first. Even if Quiet IS exactly as
: sexualized and cliche as the sensationalists will have us believe, that's
: hardly Kojima's fault. It's society's fault that people think there's a
: dichotomy between character and sexuality for women. Both the criticisms
: of MGS5 and the object of criticism itself embody that false dichotomy.

This kind of reaction is society changing. When people react to a design in this way, it is their way of saying "No, we will no longer tolerate this." Often when this happens, though, people inadvertently defend the status quo by saying things like what you've done. "As long as it sells" isn't an argument; if Jiff is the only peanut butter at the store, Jiff is what I'm buying. That doesn't mean it's good or bad, but you can sure bet the farm that Jiff will use its improved sales to suggest that their quality is obviously superior to the competition. Like with comic books, the number of videogames with authentic female characters who serve more purpose than eye candy is teeny tiny. Since we all like to play videogames, we'll still buy the ones with poorly made female characters, and other folks will use that data to suggest that "Well, there's clearly not a problem here." Demonstrably false. As a pretty intelligent YouTuber suggests at the beginning of each of her videos, "it's both possible, and even necessary, to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects."

Additionally, there have been I-don't-know-how-many studies which show that sex appeal does not, in fact, improve a products sales. Psychological studies show that you remember the sexy thing, but not the product itself. The argument that "Well, it helps things sell" or "It's what people ask for" is lame.