#What Do Sephiroth & Pyra/Mythra Coming To Smash Have In Common? They Expose The Complicated Hypocrisy Of Gender Equality! » OmniGeekEmpire

So Pyra and Mythra, two very popular Xenoblade Chronicle 2 characters were revealed for Smash Bros Ultimate as the latest DLC fighters. For the most part, some people were happy, while others disappointed, nothing new However, the discussion that emerged from this was the accusation that people were simply sexualizing these characters for the breasts and not for their personality and found the whole ordeal upsetting. For me, this whole thing reeks of hypocrisy, yet is complex enough to warrant a deeper look. There’s a lot to talk about there so let’s get started!

For starters, let’s look at how Sephiroth and Steve from Minecraft were handled. When Sephiroth was revealed in his shirtless form, sexualization for him when through the roof, and no one batted an eye at it. In fact, even major publishing outlets played along with it. It was all a big harmless joke with no regard to how some men might have felt about it. The same goes for Steve and his “meat”! Many jokes were made, yet no one had an issue with this whole ordeal. Nevertheless, the moment it involves female characters, the table’s turned, and now sexualizing these characters becomes wrong and immoral.

Yes, the argument can be made that men in general usually don’t care when they get sexualized on a public scale, as most understand that they are more so judged by different standards and that women are judged solely for their looks, so it’s a different ball game. However, if we are to move forward to a more neutral gender-equal world, then that would mean by definition and principle that, if we find sexualizing women, fictional or not a problem, the same rule must apply to men as well, otherwise it all falls apart.

I understand that women might be upset with how most people are reacting to Pyra and Mythra, yet it doesn’t help your case if you do the same to men characters like Sephiroth. And vice versa, communication and listening to do who feel like their not feeling good should be taken a little more seriously. Also, just to note, females characters having big boobs shouldn’t be a sign of bad character design in general. If you’ve played the game, you’d realize that these characters are actually well written and their bodies shouldn’t be seen as a negative.