Me, on femShep, seeing yourself in the things you love, and why it matters.

historymiss:

historymiss:

And I just wrote a rather personal column about FemShep, video games, and seeing yourself in the things you love. A read would be greatly appreciated- it’s the first non-review, non-news article I’ve done, and I feel very nervous about it! (especially as it’s a topic very close to my heart)

Reblogging for the Americans!

I could never really feel at home in the role of the hero, because the protagonists were, without exception, men. Competent, heroic, capable men, yes, but men in every single instance, save a few role-playing games where my character didn’t talk, wasn’t really in cutscenes, and always felt like an observer of the world that she saved. In every game I played I was reminded that this world was not for me, and that my place in it, if I had one, was not as the hero.

Then, one day in 2007, I picked up Mass Effect and created Commander Diana Shepard.

Commander Shepard speaks- actually speaks!- with authourity. Commander Shepard expects to be obeyed. Commander Shepard is entrusted with the fate of the galaxy and does her duty unflinchingly, no matter what she herself stands to lose in the process.

And Commander Shepard is a woman.