As a heterosexual male, I would NOT be comfortable playing a "hot" scantily clad dude in a game, but would and am very comfortable playing a "hot" scantily clad female. With that said, if you think about it, Conan, male superheroes, barbarians and other various fighters, often DO walk around in next to nothing or skin-tight clothing, and I have no issue playing them, as I think is the case with most men. I think the major difference is whether there's anything overtly sexual about the character versus being superbly shaped or scantily clad. As soon as one of those guys would try to be sexual in any way for the sake of sexiness, it would be unappealing to me. Of course it's not unappealing when a female in-game character I'm playing would do that, within limits. After all, unless I'm playing a game about a porn star or "floozie" for instance, I wouldn't want anything even remotely over-the-top, even in a female.

To the degree of my particular sexual preference, I am obviously biased toward beautiful women and am less affected by any type of offense that would be more perceptible to a woman. With that in mind, I do think that games, while still heavily geared toward the myth of the undersexed teenage hormonally active male gamer, are in fact reflective of society as a whole. After all, you can often find the "sexiest" and most airbrushed women in women's magazines. The same men are there in men's magazines, but to a significantly lower degree. I think with all things being equal, women due to if nothing else than overexposure, are much more tolerant of sexy feminine imagery than males are of sexy male imagery.

In heterosexual society, it's less manly to admire a male form as a man, but it's no less womanly to admire a female form as a woman. I think that's the key difference and is what drives more than the microcosm gaming.

=================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
[ My collection ]
[ http://www.MythCore.com ]