LogFAQs > #979666806

Mad-Dogg posted...

Eh, It'd argue bayonetta was much more about female empowerment what with how confident kamiya made her out to be and in-control/overpowering she was compared to whoever she was up against.

"Woman has superpowers" is a really superficial form of 'female empowerment'. Female empowerment is about women having substantial credibility and decision-making opportunities in society, including that empowerment being represented in media. Which ironically, Bayonetta was frequently used as a cudgel against women who complained that gaming was a misogynistic space in ~2009. "This game has a female character that kicks ass so how can SJWs complain that games objectify women / etc?"

And of course with these female characters that did kick ass it was so frequently in the same was as "she uses her sexuality as a WEAPON!" Very convenient. Bayonetta happens to wear her hair as clothes and it has to peel off for her to do her big attacks lol. The credits of Bayo 1 has her dance on a stripper pole. I'm not trying to shit on Kamiya or anything, and there are good points to Bayonetta especially as the series goes on. Bayo 2 is one of my favorite games ever. But the primary function of her design was for dudes to ogle it, not for women to feel actualized seeing her.

As to some people complaining they thought Bayonetta was ugly, that doesn't speak to Bayonetta not being designed to be sexy to men. If anything it just shows how the game's presentation of her conditioned players to view her as a sex object for their titillation and then talked about whether she satisfied their preferences. This is the box art lmao, doesn't even show her face just her huge ass.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/af8f1695.jpg