Lara Croft

Why should the image of Lara Croft as a strong attractive woman be considered derogatory towards women? Yes, she is portrayed in a hyper-feminine fashion with skills and a ferocious attitude more profound than most male characters. Sure she isn't characterised with immense detail or a mysterious background, but the way I see it the player gives her the exact persona that the producers intended her to have; the one that made her character famous. That is, a hyper-feminine threat to masculinity (appealing to castration anxiety). A traditional mentality and its attributed sexism would dictate that a person with breasts and hips couldn't possibly fight tigers, climb cliff faces, and escape closing dagger-studded walls. I think that Croft's hyper-sexuality paradoxically empowers her; she is doubly threatening as a sexual being and as a woman physically as able as a man. Characters like Jade in Beyond Good and Evil, and Alyx in Half Life 2, are attributed masculine qualities, and so they are easier to accept as serious characters. In many ways, this is less empowering for these characters. They are considered stronger, more positive characters, precisely because they lack femininity, even if this is not consciously considered.