Dispatches from the Villain, Fem Shep

For many, the voice of Mark Meer mixed with the name Commander Shepard is the sound of a hero. But when the voice of Jennifer Hale is combined with the character model of female Shepard (ubiquitously known as Fem Shep), I hear something different. It’s not the stern, but compassionate voice of a hero. Instead I hear the malice-filled snarl of an unpleasant menace.

It has nothing to do with Hale’s performance, which is far and above most voice acting in recent memory, but everything to do with my own choices. My experiences in creating my own Fem Shep always came after I had beaten the main story. My first and main character in Mass Effect was a frail, mentally competent, pale-faced morally-good, male protagonist. But, it was when that time for replaying came along that a troubling pattern emerged.

As a completionist, I wanted to see the other side of the story. I didn’t pay $60 just to save the galaxy once as a scrawny space-psychic. But, since I can’t customize my new character to be Asari or whatever fish-race Thane is, my new hero must embody the only two remaining customizable characteristics, besides which class powers I intended to use. She will be a woman and she will be a mean-spirited, malevolent, ethically troubling nightmare.

It’s entirely unintentional, but still remains a rather negative thing to do. Without fail, my male character is a hero and my female is a mean, violent, borderline sociopath. A psychiatrist might draw some rather troubling conclusions about my opinion of the opposite sex. My insistence that I’ve created this vicious lady to earn virtual “achievement points” may not help explain the situation any better.

But what’s truly amazing isn’t my accidental misogyny, but that the world of Mass Effect 2 is devoid of it in return. Despite the fact that my enemies range from space pirates to mercenary soldiers, scarcely anyone calls my Fem Shep ‘a bitch’. There are virtually no derogatory remarks belittling my capability to fight on account of my virtual boobs. No one makes a sarcastic remark about “my gender” and driving ability when I accidentally ramp the M35 Mako upside down into a crater.

I know you may be thinking that ignoring sexism is, in turn, a sexist view in itself. But the world doesn’t ignore the terms that normally go along with treating woman like incompatibly powerful individuals. Instead, when presented with offense Fem Shep is decidedly witty in return, right before she punches an aliens face in. In addition, some alien races in the Mass Effect universe are devoid of genders as we see them. It’s a galaxy where sexism scarcely exists.

There was recently some controversy regarding Arkham City’s over-usage of the word ‘bitch’ in relation to Catwoman and to a lesser extent, Batman. The biggest defense to this complaint was that this was likely how unhinged, immoral psychopaths would speak. But, in the case of my Fem Shep, sleazy hired space mercenaries and murderous intergalactic pirates scarcely touch the phrase or any similar derogatory expression.

Of course it’s not that enemies don’t have anything mean to say, but rather their mid-battle insults and tough-talk isn’t gender-specific. If you trigger every Renegade option, you’ll hear some pretty pissed-off people mouth off to you. But, the most common term uttered in disgust from disgruntled aliens is merely “human.” The fact that I’m a female commander shooting hostages in the head has no bearing on the dialog.

But there’s the chance that this world free of gender-specific hatred is probably more of a side effect of having an interchangeable hero. Much of the world adapts to your choices, but dialog must often boil down to an extremely elaborate game of Mad Libs. It’s not like the Bioware team wrote an entire second game with a female lead. She’s just one of two paths. The void of sexist talk must just stem from the fact that Bioware created dialog that onle varies slightly based on the gender of Commander Shepherd. Right?

Probably. And isn’t that how it should be?

Miranda, for instance, is a woman first and foremost and the game doesn’t do much to let us get past this. She wears a skintight bodysuit that would make WWE wrestlers blush and she delivers her lines as if she’s on duty as a phone sex operator. Bioware’s Marketing Manager David Silverman insisted that Miranda’s sexy appearance was engineered with the rest of her, so it’s only logical that she showcases her looks as much as her combat expertise. This may come from sensible intent, but the camera angles constantly highlight various body parts when we’re talking. We call that male gaze and it fixates rather steadily on Miranda’s ass.

Jack, despite being basically naked if not for some leather straps, is surprisingly not sexualized. Instead, it’s her renegade nature that makes her difficult to see as anything but the unhinged maniac. Jack’s personality has its interesting elements, but she spends too much time calling herself a bitch. Seriously. She does it a lot. Because of it, she fails to be anything but what she describes herself as. “An all-powerful bitch.

Evil Fem Shep is the middle ground of both characters. She’s decked out in legitimate battle armor that somehow defies sci-fi and fantasy rules by not showing copious cleavage and a midriff. My Renegade version was powerful and gruff, but managed to still justify her actions under the umbrella of saving the world. She’s extremely sexual, considering the ultimate goal of every one of the game’s relationships is a glossy, pseudo-porn montage. But, she’s not sexualized, just sexual. Once again, Bioware manages to give you choices without calling constant, obnoxious attention to them.

I had predicted that I would become annoyed with my evil Fem Shep. I anticipated a constant stream of awkward sexuality jammed into every line of dialog. Evil options in games always feel so needlessly masochistic, so I expected to feel like a space-version of Snidely Whiplash. I imagined space soldiers telling me that girls didn’t belong in combat.  But, what came out instead was a sturdy example of complicated virtual morals and gender equality.

Because in a medium where every protagonist is traditionally male, gender choice in Mass Effect 2 manages to not be an intrusive character trait. That’s worth some serious respect. Shepard can gun down or sleep with whomever he or she wants. Your choice of sex simply boils down to which voice actor sounds best kicking a Krogan’s teeth in. My vote goes to Fem Shep.

About the Author

Ben Chapman Ben Chapman writes like a rabid wolf that went to Harvard. He is fueled only by a modicum of attention from video game subreddits and an endless urge to tell you how to feel about video games. His left knee is scarred from a street luging accident. Listen to his brain yell at the internet via @thediscopony.