No sooner had the trailer for Rockstar’s hotly anticipated sequel to Red Dead Redemption hit the web than the SJWs were gnashing their teeth over its lack of strong womyn. “… [I]f RDR 2 continues without any sort of major kick-ass woman, it’ll be actually far more male-focused as a story than most classic westerns” wrote Dan Golding at Kotaku. Over at The Mary Sue, Jessica Lachenal linked to various articles about lady outlaws. According to her, the game is bucking tradition if it doesn’t pay homage to these obscure figures. But since we know so little about the game, this judgment is a bit premature.
If the judgement is accurate, what are its merits? In other words, why does it matter whether the game has “kick-ass” women or not? Golding’s article doesn’t explain what these characters add to Westerns; he just says there is a tradition of kick-ass women in Western films, which the game borrows from. Couldn’t a Western have “kick-ass” women and be awful, despite (or because of) the presence of these characters?
If the judgement is accurate, what are its merits? In other words, why does it matter whether the game has “kick-ass” women or not? Golding’s article doesn’t explain what these characters add to Westerns; he just says there is a tradition of kick-ass women in Western films, which the game borrows from. Couldn’t a Western have “kick-ass” women and be awful, despite (or because of) the presence of these characters?
