Quote:
Originally posted by lipstick lesbian
The title today is poignant...I really dislike how Pokemon as a franchise erases trans people, queer folk, gender-nonconforming folk, and other minorities like these. I wish it folded other people into life -- not just normatively gendered folk. I think flexible races/colours is a step in the right direction, in terms of ethnicity. Even this is loaded with a feeling of "diversity," which I'm not sure is cool for representing all people/the actuality of people. So far, I think inclusion always comes with exclusion...
Oh well. It will b interesting to see how Pokemon develops as its world rubs itself against others.
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While there's no issue with allowing one to choose their race or skin tone, it's not as easy with gender. As society is very much still stuck with the notion of the gender binary, there isn't much commercial benefit for them to include gender customization functionality. It would be complex in implementation and it would probably piss off or confuse as many potential customers as it would attract. From an ethical and intellectual standpoint I totally think it should be done, but from a business standpoint it makes relatively little sense to go out of their way to implement it. The vast majority of trans people are kind of included already, too, since many conform to a binary that simply doesn't align with their society-assigned sex. It's unfortunate but there's little reason for them to fix this.
As far as NPC's however, there could be a lot more effort in terms of identity, in every department.
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